I let go of all the negativity of this day.

Days do not end on their own.

Without something to mark it, the difficult parts stay open and keep trading through the night, which is why the four a.m. version of an ordinary meeting is so much worse than the meeting itself was.

Shops understand this. There is a procedure — the till counted, the shutter pulled down, the lights switched off in a particular order. It is not sentiment. It is a signal that trading has stopped.

Yours can be very small. Shoes off at the door. The last message sent before a set hour. A short walk that separates the two halves of the evening.