The Bear on the Court

The padel court echoed with the sharp *tick-tack* of balls against walls, a rhythm that had become the metronome of my Thursday evenings. I adjusted my hat, pulling the brim lower against the stadium lights that always seemed too bright, too revealing.

'You're running yourself into the ground, Marcus,' Elena said from across the net. She wasn't wrong.

Since Sarah left, I'd been running everywhere—literally, six miles every morning before dawn, and metaphorically, racing through empty apartments, empty conversations, empty bottles of wine. Elena had been my friend through twenty years of promotions, heartbreaks, and the slow erosion of our youthful dreams into something quieter, something bearable.

'The divorce papers came today,' I said, though she already knew. We'd been processing this since February.

Elena's serve hit the wall and bounced back. I missed it entirely.

'My brother sent me a picture,' she said suddenly. 'From his cabin in Montana. There was a bear in their yard, sitting on its hind legs, just watching them through the glass door.' She paused. 'Sarah's bear figurine collection—you still have those boxes in the garage, don't you?'

I nodded. Sarah's ceramic bears, her ridiculous hobby, had been carefully packed away.

'She called me yesterday,' Elena continued, her voice dropping. 'She asked if you were still playing padel with me every Thursday.'

The ball rolled to a stop near my feet. I looked at Elena—really looked at her—for the first time in months. The lines around her eyes, the way she adjusted her own hat when she was nervous, the patience she'd shown as I systematically destroyed myself one mile, one drink, one meaningless encounter at a time.

'She's coming back to get her things this weekend,' I said. 'I don't know if I can bear it.'

Elena walked to the net, not as my opponent anymore. 'Then you'll have someone there who cares enough to help you pick up the pieces afterward.' She smiled, small and knowing. 'Same spot next Thursday?'

'Only if you let me win.'

'In your dreams, Marcus.'