To Bee or Not To Bee

An excerpt from To Bee or Not To Bee:

—An Uneasy Threesome: Jim, Kathy, and Mia—

I couldn't wait another second. My gene for sweet cravings was sapping my will.
 
"Resistance is futile." The words of a Star Trek alien pounded my brain. My mouth was watering, my fingers tingling. I was light-headed. I needed a sugar fix—something sweet to complement my fresh cup of dark French roast—and I needed it now!
 
Not so fast, the health monitor in my head protested. He reminded me that the scale that morning was not my friend—up five pounds. My wife, Kathy, walked up behind me and looked over my bulging stomach at the number.
 
"You're going back on the Mayo Clinic Diet," she proclaimed. Nope, I thought. Not going on that diet. On a good day, when the scale was my friend (down even a single pound), I knew I could pillage my drawer of chocolate treasures with abandon.
 
Downstairs in the snack drawer was a sweet buffet. Waiting for me were my dear friends, Oreo, Joe-Joe, Ho Ho, and Little Debbie. Sharing their private neighborhood were dark chocolate-covered raisins, chocolate coconut almonds, Jelly Bellies, cream-filled chocolate mints, chocolate chip brittle, and shortbread cookies slathered with chocolate frosting.
 
When Kathy went upstairs to answer emails, I snuck down to the kitchen. Don't do it, her voice boomed in my head. No use. I was helpless against the riptide of sugar about to pull me under.
 
My shaking hand hovered over the shiny handle. I quietly slid open the drawer so Kathy couldn't hear. And nearly jumped out of my skin. At the edge of my peripheral vision was a dark shape that scurried away. It happened so fast I thought I had imagined the movement.
 
"Kathy," I yelled. "There's something in the snack drawer."
 
"Jim, you're not supposed to be in there," she verbally slapped my hand, apparently uninterested in the reason for my squeal. "Your guilty conscience is making you see things."