Page 161 - My Home on the Earth

struggling through divorce proceedings. He felt devastated and ashamed of his wife. Shortly afterwards, her mobile wouldn’t accept his number, and letters and cards to their council house in Sorrenbridge were returned marked: No longer at this address.
On Monday morning, he went to work to apply for leave to sort out family matters. The company accepted his request, paid his train fare and expected him to return in a week. The downside was that the journey would take him several hours, so he’d booked an overnight stay in London and four nights’ accommodation in Rauston Quay.
For most of the journey, he either worked on his laptop or slept. A surprise email from his manager, Mark Thompson, gave him hope. When he arrived in Rauston, Alan was told to telephone a number and ask to speak to Mr Stuart Bannister. Mark had recognised the seaside town and searched the company archives for previous major customers. One of their biggest customers was an engineering company which closed years ago and the owner was selling the land to investors. Mark thought local knowledge of the area would save Alan hours of searching.
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At the same time as his dad was travelling to London, Jake was walking by the harbour, watching small boats bouncing in the choppy water. The thought of receiving more donations felt tempting until his conscience kicked
in. I’ll do it – it was fun, but this is the last time!
He set off to the far end of the bus terminal, turned the
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