Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com.

Dear Prudence,

I work in a small office (10 people). Two employees (married male, unmarried female) are spending an inordinate amount of time together during office hours. People are beginning to talk. These two spend at least an hour a day in closed-door "meetings," another 15 minutes here and there during the day chatting and occasionally whispering. They go out to lunch together, and she even came into the office on a Saturday just to talk to him. (They went into her office, shut the door, and emerged a half-hour later. Then she left.)

Neither of them has any business reason that requires "meetings." It is at the point now where other employees are making comments about this relationship. These two monopolize each other's time, and the bad part is that now he is telling colleagues he is too busy to do some tasks.

Prudie, I don't think this is anything more than a flirtation (I guess I'm an optimist). But my colleagues and I cannot figure out a way to tell him (or her) that this is affecting the work environment, their reputations, and our morale.

I'm writing because I need to know who should talk to him or her. My colleagues don't feel close enough to either of them to say what needs to be said, but neither do we want to make a big thing of it by telling his manager. He is the senior of the two people involved. How should we handle it?

Thanks,

--Anonymous

Dear An,

Let's review: He is married, they have no business reasons to get together, the whole office is chirping about their lengthy closed-door "meetings," they whisper, leave to have lunch together, and you think there is no more than a "flirtation." This is like imagining that a dinosaur died in a standing position at the museum of natural history. Ofcourse they're having an affair, but Prudie compliments you on your high-minded and generous assessment of the situation. Now, what to do about it?