The Vitamin Deficiency

The padel court echoed with the sharp crack of racquet against ball, but Marcus's mind was elsewhere. His marriage had been running on empty for months, sustained by nothing but routine and the kind of silent resignation that settles in like dust on neglected furniture.

"You're not even trying," Elena said from across the net, sweat glistening on her forehead. She'd convinced him to join this club, said it would be good for them—something new to share. But everything they did lately felt like a vitamin supplement: technically good for you, but impossible to swallow without aftertaste.

He watched her retrieve a ball from the corner, her movements precise and controlled. That was Elena now—disciplined, optimized, always improving herself while he stagnated. The water bottle at the sideline sat untouched, condensation pooling at its base like the words he never said.

"My shoulder hurts," he lied.

She sighed, that particular exhale he'd come to dread. "Everything hurts when you don't want to do it."

After the game, they walked to their car in silence. Above them, a thick black cable sagged between utility poles, carrying god-knows-how-many conversations to god-knows-who. He thought about the millions of words traveling through that cable while he and Elena had somehow lost the ability to speak to each other.

"I saw your therapist's number on the credit card statement," she said at the car door. "I didn't know you were still going."

Marcus leaned against the warm metal doorframe. "I wanted to figure some things out before I told you."

"Like what?"

"Like whether I'm the problem, or we are."

Elena's expression shifted—from irritation to something softer, almost hopeful. The vitamin analogy came back to him. Maybe they weren't deficient. Maybe they just needed the right kind of nourishment.

"Take the rest of the day off," she said. "Let's go to the ocean. Just drive."

The cable above them seemed to hum with possibility. For the first time in months, Marcus felt something like certainty.

"Yes," he said. "Let's."