Pyramids in the Water

Marcus sat by the pool at the Luxor, his baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. The pyramid-shaped hotel loomed above him, its black glass reflecting the merciless Vegas sun. He'd come for the sales conference, but really, he'd come to escape—escape the questions from Elena, escape the silence that had filled their home since the miscarriage, escape the creeping feeling that at forty-two, he was already halfway to something he couldn't name.

His iPhone vibrated against the plastic lounge chair. A single text from Elena: "I talked to David. You can tell me the truth now."

Marcus's stomach twisted. David was his best friend, his business partner, the one person he thought would carry his secrets to the grave. But apparently, David had talked. Maybe about the night in Phoenix, maybe about the money that had disappeared from their joint account, maybe about everything.

He watched a group of twenty-somethings cannonball into the pool, their laughter sharp and cruel against his spiral. He'd been like that once—sure the world was his, sure that love would be easy, sure that happiness was something you could grab like a ball thrown across a field. Now he knew better. Happiness was fragile, provisional, a thing that could vanish in a single phone call, a single doctor's appointment, a single confession.

He stood up, clutching his phone like a weapon or a prayer. The water shimmered below him, blue and inviting and terrifying. He could text back the truth—about the gambling losses, about the woman in Phoenix, about how he'd spent the past year running from his own life. Or he could delete it, walk away, become someone else entirely.

Marcus typed: "I'm coming home. We'll talk."

He pulled off his hat and tossed it onto the chair. The pyramid tower cast its shadow across the water, and for the first time in months, he felt something like hope, terrifying and fragile as a new heartbeat beneath the ribs. He would go back and tell her everything. It was the only way to stop drowning.

The flight left in three hours. This time, he would be on it.