Pet Sitter Is Suing For Lost Potential Income

You'll probably think I'm joking when I explain to you the situation, but someone, albeit a psychopath, has decided to sue me for wages he would have earned if he didn't quit.

This sitter met with me twice to see the dogs and get instructions to prepare for a week long house sitting gig. Before that stated, I hired him for an afternoon to further get to know the dogs while I was out of the house (at an agreed amount). This sitting gig happened a few days before a week-long sit was booked. Between this sit and the weeklong set, there was no communication between us other than seeing if he may be available for a future sit, a month away (if all went well).

After I got on the plane, he texted me that he wanted to confirm pricing for pet sitting duties, which felt concerning, as that was something that was already confirmed in person and via text. I felt really uneasy and vulnerable, as I got this message as my flight was taking off, heading 1000 miles away on a very early morning flight. I was alarmed because he said he would not start services until I agreed to the terms, but he was already supposed to start within the hour, when I was in the air. I of course started to panic because thought we had agreed to pricing two weeks prior. After I landed, he had not arrived to my house yet. Panicked, I quickly agreed as I was super stressed by his sudden & weirdly timed tone shift. I was stuck as I left the state with no one else to care for them. All my other sitters were out of town, hence why I hired him.

I went ahead and paid him for the afternoon sit that he did 2 days prior -- in good faith to assure him he'd get paid (as he seem agitated). He quickly wrote to me that it wasn't the correct amount that I sent. I was confused so I referred back to what he wrote as his new terms. I then realized that I had agreed to NEW AND MUCH HIGHER rates. I was under duress and wanted to appease the situation (and couldn't even fathom he'd ask for so much more once I was on a plane) so agreed and paid not realizing the audacity of such a pivot.
Original offer: $60 for 3 hours. His new rate: $80 per HOUR. So the agreed upon rate went from $60 total to a retroactive demand of $240 total for the afternoon sit (of course I had no idea I was agreeing to that, and gave no capacity to pay a sitter that much money!). So I told him that wasn't clear to me. He said that we should part ways. And within minutes he left the dogs alone with no care & no water. Time lapse : 5 hours.

Now he's suing me for the wages he demanded ($240-$60) plus about $2000, an amount made up on what he thinks I owe him for retracting work on him.

Seems like an open and shut case. He put me in a situation that seems like extortion, at minimum he placed me under duress and seems negligent of a dog since I had no backup situation for them in place. But yeah, he's suing me. I just want someone that has legal expertise to tell me what I need to prepare if anything. (Location: North Carolina)