I have a colleague, she is senior to me but not my boss. We have always had a good relationship and I know she has always thought well of me, as I did (do) her.
Last week, I said something to her in a really clumsy way. It came out really badly and the next day she came to me to tell me that she had been a bit hurt by my comments. I could totally understand why she took it like that, and I did my best to apologise and explain what I had really meant. I do always try to be sensitive to people's feelings but for some reason I really put my foot in it. We talked about it, cleared the air and all was fine.
Except things are a bit weird and certain topics feel a bit awkward if they relate to the misunderstanding. Anyway, I feel sad about it because I felt like we always got along so nicely and I feel bad that I've created a bit of a mess. It wasn't very serious, but my words made this colleague feel like she wasn't good at her job and that's not true at all.
Who wants to chat to me about these weird, lingering weird feelings after a situation has been resolved? Both she and I are very sensitive people and I'm just feeling a bit :-( about it.