There is an interesting thing about difficult people. They can be out of your life for hours, days or even years, yet somehow continue to occupy space in your mind.
I have experienced this myself. Someone says something unpleasant, behaves badly or creates unnecessary problems, and long after the encounter is over, the conversation continues in your head. You think about what you should have said, what you could have said, and occasionally what you wish you had said.
The person has moved on. You have not. This is one area where meditation has made a difference for me. Regular meditation has given me a little more distance between what happens and how I react to it. The unpleasant event is still there but I am less inclined to carry it around with me.
People under a great deal of stress do not necessarily behave at their best. Understanding this does not mean excusing bad behaviour nor does it mean we have to put up with it. Sometimes the sensible response is simply to keep your distance.
I have become fairly practical about this particularly in business. There are plenty of good, decent and professional people to work with. Life is too short to spend too much time trying to change someone who has no interest in changing.
You can set a boundary without becoming angry. You can forgive without becoming close again. You can walk away without needing to win the argument.
Perhaps that is one of the quieter benefits of meditation. It does not necessarily remove difficult people from your life. It just makes it a little harder for them to follow you “home.”