What We Bear in Shallow Water

The hotel pool was empty at 2 AM, which was exactly why Elena had chosen it. Her fourth margarita sat condensing on the patio table as she stared at the black water, her reflection rippling like a question she didn't want to answer.

Her hair was falling out in clutches lately. Stress, her doctor said. Her husband said it was nothing. But in the harsh poolside lighting, she could see her scalp through the thinning strands—another thing to bear, another weight added to the backpack she'd been carrying since the merger announcement.

'There you are.'

Mark. Of course. The man who'd orchestrated her department's dismantling while pretending to be her ally. He loomed over her chair, swimming in that awful cologne, like a grizzly in a business suit.

'Celebrating or drowning?' he asked, nodding at her drink.

'Both.' She didn't look at him. 'Did you know goldfish have three-second memories? Some biologist told me that at a conference once. Must be nice.'

Mark laughed—too loud, too practiced. 'That why you're sitting alone in the dark? wishing you could forget?'

Elena finally turned to face him. His hairline was receding too, but she doubted it was from carrying anyone else's burdens. 'I'm not alone. I'm with myself. And unlike some people, I remember every promise that was broken.'

The silence stretched like a rubber band about to snap. Behind Mark, in the hotel lobby, she could see the catering staff cleaning up from their event. Her team's event. The one where they'd all been told their positions were being 'eliminated.'

'You know what's funny?' Elena continued, her voice low. 'I never cared about the corner office. I just wanted to not drown. But you and your kind keep making the pool deeper while telling us to swim.'

Mark's face hardened. 'This is business, Elena. Nothing personal.'

'See, that's your problem.' She stood up, leaving her unfinished drink. 'You think you can separate what you do from who you are. But at 2 AM, staring at your own reflection in an empty pool, you're going to find out there's no difference at all.'

She walked past him toward her room, leaving him to consider his own reflection in the dark water. Some things, she realized, even a goldfish would never forget.