The Office Prank That Went Too Far
A free B2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A small April Fools' prank on a coworker spirals into an office-wide incident once the wrong person drinks the salted coffee first.
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Theo had been planning his April Fools' prank on Reem for exactly three weeks. She had replaced his stapler with a slightly heavier one weeks earlier and never confessed to it. His plan was simple: swap the sugar in the break room with salt, just for the first cup of coffee she made that morning.
What Theo hadn't accounted for was that their new office manager, Victor, always arrived early and always made the first pot of coffee. By the time Reem walked in, half the office had already been served, and complaints were spreading faster than Theo could explain himself.
"Someone," Victor announced at the ten o'clock meeting, holding up a mug like evidence, "has replaced the sugar with salt." He said he wanted to know who thought that was funny.
Theo considered confessing immediately. Instead, watching Reem's face carefully to see if she suspected him, he said nothing. That turned out to be a mistake, because his silence read as guilt to at least three coworkers.
By lunchtime, a rumor had spread that Theo was retaliating against the whole office for something unrelated to Reem entirely. Someone suggested it was about a parking spot. Someone else was certain it involved the printer.
Reem cornered him near the copier. "Was this about the stapler?"
"Maybe," Theo admitted. "It was supposed to be a joke, just for you. I didn't think Victor would drink the first cup."
"You should have tested it on someone who wasn't in charge of our performance reviews," Reem said, though she was clearly fighting a smile.
"In hindsight, yes."
They agreed, quietly, to tell Victor the truth before the rumors grew any larger, though neither of them was eager to volunteer first. In the end, they walked into his office together. Reem did most of the talking, explaining the stapler, the salt, and the accidental scale of the whole disaster.
Victor listened, unreadable, for a long moment. "I'm not angry," he finally said. "I'm just disappointed that a simple prank turned into a security incident by ten fifteen."
Theo and Reem exchanged a look of mutual, silent apology. Neither of them touched the sugar again for the rest of the year.
