“That shit’s bad for you, you know.” 

I turn my head to the side to see my coworker sitting on the bench beside me, grimacing at me. I slowly chew the hunk of chocolate I’ve just bitten off, enjoying the sweet moment of bliss, ensuring the last little bit slides down my throat before I take the time to respond. 

“It does? But it tastes so good!” 

“And?” She scoffs, squinting at me. “Apples taste good, eat those instead! I’ve already told you so many times.” 

“Twenty-seven times. I’ve been counting. Why don’t you think about this for a second, hm?” I raise the bar of chocolate to my mouth and sink my teeth into it, the taste filling my mouth once again. I can’t help but smile a little, and this time, I don’t bother finishing chewing before I speak, but I do cover my mouth. “If you keep telling me, and I never listen, why do you keep doing it?” I wipe my hand on my pants, cleaning the spittle off it. She looks even more disgusted. 

“Unlike you, I actually care about being healthy, that’s why!” She scoffs, turning away and pulling a cigarette pack from her back pocket. I raise an eyebrow. 

“I didn’t know you smoked.” 

“It’s for stress,” she snaps, taking one cigarette out of the pack, putting it to her lips and lighting it. I watch her take a puff, the stench of smoke filling the air almost immediately. 

“You know,” I say, stuffing the last bit of the chocolate bar into my mouth and crumpling the wrapper up, shoving it into my pocket, “cigarettes cause cancer.” 

“Everything causes cancer. Bananas cause cancer, and you don’t see anyone telling people not to eat bananas.” She takes another puff, and I wave my hand in front of my face, which does little to disperse the vile stench of cigarette smoke. She relaxes back into the bench, closing her eyes. “Besides, I only do it every once in a while.” 

“When you’re stressed?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Looks like it works wonders.” 

She smiles, and her eyebrows flash for a moment, keeping her eyes closed. “Should try it sometime.” 

“Nah. That shit’s bad for you.” 

She chuckles, taking one final puff and stubbing the butt out on the bench, flicking it onto the ground. “Touche.” 

We sit there in silence for a moment, watching as the breeze sweeps up the occasional leaf, blowing it across the quiet road in front of us. 

“Still gonna tell me chocolate is bad for me tomorrow?” 

She thinks about it for a moment. “I’ll give it a rest, I suppose.” 

“You’d better. I’m going to spend my evening researching everything bad about cigarettes just in case you change your mind.” 

“Whatever,” she laughs, standing up and brushing her clothes down, as if to get rid of the cigarette stink. “Back to work?” 

I sigh, standing as well. “I suppose so, yup.”