[ RF ] A person living far , far away from home receives a package from his/her family .

`` How long have you been working here?'' 
 
 `` It's been about a year and a half now, I think.'' 
 Sometimes you do n't realize how much time flies until you look back at it. 
 
 `` Were you always in this department?'' 
 
 `` Yeah, why?'' 
 
 `` Has the chief always been so... cold?'' 
 
 `` Hm? I mean, I guess he's not as friendly as–'' 
 
 `` It's just that someone was talking to him in the hall, and he seemed so unfriendly.'' 
 For a new hire, Timmy sure did n't seem to have much work to do. Though that pile of papers on his desk was n't getting any smaller. 
 
 `` Maybe he was in a bad mood; everyone gets those. You're not working directly with him anyway, so do n't get caught up in it.'' I motioned to his stack of files. `` Did n't Ms. Ming say that you were supposed to get through those by today?'' 
 
 `` Oh, right!'' He turned back to his work, and I thought he was done. I had my own deadline to make. `` It's just that,'' he turned back to me to say, `` everyone else has been super friendly so far, so I was just wondering.'' 
 \ -- - 
 
 Timmy chats a bit too much, but he's not the first to mention how different our section chief is. I noticed it when I first started as well. The chief always has this stern look on his face, and his remarks are always short and to-the-point, like he does n't have time to waste. It never felt particularly unfriendly to me though. He was just a busy guy. 
 
 It was n't until I started hearing people complaining during lunch, about how much harder our section has to work, that I wondered if maybe our section did have things worse. People kept saying how we would always have to re-do our reports multiple times, how their presentations were never good enough. Everyone company has people like that, I thought. They probably just did n't work hard enough. 
 
 But then I started getting nearly every report back to re-do. I got assignments where I'd have to work on my day off. I started noticing how friendly the other section chiefs were, how relaxing their work looked. And I started getting tired of staying late so many days to finish my work. 
 \ -- - 
 
 Once, I fell asleep in the office and did n't wake up until morning. I do n't think I even finished the report I was working on, but I really needed to stretch my arms and legs a bit. I'd never been, but I decided to head up to the building rooftop for some air. The sight was n't anything really beautiful, just a bunch of buildings really. There was a bit of a clearing in one direction, towards the park. 
 
 `` What are you doing here so early?'' I heard behind. I turned and saw the chief sitting on a bench, well-dressed and groomed, looking ready for another day. 
 
 Not moving from my spot, I said, `` Oh, sir. I was getting some air.'' 
 
 `` This early? At work?'' 
 
 `` Oh, ah, right,'' I stumbled. `` I was finishing some work and fell asleep last night.'' 
 
 `` Why did n't you just take your work home? It's nice to wake up at home.'' 
 
 I hated taking work home. I did my work at work. And besides, there's not really anyone waiting up for me at home. I was still living with my parents at the time, and they were always working at their store until late. Then they were out early in the morning again too. 
 I think I said something to that effect at the time. 
 
 And then, I said, `` Well sir, are n't you always at the office working too?'' 
 
 He stayed silent, like he did n't care to continue the small talk. 
 
 I'd gotten my fresh air, so I decided to head back to the office. `` I'll be going then, sir,'' I said, and he did n't respond. 
 
 As I passed by him, I noticed that his face looked a bit more haggard than I expected. And there was an opened box next to him with a small, very brightly-colored painting sitting inside. It was some kind of bird, and it looked beautiful. 
 
 I guess he caught me looking, because he said, `` My daughter painted it. She's only 13, but would n't you think a professional artist painted this?'' And then a brief smile flashed across his face, before it went blank again. 
 
 I did n't even know he had a daughter. He was always at work from what I saw and heard. He'd never taken a vacation in his 8 years with the company. His desk did n't have any photos of family or anything, so I'd always assumed he lived alone. I started wondering why he was always at work, with people waiting for him. 
 
 I sat down on the bench beside his. 
 `` Sir, why are you always at work?'' 
 
 `` Ah... Well, that's what I live to do,'' he said matter-of-factly. 
 
 `` Why do n't you go on vacation? With your family maybe.'' 
 
 `` Oh, I'm sure she's having tons of fun with her mother and her friends. Our schedules never quite work out, you know. And there's always work to do.'' With that, he got up. `` Time to get back to it, is n't it?'' He took his box and headed down. 
 \ -- - 
 
 I ran into Ms. Ming on my way off the elevator. She was something like the department's head secretary, and I came to find out that she was usually the first person to the office - well, after the chief anyway. 
 
 `` What are you doing here so early?'' she asked. 
 
 `` I slept here last night.'' 
 
 `` Where are you coming from?'' 
 
 `` Oh, the roof.'' 
 
 `` Is n't it nice up there! I used to go there in the mornings when I was stressed out, when I was new, you know.'' She paused briefly, `` Did you see the chief up there?'' 
 
 `` Yeah, that was a surprise.'' 
 
 `` Did you see the painting his daughter sent him? Was n't it just beautiful?'' 
 
 `` Yeah, it–'' 
 
 `` You know, sometimes I feel so bad for him. Everyone's always bad-mouthing him, but if your loved ones were thousands of miles away and all you had was work, how would you feel. You know?'' 
 
 `` Thousands of miles away?'' 
 
 `` Oh yeah. His daughter is studying abroad, and his wife went with her.'' 
 \ -- - 
 
 I let Ms. Ming get back to work, but I wanted to ask her more. She was the friendliest of the staff, and she somehow managed to get all her work done and watch out for use newbies. She might not have known more than she said though anyway. 
 
 After getting that peak of the chief's life, I wanted to know more. It really was n't any of my business though, and I doubt the chief wanted anyone else in his personal affairs. I thought about it much less as things at work continued to move like clockwork. But when I saw the chief from then on, I saw more than just sternness on his face.
