As the train approached the coast station by station Kelsey went over the plan in her head.

  - Check into the cheap little travel lodge that she'd booked for the night.
  - Send the carefully drafted message by the guys to Jake about how she's in town for just one night and is free for that coffee.
  - Drink from the bottle of merlot that she has stashed in her handbag until she has conformation about a time to meet.
  - Frantically text the group chat on how this is an awful idea and await their comforting words to convince her that this is the only way to finally get him to leave her alone.
  - Meet up with Jake and hear whatever it is he has to say and then say exactly what Millie had told her too. No more no less.
  - Leave and head back to the travel lodge to finish the merlot, call the guys and get a decent sleep before heading back to the train station to catch the 10am train back to London.

  It was just that simple.

   Twirling her grandmas ring anxiously around her finger Kelsey stared outside the window, watching the grey sky swirl between the branches of the trees lining the tracks.

     "All the best with your life, Jake. It's time I move on with mine." Her voice sounded timid as she practised those all important words under her breath, engraving them on her tongue so that nerves don't make her sound weak.

  The over head announcement jolted her out of the repetitions to make her aware that she was only a few stops away from making this plan a full fledged reality.

     "What the fuck am I actually doing" Kelsey muttered as she ran her fingers through her hair, dragging them down towards her open bag beside her and grabbing her pouch of tobacco, pre rolling a much needed cigarette to inhale once she got out of the station.

A habit she picked up from moving to London those four years ago. But a much needed one when you're working in hospitality as that's the only time you can get a break when you're running those 10+ hour shifts. That's what Cameron had told her on her first shift.
Bright eyed and raring to go, Kelsey had stood awaiting instructions from the head waiter and when he finally opened his mouth the question he asked wasn't what she was expecting.

    "Do you smoke?"
     "Um, no?"
     "Well you're going to want to start. It's the only way you'll survive this place."

   Kelsey had lasted three weeks without picking up the habit until one customer pushed her to her limit, proclaiming that it was entirely Kelsey's fault that her daughter had burnt her hand. Even though Kelsey had explicitly told the woman twice that the plate was hot. Amongst the threats of having Kelsey's job and demanding to speak to the manager, Kelsey left through the kitchen to the smoking area. Hot angry tears welling up in her eyes.

   Cameron wasn't too far behind her, he said nothing. He just reached into his pocket and pulled out his tobacco, rolled two neat cigarettes and handed one to Kelsey. She took it and lit it, coughing slightly on her first drag.

     "That lady on table 46 is a right bitch."
     "They all are Kels, they all are," Cameron's calm words of understanding was supported by a small squeeze of her arm. "However, we've got 60 more covers to get through this lunch. So dry your eyes, enjoy that ciggy and I'll see you back on the floor."

    She was now completely numb to the clientele of the London restaurant she worked in, four years had taught the most valued lesson: Customers are almost never always right.

    Kelsey had worked her way up to Head waiter, Cameron was now Restaurant manager, and they were an unstoppable team.

    Those four years of confidence growth disintegrating as the train pulled into the station. Kelsey recognised the moss covered walls and the litter strewn platform. It was almost as if this town was stuck in a time loop, never progressing with the times, just stuck in a perpetual state of limbo. Kelsey felt the sense of dread wash over her. Each street haunted with bad memories, a home to people with little to no prospects and are destined to remain here.

     A sad, fractured town that relies on summer tourism to keep it going. A simple grey landscape that the sun just can't reach.
With a lurch the engine turned off and the train came to a stop. The over head announcer confirming that this is the final stop, instructing everyone to collect their belongings and exit onto the platform. Kelsey grabbed her bag and slung her handbag over her shoulder, passing down the train to the open door.

     The harsh sea breeze sent tendrils of hair across her face. Taking in a deep breath, her lungs got a shock of fresh air which lasted for a split second before Kelsey raised the lit cigarette to her lips. Wrapping her coat tightly around her, she headed in the direction of the taxi rank.

                                                                                                                                                .............

    Sean shut the door to his car, locking it securely with a click of his keys before turning to look up at his childhood home. Neatly trimmed hedges lined the driveway, the gravel crunching beneath his feet as he headed towards the red door of the detached home.

   Sean glanced down at the keys and considered for a moment to get back in his car and make that two hour journey back home. But he had nothing waiting for him there. His boss had quite literally forced him to take the remaining three weeks of his annual leave before the financial year restarts. His last words reverberating around his head; Take a break.

    So that's what he's doing, he sent a message into the family group chat, a chat that he usually has silenced or just flat out ignores, to inform his parents that he'll be home to see them. And now here he stood, 27 years old feeling like a teenager on his parents door step.

    With a heavy sigh Sean lifted the key to the lock and inserted it, with a turn and a click the door opened. Sean tightened his jaw awaiting the berate of chastising from his mother asking repeatedly why it has taken him so long to come home? Not to mention the constant comparisons she'll make between him and his younger brother. The golden child. All whilst his dad just grunts and nods in the hallway, ever the man of many words.

  Silence.

   Sean closed the door behind him, the thud echoing in the empty hallway.

    "Mum?" Sean called out. "It's me. Sean." He stepped further into the hallway, removing his trainers from his feet and placing them neatly beside the doormat. He crept forward looking up from the base of the stairs to gather if there was any movement from upstairs. Nothing. Sean dumped his bag at his feet and headed down towards the kitchen.
  
     "Dad?" Still no response as he rounded the corner into the stark white kitchen, the countertops sparkling and bare all for the exception of a notepad placed at the edge of the island.

    Sean,
    We've had to pop up to see your brother, he's having some trouble. We'll be back on Saturday. Food is stocked in the fridge for you. Love you millions, can't wait to give you a big hug!
Mum & Dad
          X

     A dry laugh left Sean's mouth.

     "Bloody typical." He scrunched up the note and tossed it in the bin by the end of the counter, grabbing an apple from the well stocked fruit bowl as he did so. Instead of being alone in the comfort of his own home he now has to spend four whole days stuck alone in his childhood home on the outskirts of a dead town with nothing to do.

     "Bloody. Typical." Sean repeated before heading back out into the corridor, grabbing his bag and heading up the stairs towards his old room.
His feet sunk into the plush carpet as he walked along the landing, sinking his teeth into the apple his eyes scanned every family photo that hung upon the walls. They all looked like something you'd find in a catalogue, false smiles putting up pretences of a happy nuclear family. Exactly the image his mum wanted to project unto welcomed guests.

   His hand reached for the doorknob of what was his bedroom door and turned it gently, as the door opened it was like stepping into a time capsule. Not a thing was out of place, his bed was made, desk was dusted and all his books laid untouched and unread on his bookcase. Sean chucked his bag onto his bed and flung himself into his desk chair, swinging back and forth gently as he took another bite of his apple.

'Home, sweet home' he thought melancholily.