I Worked for My In-Laws for Free for 5 Years—The Weekend I Stopped, Everything Fell Apart

“Looks like she saw us,” he said calmly, taking a sip of his coffee. “Are you okay with that?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah,” I said.

“I think this was overdue anyway.”

See, Mark isn’t just some random guy. He’s the general manager of the company where Claire has worked for eight years, and he’s well-connected in our community. I’d only met him a handful of times at company parties and holiday gatherings, where he’d always been friendly and professional.

A few weeks back, purely by chance, I’d run into him while getting gas. We got to talking, and I mentioned offhandedly that I did mechanical work on the side. He’d seemed genuinely interested and asked if I’d ever considered consulting for small businesses, helping them save money by maintaining their own equipment rather than outsourcing everything.