TERMINATION SYNDROME

Dear Diary,

Today felt…different

Not bad. Not good. Just different. Like when a TV show you’ve watched forever suddenly announces it’s in its final season and you pretend you’re okay with it, but you’re really not.

It’s been almost two years at Hills Wellness Clinic now. I used to think therapy was about fixing people. Turns out, most of the time it’s just about helping them walk themselves to the next chapter.

In our profession, we call it termination.

I hate that word. Sounds like we’re cancelling someone’s subscription.

But that’s not what it is. It’s more like… handing the steering wheel back.

My first session today was Bob.

Yes. That Bob.

The squirrel guy.

He walked in holding a small paper bag and for a terrifying second I thought he’d brought evidence. Or worse. A hostage.

“Doc,” he said, sitting down carefully. “I got somethin’ for you.”

I braced myself.

He reached into the bag and pulled out… a bird feeder.

“I moved the cashews inside,” he said proudly. “Put this on the far end of the yard. They don’t come near the house no more.”

I blinked. “The squirrels?”

“Yeah. Still don’t like ’em,” he admitted. “But… I don’t hear em’ anymore. I sleep again. My wife says I stopped pacing at night.”

He looked at me, uncertain. “Does that mean… I’m better?”

For once, I didn’t make a joke.

“It means you don’t need me every week anymore.”

He nodded slowly.

“So… no more sessions?”

I smiled. “Not unless you want them. But I think you’ve got this, Bob.”

He stood up, scratched the back of his head. “Guess… guess I do.”

At the door, he turned back.

“Doc?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For real.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Was it just me, or did that feel… fast?

Is this a rushed ending, I mean termination.

My next client was the one I’d been dreading.

If you need context, read Chapter One.

I expected both of them. Instead, Diane came alone.

She didn’t cry.

She sat quietly for almost ten minutes. I was ready for the speech. I had rehearsed it. Today, I was finally going to tell her the truth.

I inhaled, rearranged my face into what I hoped was a compassionate expression, and opened my mouth.

Bad move. I swallowed a fly.

Because the next words out of her mouth were:

“Todd is gay.”

Not confused. Not experimenting. Just… gay.

I nodded gently.

OH MY GOD SHE FINALLY SAID IT.

After an entire year. A whole damn year. And I didn’t even have to be the one to say it.

Termination?
Done.

She talked for a while after that, but I don’t remember much of it. And yes, it probably sounds terrible that I was celebrating while she was hurting, but honestly?

This is the happiest I’ve been since yesterday. WHOOOOO!

After two more sessions, I was done for the day.

I stayed in my office for a while, staring at my reflection in the small mirror in the corner.

I thought about Lily. About Serena. About Bob walking back to his yard. About Diane finally telling herself the truth.

If they could move forward… maybe I could too.

That evening, I went home to Daphne on the couch, legs tangled in a blanket, watching our stupid vampire-robot anime.

I know I said the ending was shit but come on, this is a classic. That four-episode wedding arc? Absolute cinema.

“You okay, Maxxy?” she asked, slurping cola.

“Yeah,” I said. “Stop hogging the popcorn.”

Dear Diary,

Weddings are weird.

They’re not really about love. Not the kind in movies, anyway. They’re about timing. Two people deciding, at the same moment, that they’re ready to keep choosing each other.

At least… that’s what I think now.

It had been a few weeks since Lily and I talked. Unlike what people say, this was actually mutual. Just two people realizing that whatever we were holding onto had already let go.

But enough about that. We’re talking weddings here.

The day had arrived.

Daphne was already dressed, standing in front of the mirror, adjusting the straps of her dress like she was preparing for battle.

“You look nervous,” she said.

“I’m not nervous,” I said.

She turned around slowly. “You’re wearing the face.”

“What face?”

She squinted her face and pinned her nose in. “This face.”

Rude. Accurate. But rude.

What had started as a simple invitation had turned into a full-blown event. Daphne somehow got herself invited too—thank God Aunt Jasmine was out of town. Before you start smiling, her bags are still in my apartment.

Stephen was picking us up later, and apparently Susan had said yes to the “date.” I was glad. I actually like those two together, though who knows how long before Stephen fucks it up. We were picking Serena up afterwards and I was sweating.

I stood in front of the mirror, straightening my suit for the sixteenth time when I heard a knock on the door.

“Daphne!” I called.

No answer.

I walked to the door and opened it.

And there she was.

Serena.

She stood there in a soft blue dress, sunlight catching in her hair,

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” I said back.

And there it was.

Those small, quiet things.

Her smile. Her eyes. The way her face fit so naturally into the space in front of me.

My chest tightened in that gentle way.

“Hmm,” she said. “You look sharp.”

I looked at her. At the soft confidence in her posture. At the way her eyes searched mine like she wasn’t rushing me into anything.

“Yeah,” I said. “I am.”

She stepped inside while I grabbed my keys, momentarily forgetting that my sister was somewhere in the apartment.

(Don’t worry. I went back for her.)

But for that one moment—standing in my hallway, neither of us moving—I thought:

Maybe this is what the next chapter looks like…….

“Max,” she said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you came.”

I smiled.

“Me too.”

….And maybe…..just maybe….. this wasn’t really an ending at all.

Signing off,
Dr. Max Harvey
Diary keeper. Counselor. Brother.
And so many more things I can’t wait to find out.