- A couple summers ago, Sam and his mom went on vacation to Spain. While they were there, they met a family named the Parrs, who are from Hastings.
- Since Sam and his mom don't live too far away from there, the two of them made a trip out to Hastings one day to see the Parrs.
- It was fun. They played mini-golf and ate fish and chips.
- It dawns on Sam that he should go to Hastings to escape his normal life. There, he doesn't have to be a father or come to terms with telling his parents he screwed up.
- He boards a train and gets there by lunchtime.
- Once he gets to Hastings, Sam figures the sensible thing to do is look for a job. He can't find one right away, though, so he switches his search to places to live instead.
- Next up? Sam throws his phone in the ocean so he doesn't have to deal with Alicia or his life.
- Since money is tight, he goes into the grittiest, grossest bed and breakfast he comes across to see if he can stay there.
- On his way inside, some old guy calls out to a "young lady" but Sam is the only one around.
- Sam helps the guy down the stairs and realizes how cranky and rude he is in the process. He's complaining about everything, including Sam's lack of common sense.
- Then he has the audacity to instruct Sam to be there in an hour when he returns so he can get help back up the stairs. Um, no.
- There's no reason for Sam to stick around and be this guy's errand boy.
- Except the man has loads of money, and offers Sam twenty bucks a day if he helps him get around. He doesn't think he should have to pay for human decency, but nothing is free these days. Yeesh.
- Suddenly feeling proud of himself for landing a job on his first day, Sam heads inside to get a room, too.
- The clerk gives him a tough time about having a girl stowed away outside (since he's at a seedy motel-like place).
- At first the woman claims she can't rent Sam a room since he's young and has an attitude, but she comes around when he tells her he's working for Mr. Brady, one of the guests.
- It turns out a room costs twenty bucks a day—the exact wage Mr. Brady agreed to pay him.