Always Us

game on

"Liv!" Spencer yelled through the house, "Liv! You seen my controller?!"

Olivia paused for a second, hearing the desperation in his voice, then continued on with her flow, transitioning from Downward Dog to Cobra on her yoga mat. His frantic steps got closer and closer to their bedroom.

"Liv! Did you hear me? You seen my controller?" he reached the doorway, disregarding the peaceful ambiance she had attempted to curate for herself. Music played softly from her speakers. Her favorite candle was lit on the bedside table.

"No, Spencer," she replied calmly, transitioning once again to Downward Dog.

"I looked everywhere. You sure you didn't move it last night when y'all were having your girl's night?"

"No, I didn't."

Spencer started to move stuff around the room, throwing pillows as he searched. Accepting that the vibe was ruined, Olivia fell out of her pose, landing on her knees.

"Don't you see I'm doing something here?" her eyes followed him around the room.

"Sorry babe, the tournament starts in 10. Can't play without my controller." 

Having turned the room upside down to no avail, he left her to look through his office. Olivia sat on the floor, listening to him move from room to room.

A few minutes later, she treaded carefully down the stairs, unsure of what state she'd find him in. These Madden tournaments had become a tradition in their house. Every week, Spencer sat on the couch with his bowl of chips and headset and played game after game. Sometimes he won. Mostly he didn't.

Entering the living room, she found him moping on the couch, staring at the TV screen like he had just lost his first born. She let out a sigh before walking up behind him.

"It'll be okay, babe," she placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging him gently, "it's just one game."

"This was gonna be my week, Liv," she rolled her eyes behind him. Every week was his week.

"How about we go grab some food? We haven't done that in a while," she suggested.

"Sure."

Fifteen minutes later, they were getting into the car and heading to their favorite burrito spot. The car was quiet. Not the normal quiet, the uncomfortable kind.

"Sooooo, you really gonna let a stupid game ruin the rest of your day?" 

"It's not a stupid game, Liv. It's my career."

"Your career is real football, Spencer. Not little cartoons running around on a screen."

Spencer looked over at her, hurt that she would degrade Madden like that.

"Don't give me that look," Olivia replied, irritation creeping into her voice.

"I made a commitment to the guys. Now the tournament is one man short. You can't have a proper tournament bracket with an odd number of players."

"To the guys?" she snapped her head in his direction, narrowing her eyes.

"Uhhh, yea," Spencer let out slowly, wondering if they were still talking about Madden.

"How about your commitment to me?"

"Babe, what are you talking about?" Spencer pulled over the car, confused about how they arrived at this point.

"The tournaments, Spencer!" she threw her hands up in defeat, "every fucking week it's the tournaments. And I get that it's your bro time or whatever, but you're in training all week, and I work. And yet, when the weekend comes around, you spend half the time in front of the TV. I didn't sign up for a 50/50 split of your time, especially considering that I'm currently going halfsies with a fucking video game."