The Riddle in the Water

The hotel pool was empty at 3 AM, which is exactly why Maya chose it. Fifty yards of black water reflecting the moon, and the only company was a concrete sphinx statue at the far end, its wings half-spread, its face eroded by decades of chlorine and weather. Maya had spent three hours at the bar pretending not to watch the door, waiting for someone who might not come.

Then Elena walked in.

Ten years, and she still moved like she owned every room she entered. The friend who'd disappeared without a word the week before Maya's wedding, leaving only a note: *Some riddles answer themselves.*

Maya stood in the shallow end, water up to her waist. "You came."

Elena sat on the edge, feet dangling in. "Leo said you'd be here."

"Leo knows everything."

"He knows you're getting divorced."

The words hit harder than Maya expected. "It's been three months."

"And you haven't called."

Maya laughed bitterly. "What would I say? Hey, remember when you vanished right before the most important day of my life? By the way, my husband's sleeping with his assistant."

Elena was quiet. The sphinx watched them both.

"Why?" Maya finally asked. "Why did you leave?"

Elena slid into the water, fully clothed. Her white shirt became transparent, revealing the same constellation tattoo on her shoulder she'd gotten at seventeen, the night they swore they'd escape their small town together.

"I wasn't running away from you," Elena said. "I was running toward something I couldn't explain."

"What?"

"That riddle." Elena swam closer. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, three in the evening? You know the answer."

"A person. Childhood, adulthood, old age."

"Right." Elena treaded water now, face to face with Maya. "I had to figure out who I was on all four legs before I could walk beside you again."

Maya felt something crack open in her chest. "And did you?"

"I'm working on it." Elena reached for Maya's hand underwater. "I missed you. Every day."

"The sphinx is still waiting," Maya said, nodding at the statue.

"Maybe its riddle changed." Elena squeezed her hand. "Maybe it's asking: what happens when two people who love each other keep choosing different paths?"

Maya looked at this woman—her oldest friend, her deepest wound, her safest harbor. "They keep crossing paths until they figure it out."

"Or until the water gets too cold."

"Then we get out." Maya pulled Elena toward the deep end. "Together."

The sphinx remained silent. Some riddles, she decided, deserved more time.