Bad tension starting to rise at work

[wintersl33p]

tl;dr: Crazy week at work. Work friend is upset at the amount of OT she has to do. Pulls me into it, goes to CEO and starts bad mouthing me because she thinks it's unfair and doesn't think I'm pulling my weight. She also doesn't understand the details of my job so she throws a hissy fit behind my back resulting in bad tension all around.

 

Please excuse any grammatical mistakes, and I'm sorry if it's really wordy, but I am really annoyed and fed up with the current situation that is unfolding at work. To make things easy, I will name the people in the story Girl A and Girl B. Girl A is older, typically quiet and very hard-working; people often take advantage of her because of that. Girl B is also hard-working, but also boisterous, enjoys gossip and is opinionated. She's not afraid to speak her mind.

 

So, I work at a small company and have been there for about 4 years. Currently I share an office space with 3 other people. We all get along for the most part and, to my knowledge, there have been no big issues among us. We also commiserate just about everyday because of normal job duties and annoyances. Girl B and I talk with each other the most. She can be very outspoken and is the gossip queen in our little department, so everything that filters through the company I usually hear from her. We never had an issue, it was always things happening with other people. We laugh about it and go on with our day. Well, this is where the problem starts.

 

Last week my manager was on vacation. The week he left, we were hit with a lot of unsuspected deadlines. Girl A was second in charge while he was gone. Everyone was busting ass to get things done. I am responsible for a major account and that takes up a majority of my time. Not only that but I'm the only one that works on that account. We all chip in to work and finish deadlines from other accounts. Since Girl A is in charge, she generally hands out the job duties for the day. Because it was busy, she asked us to rotate and do OT on different days. Girl B and I both do OT that week.

 

On Wednesday, I am asked by Girl A to come in early and stay late. I oblige and finish my work. This is where the problem starts with Girl B. Everyone in the office surfs the web when there is downtime or we can't move further without answers from another department. Apparently, Girl B was offended by my web surfing. This is coming from a girl that asked me how to post stuff on Craigslist while we were at work just recently. I don't care about people's computer habits unless their work becomes mines. The next day, Thursday, we are busy once again. This time Girl A asks Girl B to stay late, since we are rotating. Girl B has kind of hissy fit and says she can't. On top of that, before she leaves, she tries to pawn off her unfinished job to Girl A. Girl A isn't having any of it, so she declines. Girl B is expecting it to be done when she comes into work the next morning, and is genuinely surprised Girl A wasn't a pushover for once. Girl B complains about Girl A to me. Later Thursday afternoon, Girl A asks me if Girl B was upset she didn't do Girl B's job. I said yes, and left it at that. Girl A also informs me Girl B complained about me not 'working as hard' and felt it was unfair.

 

So now you see there is a tornado of complaints about to happen. Friday comes around and I don't have to do OT and am working on other side projects that are still work related. But all my deadline stuff is done. Girl A hands Girl B a rather big project about 2 hours before she has to leave. Girl B once again has a hissy hit and says why can't Girl A give that job to me. Girl B reluctantly takes the job and has to do 30 minutes OT that day. She leaves pissed.

 

Now onto today, I learn that Girl B was so pissed about everything during the week, she went and spoke to the CEO. Remember our company is small and the CEO has an open door policy. How did I find out? Girl A, who's usually a pushover, was also annoyed at her behavior, so she did me a solid and told me Girl B went to the CEO to complain not only about the OT but about ME specifically, and how she felt I wasn't working as much as her. CEO hasn't said a word to me, told her to work it out within the department. Honestly, I was shocked. Girl B and I are supposed to be work friends, and in my time there, I have never gone to the freaking CEO to sort of any issues within the department. Girl B is a bit of a hypocrite, because she blasts other people for doing it, and yet here she is doing the same thing about me.

 

Today, my boss came back and the atmosphere was awkward. Girl B didn't really talk to me all day, and vice versa. I have never really been in this position, and have to work in the same office on a daily basis. I'm not sure how to confront her or if I even should. She can be a bit hot headed when she thinks she's right, and it's really hard for her to see other people's perspectives. Also note, everyone involved in this fiasco (besides me) are lifers at this place so nepotism is REAL here. I don't want to ruffle any feathers because nothing good can come out of this. I realize now I have to very careful around her and there isn't really any way to go back to being work friends.

Edited August 28, 2017 by wintersl33p