Swamped

Probably the best way to avoid escalating is to just respond with a question of your own.

"Where's Dominique?" you ask. You know she's probably either in her own workspace or in a meeting, but it's all you can think of to push back with.

"Don't see why I should care," the one grebling shoots back.

"Well, if you get out of the way, I can look for her myself and quit bothering you."

No response. You're starting to get frustrated - and maybe that's the point. Maybe they want a fight, but they want you to get blamed for it.

Well, if that's what they want, they're going to have to work a lot harder for it. You've gotten a lot better at keeping your temper under control. You're not about to undo all that work for a minor nuisance like this.

You could just back away, but that wouldn't help you meet Dominique. Her tent is easily within sight of the former guards, and if you took another route, they'd probably intercept you again.

So how can you best handle this?