I started a new job in June and was sharing an office with a girl who I seemed to have an instant connection with. This girl had been at the company for some 4 years and the whole "team" had disappeared leaving just her behind.
Five of us started on the same day but it turned out that each of these new recruits drove her mad (or so she confided to me) - except me. As the weeks went on, we found so much common ground and seemed to become close friends quite quickly. I suppose I was feeling like I needed a friend, as there were problems in my personal life (with my father) and I'm also just returned form maternity leave so it's nice to have somebody to talk to other than the baby on a daily basis. For her part, her husband works nights so often isn't home when she gets in from work so she's always been up for going to the cinema and thngs because she has no kids (trying but nothing happening).
As time went on, she confided in me more and more about how much she couldn't stand one of the other girls in the office, right down to how she spoke, what she said, what she wore. She would literally start ranting about her the minute she'd gone.
She came to my house and met my kids and said they could call her "Auntie Mel". It all began to feel a bit full-on and I noticed that if we went anywhere for lunch, it would always be me that did the driving (she never offered).
Also, she would ask me to buy her things (small things like drinks) and never get round to giving me the money or would make arrangements and then forget about them (eg were were supposed to be going shopping one Sunday and I was really looking forward to it and she'd completely forgotten). I put it down to being disorganised - she's always really late for work as well.
Anyway, last month I had to move offices and effectively go into another building so no longer sat next to her. My new office is near the entrance to both buildings so she has to pass my open door at least twice a day but she never comes in to say hello. I hardly see her at all and she's gone very "cold" on me all of a sudden. These things happen, don't they - but the funny thing is that she is now really close frineds with this girl who she apparently couldn't stand only a few weeks ago.
She's got a new office-mate now and I've seen on her facebook page that they have long dialogues until the early hours of the morning but the really weird thing is that Mel says things to this new office mate that she said to me, saying how much they have in common, how she's like the sister she never had. Honestly - it's like a script and almost exactly what she said to me a few months ago.
I feel quite confused. Used? Disregarded? Not sure. She and the new office mate are going out tomorrow night with the girl she apparently can;t stand. They've also started turning up at staff meetings in a three and wearing similar clothes. They certainly haven't invited me to join them yet we're in a "team" from which they seem to be developign a "sub team". It feels quite nasty and intimidating and others are feeling the same way (eg our secretary, other colleagues).
Does this sound like anything anyone else has ever experienced? I'm struggling to make sense of it.