The Riddle of Water

The corporate retreat was Elena's idea of hell. Two hundred middle managers shuffling around the Desert Springs Resort like participants in some bizarre experiment to see how many meetings a human could endure before transforming into a **zombie**. Elena checked her phone—three missed calls from Marcus. Probably wanting to discuss his mother's birthday dinner again, the conversation they'd been having in circles for weeks.

She slipped out during the keynote and found herself at the **pool**, where a single figure sat on the diving board in the darkness. It was Julian from accounting, the one with the sad eyes and wedding band tan line.

"Riddles," he said, startling her. "That's what marriage becomes, isn't it? You're the **sphinx**, posing the same question over and over until someone gets it wrong."

Elena sat beside him, feet dangling over the empty water. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? The answer's supposed to be man, but I think it's just compromise."

Julian laughed, a quiet, desperate sound. "My **dog** knows more about my marriage than I do. She can sense when things are wrong before they happen. Ears up, waiting for something to break."

"My marriage," Elena said, "it's not bad. It's just... already happened. Marcus and I are just employees of our own history now."

"Then why are you here?" Julian asked. "At this pool, in the dark, with me?"

She looked at him—really looked—and saw the same exhausted hunger she felt reflected back. The water below was black and endless. She thought about diving into it, about what might surface if she did.

"Because," Elena said, taking Julian's hand, "sometimes you need someone else to help you remember you're still alive."

Behind them, the hotel lights flickered, casting shadows across two people on the edge of something they couldn't name, about to choose the hard answer instead of the easy one.