Freya was on her way back from the craft fair, the last few lamps that she hadn’t managed to sell safely stored in the back of the van. She had sold almost everything that she had taken, all of Rome’s beautiful jewellery, his wall panels and most of the lamps, and she had even sold a good few pieces that she had designed and made. Rome was quite insistent about showcasing her work at the fair under the Through the Looking Glass studio name and, though she didn’t think they were as good as Rome’s, people seemed to love them. She’d also had quite a few people interested in commissioning the studio for bespoke pieces. It had been a good day for the business and she felt proud to be a part of it. She frowned. She had been a part of it. No, she was still going to be a part of it, she just needed some time away to fall out of love with him.

She joined the beach road at Berry Point and automatically glanced out to see if she could spot the dolphins or seals.

She spotted Sammy the seal and frowned in confusion. He was on the beach. She looked back at the clear road and then glanced back to Sammy again. The seals never came up on the beach. They sometimes came on land to rest, but they preferred the rocky islets that were a little way out in the sea where they wouldn’t be disturbed by tourists or a curious dog. This was very strange.

Acting on instinct, she pulled over onto the side of the road and got out. She moved quickly down onto the beach and soon realised that something was wrapped around the seal’s neck. He was moving round on the beach, desperately trying to get it off.

She slowed her pace, not wanting to startle him, and as she moved closer she saw it was a Chinese lantern. The wire frame seemed to be embedded into his flesh.

Freya gasped, tears forming in her eyes as she inched closer, but Sammy noticed her there and waddled out into the shallows. Freya froze and the seal didn’t go too far.

She needed some help with this. Even if she could get close enough, she doubted she would get the wire off on her own.

She quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket and called Rome.

‘Rome, I need you,’ Freya said, her voice breaking.

‘Are you OK? What’s happened? Where are you?’ She could hear the urgency in his voice.

‘At Berry Point.’

‘I’m on my way.’

‘Wait, bring some wire cutters.’

Rome didn’t even question the odd request. ‘OK.’

He rang off and Freya inched closer to the seal. ‘Come on Sammy, let me help you.’

The seal didn’t move any further away but didn’t come any closer either.

Just then Rome’s dad, Finn, came climbing over the rocks, fishing rod in one hand and a large bucket in the other. He was whistling to himself, obviously on his way home after a day’s fishing.

He waved when he saw her, but his smile fell off when he saw her face. He came rushing over and Sammy sploshed even further away.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘It’s Sammy,’ Freya gestured. ‘He has a Chinese lantern wrapped around his neck and I can’t get to him to help him.’

Finn stared at Sammy and then down at his bucket of fish. ‘I have twelve mackerel, maybe we can tempt him to come closer.’

‘Good idea.’

Finn picked out a small fish and tossed it out into the sea. Sammy was used to eating the fish guts that the fishermen would throw out into the sea once they had caught and gutted the fish. Despite his predicament, Sammy swam close enough to eat the fish and Freya handed Finn her phone and inched out into the water as Finn threw another fish into the sea. Each time Finn threw the fish, he would deliberately do it closer to the shore and Freya made slow progress out into the sea.

‘That’s it, I’m out of fish, love,’ Finn said. ‘Let me go grab the guys.’

Freya watched as he climbed back over the rocks and disappeared round the corner. Sammy stayed where he was, obviously hoping for more fish. Freya moved a bit closer.

Finn returned with four more men, all of them carrying the fish they had worked hard to catch. Slowly, one by one, they started throwing the fish towards Sammy.

‘Don’t throw them all in, we’ll need some for when I try to get the wire off,’ Freya called and the fishermen slowed in their throwing. ‘Do any of you have any wire cutters?’

‘I have a knife,’ one of the men said and a few of the others nodded their agreement. She shook her head – a knife wouldn’t cut the wire and she could end up hurting the seal.

Suddenly she spotted Rome, running down the road towards them. She waved both hands in the air and he ran towards her.

‘Are you OK?’ he said as he approached.

‘I am. Sammy has a Chinese lantern round his neck, we are having trouble getting to him though.’

Rome looked at Sammy and at the fishermen who were slowly throwing their fish into the sea. He walked up to the nearest one and grabbed an armful of the fish and waded out into the sea to join Freya. Sammy must have smelt the fish he was carrying because he didn’t move away. Rome handed her the wire cutters and held one of the fish out in front of him.

It was clearly too much temptation for Sammy as he swam closer to take the fish. Freya put her hand out to touch Sammy and to her surprise he didn’t pull away. His skin was soft and smooth to touch. As Rome reached out to offer him another fish, Freya ran her hand up to his neck and tried to loosen the wire but it held fast.

Sammy clearly didn’t like being touched – his neck was obviously very sensitive where the wire had dug into the flesh – and as Freya tried to remove it, he turned and swam away, though luckily not too far.

‘Damn it.’

‘He’ll be back,’ Rome said, quietly. ‘This is too tempting for him to ignore.’

The fishermen on the land started throwing their fish into the sea to encourage him back and, after a few moments, Sammy swam within reach of Rome and Freya again.

As Rome reached out with another fish and Sammy came to take it, Freya didn’t waste any more time, she slipped the wire cutters under the wire and snipped the wire apart. The lantern still didn’t come away, but it was looser now, and very carefully she was able to untangle it from his skin and then remove it completely.

‘What should we do, should we try and capture him and bring him to shore to have his injuries looked at?’ Freya asked.

Rome shook his head. ‘He’s too big for us to be able to try and manhandle and we could stress him out.’

He was right; at nearly two metres Sammy would be much too heavy to lift and she couldn’t see him being compliant.

‘We can call the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Helford, near Lizard. They might come out and look for him. If they need to take him in, they can do it safely.’

Freya nodded and with Rome and the other fishermen’s fish now depleted, Sammy started to drift away.

Rome offered his hand and she took it and he helped her ashore.

‘Thank you all for helping,’ Freya said to Finn and the other fishermen. ‘I’m sorry you lost all your fish.’

They all shrugged, clearly not bothered. ‘We couldn’t leave Sammy to suffer,’ Finn said and they all nodded their agreement.

Finn handed her phone back to her. ‘Well done, love.’

Freya smiled and realised she was shaking, though she wasn’t sure if that was because she was wet.

‘Let’s get you back home,’ Rome said, his hand on her back searing against her skin. He escorted her back to the van. ‘Here, I’ll drive.’

Freya didn’t even argue, her hands were shaking too much to be any good. She got into the passenger side and Rome climbed into the driver’s seat, throwing the remains of the Chinese lantern into the back.

‘Well at least we know what the UFOs were now,’ Rome said as he started the engine and headed back towards the shop.

Freya stared at him. ‘Oh god, the golden lights. I didn’t even think of that. But the reports said there were several lights in the sky. That means there’s more of these bloody lanterns floating out there in the sea.’

‘We’ll get word out to the fishermen on the boats. Tell them to be on the lookout for them.’

A moment later Rome pulled up outside the shop and got out. Before she’d even reached for the door, he was already opening the door to her flat.

She climbed out the van and he ushered her inside and up the stairs. She felt so tired all of a sudden. The day had been so fun, with so many people taking an interest in the studio and for it to end like this was heartbreaking. That poor seal.

‘God, poor Sammy. The wire was dug into his flesh so deep. He must have been in so much pain,’ Freya said, tears forming in her eyes again as she thought about him.

‘And you saved him. Their skin is pretty thick, he’ll probably be OK,’ Rome said, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight.

It was such a surprising gesture from him that it took her mind a few moments to catch up and then she wrapped her arms round his back and leaned her head against his chest. Oh god, she needed this right now. After the disappointment and stress of the last few days, after finding Sammy like she had, she needed to be hugged by her best friend. And he had come. She had called him and he had dropped everything and ran to the opposite side of the island to come to help her. She was supposed to be falling out of love with him but right now she loved him a little bit more.

‘Thank you for being there,’ Freya said, against his chest.

He pulled back a little to look at her. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her on the forehead. ‘Always.’

This man was going to ruin her.

She realised she was still shaking and she knew it was only partly due to the cold.

‘You need to have a shower to warm up,’ Rome said.

She just managed to stop herself in time from suggesting that he joined her. She quickly rephrased it, leaving the ball in his court. ‘You need a shower too.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, I do. I’ll go home and get changed and I’ll see you back here in half hour.’

The ball dropped to the floor.

She nodded and he disentangled himself from her arms and left her alone. She stared after him as he disappeared down the stairs.

How was she ever going to get over him?