Thankfully, during the pandemic/shutdown I was employed full-time with a local university doing development (fundraising) for one of their hospitals. I am so grateful that we had at least some regular income coming in (significantly reduced, of course, because maternity benefits in the US are appalling), and he began looking for other opportunities while the future of corporate events remained in question.
He took over ownership of a local BBQ franchise and was almost instantly gone all the time. I understood the nature of the business and added complications of upholding certain precautions, but I began to feel less & less included in what he was doing and what decisions he was making. Sure, I was busy with a breastfeeding newborn and a four-year-old and navigating working from home, but answers to questions still felt vague and if I pushed more he would shut down and become irritable. A few months into that venture, he expanded and took on two more restaurants. My role at the University had changed as contact tracing became a necessity. While I was incredibly grateful for reliable employment, it meant long days that weren't necessarily fulfilling and lots of time in the car transporting the kids to school and daycare (with about a 45-minute one way drive from my son's school to daycare and my job). At one point, there was mention that the location close to work for the fitness classes I taught (Pure Barre) was for sale. He immediately began pushing for "us" to get it (as he said to me). I found out later that he reached out to some colleagues connected to the brand to get their input, but it was always presented as something he "was getting for me" - like he was picking up the dinner tab.
After a months-long process, I was approved to take over the studio as owner and would be leaving my job to run the studio. Also during the approval process timeframe, his restaurants began experiencing major staffing issues, and he ultimately walked away from them. I recall asking time & time again if everything was settled with that or if there were repercussions for his abrupt departure. I was repeatedly assured that everything was handled, and in the meantime, he took a job with a local franchised restaurant as a manager. Once again, there were late nights and long hours, but he was being paid regularly and there was opportunity for growth and promotion.
I officially took over the studio in May 2021. That same month, unbeknownst to me, he had begun texting one of his employees periodically "just to check in on her" and to "let her know he was thinking of her". She turned 16 halfway through the month.
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