The Wellness Scheme

Marcus stood at the kitchen counter, blending his morning smoothie with mechanical precision. Kale, spinach, protein powder, the entire alphabet of vitamins—a daily ritual he'd started after Elena left him for someone who 'had more vitality.' The irony wasn't lost on him.

"You're coming to padel tonight, right?" asked Chloe, scrolling through her phone at the breakfast table. She was thirty-two to his forty-seven, beautiful in that terrifyingly uncomplicated way of people who hadn't yet had their hearts properly broken.

"Wouldn't miss it," Marcus said, though he'd rather remove his own teeth with pliers. The padel club was where everyone from his startup went to perform their fitness, where deals were struck between breathless rallies and where he first met Chloe, standing near the water fountain in those absurdly short shorts.

She worked in marketing. He worked in what the kids called 'the pyramid scheme of venture capital'—convincing younger, hungrier men to invest their twenties building companies he'd eventually dismantle for parts. The vitamins were Chloe's idea. She'd started selling them, something about 'residual income streams' and 'living your best life at any age.' Marcus had agreed to let her use his name, his network. Anything to keep her from looking at him with that quiet disappointment she tried so hard to hide.

At the club, his business partner David was already on court 4, sweating profusely despite the air conditioning. David had bought into Chloe's vitamin scheme last month. Now he cornered Marcus by the water fountain.

"The quarterly targets, Marcus. We need to talk about the quarterly targets."

Marcus watched Chloe across the room, laughing with someone from legal. She'd told him last night she wanted a baby. He'd said they should discuss it later, later, always later.

The spinach from his smoothie sat heavy in his stomach. He thought about the pyramid—corporate structures, vitamin distribution schemes, the way desire worked itself into hierarchy. All these layers of people standing on shoulders, pretending they'd climbed there alone.

"Marcus?"

He looked at David, this man who believed vitamins could fix what capitalism broke.

"Let's play," Marcus said, picking up his racquet. "Let's just play."