The time on Kelsey's phone read 19:56 as she shoved it into the front pocket of her jeans. Reaching for her room key card she took in her appearance one final time. Half her hair was pulled up off of her face and tied in a loose bun whilst the rest hung in loose waves over her shoulders towards her lower back. Her face looked fresher and she had disguised her wine stained lips with a deep burgundy lipstick. She looked more done up than she intended to be to meet Jake, so much for the easy breezy, care free look Millie had recommended.

   Grabbing the half drunk bottle of wine from the side table, she took a sip before slotting it into her handbag. Turning on her heels she flicked the switch, sending the room into darkness and exited her hotel room.

  Sadie sat bored behind the desk, her eyes watching the clock. Kelsey approached her with a wine fuelled confidence, a smile on her lips.

       "Sadie darling, may you call me a cab?" Kelsey sweetly asked. Sadie turned slowly and looked Kelsey up and down.

       "Um I finish in 2 minutes." Sadie said, gesturing to the ticking clock in the foyer. "But if you want a cab, 247 365 is a good one." She stood up, grabbing her bag from under her desk.

  Kelsey's smiled widened, she liked Sadie. She reminded her of the seasonal staff at work, the ones who really don't give a shit what the customers or even what the managers think. But they still did a cracking job in the end.

       "Thanks so much, darl." Kelsey sang as she turned to leave through the sliding doors. "Hope you have a brilliant night!"

        "Yeah, seems like you already are." Sadie laughed unaware if Kelsey could hear her.

  Outside in the car park Kelsey fidgeted with her ring, the taxi service said they'd be with her in a few minutes. Not a long wait, but Kelsey couldn't imagine many people had places to be at 8o'clock on a Tuesday night.

   She checked one last time to see if she'd had any response, but still nothing. Maybe Jake was giving her a taste of her own medicine? Ignoring her messages out of spite, that did seem like a very Jake thing to do. Whilst she had the time she lit a cigarette and brought it to her lips, balancing it there whilst she drafted another message.

  You have been the bane of my life these past few years, even more so if we were to count our relationship. At least have the human decency to acknowledge these messages. You owe me that.

   Hitting send she pocketed her phone triumphantly. Taking a long drag from her cigarette she exhaled it into the night air, a swirl of white climbing up into the sky. Pacing back and forth she awaited the telltale signs of headlights turning into the car park, stomping out the cigarette with the heel of her boot she opened the back door to the car, crouching down to look at the wrinkle ringed eyes of the cab driver in the rear view mirror.

        "Taxi For Kelsey?" She asked.

        "Heading to 48 Centurion Lane." The gruff voice confirmed. With a smile, Kelsey entered the vehicle sliding along the worn leather seats and shut the door behind her. Clicking her seatbelt in place and readjusting in her seat so her coat wasn't scrunched up behind her, she nodded signalling to the cab driver that she was ready to go.

   The roads seemed barren on their way out of the main town centre, the sky dark and cloud covered no sign of any stars shining through. As the roads twisted and turned Kelsey focused on what she was going to say, her friends carefully constructed plan long gone she was focusing on the years worth of frustration and anger that has boiled inside her. She deserved more than his petty apology she wanted him to beg for forgiveness, she wanted him to feel an ounce of the pain that she had felt on the day it all came crashing down.

   The thought of Jake down on his knees grovelling brought an overwhelming sense of joy to Kelsey. She needed this more than she had realised.

   The taxi turned onto a well lit street, large houses were spaced equally along the road, each one more fancier than the last. Kelsey recognised the house in the distance, its tall well pruned hedges getting closer and closer.

       "You can stop here." Kelsey said, already starting to unbuckle her seatbelt.

      "You sure, miss?" The cab driver asked as he slowed down to a crawl. Kelsey nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat as she stared at the house down the bottom of the street, its gravel driveway curling out towards them.

       "I'm sure."
       "Alright, well that's £15 please."

  Kelsey reached into her bag and carefully removed a £20 note from her purse, she handed it over to the driver who clicked on the over head light to search for change in his wallet.

      "I've only got coins, is that alright?" the old man asked, looking back at her with an apologetic look.

     "No that's fine with me." Kelsey reassured as she outstretched her hand to take the small change form the cab driver. "Thank you."

   Gathering her belongings, Kelsey opened the door and put a steady foot on the road. She emerged into the outside and turned to thank her taxi driver once again before closing the door.

   She stepped onto the pavement and watched as the cab drove down the rest of the street and round the corner out of eyesight. With a deep breathe she continued further.

   Removing the bottle from her bag she unscrewed the lid, pausing her stride to take a steady sip. The last thing she wanted was to turn up to confront Jake with a wine stain down the front of her white top. Sucking her teeth to make sure they too weren't stained, Kelsey continued forward her direction veering slightly left before she self corrected to stay in a straight line.

   A black BMW was parked on the driveway which was the only thing she didn't recognise. Otherwise it was the exact same as it was the day she was last here, the bright red door hadn't faded and the hedges hadn't grown. Kelsey stood still before the gravel driveway. She remembered that last morning she was here, that final argument, the one that broke her and inevitably made her walk out on Jake never looking back.

   She took another swig from her wine.

   The gravel crunched under her feet and Kelsey had to concentrate on each step to not roll her ankles on the uneven surface. Reaching the door step she reached up, holding her hand inches away from the polished wood Kelsey held her breath and rapped delicately on the door three times.

         "Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck" Kelsey whispered under her breath as her fingers tapped nervously on the bottle in her hands. She strained her ears to listen out for any approaching footsteps. Nothing. Looking at the car on the driveway she knew that someone was inside the house. She could imagine Jake sat downstairs in the living room, scrolling absentmindedly on his phone ignoring her knocks at the door.

  There it was again, the frustration boiling over inside of her. Kelsey bit the inside of her cheek and knocked again, this time harder. She swayed nervously, turning to look back up the street she had just walked down.

          "Umm, not sure if you know but Martha and Jerry aren't here at the moment." A deep masculine voice alerted into the silence beside her. Kelsey jumped gripping the wine bottle tightly with both hands, she turned to look at where the source of the voice had come from. She stared at the doorbell, of course they have the fancy door bells with a camera. His voice took her off guard but that was proof enough that he was home purposely ignoring her.

        "Now listen here, Jake! You have tormented me for the past four years, you have made my life miserable and don't even get me started on the trust issues I now have with men!" Kelsey's voice slurred as it got louder. "For goodness sake Jake, open the bloody do-"

   The door swung open suddenly, causing Kelsey to stumble back in surprise. Stood before her was not Jake but his older brother Sean, his dirty blonde hair damp and curled falling over his wide eyes, his torso bare with a crisp white towel barely hanging onto his hips. His appearance silenced her, leaving her mouth agape and eyes wide.

         "Kelsey?!"

   He stood there just as shocked as her, one hand resting on the door frame whilst the other gripped the door holding it open wide. The silence was palpable.

       "What are you doing here?" Sean managed to get out, his eyes scanning her from head to toe, not quite believing what he saw in front of him. Kelsey was keeping her eyes squarely transfixed on his, careful not to let them wander the length of his body. A warm radiation from her cheeks swelling.

       "Where are your clothes?" She whispered, eyebrows raising in alarm, still allowing Sean to remain some dignity by following his eyes that still seemed to be rapidly taking her in. "You're naked, Sean." She stated, louder this time that it snapped Sean out of his shocked daze.

       "Oh shit." he let go of the door and scrambled to grab the towel, pulling it tighter against his waist. "Sorry." He mumbled as he backed up behind the crimson door, leaving an open invitation for Kelsey to enter.

   Hesitantly she broke past the threshold, the hallway light illuminating the interior of the house she long tried to forget. Her fingers still nervously tapped gently against the now close to empty bottle in her hands as she watched Sean slowly shut the front door, the overhead light illuminating his back muscles flexing with the subtle movement. Kelsey hastily looked away, how on earth has this day turned out so incredibly far from what she intended?

    Remembering suddenly how strict Mrs Henderson was about no shoes on inside the house Kelsey reached down to remove her boots. Hopping comedically she struggled the get a good grip on the sole, her vision doubling from both the wine and sudden head rush. With gravity working against her Kelsey felt a twinge from her ankle as she started to fall forwards. Shit.

    Falling forwards anticipating the ground to greet her Kelsey felt a strong grip wrap around her waist and a hand gently hold her shoulder stopping her momentum. The sound of laughter echoed in the silence. It took a few seconds for Kelsey to realise it was her laughter. Her body limp against Sean who was now propping her back up steady on her feet. Once upright Kelsey threw her head back to look up at Sean, a stern look painted his face. Another chuckle left Kelsey's lips. She watched as his eyes scanned her face and then down towards the bottle of red wine in her hands, a miracle none had spilled on the cream carpet.

         "Are you drunk?" His low voice asked slowly, his hands still gently holding onto Kelsey's shoulders to stop her from stumbling forward again. It was then that Kelsey realised just how drunk she felt, the background behind Sean gently warping from left to right.

        "You know what, I think I am." Kelsey snickered, clapping Sean a little too hard on the shoulder as her head fell forward in a laugh again.

        "Jesus, what on earth is happen-"
        "Clothes."
        "What?"

        "You're still not wearing any clothes." Kelsey's voice slurred as she prodded his bare chest. Snaking her arm with the wine bottle between them, she pushed him gently away so she could take another swig keeping eye contact the whole time.

    Sean was speechless, unable to comprehend what was happening this evening. A high pitched beeping sounded from the kitchen, breaking the silence that was forming between them. Kelsey kicked her loose boot off and used her free foot as leverage to remove the other one.

       "Right, yeah. Just, umm. Just wait right here." Sean stumbled over his words, letting go of her shoulders but keeping his arms up ready to catch her if she was to fall forward.

   She remained upright, swaying slightly but mostly steady. Kelsey watched as he climbed the stairs in stride, skipping every other one. The high pitched beeping rang out again. Hearing what Kelsey could only imagine was Sean opening the door to his bedroom she proceeded to ignore his instructions. Moving down the hallway she passed by the smiling faces of the family decorating the walls, the elaborate bouquets of flowers sitting in crystal vases and turned into the kitchen.

    Flicking the light switch the ceiling spotlights illuminated the vast white space, her soft footfalls barely making a sound against the cold floor. Lifting the wine bottle to her lips she drained the last mouthful of wine, the alcohol no longer having any tartness as she swallowed. Placing the empty bottle on the island counter, Kelsey shrugged off her coat and draped it haphazardly on the back of one of the bar stool chairs that tucked neatly under the counter. She dropped her bag onto the floor, it's contents sprawling under chairs and across the tiled floors. The smell of something delicious wafted up her nose, her stomach growling in response reminding her that she had yet to have anything substantial to eat today.