You know sometimes that no matter how much you know you’re going to get hit in the face, you really don’t know it until it actually happens.
Today started out busy. I had to get my wife to the airport, then hurry to the studio and do an interview and a session. It was on my way form the airport that my partner called me. She was feeling extremely ill. In fact, if she stood up for five minutes, she would throw up. Hmm, not something one wants happening during a massage, and she had two sessions booked for today.
She called and asked if I could work on them seeing as they would be my clients after today. (She figured that most of her regulars would come see me if she wasn’t there.) I was looking at having a busy day, and one where I had to push back the first and push up the second to work around the other things on my schedule that couldn’t be skipped. I called the first, and she was willing to reschedule. Then I told her the bad news, that Renee was leaving. She told me she just didn’t feel comfortable with a male therapist. I got the same story when I talked to the other one. I told them I would call when I find a replacement, but seeing as these were once a month regulars, and today was their day, they will probably find someone else by that time. (It took seven months to find my current partner.) So I lost two clients. Actually, I lost three. One of them had brought a friend that I worked on the last time she came. So if she is not coming back, she won’t be bringing her friend. So, yeah, I’m down three.
I knew when I hired one person full time that this would happen. I knew when she told me she was leaving that this would happen, especially if I didn’t have someone in place by that time. But knowing it, and seeing it actually happen are two different things.
I’d like to be mad at my partner for leaving, but that’s silly. Her leaving has nothing to do with me other than there is not enough business for her to pay rent somewhere. In fact she is moving back to Savannah where she just might pick up her entire clientele from two years ago. She has been going up there every few weeks to do work. So, I can’t fault her. I can be upset at the two clients, but everybody has preferences, even me. I can’t fault them even though it feels like I’m totally inadequate or just not good enough. I guess I can only be upset at the situation which I knew was going to happen.
I need to brush this off and move on. But it does suck. Ok, enough now. Moving on.