Vitamins in the Dark

The vitamin regimen started the day Mara left. Tom stood in the bathroom, staring at the amber plastic bottles lined up like soldiers on duty. Vitamin D for the bones that already ached at forty-two. B-complex for energy he no longer felt. Omega-3 for a heart that had forgotten how to hope.

Outside, lightning cracked the sky in two, illuminating the empty half of the closet. He'd taken up padel at her insistence—something about couples who play together staying together. The irony wasn't lost on him. Now he played alone on Tuesday nights, the racket an extension of his arm, each smash against the glass wall a small revenge against the universe.

Barnaby, their golden retriever, nudged his hand. The dog was the only one who hadn't noticed the silence that had swallowed the house. Or maybe he had, and simply didn't care. Tom envied him that.

He reached for the orange juice, pulp settling at the bottom like sediment of regret. The carton expired two days ago. He drank it anyway.

The padel tournament was Saturday. His partner, recently divorced himself, had suggested it. "We'll dominate the court, brother. Show everyone we're still in the game." Tom had agreed, mostly because he'd stopped knowing how to say no.

Another vitamin bottle—zinc this time. The label promised immune support. What he really needed was something for the soul. A supplement for the hollow space between his ribs where his marriage used to live.

Barnaby whined, tail thumping against the cabinet. The dog wanted his walk, same as every evening. Some things remained constant.

Tom swallowed the pills dry. Lightning flashed again, closer now. The storm would break before morning. He would too, eventually. But for now, there was padel on Tuesday, vitamins at dawn, and a dog who still looked at him like he was whole.

He turned off the bathroom light. In the bedroom, the orange glow of the streetlamp filtered through the blinds, painting the empty side of the bed in amber light. Tomorrow he'd buy fresh juice. Tomorrow he'd call the contractor about the closet. Tomorrow he'd be someone else.

For tonight, he was just a man taking vitamins in the dark.