Dead Things Float

The first time Marcus saw him, the man from the executive suite was dead asleep in the sauna. Not resting—dead asleep, mouth open, chest rising and falling in that shallow way that suggests pure exhaustion. Marcus, halfway through his lunch break swim, watched droplets of sweat pool on the stranger's forehead like mercy.

"You're staring," the man said, eyes still closed.

"Sorry."

"It's the zombie look. I've been wearing it since the merger." He sat up, extending a hand. "David. Vice President of Something That Used to Matter."

"Marcus. Customer Support."

David laughed—really laughed, like he hadn't in years. "God, I remember customer support. When I actually talked to people." His thumb rubbed against a gold band on his ring finger. "You ever feel like you're climbing a pyramid that keeps getting steeper? Each level up, fewer people, more oxygen deprivation."

Marcus thought about the spinach stuck between his teeth from lunch, the way his girlfriend had stopped asking about his day. "I feel like I'm at the bottom, looking up at a pyramid I'm not even allowed to touch."

"The view's not better up here." David stood, water dripping off his corporate-fitted frame. "Hey, you play padel?"

"What?"

"Padel. Court sport. The CEO's obsessed. We're building courts on the roof—exclusive, of course. I can get you an invitation. Play Friday?"

Something in Marcus's chest twisted—resentment or hunger, he couldn't tell. "Why would you do that?"

"Because you saw me asleep in a sauna and didn't take a picture." David's smile was tired but genuine. "Because I'm forty years old and I don't know anyone who isn't trying to sell me something or take my job. Because the water's nice, and sometimes you need someone else to remind you to come up for air."

The following Friday, Marcus found himself on a rooftop at sunset, padel racket in hand, watching David serve against the CEO. The ball sailed over the net. David missed.

"Your form's off, Dave," the CEO called out, grinning. "Maybe you need more sleep."

David's eyes found Marcus in the corner. Something passed between them—complicity, recognition, the unspoken language of two men drowning in the same deep end, learning to swim together.

"Actually," David said, returning the CEO's smile, "I think I'm finally waking up."