To be honest, I didn't like my boss—a foul-mouthed man who was prone to sudden mood swings.

#nana56b


Synopsis

The atmosphere in the office was as sharp and taut
as a stretched string.

Only the cold, mechanical clacking of keyboard keys
echoed through the room, and everyone was staring
intently at their monitors. It was my fourth spring
at the company. Normally, today was supposed to be a
special day for me—my first wedding anniversary. My
wife had been excitedly saying, “I’m going to
splurge and grill some steak!” But a massive system
failure that occurred at 3:00 p.m. ruthlessly
shattered that modest plan.

“Hey, aren’t you done yet?”

A piercing voice rang out from behind me. It was my
direct supervisor, Section Chief Takeda. He always
seemed in a bad mood, and his words were sharp. To
be honest, I didn’t get along well with him—his
instructions changed depending on his mood.

The atmosphere around me was thick with the
expectation that we’d have to stay overnight. In
the midst of this chaos, there was no way I could
say something like, “It’s my wedding anniversary,
so please let me go home.” Time was ticking away.
When the clock struck five, my heart was consumed
by resignation.

“Sato, come here for a moment.”

Summoned by Section Chief Takeda, I headed to a
separate room. Bracing myself for a scolding, I
was instead handed a white envelope.

“Take this right now and deliver it to K Products
in the neighboring prefecture. Their representative
is waiting for you.”

My mind went blank. K Products was at least a three-
hour drive from here, even at top speed. If I left
right now, I wouldn’t arrive until 8:00 p.m. Even
if I turned around immediately after that, I
wouldn’t get home until after midnight.

“Um, Section Chief, with everything going on right
now, is it really okay for me to leave…”
“Just go. Once you’ve delivered it, you can head
straight home.”

He spat out the words and turned his back on me,
cutting off any chance for me to object. “Check the
contents in the car. Hurry up and go—this is a waste
of time.”

With my colleagues’ sympathetic glances on my back,
I hurried toward the parking lot as if fleeing. My
hands trembled with anger as I gripped the steering
wheel. I thought it was harassment. To go out of
their way to send me all the way out here in the
middle of all this chaos.

I got into the car and roughly tore open the
envelope. What came out wasn’t a work document, but
a scrap of loose-leaf paper.

Written on it in rough, scrawled handwriting were
just two lines.

“Happy wedding anniversary. Just go home today.”

My vision suddenly blurred.

I was speechless. The way he’d sent me away—so
coldly, so dismissively—had been his own clumsy
“lie,” meant to ensure I could leave the office
without feeling guilty. Taking full responsibility
for the trouble and sending his subordinate home to
his family—that resolve was packed into that single
envelope.

My tears, now unstoppable, soaked the scrap of paper
on my lap. Since starting …