The Sphinx Knows

Maya found herself at the hotel pool at 2 AM, the only light coming from the underwater LEDs and the enormous neon sign atop the building: THE SPHINX. A casino hotel on the outskirts of Vegas, the most ironically named place she'd ever been — sphinxes asked riddles, but here, there were only answers, all of them costing money.

She slipped into the water, the cool shock familiar and soothing. Swimming had always been her meditation, the only thing that quieted the ceaseless negotiations of her life as a corporate attorney. Tonight, she needed more than quiet. She needed absolution.

Earlier that evening, she'd secured the buyout that would cost three hundred people their jobs. The firm would celebrate tomorrow. There would be champagne and bonuses and back-slapping all around. She'd been swimming through corporate waters for fifteen years, always told there was something better just ahead, but she was beginning to realize she was just treading water in increasingly expensive pools.

"You're up late," a voice said.

Maya stopped swimming, treading water in the center of the pool. A woman sat on the edge, legs in the water, cigarette glowing like a dying star. It was the CEO's executive assistant — Eleanor, someone Maya had spoken to exactly twice, both times to schedule meetings.

"Couldn't sleep," Maya said.

Eleanor exhaled smoke into the desert air. "The Sphinx knows."

"What?"

"That's what the staff calls this place. The Sphinx. Because every day, people come here looking for something, and the house eats them alive." Eleanor flicked ash into the darkness. "I know about the buyout. My husband's been with that company for twenty-two years."

The water suddenly felt very heavy. Maya swam to the edge and pulled herself up, dripping. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't matter," Eleanor said, her voice empty of anger. "But I thought you should know what you're swimming in."

They sat in silence for a long moment. Then Maya said, "I can walk away from the bonus."

"And then what? They find someone who won't." Eleanor stubbed out her cigarette. "The riddle isn't what you did. The riddle is who you become after."

Maya looked up at the Sphinx on the rooftop, its unblinking neon eye watching them both. In the water, she saw her own distorted reflection, someone she barely recognized anymore.

"Thank you," Maya said softly.

Eleanor stood up. "Don't thank me. Just figure out what you're swimming toward instead of what you're swimming away from."

Alone again, Maya lowered herself back into the water, beginning to swim laps with a new kind of purpose — not to escape, but to find shore.