Asking for a friend: My ex took our break-up badly and now he's started working for the same company. How will we manage to work together with this history?

"Almost a year ago, I broke up with an ex on fairly bad terms. I thought it was more of a situationship, but he thought it was a full-on relationship. I wasn't ready for anything like that so I thought we were on the same page with both of us being casual. He took it fairly badly and told some of our friends that he was heartbroken."

"I started to see someone else, but now the problem is that this ex has now started a job in the same company as me. We don't work together directly, but our paths will cross at meetings and work events. One of my colleagues said that she liked him, but she isn't aware of our history. I hadn't seen him since we broke up and didn't know he was going to be working here."

"Dr West replies: I hate to break it to you, but it probably will be awkward for a while, no matter what you do. No one likes to come face to face with people they'd rather leave in their past, let alone seeing them on a 9-5 basis in the same building. Even if you left the relationship on perfectly good terms, it still might be awkward as this person comes into your life again."

A breakup occurred nearly a year ago on fairly bad terms after differing expectations about the relationship's seriousness. The ex reacted badly and told friends he was heartbroken. The ex has since started a job at the same company, creating the likelihood of crossing paths at meetings and work events despite not working together directly. A colleague has expressed interest in the ex without knowing the prior history. The person had not seen the ex since the breakup and feels shocked at the prospect of working together. An advisor notes that awkwardness is likely for a while even if the breakup had been amicable, because repeated proximity can revive discomfort.

Read at Independent