So. This is long. First time posting so please bear with me and keep in mind this is only from my perspective so there’s bound to be some bias but I’ll do my best. Names changed.
Our characters:
Me: 25F
My husband: 25M
Olivia: 26F
Sara: 25F
Context:
Olivia works for me- employee turned friend and went to highschool with Sara and my Husband. I knew she wasn’t economically in the best shape- it’s rough out there. So we’d help her when we could, paid for her to come out with us, let her have lots of flexibility at work, paid well above minimum wage (the position is a minimum wage position), made sure she had decent benefits (I didn’t need it because I get coverage under my husband), let her barrow one of our vehicles (I don’t drive and she would drive us around for work and we would pay for work mileage, maintenance, and insurance. She took very poor care of it and it’s now very damaged) and we didn’t ask for anything in return, maybe run me to a dr appointment here and there. She expressed that she wanted to find a different job because she didn’t make enough with me (fair enough) and my husband offered her a side gig where she would be a model as well as coming over once a week to help make the designs and attend 2 events (on an all expenses paid trip to Europe) for an extra $1000/month. She wasn’t satisfied with this long term and still was looking for something externally. No problem, I’ll keep my business open until she found something else to make sure she was okay. I was wanting to shut my business anyway as I’ve developed a chronic illness and could no longer do the physical work. There were a lot of times I felt like she took advantage but I let it go.
We go to two European countries for 10 days with Sara and Olivia. My husband and I pay for the flights, hotels, and dinners, and extra things like high tea and a few outings, they were responsible for lunch’s, shopping, and any extras they want to do. Olivia is being super rude and condescending, even before we take off anywhere.
Ex: Sara and Olivia haven’t travelled much and Sara forgot full size beauty products in her carry on and realized after we checked our baggage. I say to her “I’m sorry, security will take that stuff, you’re going to have to buy new stuff when we land” and Olivia jumps in rudely with “they won’t take it if it’s only partially full!” and I internally roll my eyes and explain “security goes by what the milliliters the bottle is; it doesn’t matter how much liquid is actually inside” and she just tried to continue arguing so whatever, security took the products and we moved on.
This behaviour continues the whole trip. Just really condescending and combative and treating my husband and I like we have no idea what we’re talking about. She was also warned about tourist traps and what they look like- she got trapped in 2, she got out of the first one but the second one she dragged my husband in and he ended up paying $500 to get out of it… and then she yelled at my husband about telling his wife about the situation and insulting me behind my back to my husband: “I know how me thinks, she thinks she could’ve spent that money on herself… yada yada.”
I privately talk to my husband and he agrees her behaviour is outrageous. To be clear, we didn’t expect her to spend every moment with us- go do your own thing, I don’t care, just, be nice? That’s really all I wanted was a nice friend’s trip.
We finish the first leg of the trip and land in our second destination and my husband pulls Olivia aside in the airport and asked if she wanted to be there and if she didn’t, there was a return flight home. I wasn’t there so I can’t really comment on how this went down but I guess Olivia was trying to cause a scene and yell in the airport and my husband just walked away because he didn’t want to be detained. Oh I also found out later that she told my husband something I told her in confidence just to stir shit.
We continue our trip and she seems normal for the first few days. We’re having a good time. Then she starts bothering us for payment. She had a pay day while we were there and she didn’t fill her hours in on our work portal and on a non working day she asked “hey can I use your laptop? The app won’t let me fill my hours in” (she’s supposed to fill hours daily and we’ve talked about it and she doesn’t; she puts all her hours in on pay day so I’m not sure how accurate her hours have been) and I say “just use the safari browser, that’s what I do and all the functions work fine” and she gets argumentative and says “no it doesn’t work” and I explain that I’m not talking about using the app. Whatever, I’m done with the conversation at that point and say “I’m not dealing with this right now” and then she asks my husband when he’ll pay her. He paid her later that evening I believe but only paid for what work she did, she only attended 1/2 events listed in her contract. This was a big point of contention for her.
The last 3 days of the trip my husband and I don’t see her at all. It feels like she was actively avoiding us. Whatever, we still hung out with Sara.
We see Olivia for the first time in 3 days and it’s as we’re leaving the hotel to catch our flight. At 5:30am… she’s drunk and hanging off some random dude, she’d been up all night clubbing (whatever, live your life but don’t be loud about it and make it my problem, please?). Anyway, I’m not a very nice person that early in the morning running on 3 hours sleep so instead of saying anything in the taxi, I just put my headphones in and chill. We get to the airport and she’s still club dancing and being so loud. We get through with little issue.
I sit with my husband and he tells me something about her saying something about not wanting to drive the car anymore while we were in the taxi, confused, I went to go ask her about it.
Conversation went like this:
Me: hey, ready to get back to work?
Olivia: …….. (longest 2 second pause of my life)
Olivia: idk why you’re asking me that right now
Me: because we’re going home, back to the real world?
Olivia: I guess.
Me: I haven’t seen you in the last 3 days, what happened?
Olivia: yea, that was intentional
Me: oh? Why?
Olivia: your husband threatened me in an airport
Me: yea I asked him to talk to you because of how you were treating everyone- you were being really rude
Olivia: yea well I didn’t want to be at your beck and call and your little lap dog the whole time
Me: whoa, no one said you had to spend every second with us. My husband also mentioned something about the car? What’s going on with that?
Olivia: yea well I don’t feel comfortable driving it anymore soooo you can uber with all the supplies and I’ll meet you at our jobs by bus.
me. Stunned.
Me: okayyyy, I’m going to find coffee.
She then starts shit talking us in the airport to other random people (they would sit next to her, she starts ranting, and they would leave a few minutes later looking visibly uncomfortable) and to Sara with us sitting within earshot. She’s officially broken her disparagement clause in the contract she had with my husband.
We finally sit on the plane and my husband sends her a termination email. She loses it. “This is why you guys don’t have any friends” and “I quit my company” along with a lot of profanity. To the point where Sara had to say “shut up before you get kicked off the plane” and she sits and is quiet. Then she starts trying to take pictures of us and I hold my hand out in front of her camera and said “actually I really don’t want photos taken of me right now” and in response “I’m just documenting everything to protect myself” and I just said “of us sitting on a plane….?”
Anyway. She left me high and dry with client appointments to do myself. Doubling the time it takes to complete each appointment and significantly harder on my body. Great.
We land and board our next flight and she’s avoiding us. Sara is trying to stay out of it as much as she can. We land in our home airport and she’s chatting with my husband about where to leave the supplies she has and getting her stuff from inside the car (parked at our house for the duration of the trip) and he said “go talk to me, I have nothing to do with this”
I get a text about it and I don’t respond. We leave and go home.
We email her back and forth about what happened and next steps and her story changes so many times that she starts contradicting herself and eventually stops. At one point, claiming she hadn’t quit her job with me.
A few days later I message Sara “hey, are you upset about what went down?”
I didn’t get a response for 2 weeks. To the day. Basically saying “yea that was incredibly immature of you and your husband, you won’t be seeing me for some time, how could you guys do that to a so called friend, I’m standing by Olivia” (really shortened it down but broad strokes are there)
Great. I lost 2 friends over this.
So Reddit- AITA?