Click any sentence to jump to that moment
Tap an underlined word to see what it means.
Adrián works in a big office. He likes coffee very much. Every morning, he goes to the office kitchen to make coffee. One Tuesday morning, Adrián walks into the kitchen. He sees the coffee . It has a small red light on it. The red light means it is not ready. Adrián presses the button. Nothing happens. He presses it again. Nothing happens again. He looks at the . He reads a small on the . The says, 'Please wait. is cleaning.' Adrián . He does not want to wait. But he has no . He stands next to the and waits. A few minutes later, a woman walks into the kitchen. Her name is Sara. Sara also wants coffee.
She sees Adrián standing there. 'Is the ?' she asks. 'No,' says Adrián. 'It is cleaning. We have to wait.' Sara looks at the . 'Oh,' she says. 'I see.' She stands next to Adrián. At first, they do not talk. It is a little quiet. Then Sara looks at Adrián. 'Do you work on the third floor?' she asks. 'Yes,' says Adrián. 'I work in the marketing team.' 'Really?' says Sara. 'I work in the finance team. We are on the second floor.' Adrián smiles. 'I did not know that,' he says. 'I always see you in the lift, but I never say hello.' Sara laughs a little. 'Me too,' she says. 'I am always in a in the morning.' Adrián nods. 'Yes, me too,' he says. They keep talking.
Sara tells Adrián about her work. She writes about money. Adrián talks about his work too. He makes plans to help sell products. 'That sounds interesting,' says Sara. 'I never really know what the marketing team does.' 'It is very busy work,' says Adrián. 'But I enjoy it.' Then the coffee makes a loud sound. The red light turns green. The is ready now. 'Finally!' says Adrián. He laughs. Sara laughs too. They both make their coffee. 'It was nice to talk to you,' says Sara. 'Yes,' says Adrián. 'Maybe we can have coffee together again tomorrow.' 'I would like that,' says Sara. They walk out of the kitchen together. Adrián feels happy. He thinks the wait was not so bad after all. Sometimes a long wait brings a nice .
a piece of equipment that does a job
"Adrián presses the button on the coffee machine."
a short written message
"He reads a small note on the machine."
to breathe out slowly because you are tired or unhappy
"Adrián sighs because he does not want to wait."
the chance to pick between two or more things
"He has no choice, so he waits."
not working correctly
"Sara asks if the machine is broken."
the need to do something quickly
"Sara is always in a hurry in the morning."
a written document with information about something
"Sara writes reports about money."
something unexpected that happens
"Sometimes a long wait brings a nice surprise."
have no choice
there is only one thing you can do
"The machine is not ready, so Adrián has no choice but to wait."
in a hurry
needing to do something quickly
"Sara says she is always in a hurry in the morning."
at first
in the beginning
"At first, Adrián and Sara do not talk to each other."
keep talking
to continue a conversation
"They keep talking while they wait for the coffee machine."
sounds interesting
used to say that something seems good or exciting
"Sara says Adrián's job sounds interesting."
after all
used to say something is different from what you expected
"Adrián thinks the wait was not so bad after all."
say hello
to greet someone
"Adrián says he never stops to say hello to Sara in the lift."
I would like that
used to say yes to an offer in a polite way
"Sara says 'I would like that' when Adrián suggests having coffee together."
Finished the A2 version? Challenge yourself with the B1 intermediate story.
One short story every morning at your level, with audio, key words and a quiz. Free. Unsubscribe any time.