Things Lost by the Water

Elena sat by the hotel pool at dusk, her martini sweating onto the glass-topped table. The infinity edge made the water appear to spill into the Pacific, a seamless illusion she couldn't quite bring herself to believe in anymore. She'd been waiting three hours.

Her phone buzzed — finally — but it was just Marcus canceling again. "Work emergency," he'd written, and she'd pictured his wife's puzzled face as he invented another crisis. Elena didn't know why she kept doing this. Maybe she liked proving, over and over, that she could survive the disappointment.

She pulled the wide-brimmed hat from her head and set it on the chair beside her. The concierge had complimented it when she checked in, calling her a mystery woman in white linen. Mystery. If he only knew.

A rustling in the manicured gardens drew her attention. A fox — rangy, too thin — emerged from between the palm trees. It moved with that confident, predatory grace that made her think of Marcus. How he'd looked at her across the boardroom table three years ago, like she was something he needed to possess, then quickly hide away.

The fox stopped at the water's edge, and for a moment, Elena thought it might drink. Instead, it turned and vanished back into the shadows, leaving her alone again.

"Ma'am?" A waiter appeared, collecting her empty glass. "Anything else?"

She thought about asking for another martini, but the taste had turned bitter hours ago. "No. Thank you."

She stood and walked to the pool's edge, where the water reflected the last streaks of violet sky. In the deep end, something floated — a child's inflatable dog, bright yellow against the darkening blue, abandoned when the family must have left for dinner. It bobbed there in the artificial current, going nowhere, trapped in an endless loop.

Elena reached out and trailed her fingers through the cool water, sending gentle ripples toward the plastic toy. She should go back to her room, pack, fly home tomorrow like nothing had happened. Like she hadn't flown three thousand miles to be stood up by a married man for the fourth time.

Instead she sat on the edge and dipped her feet in, letting the water lap at her ankles. The evening air cooled her skin. Somewhere nearby, a string quartet began to play, and laughter drifted from the terrace bar.

She stayed there until her phone lit up again — not Marcus this time, but her sister. "You okay?" it read. "Feel like you've been quiet lately."

Elena typed a response: "I'm fine. Just thinking about some things. Maybe ready to make some changes."

She sent it, then blocked Marcus's number, watching the plastic dog drift into darkness.