Storm Over the Court

Elena watched from the balcony as Marcus finished their padel match, his shirt clinging to his back in the humid air. He'd been different since they arrived at this coastal resort — distant, checking his phone during dinner, laughing at messages he wouldn't show her.

The first lightning struck just as they walked back to their room, a jagged line across the darkening sky.

"Remember when we went swimming that night in college?" Elena said, trying to summon the version of him who used to look at her like she was the only person in the world. "When we got caught in the storm and ran back to your dorm soaking wet?"

Marcus didn't even pause. "Yeah. Crazy night." He dried off with a towel, already turning toward the mirror.

That's when she saw it — the notification flashing on his phone screen on the nightstand. A message from Sarah, the new junior partner at his firm. The same Sarah he'd mentored, the same Sarah who'd somehow ended up on their guest list for the company Christmas party.

The baseball tickets pinned to their fridge suddenly made sense. He'd said they were for a client. Sarah loved baseball. Marcus tolerated it.

Lightning illuminated the room again, and in that flash, Elena saw everything clearly — the late nights, the sudden interest in his appearance, the way he'd pull away whenever she tried to touch him lately.

She thought about how her mother had warned her about men like Marcus — charming, ambitious, always looking for the next opportunity. Like a fox in the henhouse, her mother would say. Pretty and dangerous and impossible to trust once you saw the teeth.

"Sarah invited me to drinks tomorrow," Marcus said, his back to her. "Just a team thing. You don't mind, right?"

Elena watched him through the mirror, watched the way he avoided her eyes. She thought about swimming out past the breakers tomorrow morning, just letting the current take her wherever it wanted to go. Or maybe she'd pack her bags and catch the first flight home.

"No," she said softly, already making her plans. "I don't mind at all."