Vitamins and Other Lies

Sarah stood at the edge of the rooftop pool, her evening party invitation clutched in one hand like a weapon she didn't know how to use. Below, the water reflected the city's artificial stars—office windows glowing with people pretending to work at 8 PM.

"You're not going in." David's voice behind her. Her oldest friend at the firm, the one person who knew about the panic attacks disguised as bathroom breaks.

"I brought my swimsuit," she said, gesturing to her bag. "Even bought vitamin D supplements. The doctor says I'm deficient."

David laughed, the sound sharp and tired. "We're all deficient, Sarah. That's the job."

They'd been dancing around something for months. Since the Christmas party where he'd found her crying in the stairwell. Since she'd started staying late just to watch him work, his brow furrowed in concentration, his hair falling over his eyes in a way that made her chest hurt.

He reached out and adjusted the oversized hat she wore to hide her dark circles. "You don't need to perform for them. The whole wellness culture bullshit—it's just pacification. Keep the bears fed and they won't eat us."

"Bears?" She looked up at him, really looked at him, for the first time.

"The partners. Upper management." He stepped closer. "But sometimes... sometimes you find someone who makes the cage bearable."

The pool lights flickered on, casting everything in blue. Sarah thought about all the vitamins she'd swallowed, all the yoga classes she'd attended, all the ways she'd tried to make herself into someone who could survive this life.

"I'm not going in," she said, dropping her bag. "I'm going home with you instead."

David's answering smile was the first real thing she'd seen in three years of corporate lifetimes.