My life seems to be missing snack variety lately. It must be because of that passionate secret lunch hour love affair I’ve been carrying on with a certain chain of midtown sandwich shops.

How did Pret a Manger, a UK-based company nurtured by McDonald’s that’s expanding at Chipotle speed capture my heart? Especially in a part of town clogged with ‘Wichcrafts and Cosis, with the ever-interchangeable, always forgettable Metro and Europa Cafes? I typically resist analyzing the magic too closely during the honeymoon phase but inevitably my nerdy nature takes over, poking for correlations in my love-drenched brain. On examination it seems this place has my needs nailed down to a science.

Clearly the marketeers at headquarters recognized the impulsive, impatient, non-comittal, germaphobic, health-conscious luncher with a sweet tooth. Pret a Manger has takeout portions positioned temptingly near the door, ushering one inside along a wall of freshly-made salads and sandwiches. Everything is neatly boxed, all ingredients are clearly labelled, and I’m free to pick up, examine, and put back; I can even buy half a sandwich if I’m feeling porky. I never wait in line to pay more than twenty seconds, which is about the limit of my line-waiting patience, and which passes in an eyeblink as I ogle the sweets arrayed along the registers.

But even more curiously, Pret a Manger seems clued in to my less obvious desires. What healthy-seeming pseudo-vegetable does Sara hanker for endlessly (avocado–and they always have something with avocado). What all-natural sugar-charged beverage did she comfort herself with in college (bottled raspberry smoothies). What no-guilt treat does she find irresistible (individually packaged mini brownies–I simply won’t allow myself near a normal-sized brownie). The trouble is, after a week of seven-dollar egg salad sandwiches, accompanied with peach iced teas, blueberry-pomegranate yogurts and bite-sized brownies, I’m staring at the lining of my wallet, realizing that THIS is where the money’s been disappearing to.

It’s a total buzzkill, but I’ll go back. I mean come on, there’s a Pret a Manger one block from my workplace. And in love and lunch, proximity is key.

Find yourself some Pret a Manger lovin.