After 18 months in business, Pierre, Todd, Kyle, and I were meeting to air out our differences and ‘start over’. Little did I know, I was walking into an intervention. First, Pierre and Todd talked about how important it was to have a good relationship. As usual, Todd went into his little speech about our success was good for the rink. I just smiled, swallowed my skepticism, and tried to overlook the fact that he had been saying that the whole time he was sabotaging our business. I didn’t want to undermine the chance to make things better. I needed the stress of bad landlords and bad rink management to dissolve into dust and blow away.

Next, we talked about Max telling all the parents not to buy from our cafe and bar. Todd’s response was that Max was very loyal to him. What does that mean? Max only badmouthed us because he liked Todd? Was it Todd’s idea? How does that fit into ‘our success is Todd’s success’? Does that mean Todd is not going to make it stop?

Kyle brought up a few points about the bar. Each time I tried to talk, either Pierre or Todd would cut me off and go on with something else. Here I am, the one with the most to say, not getting to talk at all. I’ve been robbed, threatened, and sabotaged and I don’t get to let any of it out before we start over?

At one point, Todd brought up our hours so I explained how our open hours came about. Todd decided to be offended at what I said – I don’t know how anyone could be offended at our choice of hours. So Kyle jumped in and explained that Todd’s reaction wasn’t what I was saying and went on to talk about our hours. Todd was then ok with our explanation. It’s ok if Kyle says it, but not ok if I say it. Kyle was the only one who defended me during the entire meeting. The rest of the time, Pierre and Todd just cut me off.

Todd needed to leave but he wanted to clear the air on some things that really ‘bothered him’. Once again, he repeated his same petty grievances. After 18 months, can he not just get over it? That’s what they’re asking of me, after all. Todd reiterated our huge business mistake of not listening to him and frying our French fries. Todd, the food service expert, who allows his employees to stick their dirty hands in the ice machine to get ice for ice packs. The same ice we use to serve beverages. We’re supposed to hang on his every word and do his bidding? How in the world can someone hold a grudge against you for not frying French fries? Does it get any more petty than that? Is that the biggest control freak move on the planet? And then Todd had to hurry out for another commitment. I guess we have wiped the slate clean and are starting over. Really? One good thing did come from this meeting. Before Todd left, he assured us our success was important to the rink and he intended to partner with us to keep us informed of events and make things better.

I was devastated. The air was perfectly clear to me. No one was going to listen to me, ever. Nothing was going to change. Pierre, my partner, was not truly a partner and did not have my back. My retirement money was almost gone and there was no light at the end of the tunnel, not even an oncoming train to put me out of my misery quickly. I went home and cried.