Public Property (2 page)

‘
I know, I know, it’s Sadie Fox. And no matter what a tyrant she is
,
I know you w
ould love to photograph for her,’
Nicholas replied.

‘
Think of the money we could give to chari
ty.
S
he seriously over pays
.’

‘
I know, you said, it’s fine
.
Y
ou can leave me frustrated, I’ll deal
,’
Nicholas answered, kissing her cheek.

‘
I’ll make it up to you. Listen, there’s leftover pizza if you want breakfast
.
I’m going to have to dash
,’
Freya said, looking at her watch.

‘
Without even a cup of tea?
’
He raised an eyebrow.

‘
Oh I’ve had a cup of tea and I’ve fed Willis and the photographers have had tea too
.
And
I did all that while I was trying to find my Wednesday pants
,’
Freya informed him with a smile.

‘
You are one amazing woman
,’
Nicholas told her.

‘
And don’t you forget it. Speaking of not forgetting things
…
you have remembered we
’
re going to Sam and Jolie’s tonight for Sam’s birthday
, haven’t you
?
’
Freya
asked.
S
he took her handbag from
where it
hung over the banister.

‘
Is that tonight?
’

‘
You mean the efficient Sandra hasn’t emailed you your schedule yet? Yes
,
it’s
tonight so could you drop into Masons and pick up the fancy dress outfits on your way through?
’
Freya asked him.

‘
Fancy dress?
You mean costumes?
’

‘
Yes, costumes. Wait until you see what you
’re wearing,’
Freya said with a laugh.

‘
I
’
m dreading it already
.’

‘
OK
,
w
ell, wish me luck with the viper
-tongued fashion designer,’
Freya
said
, taking her car keys from her handbag.

‘
Good luck and call me
.
Let me know how it goes
,’
he
said
.

‘
Don’t forget, extra nudity in that script and, hold that thought until later
,’
Freya said
. Her suggestion was clear.

‘
I certainly will
.’ H
e kissed her lips.

‘
Bye
,
’
Freya said
. S
he opened the door.

‘Bye
,
’
Nicholas replied.

Freya stepped out onto the wooden porch
and sucked in a breath. Winter wasn’t a
favourite
season of hers and the past month it had been uncharacteristically co
ld
. The next week threatened to bring snow and she knew the kind of snow they got in the US wasn’t the light dusting usually experienced in the UK. Nick had mentioned chains and snow shoes and bulky clothes. The only good thing was snow meant Christmas had to be getting closer. She loved Christmas!

As she left the house
the photographers began to take pictures. It was one of the downsides of living with a Hollywood actor. However,
she
had found that by taking them an early morning cup of tea, dressed only in a
nightshirt and robe, all other photographs they took were infinitely better. And once people had seen one photograph of her in her night clothes they weren’t really interested in another. Besides
,
she didn’t feel duty bound to protect her image like Nicholas did.

‘
Boys, is it really necessary? You’ve had me in my Mickey Mouse
pyjamas
this morning
. And they weren’t even my best pair,
’
Freya called to them as she walked down the steps towards her car.

‘
But they were
very nice
. I liked the ribbons
,’
Donn
y, one of the photographers called back to her.

‘
Hey Donny
, if you want raw photos I
’
d stick around because Nick
’
s dressing up tonight
,’
Freya informed him.

‘
Will there be left over takeout?
’

‘
Don’t push it.
’

She
got into
her
red
Ford Exp
edition
and shut the door behind her. How her life had changed.

In the space of a year she had met Nicholas
Kaden
, become engaged, sold her photography business in England and moved to America. She smiled as she remembered the impromptu holiday to Corf
u to visit her best friend Emma – that break
had changed everything.

Emma’s life had been altered forever too. She was now a wife and mother and little Melissa Susan
Petroholis
- two
months old
-
was making her presence
felt
in the world, usually in the early hours of the morning.

But that holiday had been important for another reason. It had helped Freya leave her life as Jane Lawson-Peck completely behind.
Her father, Eric Lawson-Peck was a billionaire business man with companies all over the world and fingers in lots of pies. But he was also a monster. He had beaten Freya throughout her childhood and his treatmen
t, coupled with the
extravagant way her parents had led their lives, had culminated in Freya spending nine m
onths in jail
after setting fire to their home. She had been just eighteen.

Thankfully, t
hat nightmare was now
all in the past
.
Nicholas knew everything
and accepted her for who she was. He also accepted her for the size she was.

Freya’s weight had always been a battle and a battle she really wasn’t interested in fighting. She love
d
food, she hated exercise. It was a lethal combination. She was a size
twenty.
S
he sometimes lost a few pounds, sometimes gained a few pounds but ordinarily she stuck and that was her. Take it or leave it. She knew she wouldn’t be able to change and she was getting towards feeling comfortable with that.

Despite being devastatingly handsome
,
Nicholas ha
d certain confidence issues too
. He had beaten testicular cancer some years previously but had only felt able to share this informat
ion with the world after he
met Freya. She had given him the strength to go public and
,
since broadcasting the news
, they had set up t
he Nicholas
Kaden
Foundation
.
It
raised money towards cancer research and
bought
vital equipment to assist in diagnosis and treatment.

Freya started up the car and drove down the gravel driveway towards the photographers at the gate.
They moved out of the way as the elec
tronic gate swung open and she
waved at them as she headed off up the road.

Now home
for Nicholas and Freya
was
Mayleaf
, a small town on the outskirts of Hollywood. When Freya had first arrived in Los Angeles they had lived in one of Nicholas’ enormous houses in the thick of things. Freya had hated it. Despite having lived in the hustle and bustle of London, the noise and activity of life in Hollywood had not even compared.

T
he house itself had been a fortress
. It had been
full of cameras and alarms and surrounded by an electric fence. Freya hadn’t been able to li
ve like that, so they had house-
hunted.

Freya had known
exactly the type of house she wanted to live in. It had been a picture she
’
d held in her mind from childhood when she
’
d been like the princess in
the tower, desperate to escape. The house she saw in her mind was large and white with a big covered wooden porch outside the front door. It
had
a garden, with mature trees, a lawn and a swing. Inside it w
as
modest, but most importantly it
was
homely. It would be somewhere she felt comfortable in and comforted by.
A haven.

They had looked at a dozen houses in various towns in the vicinity of Hollywood
,
but as
soon as they’
d driven up to
Whitewood House
,
Freya
knew
it was the one.

And
Mayleaf
, as a town,
was perfect. It was small with
a handful of shops
and eateries
, a gas station, a town hall, a high school, one bar and a diner. As clichéd as it was, it reminded Freya of every small town she
’
d ever seen on any American movie
.
But it was its sense of community Freya really loved. It was so close knit
and
everyone knew each other and the benefits of this far outweigh
ed the downsides as far as she
was concerned.

The town had been nothing but welcoming to Nicholas and Freya and they
’
d even introduced some new town laws banning journalists from entering the Town Circle
.
This
basically meant they couldn
’
t be pestered when they were in the town centre. It also meant they could participate in town gatherings
and activities without being spied on by the press. At present the town elders were discussing whether or not to increase the
boundaries of the Town Circle
to incorporate Nicholas and Freya’s house
. That would stop t
he photographers
congregating
there
.

Freya knew some of the decisions had been made because
they’d
made a considerable donation towards the repair of the town
hall roof
, but no one treated them any differently in any other respect and
they both
liked that.

Freya’s new photography business
,
Exposure
,
had been established half an hour’s drive away in the affluent city of Carlton. Freya had originally wanted to set up her business in
Mayleaf
itself
,
but there
weren’t suitable premises
. In the end, having discussed it with Nicholas,
she decided Carlton was the best option as it was closer to the main road from the airport and would be easier for people to get to.

Since her explicit photographs of Nicholas had been auctioned for
charity
a
nd news of their engagement was
announced, everyone who was anyone in Hollywood wanted Freya to take their picture. At first Freya found the prospect of this frightening
,
but having now shot dozens of A-list celebrities
,
it was becoming a lot more comfortable. And this morning’s meeting with Sadie Fox was a chance to get into the fashion industry
.
T
hat c
ould mean big business.

If Freya was truthful she
’
d much rather photograph a craggy landscape or the ocean at sunset
,
but she knew she
had a real
talent for capturing something different in people when she photographed them. And she was making the most of this current popularity
, taking the business
,
making the money and giving
away
the major
ity of it
. It was her plan to benefit as many pe
ople as possible with the money.
T
hat ethic was the complete opposite to her parents
and their ostentatious lifestyles
. She liked be
ing
the opposite
of
them.