Chapter 2

The entire chat went quiet. There were 12 of us in the chat—11 other business owners besides me. But now, it was as still as a cemetery.

Duncan came in during the summer of the fourth year. In his first month of operations alone, he suffered a loss of 80 thousand dollars. I found him smoking outside, and he told me he would have to sell off his business next month.

I lent him 150 thousand dollars to cover his expenses and taught him a marketing trick. First, I had him rearrange his opening hours to match mine. Then, I told him to offer a 20% discount to those who were waiting in line for my restaurant.

By the third month, his barbecue restaurant started having a much higher table turnover rate.

The recipe for the dipping sauce Edwin used in his buffet grill restaurant came from my head cook, Lionel Kramer. I was the one who asked him to help Edwin with it.

Natasha Jones ran an oyster bar. On her first day of operations, even when it was already 2:00 pm, not a single customer entered the restaurant. I posted about her on my restaurant's social media account, sharing about the fairly decent meal I had at the mall's newly opened oyster bar.

At the time, I figured that since we were all on the same floor, it would be better for us as a whole if everyone's foot traffic increased.

After screenshotting what they said, I tapped out of the group chat.

When the mall closed at 10:00 pm, I shut the doors and asked the kitchen staff to stay for a bit. All 12 of the core team who worked at my restaurant gathered around the prep counter.

"We might have to move soon," I said. "Anyone willing to come with me will get a 30% raise."

Eric Fields was the first to raise his hand. Lionel and the others all followed suit. I had 12 people nodding in agreement.

I instructed them to keep this matter a secret.

Once the meeting was over, I locked the door to my office and opened the safe. The lease agreement Avant Plaza offered me was lying at the very bottom. They were offering me three years of waived rent and a 200-thousand-dollar subsidy for renovations. I would also be getting the storefront facing the entrance to the subway station on the basement level of the mall.

Just then, my phone screen lit up. Walt had just sent a new notice to the mall tenants' group chat. "Routine maintenance work for the air-conditioning system will begin on the fourth floor tomorrow. It is estimated to last one week."

I dismissed the notification and locked the screen.

…

At 10:00 am the next day, the air-conditioning shut off. All six of the kitchen stoves were blasting at full heat. The temperature in the kitchen went from 90 degrees to over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the fans were blowing, all they did was circulate the hot air.

Eric, who was in charge of prep, was the first to surrender to the heat. He had to escape to the back for some air, his sweat pouring down his neck. The back of his uniform was already soaked through.

At 11:30 am, the first batch of customers came in. Less than ten minutes after sitting down, someone started using the menu to fan themselves.

A young mother with a child stood up, took her kid by the hand, and walked out. Before leaving, she commented, "I can't believe this mall isn't even willing to turn the air-conditioning on."

People started leaving bad reviews online.

"Half my soup was probably made up of my sweat."

"The fish wasn't the only thing grilled at the restaurant. I felt like a boiled lobster myself."

I called Walt. It rang six times before he answered. I heard a low hum coming from his end. He was in his office, with the air conditioning turned on.

"Hey, Mr. Connor," he said breezily. "Are things heating up at your restaurant? You should sign the contract. A single call from me, and the things will cool off in just ten minutes. It's just routine maintenance work, you know. I'm sure you understand."

"Why is it only the fourth floor that gets the air conditioning turned off?"

"It just so happens that's where the maintenance work is happening."

The call ended.

For the sake of my customers, I called in the part-time workers who usually only came on weekends and paid them triple their normal wages. I gave customers free ice cream, brought in extension cords for fans, and kept everyone working nonstop for three full hours.

At 2:00 pm, the door to my office at the restaurant flew open. Duncan marched in, followed by Edwin, Natasha, and a few other tenants from the fourth floor. They all squeezed inside my office, taking up almost half of it.

Duncan slammed the receipts from his sales today onto the desk. It was less than a third of what he usually got.

"Fred, why must the entire floor suffer along with you just because you're refusing to sign the contract? The mall management has already said that the duration of the air-conditioning being down hinges on your attitude. We're all paying the price of your actions!"

Edwin chimed in, "I don't care if you refuse to sign the contract. Just get the air conditioning back for us. Don't drag us down with you."

I glanced at the receipts before remarking, "Duncan, when you lost 80 thousand dollars during your first month of operations, who lent you 150 thousand to cover your expenses? Who taught you to adjust your opening hours and take advantage of my restaurant's popularity?"

Duncan stiffened.

I turned to Edwin next. "Who lent you his head cook to you to help you with your dipping sauce? Lionel spent three days working on the recipe, and we didn't charge you a single cent for it."

Glancing over at Natasha, I continued, "On your first day of business, you didn't get a single customer even when it was already 2:00 pm. Who posted about your oyster bar online?"

She turned her face away.

"But now, you've all shown up in my office, telling me not to drag you down with me?"

Not a single person answered me.

Eventually, Duncan stepped forward, his tone grim as he declared, "That was then, and this is now. Are we supposed to go down with you just because you helped us out once? It's none of your business that your rent has gone up. We just have one question for you—are you signing the lease or not?"