She entered harvest house for her weekly shopping ritual. Grab a basket, down the aisle, pick up the lentils, pick up the tofu, pick up the vegetables, pick up the fruit, pick up the carrot juice, pick up the green tea, pick up the spice. After lingering in the vitamin aisle a bit too long she turned to see Steve, her old acquaintance from the bank. Steve was someone she knew from being in the same orientation program but they were never really close. Never really friends even though she tried. He was just too painfully shy for her to break through and he wasn’t worth the extra effort. Not when Eric was also in the class. Eric was simply a man. Confident, handsome, not always the brightest light but not dumb, and sure of his convictions. So she ended up in the same clique with Eric and eventually the other clique members drifted away and it was just him and her. And for some reason – she figured it was Eric’s father’s death – Eric became a hard ass. Hard ass as in environmental and ecological freak. He sold his car and biked everywhere. If the distance was too far, Eric would take public transportation. She was devoted to Eric and soon sold her car as well. Then Eric decided that a vegan lifestyle – mind you not diet, lifestyle – was the only socially responsible thing to do. So she ended up on the diet because, after all, she did most of the cooking. And it was this diet that caused her once bubbly personality to be subdued. More buddha like was how Eric called it. Others thought she had just lost her spirit, her life spirit. And it was true that Eric could be a bit harsh at times and that he liked it rough and that he liked her how he wanted her. And she did not like that at first but then was willing to try because she loved him so, and then once tried found relief in the submission. She then quit her job at the bank, after all the bank was some kind of evil company, and she dedicated herself to a simple life with her man. A simple life which included paying for these overpriced organic groceries.

It was this transformed woman Steve encounter. Steve said, “Hello Tammy” and her muted smile met his and then he lowered his eyes. He saw through her all at once. She only saw it in her reflection in him and as such it was a passing insight. But an insight nevertheless. Steve walked over to the instant soup section, started to turn to ask about Eric and then though better of it. At just that moment, Tammy picked up an Omega 3 supplement and headed to the checkout counter, writing a check drawn on said bank.