He was taking things out of the fridge and throwing them on the kitchen counter in a pile. Sharon was in the shower and he thought it was a good chance to make a real difference in their eating habits. It was for everyone's benefit, really. She would understand, he hoped. It's not like she cooked very often and the fridge and freezer were naturally quite empty, save for a bottle of imported Chardonnay, eggs and some dairy products. He suspected she got all this food because of him.
"Rusty, what are you doing?" she came into the kitchen, wiping her long hair with a purple towel.
"I'm cleaning our fridge and throwing out the bad stuff" he replied and threw a bag of frozen chicken wings on the counter.
"Everything in there is fresh" Sharon picked up one of boxes from the counter. "This one only expires in three months."
"It's bad for us. We shouldn't eat this" Rusty replied and put a box of frozen hamburgers on the counter. Sharon inspected the pile. There was nothing wrong with the expiry dates.
"This is all meat" she stated.
"Yeah," Rusty shrugged. "We're not eating meat anymore." A box of hotdogs landed on the counter and made Sharon jump.
"You're becoming a vegetarian?" Sharon asked.
"We are becoming vegetarians" Rusty corrected her, grabbing a pack of bacon and tossing it on the counter.
"Rusty, stop." She grabbed a box from his hand and put it back in the freezer. "Can we talk about this?"
"Yes, after I'm done cleaning the fridge" Rusty replied and took the box out of the fridge, throwing it into the pile of banned products.
"Why do you want to become a vegetarian?" Sharon asked.
"Because meat is not good for us and it's not good for the animals to be killed so we can eat them."
"Elaborate, please. What made you want to stop eating meat?" Sharon put her hands on her hips.
"I saw this video on Youtube about how they kill the animals. I don't want to take part in mass murder. You should understand, being a murder investigator" Rusty said.
"No, I don't want to take part in a mass murder, but I still don't understand why we have to throw all this food away. We have it already, so maybe we can finish it and not buy those products anymore" Sharon suggested.
"You're Catholic. You know all about damage to your soul and stuff. Father Turner spoke about it at mass last week" Rusty explained.
"I thought you never listen at mass." The expression on Sharon's face was something between horror and contempt. She had a very weak belief in the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
"Sometimes I do, when the things Father Turner says make sense" Rusty admitted.
"What did he say?" Sharon tried her best not to look frustrated by the atrocity that was going on in her kitchen.
"He said that when you do something that is bad, your soul becomes corrupt" Rusty explained. Sharon nodded slowly. "And murder is a bad thing, so maybe it's good for our souls that we stop eating meat." Sharon cursed herself inwardly for sending Rusty to a Catholic school. She should have looked for a different private school that would feed him less religious bullshit. It was too late to change it now.
"Alright. I won't say I agree with that but if that is what you want, we'll do it" she said. "But the next time you want to change your lifestyle and want me to change mine too, please discuss it with me first." Rusty nodded and took a trash bag out of one of the kitchen drawers; he unfolded and opened it.
"You can do the honors." He gestured towards the bag and Sharon threw all the meat products into it. "I'm going to throw away the trash" he said and walked outside her apartment with the bag in hand.
"I have created a monster" Sharon mumbled under her breath as she poured herself a glass of Chardonnay to calm herself down.
A/N: I am a vegetarian, but I do not wish to preach vegetarianism to anyone. Do what makes you happy. I hope you enjoyed this story.