The Vinegar Bell Peppers

At a family barbecue, Arthur asks his fiancée Maya to leave two grilled bell peppers without vinegar. She brushes every skewer with it anyway, then shrugs off his objection, backed by his mother, who calls him difficult. His cousin Julian, who lives with the family, jokes and flirts with Maya while the rest of the household praises the peppers Arthur cannot eat.

Arthur has always been the outsider. Since Julian moved in as a boy, every preference, birthday cake and achievement of Arthur's has been surrendered to him, and his parents' favouritism never wavered, even after a DNA test confirmed he was their biological son. He left home as soon as he could.

He believed Maya was different, the one person who would stand by him. Now, watching her laugh with Julian and Chloe, he wonders whether she too has been absorbed by them, and whether there is any space left for him at all.