I had something kind of like that happen a few years ago.

A client I had seen quite a few times and had even traveled with to some fetish parties bailed on a three hour session. I found out later through an email exchange that he had been sitting in a café across from my dungeon a few hours before the session and saw my partner walk me to the building and kiss me. He said he saw me differently and could never see me as a domme again. I was kind of creeped out, but agreed, never seeing each other was a good solution.