Every head turned.
The owner of the juice shop stood at the back against the glass. Young, athletic, and wearing a vintage T-shirt that probably cost more than my monthly electric bill. His business partner hovered beside him, also young, arms crossed but smiling as if the meeting was a brainstorming session instead of a crisis.
"High rent is sort of the price of being in a revitalizing area, but it'll be good for all of us in the long run."
The room exploded into anger.
"Easy to say. You're funded!"
"Some of us don't have investors!"
"We've been here longer than you've been alive!"
The voices overlapped, accusations flying right and left. One person jabbed a finger into the young man's face. Everyone's reaction was nothing but raw panic masquerading as anger.
I shot to my feet. "Enough." The diatribe continued, and I became deeply concerned the room would soon come to blows. "Enough!" I repeated in a louder voice.
The word cut through the noise, silence followed, and my heart raced a little. I wasn't someone who typically enjoyed being the center of attention, but these were desperate times.
I moved to stand beside Tyler and scanned the room. "We're not enemies. We're neighbors, and yelling at each other won't stop what's coming."
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," someone yelled from the middle of the room.
"There's some truth to what he said, but he doesn't know our specific situation. A huge increase in rent is bad anywhere, but it's especially bad for most of us in this room." I switched my attention to Tyler. "We need more information. A timeline for when we can expect the renovations and the increases. Maybe we could talk Freedom Capital out of the rent increase."
"I don't think so. This is their MO," Tyler said in a grim tone.
"We can try." I returned my attention to the group. "We need to figure out which businesses are most vulnerable to immediate failure and which ones can last a little longer. We decide together, as a group, what we're willing to accept and what we're not."
Slowly, Mrs. Chen nodded, and others did too.
"What we're not going to do is turn on each other. We need to plan."
"I could pull together the research you suggested. Find out how soon after purchase the renovations usually start and how soon after the rent increases take place," Tyler said.
"I'll help you," Zia offered.
Leslie spoke up next. "We should compile a log of when everyone's lease expires and how many years each of us has been in business at this location. I'm one of the newbies, but I don't mind putting together the log if everyone can turn in the information."
More volunteers spoke up, and soon we were hammering out a strategy on how to deal with the landlord and counteract any negative changes coming down the line.
Before the meeting ended, I raised my hand to quiet the group. "One last thing before we leave here tonight. We need to be on the same page and keep our organizing quiet for as long as possible. If the landlord finds out what we're doing before we've had time to put together a strong argument, we run the risk of them coming down hard on us."
Tyler nodded. "No side deals. We're all in this together. United we stand, divided we fall and all that."
Nods of agreement spread through the room.
"You, Tallulah, and Leslie should be our point persons. Captains," Shelley said.
A hum of agreement made its way through the group, along with vigorous head nods.
I glanced at Leslie and Tyler, who both nodded they had accepted their roles.
Feeling more optimistic than when I arrived at the meeting, I said, "We'll be your captains. Communications and suggestions should go through one of us."
I hadn't come here tonight expecting to take on more work, but this was my community. My people. My business, which I had started from practically nothing. First out of my home and then moving to the retail space downstairs. I had poured ten years of blood, sweat, and tears into Simply Well, and I wasn't ready to give up on it yet.
Chapter 11
