I had a friend at work. You probably think, “What? Friendship at work? BIG NO NO.” Well, I always like breaking rules, don’t I? Normally, I got away with it, but this time, I got into trouble… BIG trouble.
With this workmate-friend, we’ve always helped each other. When I needed a quick favour, she was always there. Even in difficult times, she had my back. I could always rely on her, and she could rely on me.
One particularly stressful day at work, I messaged her with a question. I was having a horrible morning. Everybody wanted something from me—people were throwing questions at me as if it was the Prime Minister’s Q&A time. All I wanted to do was shout, “Leave me alone, people!” Additionally, I had scheduled millions of calls with clients.
During this chaos, I had to jump on an urgent Zoom call with an important client. All the big “heads” were there—and my manager too. We were discussing serious problems they were facing. We managed to create some solutions, and everybody seemed happy.
Of course, as a modern digital slave at a large international company, I was also answering incoming messages and asking my friend for help at the same time.
And that’s when it happened. I was finishing the call and thanking my friend… when suddenly, I heard myself say, “Love youuuu!” SHIT! Did I really say it out loud? To all those people on the call?! Maybe I only thought I said it… but the looks on their faces confirmed my worst fear.
I saw my face turn red. Nobody said a word, but somewhere in the background, I heard someone laughing.
SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!
To save whatever professional face, I quickly added, “Speak to you later,” and hung up.
A few minutes later, I got an email. From the Director of the company:
“We love you too :)”
📘 Phrase Glossary
| Text in Context | Expression / Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| I always like breaking rules, don’t I? | breaking rules | deliberately not following rules |
| Normally, I got away with it, but this time, I got into trouble… BIG trouble. | trouble | serious problem or difficulty |
| With this workmate-friend, we’ve always helped each other. | workmate-friend | colleague who is also your friend |
| When I needed a quick favour, she was always there. | favour | help someone does for you |
| Even in difficult times, she had my back. | back | support from someone |
| I could always rely on her, and she could rely on me. | rely on | depend on someone |
| One particularly stressful day at work… | stressful | causing tension or pressure |
| People were throwing questions at me… | throwing questions | asking many questions quickly |
| During this chaos, I had to jump on an urgent Zoom call. | chaos | complete confusion |
| I had to jump on an urgent Zoom call. | jump on | join quickly |
| I was also answering incoming messages and asking my friend for help. | answering incoming messages | replying to messages that arrive |
| Maybe I only thought I said it… but the looks on their faces confirmed my worst fear. | looks on their faces | expressions showing emotions |
| To save whatever professional face I had left… | save (face) | protect your reputation or avoid embarrassment |
❓Quiz Time
🎯True or False
🧠 Grammar explained
Past Simple 🟢
Used for completed actions in the past, often in sequence.
- Examples from your story (regular):
- messaged, helped, wanted, added
- Examples (irregular):
- had, got, saw, heard, said, hung, thought, turned, was/were, managed, seemed, happened, confirmed
Past Continuous 🔵
Used for ongoing actions in the past, often happening at the same time as another action.
- Examples from your story:
- I was having a horrible morning.
- People were throwing questions at me.
- We were discussing serious problems.
- I was finishing the call and thanking my friend.
Past Continuous often sets the scene, while Past Simple tells what happened next.
Regular vs Irregular Verbs 🟣
have → had, get → got, see → saw, say → said, hear → heard, turn → turned (turn is actually regular), think → thought, go → went
Regular verbs form the past simple by adding -ed:
help → helped, want → wanted, add → added
Irregular verbs have special past forms that don’t follow a rule:
🤓 Time for Grammar practice
✍️ Writing Practice
Task: Write a short paragraph (5–7 sentences) describing a funny or embarrassing moment at work when you accidentally said or did something in front of colleagues. Include:
- How others reacted
- How you felt in the moment
- What happened
Example Prompt to Ask ChatGPT for Help:
“Hi AI, I wrote a short paragraph about an embarrassing moment at work. Please correct any grammar, vocabulary, or style mistakes, and suggest ways to make it sound more natural and fluent in English. Keep the meaning and humour intact.”
🤖Ask AI for help
Here is a prompt you can use for further studies:
Hi AI, I want to practise English grammar in the past tense and vocabulary related to work. Please: Give me 2–3 extra sentences using the new vocabulary for me to rewrite in the past tense.” Give me 5–10 sentences with blanks where I need to fill in the correct past tense form of the verbs. Include work-related vocabulary (e.g., meeting, client, project, manager, deadline). After I answer, correct my sentences and explain any mistakes.
Check out more grammar sessions for Past Simple and learn by reading Graded Stories!