Workplace friendships can blur professional boundaries.

In this story, a woman who runs a small company got along well with a neighbor in the same office space.

They would hang out and invite each other to birthdays and other events.

But when she exclusively went out to a holiday dinner with her team, everything changed.

Check out the full details below…

AITA for not inviting one person from the office to the holiday party

I own a small business of six people, including myself.

When I rented out my space, someone named Sara already had an office in the space.

I just rented out everything around her to build my business.

This woman and Sara got along really well.

Over the last two years since moving in, we have gotten to know this person and have become friendly.

We have invited her out to dinner a few times. She has invited us to a birthday party.

We know each other’s families. It has been very kind and cordial.

And we enjoy her company despite her not working for me.

They would often hang out and catch up about work.

We work in the same field. We have a lot of overlap.

We often find ourselves hanging out in an office just to vent and catch up.

She will help celebrate birthdays by bringing in cakes and cookies for people.

Sometimes, she does it for no reason, which is also very sweet.

She took her officemates to a holiday dinner but didn’t invite Sara.

A few weeks ago, I took the office out to dinner for the holidays.

I did not invite Sara. She is not my employee.

I did not think to invite her to the company holiday party.

We were talking about it at work.

I am assuming she must have overheard or something.

Since we came back from that weekend, we have been talking about the party.

Now, she noticed that Sara had been distant and not like the same as before.

I noticed she has been a bit more withdrawn. She has not come out of her office much.

She has not brought in treats and not been hanging around us as much.

I am wondering if it is related to her not being invited to the party.

That is when it seems to have started.

AITA for not inviting someone who does not work for us to my holiday party?

Let’s see how others reacted to this story.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Here’s a different perspective from this one.

It would have been the polite thing to do, says this person.

Short and simple.

Finally, this user makes a valid point.

You can’t force yourself into the group if you’re not originally part of it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.