Wellness Season

The vitamin D supplements sat on Maya's desk like a accusation. Three bottles, each from a different multilevel marketing company that Jessica had enthusiastically pushed during the Tuesday morning meeting.

"You look tired, honey," Jessica had said, her blonde hair bouncing with that rehearsed enthusiasm that made Maya's stomach tighten. "This changed my life. My skin, my energy, my entire *vibe*.*

Now it was Friday, and Maya's direct deposit notification had just hit her phone. $1,247.00 — her entire share of the "ground floor opportunity" Jessica had sworn would make them all financially independent by Christmas.

The pyramid structure had been drawn on the whiteboard in confident Sharpie strokes. Three levels down, exponential growth, passive income streams. Jessica had locked eyes with Maya when she'd said, "Some people are builders. Others just watch from the sidelines."

Maya had watched herself transfer the money, had watched Jessica's triumphant smile in the breakroom mirror, had watched the quarterly targets she'd missed because she'd been attending mandatory "wellness trainings" three nights a week.

She touched her own hair now — flat, brown, unwashed since Wednesday. The exhaustion wasn't from vitamin deficiency. It was from the slow erosion of dignity, the quiet realization that she'd paid twelve hundred dollars for friendship.

Her phone buzzed. Jessica: Group call in 5! Bring your energy!!

Maya swept the supplements into the trash. They made a satisfying clatter against the bottom of the bin.