He turned the sign around. From the inside it read OPEN but from the outside it read CLOSED.

There weren't many customers. So they wouldn't mind. And Chip. Well. Old Chip would cut him some slack if he were here.

Steve had to go. That tune had burrowed itself deep into his brain. And now he had to be by the sea. Breathe its salt into his lungs. Drink coffee by a cafe on the dock. He knew there would be a cafe like that there.

It felt so different from 

Westcity

and the 

town

he was from. He had never seen The Seaside Rest, but he had a picture in his head. Nobody from his hometown stayed in places like that. they went to resorts and stuff. Cancun.

He hadn't talked to people from home much since moving out here. His birthday had been last Wednesday. He had received no happy birthday calls or texts. This was the first year he spent it alone. No recognition.

Steve got into the car and thought to himself, he'd give himself his own birthday getaway. At the Seaside Rest. He couldn't wait. He listened to the song in the car the whole way there.

The Seaside Rest, the place that knows you best,
The Seaside Rest, a place that's great for rest.