No, a picture wouldn’t do justice. This called for footage. Yochi held his phone up

Yochi dumped his coffee cup in the trash can under his desk.

What was that joke Reuven Fischman had shared with him recently? A guy was on his way out of the office, heading to the airport, when the IRS showed up. The guy smiled and said, “Come on in. I’m sorry I have to leave now, I have a flight to catch, but do what you need to do, and remember to turn off the lights on the way out.”

A good story, very funny — for anyone who happened not to be an accountant.

The team at TTS Freight Brokers, Yochie knew, was not smiling or catching any flights. They believed the word “audit” meant doomsday, and they layered stress on Yochi with hourly phone calls and emails.

Yochi knew what he had to do. Audits, no matter how dreaded, were inevitable, and when they happened, the Hartstein Group was equipped to handle them. It was only the timing that was awful. There were so many returns to file, even if he worked straight through until April 15 without going home to sleep, he didn’t see how he would make it on time.

It wasn’t only him. On his way to the water cooler, Yochi poked his head into his colleagues’ cubicles. He could touch the tension in the air. Focus, focus, focus. Everyone was forcing himself to focus, crunch every last cent, collect every last form, log every deposit, every expense, make sure that every client of the Hartstein Group received the professional service the firm was famous for.

At Mendy Kraus’s cubicle, Yochi paused. Mendy’s head was on his desk, buried in his folded hands, and his back was rising and falling.

Yochi’s eyes glinted. This was gold. Mendy Kraus, who volunteered for Kulanu during his “free time,” Mendy who showed up first and left last every day, Mendy who also ran a boys’ choir and took care of company parties and felt personally responsible to count and announce how many coffees Yochi drank every day. Mendy Kraus was sleeping.

It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Yochi took out his phone and tiptoed closer to the cubicle. Snap.

No, a picture wouldn’t do justice. This called for footage. Yochi held his phone up.

He got two full minutes recorded. Forgetting his drink, he hurried back to his desk, and uploaded it to Slack.

Half a minute later, it started. A loud chuckle, a throaty laugh joined in, and suddenly the entire office was in the hallway, shaking with laughter.