The Riddle at the Dinner Party

The spinach leaf clung to Marcus's tooth like a secret, a small green betrayal that no one mentioned. I watched him charm his way through the dinner party, his laugh too loud, his hand lingering on the small of Sarah's back. Our marriage had become a series of performances, and tonight was the encore.

"Remember when we bought that goldfish?" Marcus said, gesturing with his wine glass. "What was its name?"

"Bubbles," I said. "It lived three weeks."

"Right, right." He turned back to Sarah. "Kids these days, they want pets but don't understand responsibility."

I thought of our daughter, asleep at home with the babysitter. At eight, she already knew more about responsibility than Marcus ever would. She fed the cat, cleaned her room, worried about her father's late nights.

Sarah, with her sharp features and predatory smile, reminded me of a fox I'd once seen in the garden—beautiful, dangerous, always watching for weakness. She worked with Marcus. She knew him in ways I didn't anymore.

"Your home is absolutely gorgeous," Sarah told me, her eyes scanning the room like she was calculating its value. "So mysterious."

"Thank you."

"Like the Sphinx." She laughed. "All those riddles."

The Sphinx. Riddles without answers. That was us—Marcus and me. We'd been asking questions for years: Why did you stay late at the office? Who is that texting you at midnight? Why can't we talk anymore?

He never answered. Not really.

The spinach was gone now. Someone had told him, or he'd seen it in a mirror reflection. He leaned close to Sarah, saying something that made her laugh.

I stood up, walked to the kitchen, and poured myself another drink. Through the window, the garden waited in darkness. Somewhere beyond it, the city hummed with other people's lives.

The goldfish hadn't been our fault. Sometimes things just died. Sometimes you did everything right and still lost what you loved.

But a marriage wasn't a fish. A marriage was something you kept alive—or didn't.

I listened to Marcus's laughter from the other room. The Sphinx had her riddles. I had mine. Tonight, I'd finally start answering them.