I've been keeping a blog daily for weddings for a client of mine, and today my services were effectively terminated. Somehow, I am "relieved" to know that our contract has been ended.
I am sad in a way because because of the length of time I've been writing for her, I have learned to see her as a friend. Both she and I shared our experiences when our mothers got sick, shared stories about our kids, and other experiences as well.
Because of that friendship, I have learned to ignore and look past the fact that she was constantly late on sending payments. I have had to constantly remind her that the payment was due every month, and she was always late for like a week or even more. I did not mind as a friend, because what was important is the fact that I actually got paid, even though it was late.
What upsets me most is the fact that today, I finally receive my payment for the posts written for August, and it says in the note that my services are terminated immediately. But before this, I have been emailing my client and sending her IMs which I did not receive responses to. Well, so much for a friendship! Or maybe it was only me who thought that I had actually made a friend. Maybe I imagined the whole stuff up. I wish she had the decency to reply to my emails or at least inform me if she did not have money yet to pay me with - I don't mind waiting and her being late, but a heads up would be nice. I'm in for the work because of the money, and reliable payments mean a lot to me. But since I have other clients who do pay me on time, I don't mind her being late, but letting me know beforehand that the payment I am waiting for isn't going to arrive on time is the decent way to do business. The professional way would be to not be late at all.
So, I am unpleasantly relieved to be released from this contract. Good thing I did not make more posts for September had I known this was going to happen. Besides, what writer in their right mind would want to continue writing for the current month if the whole previous month you wrote for was unpaid? I have not been inactive, I was just using my common sense.