Office romance disaster? How to protect your career amid the fallout and gossip

Ghosting, awkward silences, office gossip, what really happens when a romance ends on company time.

Ending relationships, especially at work, is never graceful. It’s ridden with pain, complications and awkwardness and there are many ‘closures’ to the final closure. We’re always looking for ways to make it easier for ourselves, and maybe for the other person, too. We fumble and say hollow statements in our grief, ‘You deserve better than me’ and try to vanish altogether. We hope to forget, and we hope others forget.

As psychologists explain, people ghost, or play around with vague terms ‘give me time’, giving rise to false expectations, because it’s just an easier path than actually dealing with the consequences of heartbreak and unpleasantness.

Office relationships add an entirely different layer of complexity. The ending isn’t just emotional, it’s public.

Tanima Chatterjee, a Dubai-based professional, recalls the time she dated a colleague. “We were together for two years. When it ended, it was a different level of awkward—everyone knew, and everyone was watching for drama while I was still grieving.”

Tanima admits that in her embarrassment, she avoided her ex completely. “I ghosted him. It made everything worse. I hurt him, and I knew it.”

She’s not alone. Others shared how workplace ghosting, being ignored or emotionally iced out after a breakup, can feel even more painful under public scrutiny. One woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said, “He stopped talking to me completely. He was cold, distant, and that only invited more gossip. I was left wondering what I’d done wrong.”

According to Aakriti Mahindra, a Dubai-based clinical psychologist, who told us earlier, ghosting is often used as a defense mechanism. “It’s a way to avoid emotional vulnerability,” she explains. “People with deep fears of abandonment or rejection may shut down or disappear to protect themselves from the discomfort of a breakup.”

Ghosting feels easier in the moment, but for the person left behind, it’s emotionally brutal. It doesn’t just end the relationship, it erases it. You're forcing someone to construct an ending by themselves, without context or closure.

“It’s a form of emotional abandonment,” says Mahindra. “It leaves the other person questioning their worth, wondering what they did wrong, and it often damages their ability to trust again.”

Here’s how to navigate the emotional tightrope when a relationship ends, but work doesn’t.

Step 1: Process privately

Your job may be your most stable anchor right now. Don't let your personal pain bleed into your professional performance.

Create emotional distance outside of the office, talk to a therapist or close friend, not your office group chat. Oversharing at work can damage your credibility and affect how others view your ability to lead or collaborate.

Protect your peace. Protect your professionalism. Take time off if you have to.

Step 2: Keep it professional, online and offline

Breakups hurt, but turning the office into your emotional stage rarely ends well.

Avoid:

Be composed, not cold. You’re not expected to be a robot, but you are expected to show respect, both for yourself and the work.

Step 3: Set boundaries that don’t blur into ghosting

You can’t ghost a co-worker, but you can create emotional space.

If it becomes emotionally overwhelming, speak to HR or a manager about adjusting team assignments or workflows. Boundaries aren’t punishments—they’re acts of self-care and clarity.

And importantly: boundaries are not ghosting. Boundaries communicate. Ghosting avoids.

Step 4: Expect curiosity, don’t feed it

If your relationship was known in the office, people will notice the shift. Expect a few curious glances or awkward questions.

Here’s how to respond:

What you say (or don’t say) becomes part of your professional identity. Let it reflect composure and strength.

Step 5: Focus on your growth 

This isn’t just the end of a relationship. It’s an opportunity to recalibrate.

Use this time to:

You don’t need to “perform” your healing. You just need to live it—quietly, intentionally, and on your terms.

When it’s more than awkward and becomes unhealthy

If your ex is making work feel hostile, unsafe, or emotionally manipulative, speak up.

Especially if there was a power imbalance, or if your work is being affected, formal support is not just acceptable—it’s necessary.