Orange Peels at Midnight

Sarah found him on the balcony at 2 AM, the orange light of the streetlamp carving his profile into something sharper than she remembered. Marcus was still running—three marathons this year, a dozen more planned, as if distance measured in miles could somehow span the widening chasm between them.

"Can't sleep?" she asked, peeling an orange she'd taken from the kitchen. The citrus scent cut through the humid summer air, sharp and accusing.

He didn't turn. "Just thinking."

"About the job?"

The pyramid scheme of corporate ascension had finally shown its hand. Marcus had been passed over for partner again. They'd bought the house, the dog, the life together on the promise of equity that might never vest. Buster, their golden retriever, slept inside on Sarah's side of the bed—a small betrayal she noticed but never mentioned.

"About everything," he said.

Sarah ate an orange segment, the juice flooding her mouth. She'd started taking vitamin D supplements last month, her doctor citing seasonal deficiency, but she knew the truth: she hadn't seen real sunlight since she'd stopped believing in their future.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

Marcus finally turned. His face was naked in that half-light, stripped of the practiced optimism he wore like armor. "I don't want to hurt you."

"But you're going to."

"Running away again," she whispered, more to herself than him. "You've been running since I met you."

"Not away. Toward."

"What's the difference?"

He didn't have an answer. The dog barked once from inside—a short, sharp sound that punctured the silence between them. Somewhere in the distance, a snoDB wailed. Sarah finished her orange, letting the peels fall into the darkness below.

"Go, then," she said. "But know this: you can run a thousand marathons, Marcus, and you'll never outrun yourself."

He left at dawn. She found the vitamin bottle on his nightstand, half-empty, and finally understood: they were both just trying to survive the same deficiency, only he'd decided the cure lay somewhere else entirely.