What We Drank by the Pool

The rooftop pool glittered like something from a magazine she couldn't afford. Maya perched on the edge, her legs submerged in water that cost more than her monthly rent, nursing a papaya martini that tasted like regret and expensive sugar.

"You look like you're plotting murder," Nina said, sliding onto the lounge chair beside her. "Or maybe just contemplating how much you hate these corporate things."

"Both," Maya said. "Did you see Richard out there? Holding court like he's the damn king of Wall Street?" She nodded toward the far end of the pool where a man in a perfectly tailored suit gestured expansively to a rapt audience of junior executives. "They're saying he's going full bull on the merger. Betting his reputation on it."

Nina's expression shifted. The easy smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I heard."

The silence between them carried weight. Three years of it, actually.

"I'm sorry," Maya said, the words escaping before she could swallow them back down. "About what I said. At your farewell party. About you making the wrong choice."

Nina studied her hands. "You weren't wrong, you know. About Richard. He's brilliant but he's also... I don't know. Maybe some part of me knew I'd end up at these kinds of pools, drinking these kinds of drinks, wondering if I sold myself for a promotion I'm not sure I wanted."

The papaya martini suddenly tasted too sweet. Maya remembered the first time they'd met—in a dive bar in their twenties, both angry at the world, both determined not to become the people they'd hated. Now here they were.

"I've missed you," Maya said simply. "The pool parties and the corporate bullshit? Not so much. But you."

Nina's laughter surprised them both. "God, we used to be such idealists. Remember that manifesto we wrote? The one about changing everything?"

"About how friendship was the only thing that mattered?"

"Exactly that." Nina set down her glass. "Maybe it's not too late to remember who we were before we became whoever the hell this is."

Richard's voice boomed across the pool, something about market dominance. But for the first time in years, Nina didn't turn toward him. Instead she looked at her friend, really looked at her, and something in her face softened.

"Another round?" Maya asked. "Or we could find that dive bar. I think it's still there."

Nina stood up, dripping water everywhere, not caring about the expensive dress. "I think that's the best offer I've had in three years."