The Cat Who Knew

The vitamin D supplements sat on Maya's kitchen counter, a daily reminder of the winter that had stretched too long. Three years since she'd seen Elena, and now this: a text message. Can you come? Please.

Elena's apartment smelled of lavender and something medicinal. She was thinner, her skin pale against the dark sofa. The sphinx cat, hairless and ancient-looking, curled in her lap like a wrinkled alien.

"His name is Ramses," Elena said, scratching the creature's prominent shoulder blades. "He has riddles for everyone."

Maya forced a smile. They'd stopped speaking after what happened — or rather, after what almost happened. The night of Elena's divorce party, too much wine, that moment in the bathroom when their hands touched and everything shifted.

"I'm glad you called," Maya said, meaning it and not meaning it.

"I start chemo next week," Elena said casually, like discussing dinner plans. "The doctor says I'll need friends around."

The word hung between them. Friends. They'd been so much more, and so much less.

"Remember when we went swimming in the Mediterranean?" Elena continued. "That night in Greece, under the sphinx?"

"That wasn't a sphinx," Maya said. "It was just a statue."

"It was whatever we needed it to be."

Ramses the sphinx cat jumped to the floor, his wrinkled skin catching the afternoon light. He approached Maya, sniffed her ankle, then flopped dramatically at her feet.

"He likes you," Elena said. "He usually hates people."

Maya looked at her old friend — really looked at her. The fear behind Elena's eyes, the courage in her smile, the way her hand trembled slightly as she reached for her water glass.

"I'll come to your appointments," Maya heard herself say. "I'll bring soup. I'll stay."

Elena's eyes filled with tears. "You don't have to—"

"I want to."

Ramses purred, a sound like a small engine. Outside, snow began to fall, but in that apartment, something was thawing.

"Thank you," Elena whispered.

Maya nodded, already planning which vitamins to research, which soups Elena might actually eat. Some friendships are complicated, some are simple, and some — like sphinxes — are riddles you solve by living through them.