The Vitamins of Last Resort

The pool at the Marriott Courtyard was empty, as it always was at 2 AM on a Tuesday. Elena sat on the edge, her legs dangling in the chlorinated water, counting the vitamin D supplements on the hotel bedside table through the sliding glass door. Three left. She'd need more by morning.

Marcus emerged from the bathroom, towel wrapped low around his waist. "You're overthinking again."

"I'm not overthinking. I'm thinking." She pulled her legs out of the water. "My husband asked why I've been taking so many vitamins lately. I told him it was for the winter blues."

"And?"

"And he believed me. That's the problem." She stood up, water dripping from her calves onto the concrete. "He believes everything I say now. It's insulting."

The bear of a man—Marcus, with his broad shoulders and imposing presence that had terrified her when they'd first started working together—sighed heavily. "This was supposed to be simple. We get what we need from each other, and nobody gets hurt."

"Simple." Elena laughed bitterly. "Like that sphinx riddle you keep quoting. 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?' Man. The answer is always man, Marcus. It's always about the stages we go through before we die."

"You're in the evening stage, is that it?" Marcus moved closer, his shadow falling across her.

"I'm in the stage where I realize that I've been swallowing vitamins for fifteen years to stay healthy for a marriage that died ten years ago." She turned to face him. "And now I'm here, at a conference in Cleveland, cheating on my husband with my boss, and the most honest thing in my life is this pool that doesn't ask any questions."

Marcus reached for her hand but stopped midway. "I can leave the firm."

"And then what? We get matching townhouses? Trade vitamins for wine coolers and pretend this is something it's not?" She stepped back toward the glass doors. "No. The conference ends tomorrow. We go back to our lives. That was the arrangement."

"Elena—"

"The pool's closing, Marcus." She opened the sliding door. "Some things are better left underwater."