Summary: At my husband’s company event, a female colleague “accidentally” spilled her drink on him and then nearly sat in his lap to help clean it up. I had been observing her flirt with him throughout the evening, and her wink was the final straw for me.
Details: My husband’s company held a major event where I met his colleagues for the first time. One female coworker kept stealing glances at him, which I initially dismissed. However, when she winked at him and one of his friends joked, “Looks like someone needs some one-on-one time!” I couldn’t stay silent any longer. I leaned in and said loudly, “If you’re finished making eyes at my husband, maybe we can all enjoy a professional evening?”
The silence that followed was palpable. The colleague, Sarah (34F), turned bright red but then had the nerve to laugh it off, saying, “Oh honey, Tom and I have been working closely together for years. We’re just comfortable with each other. No need to be so insecure.”
Some context: My husband Tom (36M) and I (32F) have been married for five years. He works as a project manager at a tech company, and Sarah joined his team about two years ago. While I’ve heard her name mentioned, Tom has never indicated any issues. Throughout the evening, I noticed several things that infuriated me:
- She kept finding excuses to touch his arm while speaking to him.
- She referenced inside jokes from their “late-night project sessions.”
- She positioned herself directly across from him at dinner, maintaining intense eye contact.
- She “accidentally” spilled her drink on his lap and insisted on helping him clean it up.
Tom appeared uncomfortable but didn’t speak up. When we got home, he was upset with me for embarrassing him in front of his colleagues. He claimed Sarah was “just naturally flirty” and that I needed to trust him more. I told him he was being naive and that if he couldn’t see her behavior for what it was, he was either blind or enjoying the attention. This sparked our biggest argument in years.
The next morning, I received a lengthy email from Sarah apologizing for any “misunderstanding” but also stating that she found my behavior “territorial and unprofessional.” She CC’d Tom and his supervisor on the email. Now, Tom is sleeping in the guest room, claiming I’ve made his work situation uncomfortable. His colleagues’ wives have been texting me mixed responses—some saying they’ve noticed Sarah’s behavior before, while others think I overreacted.