Once, completely by accident, I ended up bringing a stray puppy to work. I stumbled across him just five minutes before my shift was supposed to start. He was a scruffy little mutt, not much to look at, covered in mud from nose to tail. I tried to hide him in the corner of my office, but of course, he kept crawling out and squeaking, determined to be noticed. Inevitably, all my colleagues spotted him.
Then suddenly, all those public faces people put on just fell away in front of me.
There was our secretary, Charlotte, always so chatty and kind. Shes young and has a laugh that fills up the room, and her makeup is always on point. But the moment she saw the grubby puppy, her expression twisted in disgust, Daniel, are you not the tiniest bit squeamish? Look at the mess in here That cheerful, perfectly-painted smile disappeared completely, all because of the scruffy little chap wagging his muddied tail in the corner.
And then there was Mrs. Jenkins, our cleaner. Shes older, always seems tired, grumbles nonstopusually about the mess in the kitchen or too much tea being made. But her wrinkled face suddenly softened into this beaming smile. Oh, whos this with the waggy tail, then? Daniel, is this an official visitor, or just a personal one? The angry mask she usually wore was goneshe was just genuinely delighted by the puppy.
My colleague Tomnow hes the opposite. Always super helpful, always ready with a joke, always looks like he adores everyone. But that day, he didnt even step over the threshold. Face screwed up in horror, Tom muttered something about how strays bring in germs and diseases, and disappeared. Left behind was the paper-thin smile I realised he wore just to keep the peace, not out of genuine warmth.
But what really floored me was my boss, Mr. Richardson. Usually hes so stern, never cracks a smile, always seems one word away from telling everyone off. But he looked at me and said, quite simply, Daniel, I think you need a day off. Why dont you take the little fella home? Some things are more important than work, you know. Just dont toss him out on the street. Hes a living creature, after all. Then, in the most uncharacteristic way, he gave a shy little smile and hurried out, leaving his usual boss mask behind.
It hit me then, watching all those masks tumble down by my feetthe masks worn by people Id seen every day for years. Turns out, I barely knew them at all.
