Riddles by the Water

The corporate retreat was Marcus's idea—the kind of forced bonding that made Nina want to hurl herself into the hotel pool fully clothed. She sat on the edge anyway, legs dangling in the water, nursing her third gin and tonic.

"You're going to miss the keynote," said a voice behind her.

Nina didn't turn. "The pyramid scheme can wait."

Julian laughed, settling beside her. He'd always had that annoyingly pleasant laugh, warm like worn leather. His hair was wet—he'd clearly already taken a dip.

"It's not a pyramid scheme if they actually pay us," he said, splashing water with his foot. "And you're going to miss Harriman's famous 'Synergy at the Summit' speech."

Nina snorted. "The only summit I care about involves vodka and sleep."

"Fair enough." Julian's tone shifted, grew serious. "I saw they put a sphinx by the garden. Did you notice?"

Nina stiffened. She had noticed. She'd also noticed that Julian's absence from her life had lasted exactly three years, two months, and eleven days—not that she was counting.

"I saw it," she said.

"Riddles," Julian said. "That's what sphinxes do, right? Ask impossible questions."

Nina turned at last. Water dripped from his jawline. His eyes, the color of deep water, held hers.

"Some riddles don't have answers," she said quietly.

"Maybe you're asking the wrong ones."

The silence stretched between them, thin and trembling as pulled taffy. Nina's heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.

"Then what's the right question?" she whispered.

Julian's gaze dropped to her mouth. "Whether you still hate me."

Nina's fingers found his underwater. His skin was warm, the water cool around them, contradictions meeting in the space between their bodies.

"I never hated you," she said. "I hated that you left without a word."

"I was offered a position in Dubai," he said. "It was a pyramid—upward mobility, better money. I thought it was what I wanted."

"And?"

"And I've spent three years wondering what I left behind."

Marcus's voice boomed from the conference room: "FOLKS! LET'S TALK ABOUT SCALING VERTICALLY!"

Nina stood, water streaming from her dress. "Stay," she said to Julian. "Skip the keynote. We can order room service."

Julian's smile returned, slower this time, more deliberate. "Room service sounds better than climbing pyramids."

They left their shoes by the pool and walked toward the elevators, leaving the sphinx to its riddles, the corporate hierarchy to its empty speeches. Some questions, Nina decided, were worth answering slowly.