Confused?

[JackBauer]

Well, first time I really need advice

Back-story:

I've been working with a girl at work for almost a year, and always had the "no dating people at work" rule, and stuck to it. But three months ago we ended up being the only people going out for our office Friday drinks, and we started talking the whole night...and went out a few times after that. I was always a happy single, not actively looking for a relationship, and she was the same. But we wanted to give it a try, and ended up dating. I'm in my mid-20s, she's 30.

Now, the problem was that she was in a pretty bad point in her life. Hated her job, family problems, too much escaping from that by going out and getting wasted. So I made the big mistake of being too comforting, and falling into the "whimpy smothering" trap, which obviously turned her off. So we broke up. After only a week she was back, but still unhappy with her life...crying in the park after a big fight with her sis', and so on. So being the absolute idiot I am, I fell into the same whimp trap (go me!)...which is normally not me, but I guess I didn't really know how else to handle her "sadness". Anyway, after a while we broke it off again, but on good terms. I told her I cannot be her friend though, because I feel too strongly about her. For the record, we had a lot of happy times, and generally had a blast hanging out together.

So it's been a month now, I've taken a step back (as much as you can when working with the girl you love), picked up a martial art as a new hobby (love it, kicking people calms me down a lot), and am generally happy. Now, she was super-friendly right after the breakup...but I couldn't be just her friend because I hate being called a whimp, and I told her.

Sooooooo...

Since a week or so she's really turned into a bitch, and seems almost angry at me for something. I tried figuring out why, but nothing comes to mind. I haven't spoken badly about her behind her back, or spoken to her at all apart from saying "hi" when running into each other in the hallway. The only thing I did was to go out with a girl from thai boxing...but I didn't tell her, although she might have heard from a mutual friend. But if she did, she also knows I just went out a few times and didn't "go the whole way" because I'm still kinda blocked in my mind. Not ready for a relationship with anyone else. It's really starting to affect my work because I HATE having to deal with this crap at work.

I still really really like this girl for reasons I can't really understand...she's always been one of the cool/crazy ones, and I'm falling for that. I'd like to have a chat with her, but she's been so bitchy this week I'm not sure she'll want to. About the being a whimp thing...I was to some extent during the relationship, but I'm NOT a whimp, and I'm pretty sure she liked the attention she got (until I went a bit overboard). Whimps don't thai box!

In short: How can I defuse the "bomb" at work? What does her anger towards me mean? Any chance of getting her back?