The D-Deficiency

Maya stared at the notification on her iPhone: 'Message from Sarah.' She hadn't heard from her former best friend in six months, not since the corporate merger that had turned them from allies into competitors. Her thumb hovered over the screen.

The office vitamin D lamp hummed above her cubicle, its artificial glow doing nothing to ward off the winter gray or the headache that had taken residence behind her eyes since October. Dr. Patel had prescribed supplements, but Maya knew the deficiency ran deeper than something a pill could fix.

"Can we meet?" Sarah's message read. "Coffee? Old place?"

Maya typed out: 'I'm swamped.' Deleted it. Typed: 'Maybe next week.' Deleted that too.

Three years ago, she and Sarah had discovered they were both taking the same vitamin regimen—ironically attempting to remedy the same workplace malaise. They'd laughed until they cried in the breakroom, bonding over the absurdity of their corporate wellness program's mandatory supplement packets. That laughter had been the foundation of everything.

Then came the restructuring. Sarah had chosen management track. Maya had stayed with design. The promotion committee had pitted them against each other, asking for confidential feedback on "professional peers." The emails they'd exchanged—carefully worded, deliberately vague—still haunted Maya's drafts folder.

Now Sarah wanted coffee. Maybe to apologize. Maybe to gloat about the Director promotion that had been all but promised to her. Maybe just because old habits died harder than anyone wanted to admit.

Maya's vitamin bottle sat empty on her desk. She'd stopped refilling it weeks ago.

Her iPhone buzzed again. Sarah: "I'm leaving the company. The offer fell through. They're giving my role to Marcus."

Maya's fingers moved before her conscious mind could intervene. 'See you in 15.'

The vitamin D lamp flickered as she grabbed her coat. Some deficiencies, she realized, had nothing to do with nutrients and everything to do with the people who made getting through the corporate winter worth the effort.