I (27F) work with a small team and we all usually eat lunch together in the office kitchen. Nothing formal—just a bunch of us crowding around the counter or table with whatever we brought from home or picked up nearby. One of my coworkers, Leah (31F), went vegan a couple of years ago. She’s super open about it, like she’ll explain why she’s doing it if someone asks, but she doesn’t usually judge people for eating differently. Until… recently?

So I brought in leftovers from the Indian place near my apartment—chicken tikka masala, rice, and garlic naan. Honestly, I had been looking forward to it all morning. When I heated it up, I noticed Leah wrinkle her nose and step back a bit, so I said, kind of jokingly, “It’s chicken but I’ve got extra naan if you want some?”

She said no thanks, and I sat down and started eating. We were talking about something random—TV shows or whatever—and about halfway through lunch she stopped and said, “Hey, I don’t mean to be rude, but can you maybe not eat that right here? The smell is just really… intense.”

I kind of froze and said, “I mean, I already warmed it up and we’re all sitting here,” and she just went, “Yeah, no, I get it. It’s just—ugh. Never mind.” She got up and left the kitchen.

Later that afternoon, another coworker told me Leah was upset and thought I was being “deliberately inconsiderate.” But I offered her some food (the naan, not the chicken), and she said no. She didn’t mention any discomfort until I was halfway through my meal, and by then… what was I supposed to do? Put it away and be hungry?

It’s not like I plopped down next to her and waved a chicken leg in her face. I get that some smells can be a lot—hell, I hate when people bring fish—but we all eat there, and I’ve seen her bring in stuff that smells like cumin and kale and fermented mushrooms or something, and no one’s ever said anything.

Now I feel like I’ve accidentally made some kind of statement when I really just wanted to eat my lunch. AITA for not stopping once I realized she was uncomfortable?