Gary realised the window had closed in the most irritating way possible: quietly and without ceremony.

There was no final message that confirmed it. No awkward conversation that put a full stop on things. Just a gradual cooling that became undeniable once he stopped pretending it was temporary. Replies arrived later. Then shorter. Then not at all. When they did, they carried a politeness that felt unmistakably final.

Gary stared at his phone one evening, scrolling back through the last few exchanges, looking for the exact moment where things might have gone differently. He didn’t find one. There was no obvious mistake to point at, no single wrong move that explained the outcome. Just timing. Hesitation. Space allowed to stretch a little too far.

That, somehow, made it harder.

If he’d messed it up spectacularly, he could have learned something neat and immediate. Instead, the lesson was messier: sometimes doing nothing was the decision, and it still had consequences.

He went for a walk, jaw pain-free and mind busy, retracing familiar streets without really seeing them. The city carried on exactly as it always had. People laughed outside pubs. Cars passed. Windows glowed with other lives unfolding independently of his own.

Gary felt a flicker of regret, sharp but brief. Not the kind that demanded action. Just the quiet acknowledgement that an opportunity had existed, and now it didn’t.

He let himself sit with that for longer than usual. Didn’t distract himself. Didn’t immediately reach for old habits or easy noise. He simply accepted the feeling for what it was — uncomfortable, but honest.

Eventually, acceptance settled in. This wasn’t rejection. It wasn’t failure. It was timing not aligning, and there was no villain in that story.

Now Gary stood at another fork. He could accept the loss fully, carry the lesson forward, and move on without clinging to what might have been. Or he could avoid the discomfort, slip back into familiar social spirals, and pretend none of this had mattered.

Both paths were open.

Only one felt like progress.

Accept the loss and move on → Page 90

Spiral socially and avoid sitting with it → Page 85