smoke break

he puts out his cigarette in the ashtray. it’s done with an elegance, the kind you can’t find in just any regular smoker. it’s earned through persistence, through force of habit, through the need for control.

control, such a rare sight nowadays, so rare that one has to find it in places and things that in the long run might end up taking that control away. 

that fact somewhere hidden in his mind, he offers a light to the man fumbling around checking his pockets. the guy probably forgot it in the car, no way he left it at home, the man has a cigarette case for gods sake, he has to have a lighter with him at all times!

the first man leaves, the second smokes his cigarette, relaxing his muscles as he inhales and exhales and inhales and exhales almost endlessly. smoke entering and leaving his body, some of it to forever stay, a questionable price for a moment of control.

i’m no better than these men, i’m on my second one, it’s called a SMOKE BREAK, why shouldn’t i take advantage. it’s cold, so much so that i shiver, my jacket is in the locker in the backroom, only to be retrieved after i finally regain my life back and get out of here. 

the man puts out his cigarette in the ashtray. i do the same. he keeps the door open for me and we return back to the heat of the kitchen, back to work.