Vitamins Before Dawn

Marcus sorted his morning pills by color—the orange vitamin C, the white D3, the silver omega-3. At forty-seven, this ritual felt less like healthcare and more like insurance against the inevitable decay. His phone buzzed on the counter. Another bullish email from Richard at 6:14 AM: "AGGRESSIVE GROWTH STRATEGY—LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN." Richard always typed in caps, always spoke like he was conquering territories rather than managing mid-sized mutual funds.

Marcus swallowed the vitamins dry. They tasted of artificial citrus and regret.

The subway ride was a blur of gray suits and downward glances. He'd been at Stratford Capital for twelve years, moving up through persistence rather than brilliance. The firm's culture rewarded bullish confidence—the kind Richard embodied in spades. Marcus had never been bullish. He'd been... adequate. Steady. The kind of analyst who didn't make waves but also didn't make enemies.

Until last week, when Elena joined the team.

She was thirty-two, sharp-eyed, with hair the color of autumn leaves and a way of looking at Marcus that made him feel simultaneously transparent and invisible. A fox in henhouse heels. She'd caught him in the breakroom, staring at his vitamins.

"You know those don't actually fix anything, right?" she'd said, leaning against the doorframe.

"They're supposed to help with..." He'd paused. "Everything."

"Everything's a lot." She'd smiled—not mocking, exactly. Something softer. "You should try fixing one thing instead."

Now, Marcus sat at his desk, Richard's bullish manifesto glowing on his monitor, and thought about Elena's office three doors down. He thought about his vitamins, his adequate career, his marriage that had dissolved into polite roommateship five years ago.

He stood up.

Richard looked up as Marcus entered his office. "You see my email? We need to—"

"I'm not doing it," Marcus said. The words felt strange in his mouth, like speaking a foreign language he'd studied but never used.

Richard blinked. "What?"

"The aggressive growth strategy. The bullish approach. I'm not doing it anymore."

Marcus walked out. He didn't go back to his desk. He went to Elena's office and knocked on her open door.

She looked up from her screen, those sharp eyes narrowing slightly. Then she smiled. Not politely. Like she'd been waiting.

"One thing," he said. "I'm starting with one thing."

"Which is?"

"Lunch with you."

Elena closed her laptop. "I know a place," she said. "They don't serve vitamins there."