The Pool at Sunset

The cable had been cut three days ago when Marcus moved out. Now Elena sat on her balcony, staring at the black rectangle where the TV used to be, nursing a glass of wine that had gone warm. Forty-two years old and starting over again. She ran her fingers through her hair—still mostly brown, but she'd found a gray strand that morning, right at her temple, like a warning shot.

Below her, the apartment pool glowed an artificial blue. A few residents swam laps, their bodies cutting through the water with the kind of purpose she couldn't seem to find these days. She'd been meaning to join them for weeks now, ever since the layoffs at the firm. But inertia was a powerful thing, and her couch had developed a gravitational pull she couldn't escape.

Her phone buzzed. Sarah.

You coming tonight? It's been two weeks, El.

Sarah had been her friend since college, through marriages and divorces, promotions and firings. Sarah was the one who'd held her hair back when she drank too much at her thirtieth birthday party, who'd showed up with soup and bad movies when Marcus first left. Sarah was also the one who kept inviting her to these things—networking mixers, she called them. Elena called them reminders of everything she'd lost.

She typed: Not tonight.

Then deleted it and typed: Maybe next week.

Then deleted that too and set the phone down.

A splash from below. A woman had jumped into the pool, fully clothed. Elena watched as the woman surfaced, laughing, while someone on the deck shouted about ruined shoes. The woman didn't care. She swam to the edge and hauled herself out, dripping and defiant, and Elena felt something sharp and unfamiliar in her chest.

She finished her wine in one swallow and stood up. Her reflection in the glass door showed a woman she barely recognized—stagnant, waiting for permission to live again. The cable wasn't coming back. Marcus wasn't coming back. The job wasn't coming back.

But the pool was still there. And somewhere, Sarah was probably still waiting.

Elena grabbed her keys and headed for the stairs, finally ready to dive in.