The Goldfish's Riddle

Elena stared at the goldfish bowl on her desk. Leonard swam in endless circles, his orange scales catching the afternoon light. She'd inherited him from Mark—the ex who'd moved out last week, taking everything except the fish and, strangely, his lucky fedora.

"You're like the sphinx," she whispered to Leonard. "Ancient. Full of secrets. At least you don't ask me what's wrong."

Her boss, David, appeared in her doorway wearing that ridiculous hat Mark had left behind. Elena had assumed David found it in the break room, but the way he tipped it at her now made something cold settle in her stomach.

"Meeting in five," David said. "Big client. The Henderson account."

The Henderson account. Mark's project before he left for that startup with Sheila from marketing.

In the conference room, David laid into the team. "The bull by the horns. That's what we need. Aggressive. Bold." He gestured with Mark's hat. Elena watched the way his fingers caressed the brim, the same way Mark used to when he was thinking.

After the meeting, she cornered David in the hallway. "Where did you get that hat?"

"Mark gave it to me," David said. "Last week. When he told me he and Sheila were leaving together."

The vitamin supplements in her purse felt suddenly heavy. She'd been taking them for months—Mark's idea, always worried about her health. Always looking out for her. Always lying.

"He said you two were having problems," David continued. "Said you'd stopped communicating months ago. That's why he left."

Elena walked back to her desk, retrieved Leonard's bowl, and carried him to the car. The goldfish would get a better home. She would too. Some riddles weren't meant to be solved—only outgrown.