Short story: A contract was breached, but in the end, all was well

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John Johnston had always wanted to own a second-hand bookshop, and so when he saw one for sale one day, he made an offer, and he bought it, off of the owner, an old man, who told him that he wanted to retire, as he had been in second-hand books for 45 years, and he was now in his seventies. John had his accountant draw up a contract for him, as you can never be too careful in these things. Amongst other things, it stipulated that this man could not open another second-hand bookshop within 10 kilometres of John's shop. The old man mentored John in his new shop for a couple of months, and he taught him some of the skills of selling second-hand books. He told him, amongst other things, that: "There is always a buyer for every book. Every book has a possibility of being sold, and yet, some thought must be put into the selection of the books, that you buy to sell in your shop too. You should favour books, that interest yourself too. For, if you have a fervent interest in that type of a book, you will be better at selling it to others too." The old man then took a holiday back to England, his home country, with the money that John had paid to him. After the man returned to John's country, he opened up another second-hand bookshop, only 5 kilometres from John's shop, in the very next town to John's town. He was smart though, as he had gotten his friend to "own" the shop, and he was now just the manager of it, not the owner. John was at first very upset by this seemingly cunning breach of his contract. John thought about confronting the old man about it, but he let it go, until he had had time to cool down a bit, and to think more deeply about the situation. He found that the old man was sending many customers his way. Whenever he did not have a particular book, he would tell them to try John's bookshop, just in the next town. He would often call into John's shop to see how he was going, and to answer any questions that he might have come up with on running his new business. He would often buy some books from John, which he had orders for in his own shop. And so, John, and the old man, fed off each other, and both businesses did well. Afterword: All contracts should not be strictly followed, at all times, as an amiableness of connection sometimes allows for better business, than a strict adherence to the rules of a contract. Sometimes, we should love the man, not force him to toe the line, always. We should retain our flexibility, and bite the bullet, than end up shooting it into our companion in arms. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The picture is of John's new second-hand bookshop. New for him that is.