Last Serve Before Rot

Marcus stared at his reflection in the office kitchen microwave — dark circles under his eyes, skin the color of old putty. Another fourteen-hour day, another meal skipped. He was thirty-two and felt like he'd been decaying for a decade.

'You coming to padel tonight?' Elena asked, appearing behind him like he'd summoned her from his increasingly fragmented dreams. She held a Tupperware of spinach, leaves glistening with oil and garlic, smelling like something actual humans ate.

'Maybe,' Marcus said. 'If I escape before 8.'

'You say that every time.' She forked a wad of spinach into her mouth. 'You know, you look like shit. Like actual zombie shit.'

He laughed because it was true. He felt hollowed out, moving through presentations and meetings on autopilot while his real self — whoever that was — rotted somewhere deep inside.

But at 7:45, he found himself at the padel court, the glass walls glowing against the bruising purple sky. Elena was already there, stretching, her hair loose for once. They played in aggressive silence, the ball crack-smacking against the walls, their bodies moving with a violence that felt like prayer.

'My husband thinks I'm having an affair,' Elena said suddenly, between serves. 'Because I come here so late.' She hit the ball hard. 'Sometimes I wish I was.'

Marcus stopped. The ball rolled at his feet.

'Why?'

'Because an affair means you're still alive enough to want something.' She looked at him through the glass wall. 'Aren't you tired of being a zombie, Marcus?'

He was. God, he was. He looked at his hands — they were shaking.

'I have spinach in my bag,' he heard himself say. 'From the cafeteria. I was going to eat it at my desk.'

Elena smiled, and it was the most alive thing he'd seen in months. 'Eat it with me instead.'

They sat on the bench sharing his cold spinach while the court lights clicked off, plunging them into darkness. In that void, Marcus felt something stir inside his chest — fragile, terrified, but unquestionably not dead.

He wondered what tomorrow would bring. For the first time in years, he wasn't afraid to find out.