Dumb colleague

Sometime last week, I was waiting for the lift when my colleague (the 28/ 29 year old one) also came out of the office to go home. I said “Hi” to her gingerly as we have not been on good talking terms and was deciding if I should start a conversation with her. However, I looked at her reaction and behaviour and I decided not to bother and I will not take the initiative. So we took the lift down some 30 storeys without talking and her standing just next to me. When the lift door opened, she walked out quickly and disappeared around a corner. I was completely flabbergasted.

Why?
Earlier on recently, we took the same lift and knowing we haven’t spoken a lot in recent months, I took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her and found myself up against a cold wall of ice. It’s different if the person is not apt at talking or is quiet but she was all ice. Her eyes were darting furtively and looking at the lift floor indicator, as if to see when the lift would reach the ground floor destination. And while I was talking to her, her eyes were trained in front, never once did she bother to turn to look at me. Now, I can read body language quite well and it was obvious she did not want to talk to me and then it was to her horrors of all horrors that she was taking the same lift as me.

The strange thing is whenever I see her and I am with my friend, she will just talk to my friend and ignore me and appear very friendly. Now I think that behaviour of this kind is very dumb. I know she is probably just trying to make me feel unwelcome and to show that she does not like me now but there is no need for this. I do not think I offended her and I cannot be bothered if she thinks I offended her. This is extremely dumb but after that incident in the lift, I told myself not to bother. If she wants the working relationship strained, note I say “working relationship”, not even “friendship”, so be it.

I am not even going to bother about asking her out for meals as previously my friend and I had a pretty bad experience. It was awkward and very superficial. I do not understand why a person can pretend to be so chirpy and chatty one minute and then later clam tightly shut and appear uneasy.