Employee pretends to be friendly with coworker for months only to extract important information about the workplace: 'The friendship part might have been real at first, but somewhere along the way it started feeling more like a project to him'

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Jun 28, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Detectives in the workplace

Back when I was in high school, I was terrified of something like this happening to me, the classical story: the boys make a bet to see who can ask the ugliest girl out, and it turns out I'm the oblivious girl thinking she has a chance with the high school heartthrob. Well, this story doesn't involve that kind of heartbreak, but it does involve someone giving a long, controlled performance to get the information they wanted. I'm struggling to think of what kind of information could be so important, and why there weren't less ridiculous ways to obtain it for the detective-esque colleague.

At any rate, we love to see a performative person turn life into an intrigue movie, and aside from the tiny disillusionment the coworker had to face, we're now gifted with opportunities to turn this situation into a hilarious piece of detective fiction. Does this have the potential to become a 'whodunit' kinda novel?

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  • a man and a woman sitting at a table with a laptop talking to each other
    via Rodeo Project Management Software

    Two models representing the fake coworker friends

  • My coworker pretended to be my friend for months and I finally found out why

    When I started at my current job, one coworker immediately took me under his wing. We'd eat lunch together, he'd invite me to grab coffee, ask about my weekend, remember little details about my life. Honestly, it
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • was nice because I'm not the most social person and making friends at work has never come naturally to me.
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • Over the next few months he became the person I talked to the most in the office. If there was office gossip, he'd know it. If I was frustrated about something, I'd vent to him. I genuinely thought we'd stay friends even if one of
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • us left the company someday. A few weeks ago I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and another coworker. They didn't know I was nearby. The other guy
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • joked that my coworker must be upset because "his source is getting promoted." My coworker laughed and said something like, "Yeah, now I'll have to start all over with someone else."
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • Turns out he'd been using me as an information source the entire time. Because I worked closely with another department, I'd often hear about upcoming changes before most people. Nothing confidential, just stuff that
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • man in blue denim jacket sitting besides woman with mug
    via Zest Tea

    A representation of the coworker  overhearing every important piece of information

  • naturally came up in meetings. He'd ask innocent questions, I'd answer without thinking, and he'd pass information around like he had special connections.
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • What really got me wasn't that he wanted information. It was realizing how many conversations suddenly made sense. All those check-ins, random coffee breaks, questions that seemed casual at the time.
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • The friendship part might have been real at first, but somewhere along the way it started feeling more like a project to him. Now he's acting exactly the same as always and has no idea that I know. I
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • haven't confronted him because honestly I don't know what the point would be. But it's weird sitting across from someone every day when your entire view of them changed in about 30 seconds.
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • Maybe I'm overreacting, but finding out someone values your access more than your company kinda sks.
    via Relative-Soft-3118
  • man with a hat smoking a pipe looking mysterious
    via Sander Sammy

    A depiction of how the coworker must've felt after he pulled his big performance

  • Of course, I think our friend now has to start giving the workplace detective false, misleading information to cause erratic behaviour. I would advise saying things that don’t compromise the other person’s position, so we can keep it funny and less dramatic, but I would go full-force into performance mode. She could also let the other coworker who’s about to be used know what's coming to them and plan a strategy against it. The key is always confusing the enemy. Ideally, he will get to such confusion that he’ll have to start asking direct questions and will stop seeming so friendly. Either way, an attitude like this won’t get you very far in life. People sooner or later realize you are fake, and you will end up alone, with fewer opportunities than the ones you’d have if you had been adorable and hardworking.

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Tags

workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
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