Love Game

The padel court echoed with each sharp strike of the ball, a rhythm that had become the soundtrack of their Saturday mornings. Elena watched David across the net, his graying hair plastered to his forehead with sweat, the competitive fire in his eyes that had once drawn her to him now just another reminder of what they'd become—opponents in every game they played.

'You're letting it drop again,' David called out, not unkindly, as she missed a return. The observation carried the weight of twelve years' worth of small criticisms, each one a cable tightening around her chest.

'My shoulder's bothering me,' she lied, rubbing the joint that was fine but served as a convenient excuse for everything she no longer wanted to give.

They played another fifteen minutes in silence before David finally suggested they grab drinks at the club pool. Elena agreed, though she knew exactly where this conversation would go. It was the same script they'd been performing for months.

Sitting poolside, David removed his baseball hat and set it on the small table between them. Without it, he looked suddenly older, stripped of his armor. He traced the condensation on his beer bottle, avoiding her eyes.

'My mother called yesterday,' he said. 'She asked about the house in Barcelona. She wants to know why we haven't put down the deposit yet.' He looked up then, his expression unreadable. 'I didn't know what to tell her.'

Elena felt the familiar ache in her chest, the one that had become a constant companion. 'You could tell her we're figuring things out. That we're taking our time.' Even as she said it, she recognized the cowardice in her voice—the way they both kept deferring the inevitable conversation.

'Ten months, Elena. That's how long we've been "figuring things out." Maybe it's time we admit what this really is.' His phone buzzed on the table—some work emergency, probably. The tension between them had become like a cable pulled too tight, ready to snap.

She watched the pool's blue water ripple in the breeze, thinking about how they'd met here, how the water had seemed so inviting then. Now it just reflected two people who had forgotten how to swim together.

'What do you want from me, David?' she asked finally, her voice quiet.

'I want you to stop pretending this is working. I want you to stop playing to lose just so I won't feel guilty about winning.' He stood up, placed his hat back on his head. 'Mostly, I want you to decide if you're still in this game.'

The padel court stood empty behind them. Elena watched him walk away, knowing that next Saturday, one of them wouldn't show up. The only question was which one would finally have the courage to call it quits.