Love Games

The padel court glowed under floodlights as Elena adjusted her skirt, watching Carlos stretch his hamstrings with mechanical precision. Three months ago, they'd been laughing over cocktails at this same club, his iPhone abandoned on the table between them. Now, the device sat in its protective case on the bench, screen lighting up every few minutes with notifications he checked religiously between points.

"Your serve," she called, and he nodded, already glancing at the phone.

The game began. Elena played with abandon, her orange dress bright against the blue court, while Carlos moved through the motions like a man completing a checklist. Each rally ended with his phone buzzing—emails, Slack messages, WhatsApp from colleagues who apparently couldn't survive until morning.

"You know," Elena said during a water break, breathless from a particularly vicious volley she'd nailed, "my ex-husband preferred padel over sex. Said it was more satisfying."

Carlos barely looked up from his iPhone, thumb scrolling through something urgent. "Mmm. Interesting."

The orange sky had deepened to bruised purple by the time they reached match point. Elena served, the ball hitting the glass wall with a satisfying thwack. Carlos missed completely, distracted by a notification that made his face go still.

"What?" she asked, gripping her racquet tighter.

"That was HR," he said quietly. "Corporate restructuring. My division's being dissolved."

The floodlights hummed. Elena walked to the bench, picked up her water bottle, and took a long drink. "So that's why you've been distant. You knew."

"I've known for weeks." He finally set down the iPhone, his hands trembling slightly. "I didn't know how to tell you. The severance package is good, but Elena—I'm forty-three. I've given them fifteen years."

She stood beside him, watching the court lights flicker off one by one. "My ex found out about his layoff the same day I found out about his affair. Both delivered via iPhone, coincidentally."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Carlos asked, and she heard something break in his voice.

Elena considered it. The orange dress felt like a costume now. "No," she said finally. "But we're playing padel every Saturday until you figure out what comes next. And the iPhone stays in the locker."

He laughed—really laughed—for the first time in months. "Deal."

They walked to the car in silence, hands barely brushing, both pretending not to notice when their fingers finally intertwined.