The Sphinx at Harbor Park

Mia sat by the harbor, the **water** lapping against the pylons in a rhythm that matched the hollow ache in her chest. The baseball game at Harbor Park was in the seventh inning stretch, but she wasn't watching the field. She was watching the woman beside her—Elena, her best friend of three years, her confidante, her rival, and now, she knew with devastating clarity, the **spy** who'd been feeding her company's secrets to competitors.

The sphinx fountain behind them, with its weathered stone face and enigmatic smile, seemed to mock her blindness. How many times had they met here? How many glasses of wine had they shared as Elena patiently extracted information, piece by piece, under the guise of friendship?

"You're quiet tonight," Elena said, her voice warm with concern. "Everything okay at work?"

Mia's throat tightened. The **baseball** game roared in the distance—someone had hit a home run. The crowd's cheers felt like they were coming from underwater.

"I found the bug today," Mia said softly. "In the server room. Behind the firewall, hidden in the HVAC maintenance system."

Elena's hand stilled on her wine glass. The fountain's water cascaded behind them, filling the silence.

"And you figured out who put it there."

"It doesn't matter," Mia said, though it mattered more than anything. "I erased it. I told management it was a glitch. I protected you."

Elena turned to her, and for the first time in three years, Mia saw the full weight of what she'd done—what they'd both done. The corporate espionage, the late-night "work drinks," the carefully orchestrated questions. It had never been just business. Not for either of them.

"Why?" Elena whispered.

Mia watched the harbor lights flicker across the water. "Because you're the only person who ever really knew me. Even if you were lying."

The sphinx smiled on, its ancient stone face holding secrets older and deeper than corporate rivalries or betrayed trust. Some riddles, Mia realized, had answers that didn't fix anything. They only made the loss more bearable.

"One more drink," Mia said. "For old times."

Elena's hand found hers across the table, squeezing tight. "One more."