Vitamins for the Soul

The corporate retreat had been Marcus's idea—some team-building bullshit at a luxury ranch in Texas. Now he stood by the pool at sunset, swallowing his daily vitamin regimen with lukewarm champagne. The B-complex pill stuck in his throat, a perfect metaphor for the last decade of his life.

"You look like you're plotting murder," Sarah said, sliding into the lounge chair beside him. She was the office fox—sharp, cunning, beautiful in a way that made men compromise their principles. Last month, Marcus had compromised more than principles.

"Just contemplating the irony," Marcus said, gesturing toward the pasture where an enormous bull stood motionless, staring at them. "That animal lives a more authentic life than I do."

"He's also about to become steak," Sarah pointed out.

Marcus laughed darkly. "So he wins in the end. No more performance reviews. No more pretending that vitamin D supplements fix what's missing inside."

The pool's surface rippled in the wind, distorting their reflections. Sarah reached for his hand, her fingers cold. "You know why I really came on this trip?"

Marcus looked at her. In the golden light, he saw the exhaustion she usually hid behind designer clothes and carefully applied wit. "Because your husband's golfing in Scottsdale?"

"Because I'm tired of being the fox everyone thinks they've outsmarted," she said quietly. "Because I took a vitamin this morning that I can't even pronounce, hoping it would make me care less about things that shouldn't matter."

Marcus squeezed her hand. The bull in the pasture finally moved, turning away from them toward the darkening horizon. "What if we just stopped? The jobs, the pills, the performance?"

"Then who would we be?" Sarah asked.

Marcus looked at their distorted reflections in the pool—two successful people who had everything except what they actually wanted. "Maybe that's the point," he said. "Maybe we find out."

The vitamin finally dissolved. For the first time in years, Marcus didn't reach for the next one.