The Last Point

The padel ball bounced off the back wall, that familiar hollow sound, before Elena slammed it into the corner. Game point. She didn't even look at him.

Mark wiped sweat from his forehead, his dark hair plastering against his temples in uneven streaks. Three months ago, he would've teased her about that competitive streak, would've wrapped an arm around her shoulders afterward and suggested dinner. Tonight, he just collected his gear.

"You played well," she said, not meeting his eyes as they walked to the parking lot. The air between them felt thick, like wading through water.

"So did you."

They ended up at that Italian place near her apartment, the one with the romantic lighting that now felt like a stage set for a play they'd stopped rehearsing. She ordered the spinach ravioli. He got the same thing, like they always did. Matching.

The waiter poured wine. Elena smiled, that practiced expression she used at work when dealing with difficult clients. Mark found himself counting the seconds between her sips of wine, the pauses in her sentences. When had conversation become this exhausting?

"There's something..." She gestured at her own mouth, then froze. "Never mind."

Spinach. Between her teeth. Before, he would've told her immediately, laughed about it together. Now he watched her finish three more raviolis, caught between cowardice and something worse—relief that he didn't have to say anything at all.

The cat was waiting when they got back to her place, winding around their legs with that demanding purr. At least someone still wanted affection. Mark knelt to scratch behind its ears, the fur soft against his fingers, and for a moment, he couldn't remember the last time he'd touched Elena with that kind of automatic tenderness.

"Mark." She stood in the kitchen doorway, the spinach gone now, along with whatever had been in her glass. "We should probably—"

"Yeah."

The cat blinked at them both, then curled into the empty space on the couch where they used to sit together. Some absences were louder than others.