The automatic doors to the travel lodge slid open with a reluctant hiss. The once white tiled floor was scuffed from the constant footfalls of guests over the years, scratches laid into the floor from suitcases and the hum of the old 2000's windows pc filled the otherwise silent foyer.

    Kelsey's boots clacked against the floor as she approached the desk. Sat behind it looked a woman no older than 19, her hair scraped back into a high messy bun, thick eyeliner lining her blue eyes and her mouth moving rhythmically as she chewed her gum.

        "Can I help?" The receptionist asked in an accent that was all too familiar, taking Kelsey back to her high school days.

        "I've got a room booked under the name, Owens. Kelsey Owens." She presented her phone screen in the eye line of the receptionist, displaying her booking conformation. With a pop of her gum, the receptionist glanced down at the computer screen and began slowly typing on the keyboard. Kelsey slid her phone back into her pocket, glancing round the room whilst she waited. A tired looking monstera plant sat in a too small terracotta pot behind the woman before her, the fluorescent lighting gleaming off of the receptionist's name tag. In scratched letters Kelsey could give an identity to this lost soul. Sadie.

       "Room 219. Along the corridor, up the stairs on the right and then walk down till you find it." Sadie informed, sliding a worn blue key card over to Kelsey.

       "Thank you, Sadie" a look of surprise passed over her face at the sound of her own name. "Hope you have a nice day." Kelsey concluded as she collected her key card and smiled at the young woman.

       "Er thanks," Sadie smiled "You too."

  Kelsey was starting to think Sadie didn't get a lot of genuine interaction, it seemed like she, much like that monstera plant, had outgrown her home and was stuck.

   The stairs creaked with each step and Kelsey couldn't work out if the blue carpet actually was meant to have a pattern or if it was build up of years worth of unremovable dirt. The heavy door leading to the second floor corridor took some force to open but once standing inside Kelsey was greeted with a ghostly silence.
Her boots tacky against the worn flooring, she made her away along the corridor, passing plastic number plate after number plate till she stood outside room 219. Holding the key card up she pressed it against the sensor till the little light by the handle flashed a bright green. Then click. The door swung open with ease and Kelsey entered what would be her sanctuary for the night.

   A double bed was situated in the middle of the room, deep purple bedding laid atop with navy pillows that looked surprisingly plump. A lone chair sat in the corner next to the single window in the room, a small table beside it with a reading lamp positioned in the centre. The faded blue curtains were drawn but no sunlight entered the room, the dull grey skies casting a dusky filter on her surroundings.

    Kelsey flicked the switch on the wall to the left of her, the hum of electricity filled the quiet air as the lights flickered on behind the vanity table, the mirror aged with dark spots that no amount of glass cleaner could remove sat adjourned with the desk opposite the bed.

   The bathroom door was open and the smell of bleach stung Kelsey's nose, relief to know it was cleaned recently shrouded her anxious mind. A single shower was nestled into the corner, a soft drip from the shower head making itself known every so often, it's pattern interrupted slightly when the drip from the sink would fall.
'This could be so much worse', Kelsey thought as she made her way across the room to place her overnight bag on the chair.

   Removing her tanned coat she placed it gently on the bed, catching her reflection in the mirror. Her wind blown hair had wrapped its way in multiple directions across her shoulders and her cheeks were flushed pink from the cruel breeze. With a soft clink she placed the bottle of merlot next to the reading lamp.

          "I guess I should put this plan in motion." She spoke to herself, trying to manifest confidence verbally. Slinking down into the chair Kelsey unlocked her phone and opened up the group chat.

    Kelsey: Just arrived at the hotel. About to send the message, you guys better be right about this...

   Closing the chat she scrolled across her phone until she saw the notes app, opening it she was greeted by the drafted message. Her pulse elevating she read, it one last time.

    Jake, I'm in town for one night. I'm free to meet for a quick coffee, I'll be heading back to London tomorrow. Let me know a time and a place.

   Short and precise. Millie had told her not to over complicate it and leave no room for confusion. Make him aware that this is his only opportunity. Also 'quick coffee' makes him know that this is no long catchup, just to say his peace and be done with it. And David's input of mentioning 'coffee' and not just 'drinks' allows no possibly reason for alcohol to be consumed by both of them leading to any costly mistakes.

   Kelsey eyed the bottle next to her, Cameron assured her that there was no shame in her having a couple glasses to herself in preparation though.

    She unscrewed the lid, and contemplated getting up to use the complimentary glass but on second thoughts thought there was no reason why she couldn't just take a swig from the bottle.

   Swallowing the warm liquid she highlighted the message and selected copy. Opening up Instagram she ignored the smiling faces and serene landscapes that were on her feed and clicked on the notification button to lead her to her dms. There it was, the message that was sent last Friday night.

      'I'm sorry'

   She knew that he was aware that she'd read it, that would be glaringly obvious. But for certain Kelsey knew he would not be expecting any form of reply.
Clicking on the text box she held down till the option to paste appeared. As the message was transferred Kelsey felt her heart beating in her throat, a hot shiver climbing up her neck as her finger hovered over the send button. Her phone dinged and a notification box slid down from the top of the screen alerting her to a message from the group chat.

  Mills: You've got this hon, Let's be rid of this dead weight xx

  Kelsey hit send on the message. As soon as it said delivered she placed her phone face down on the side table and took a long swig from the wine bottle. 

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

   Sean clicked through each channel monotonously, day time telly he was never around for and here he was seeing why he was glad he never was. Chat show after chat show discussing the most mind numbingly unimportant things. He let a frustrated hiss escape his lips as he chucked the remote down beside him on the sofa, rubbing his temples. Checking his watch he saw the time was only 11:20am, he began to question why it was so important to get here in the morning. He just couldn't sit in that empty house any longer so decided it was a good idea to hit the road early, only to be sat in an even stranger empty house with no form of decent entertainment.

   Sean grabbed his phone from his pocket and instantly began to do the one thing he promised his boss he wouldn't do; Check his work emails.
There at the top was one from this morning from his boss, it was flagged as important.

     If you're reading this. Don't. Put the phone down, go enjoy the sea-side!
     Jaime

         "Cheeky bugger." Sean laughed. He hadn't been at the company long, only a couple of years, but Jaime saw him as his protégé. A workaholic that had grown distant from family, truthfully Jaime was worried that Sean was going to burn out soon if he didn't take a break. So it was decided; Sean has three weeks off and the extra work load gets shared between him and Karen, Sean's deputy supervisor in the office. What that now meant for Sean is that no emails will be coming into his inbox until April. He truly was left with nothing to do but embrace the old life he used to live. 

    Placing the phone back in his pocket, he turned off the tv and stood up from the sofa, stretching out his back till a satisfying click sounded. Walking over the faux fur rug that spanned the length of the living room he stood in front of the wall to wall glass french doors. The garden looked as pristine as ever, his dad may be a reserved man when it came to words but when garden maintenance was involved you'd never meet anyone louder.

   The cherry blossom tree had grown twice the size than when Sean was last here, a small lump of guilt formed in his throat.

      'Had it really been that long since I was last here?' He thought.

   It swayed in the breeze at the bottom of the garden, beneath it sat a large round table with matching Parisian style chairs, pink blossom scattered delicately all around the base. Flowers were just starting to bloom in the flower beds and birds were rhythmically going back and forth to the bird feeder.

  Four days, he owed that and more to his parents, Sean understood that. But what to do with himself for those days? There was a high possibility that his brother still had his old PlayStation console in his room. What better way to take a trip down memory lane than to fully revert back to his teenage years and play video games for all hours of the day. It was certainly a good place to start, then just maybe if Sean was feeling up to it he may even go into town and risk bumping into some old faces.

  His brother's room had changed a fair bit, a clear indicator that he regularly visits home. His old comic book collection was replaced with text books from his uni degree, the swimsuit model posters no longer hung from the wall by Blu-tac, instead framed photos from old family holidays and his travels took their place.
Sean scanned each photo, he could imagine his mum was the one to put these here, publicly displaying just how well her youngest has done, how social and out going he was. Sean's eyes stopped on a photo of the family holiday to Spain, his eyebrows knitted in confusion as to why this photo would be hung here. Not like it wasn't a nice photo or that the holiday itself was a bad time. It was just that he knew the photos his mother hung were always of only the family, to further encourage the idea of the perfect family life. Photos including anyone else remained securely in the photo albums tucked away in storage. So then why would she display this photo of the family with one of his brother's ex girlfriends front and centre?

   Her bright auburn hair stood out drastically against the blondes, eyes squinting ever so slightly from the sun.

     Kelsey Owens.