Page 53 of Warrior's Walk
“If I did, would I be asking you for advice?”
“Oh, I didn’t hear you ask.” He pops a meatball in his mouth.
Lord in heaven, give me the patience not to choke this man.“Brewer, in your expert opinion,” I mock, “what do you think I should do about Rhett’s growing attraction toward me?”
“What do you want to do?” he returns frustratingly.
“Come the fuck on, Brewer. That’s not advice, you’re just turning the tables on me. If I wanted to answer my own questions, I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“You already have the answer. You don’t need to ask me.”
“Really? And what’s that?”
He glances over his shoulder toward the vending machines. “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.” Brewer crosses the room and purchases a snack from the machines, and when he returns, he drops a king-sized candy bar on the table.
“Dessert? I haven’t even finished lunch yet.”
Brewer takes his seat. “Tell me what you see.”
“A big-ass candy bar.”
“Yes,” he laughs. “But look closer. What do you see?”
I don’t know what game he’s playing with me, and I wish he would just make his damn point already. Reading from the label, I say aloud, “Dark chocolate, family-sized bar, seventy-seven percent cacao, satisfaction guaranteed.”
“Good. What does that mean?”
Blowing out a frustrated sigh, I push my garlic bread through a puddle of spaghetti sauce on my plate. “I don’t know, that it’s sweet? Just say what you want to say.”
“At first glance, it’s a huge bar of chocolate. Sweet, decadent, and delicious. You want it. It’s hard to resist.”
“Is the candy bar supposed to be Rhett in this situation?”
“Do you want it to be?” he asks with a raised brow.
“Jesus Christ, just go on.”
Brewer grins, clearly amused by my irritation. “Your second thought is that as much as you want to have it, you know sensibly that if you eat an entire king-size candy bar in one sitting, there will be consequences, correct?”
“Yeah, I’ll have a stomachache. I’ll feel like shit.” Where is he going with this?
“Exactly! So, it’s a red flag and you pull back. But if you look closer, maybe flip it over and read the ingredients, you can see it says that it’s seventy-seven percent cacao, dark chocolate with very little sugar. Many studies show that dark chocolate is actually beneficial to your health. Abundant in antioxidants andminerals, and it supports brain function, a healthy heart, and healthy skin.”
“Are you lobbying forHershey’s?”
“No,” he smirks. “Just pointing out that perhaps your red flags are biased against most chocolate bars, but not this chocolate bar in particular.”
“Good God, do you feed this shit to your patients?” I blow out a heavy breath and grab my iced tea. “Okay, so the chocolate bar is sweet and delicious and healthy for me. Now what?”
“Knowing that, would you still grab it and eat the entire thing in one sitting?”
“Probably not. I’m still gonna get a stomachache.”
“Exactly, because everything in moderation, correct?”
“Yeah, moderation,” I agree.
“So, if you were to approach the candy bar with that attitude, eating small amounts here and there, perhaps two ounces a day, would that make you sick?”