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What she hadn’t told Trev was that today was the second anniversary of her dad’s passing. She’d arranged to call her mum that evening and, all day, she’d been on edge about it.

She’d messaged Roo about feeling a bit ‘off’ and Roo, being a good friend, had said it was understandable. So Zennor sat on the balcony ready to let out her frustration. Eric the seagull perched on the rail, watching her as if he was daring her to cry, but somehow, the tears wouldn’t come. Perhaps there were none left or perhaps – and she hated to admit it – a tiny sliver of relief was mingled with her anger at Trev. She now knew the truth, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

Back in the kitchen, she pulled out Trev’s photo and Matt’s letter and put them side by side on the worktop. Her frustration boiled up. God knows, she’d never asked to be part of a love triangle. She’d once loved both of them, but now she didn’t know how she felt about either.

She now knew that Trev was trying to get back with her, and as for Matt – what did he want? If she truly wanted him to leave her alone, she would have to push him away and tell him straight out they could never be together.

She pressed the pedal on the bin and the lid flipped up; then she eased her foot off the pedal and shoved both items in the front pocket of her hoodie. From outside, she heard the insistent beep of the reversing alarm on the dustbin lorry.

It felt like a wake-up call to get rid of the letter and photo. Keeping them wasn’t helping her to get over the past or look to the future.

She hurried down the stairs with the photo and letter. The bin lorry was edging away from her bin, almost filling the width of her alley behind her flat. It had been emptied already. She was too late to throw them away …

She walked towards her bin and her heart stopped.

Because there was Eric, lying motionless in front of the bins. She knew there was no hope, even from a few feet away.

Poor Eric must have been scavenging in the road and then been run over by the dustbin lorry.

Zennor’s chest tightened so fiercely she thought she might pass out. A cry of anguish ripped from her chest in reaction to the losses that she’d suffered – and suppressed for so long.

She dashed in front of the bin lorry, waving her arms.

The brakes squealed.

The driver was swearing and a bin man jumped out. ‘What’s up, love? We almost ran you over!’

‘You’ve killed Eric! You’ve killed him!’

The man went white. ‘Christ! No! Where is he? Jesus.’ He clapped his hands to his face. ‘Where is he?’

‘Behind your lorry,’ Zennor wailed. ‘By the bins!’

The man raced around the back followed by the driver and two other men.

‘Where is he?’ one shouted. ‘Call an ambulance!’

‘No! No!’ Suddenly, Zennor realised what they thought and almost passed out in horror. ‘No, he’s not a person. He’s a—’ She burst into fresh tears of shame and grief. ‘He’s a seagull.’

A stunned silence was followed by a barrage of expletives. Then the first man said, ‘A bloody seagull?’

‘Yes,’ Zennor said and crouched down by the lifeless Eric. ‘And I’m sorry. I mean I am very sorry that you thought he was human but he was – kind of a pet.’

The other men walked back to the lorry, muttering and swearing, but the first man stayed.

‘I am sorry. It’s just – he used to visit my balcony and …’ She realised she sounded mad, sobbing over a creature reviled by so many people in the town.

‘A seagull? There are a lot of them around, love. They’re a nuisance, aren’t they?’ he said, though not unkindly.

‘No. They’re endangered and they have every right to live here – more right than us. Eric was just being – Eric. He didn’t deserve to die.’

‘But if he was scavenging, I suppose it was an occupational hazard,’ the man said reasonably. ‘Still, I’m sorry we didn’t spot him. We’d never have deliberately hurt him. I love animals. We all have cats and dogs and Kevin, our driver, keeps budgies.’ The bin man patted her back. ‘We get attached to animals, don’t we?’

‘Yes. I didn’t realise I was but it’s been a – funny kind of day – and I am sorry.’ She stood up and sighed. ‘Please apologise to your colleagues on my behalf. They must have been absolutely horrified.’

‘We’ve had much worse days, love, so don’t worry about it.’ He glanced at Eric. ‘Look, do you want us to dispose of him – of Eric – for you?’

‘In a bin?’ Zennor said.