In early September, after crying with her mother, Alice experiences an epiphany while swimming: she reframes her mantra from being okay to trusting she will be okay. She rejects time-consuming hair styling and embraces small, authentic choices. A flood of desires clarifies her priorities—comfort at home, time with family and friends, swimming over running, visiting her mother, sewing with Nan, working hard while also allowing for fun and mess.

Alice remains conflicted about Charlie, simultaneously wanting him back and wanting to cut contact. After developing her film and seeing repeated images of Charlie’s adoring look, she meets Percy for brunch. Alice confides that she believes Charlie felt more than friendship; Percy agrees and encourages her to call him. Alice nearly does but stops when her anger keeps collapsing into missing him.

She throws away Trevor’s things, hosts a small dinner, and discovers she enjoys both a lively home and solitude. She has her nephew Bennett for a sleepover and takes Nan to her first dance class since surgery; they laugh together when “Dancing Queen” plays, showing Nan’s recovery and their renewed joy.

Alice reassesses her freelance work, deciding to keep only clients she enjoys to protect time for personal projects. She reaches out to Percy’s magazine to shoot again and declines a new assignment from Willa at Swish. Willa surprises her by inviting her for a drink to apologize for the earlier swimsuit retouching incident, explaining the pressure she was under. Alice accepts the apology and agrees to give Willa another chance.

Alice meets with Elyse to share her summer work. When Alice says she is working toward a solo show and asks about the gallery, Elyse enthusiastically agrees to host it. By the end of September, Alice feels more than okay, though she still misses Charlie and longs for both confrontation and connection.

On October 1, while wrapping a large Swish holiday shoot with Willa and a full team, Alice receives an unexpected phone call from Percy, who normally texts. Stepping into the hall, Alice answers, and Percy asks if she is sitting down before saying she has news about Charlie, leaving the chapter on a tense cliffhanger.