by Holly Martin
He tried to track back over the meal again. She had been disappointed with the orchid brooch he had given her. She had immediately tried to cover up her reaction but he had seen it. But that didn’t make sense, she loved his jewellery. She was always going on about how beautiful his brooches, bracelets and necklaces were, and had a large collection of ones he had given her or she had bought from him, insisting that she pay for them as she knew the amount of work that went into them. Why would she be disappointed by the orchid? Orchids were her favourite flower.
He was rubbish with women. He had no idea what was going on in their heads. Growing up he’d not had much experience with girls. Being so tall, even as a child, he had stuck out like a sore thumb in his class. He looked like he had been stretched he was so gangly and for some reason that meant that no one really wanted to be his friend. Apart from when they played basketball, then everyone wanted him on their team. He had taken refuge in books, spending many hours in the library reading non-fiction books about everything.
Fortunately he had grown into his body as a teenager but he never really dated. The girls who suddenly started to take interest in him were the same ones who had made Bella’s life hell when her parents had abandoned her. A fierce loyalty to his adopted sister meant he could never date any of them. But even the girls he did date, he had no idea what to say to them. Dougie seemed to have a way with the opposite sex that Rome could never achieve. He was a charmer and the women loved him. Dougie told Rome to chat to the girls like they were his friends but that was a lot harder than Dougie made it sound. None of them were interested in Star Trek, Lord of the Rings or the ancient history books he used to love to read. Girls weren’t interested in boys who could draw, they wanted boys who smoked or rode motorbikes. Equally, he had no interest in famous people and who was dating who according to the celebrity magazines the teenage girls of the island loved to read. He didn’t care about the latest fashions, which seemed to hold their attentions so avidly. Some boys would take the girls they were dating out on their parents’ boats. He’d take them down to Berry Point, his favourite part of the island to watch the dolphins and the seals, and they’d be bored after a few minutes. That set the pattern for many of his girlfriends – they soon got bored of him.
It didn’t seem to matter when he got older. Sex was apparently one thing he was good at. Who needed to endure awkward, tedious conversations when you could just kiss a girl and then take them to bed? He had spent his late teens and early twenties enjoying the physical side of relationships.
And then, at twenty-four, he’d met Paige. She was the first woman who he had clicked with on much more than a sexual level. She made him laugh. She even loved Lord of the Rings. When she had told him she was moving to London for twelve months with work, he’d known he couldn’t lose her. He had proposed to her a month after they’d first met and she’d said yes. For the next eighteen months their relationship had survived on weekend visits that primarily revolved around sex. They’d never gone past that physical honeymoon phase. As her time in London approached its end, Rome did worry whether they would be able to maintain a proper relationship once she came back to Hope Island for good. What if she got bored of him? What if sex and a mutual appreciation for Tolkien were the only things they had?
He’d never found out. She’d died shortly before she came back to Hope Island. And there had never been anyone he had remotely felt that connection with since.
Until Freya.
Freya was different to anyone he’d ever met. They’d spent two years working alongside each other every day, they’d spent almost every night together and their days off. They would talk and laugh and talk some more. He would never get bored spending time with Freya and it seemed she hadn’t got bored of him.
When he used to date other women, he’d find himself comparing them to Freya and being disappointed when they didn’t measure up. He wanted someone like Freya until he’d realised he didn’t want someone like Freya, he wanted Freya and that was problematic in itself. She was too important to lose, too important to screw it up with.
And look at how easily he had screwed it up. He’d given her a brooch that he thought she would love and now she was barely speaking to him.
He realised he was hammering the wooden frame he was making too hard, the nails poking through the other side.
‘Do you not have a home to go to?’
He looked up to see Freya standing at the foot of her stairs, dressed only in a tiny pair of shorts and a vest. Her hair was mussed up, as she had clearly been woken up, and her eyes were screwed up against the bright lights of the studio. He had never seen anyone look so sexy before in his life. He’d had no idea she had come back home. Surely that was a good sign. God, she was here and she was talking to him. Should he push her for answers, should he just carry on as normal?
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were here. Did I wake you?’
‘It’s one o’clock in the morning, what do you think?’
He stared at her and he decided he’d just act normal. Maybe if she didn’t feel defensive or embarrassed around him then maybe things could go back to how they were before.
A thought occurred to him. Maybe he could persuade her to stay and help him and then when she was relaxed and happy working with the glass, maybe he could talk to her then.
‘Sorry. I’m just panicking slightly about getting this mural done in time. I thought I’d put a few extra hours in.” He deliberately picked up a blue piece of glass. “Go back to bed, I’ll be done soon.’
She edged closer as if she couldn’t stay away. He knew she was loving working on this project and would want to help even if she didn’t want to be with him. ‘Which bit are you working on?’
‘I’ve just finished the sky but I was thinking of making a start on the sea. I know you were going to do fused glass for that but I thought for ease I would just do larger curved pieces of silver and blue pieces and then solder them all together.’
She looked horrified at that prospect, just like he knew she would.
‘No, I’ll do the fused glass, don’t get rid of that bit, it will look amazing once it’s done. Here let me help you.’
He smirked at how easily she had caved. But he had to keep this light between them.
He arched an eyebrow at her. ‘In your pyjamas?’
‘You’re standing there with no top on, I don’t think you’re in any position to lecture me on my clothes.’
He grinned.
‘What would you do if I wandered around without a top on?’ she asked.
He dropped the hammer he was holding as that wonderful thought crashed into his mind and it narrowly missed his foot.
He bent to pick it back up. ‘I don’t think that would be a good idea.’
‘Why is there one rule for health and safety for me but a completely different rule for you?’ Freya asked, picking up some of the small pieces of turquoise glass and layering it on top of the deep blue pieces ready for fusing.
He grabbed a silvery blue piece and started copper foiling that. ‘It’s nothing to do with health and safety, I just wouldn’t get any work done.’
She paused in her work and he cursed himself. If he’d been more awake he wouldn’t have said that.
She smirked. ‘Typical man.’
‘Hey, you upload pictures of me to Instagram every week, a lot of them are topless ones.’ He finished copper foiling the piece he was holding and placed it inside the frame. ‘I’ve seen the hashtag, “Feel Good Friday”. The implication is looking at my body makes people feel good. If anyone is guilty of sexual objectification, it’s you.’
She giggled and he loved the sound of it. Maybe they were going to be OK after all.
‘Sex sells, what can I say?’ she said.
‘So you wouldn’t object to posing half naked with one of our lamps and then we’ll see how many orders we get for it. Equal opportunities and all.’
‘I think we’ll leave the posing half naked for you,
you have a much nicer body than I do,’ she said.
He stalled in his work. ‘You think I have a nice body?’
She looked at him and her cheeks coloured. Her eyes cast down his body appraising him. For a brief second, he saw her tongue slide out ever so slightly and lick her lips. When she looked up, her eyes were dark. She was attracted to him.
She shrugged. ‘You’ll do, I suppose.’
He burst out laughing.
‘The important thing is that fifty-six thousand followers on Instagram think you’re pretty hot so we’ll keep feeding their desires.’
‘I feel used.’
‘I’m sure you’ll get over it.’ She sprinkled tiny silvery shards of glass over the top of her blue layer of glass which would melt into tiny sparkles. Rome picked up the last piece in the section he was working on and started copper foiling that. ‘Did you hear there were apparently UFOs over St Mary’s last night?’
He laughed. ‘I didn’t hear that.’
‘You get all the gossip working in Eden’s pottery café. Everyone comes in there. A couple of fishermen saw them and apparently some of the islanders from St Mary’s saw them too. Golden lights in the sky that seemed to move without any kind of real purpose or direction. They were heading over in this direction and then they just disappeared.’
‘So we had aliens visiting Hope Island last night? I wish I’d known, I would have tried to sell them some stained glass windows for their spaceship.’
Freya giggled. ‘I never said aliens, I said UFOs. Unidentified Flying Objects. It could have been anything. But maybe the aliens saw your Instagram account and wanted to check out the hottie of Hope Island themselves.’
‘The hottie of Hope Island?’
Freya shrugged. ‘It could work.’
‘If you put that on any of our social media, me and you will be having words.’ He placed the piece of glass down inside the frame. ‘Right, I think I’ll leave the soldering for tomorrow as I have to be up early to do the craft fair. And I’ll stick your pieces in the kiln to be fused first thing in the morning. Thank you for your help.’
She shrugged. ‘No problem.’
She turned to walk back towards her flat but he caught her arm. She turned to look at him. ‘Come back to work with me.’
‘Oh god, I want to, I really do, this mural means so much to me but…’ she trailed off and he had no idea why. If it wasn’t the job, then it had to be him but they got on so well so what was it that made her want to stay away from him?
She picked up a piece of glass and held it lovingly in her fingers, caressing the smooth edges. ‘I know I’ve left you in a bit of trouble since I’ve left, with the school mural to finish and the other commissions. I’m not working with Eden tomorrow, her Sunday girl, Daisy, will be there so I have the day off. I could do the craft fair while you stay here and get on with the mural.’
He stared at her. ‘That would be a great help but I didn’t mean I wanted you to come back because I’m so busy, though I won’t deny I need the help. I want you to come back because I miss you. I miss chatting with you, laughing with you, working alongside you. I miss you, it’s as simple as that.’
She stared up at him and then suddenly she stepped closer, running her hand over his cheek. Desire slammed into his stomach at her gentle touch. God, he wanted her so much.
‘You’re making this so hard,’ Freya whispered before she stepped back.
He had no idea what that meant. ‘I’m not going to make it easy for you to walk away.’
She didn’t say anything for a moment before she took another step away from him. ‘The craft fair starts at eleven, doesn’t it? I’ll see you here at nine and we can go and set up together. Then you can come back here to work on the mural.’
‘OK.’ He watched her disappear back up the stairs leading to her flat. He had to figure out a way to get her to stay because losing her was not an option.
Chapter Eleven
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 throwi
ng 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.