Public Property (22 page)

As she went to step out of the car
,
Jonathan appeared at the entrance to the office and came out to greet her.

‘Hi.
N
ew hair
colour
.
I like it
.
H
ere
,
let me help you
.’
He took her hand and helped her get out of the low car.

‘
I’m fine, thanks
.’

There was that awkward feeling again in the pit of her stomach.

Jonathan bent to look in through the open door of the car and
he
leveled a smile
at Nicholas.

‘
I heard the car pull up. She’s a beauty.
It’s
Nicholas isn’t it? Hi there, I’m Jonathan
.
I
t’s a real pleasure to meet you
,’ he said
, h
olding out his hand.

‘
Actually
I prefer Nick
. I’ve heard a lot about you
.’ They shook hands.

‘
What have you been telling him
,
Freya
?
No stories about me
terrorising
the
neighbourhood
in my teens
I hope
.’ He laughed.

‘
Well I
…’

This was truly weird and she couldn’t wait for it to be over.

‘
Freya tells me you want to make a big investment into her Every Day project
,’ Nicholas continued.

‘
Yes I do. I have to admit I’m not usually one for charity work, but coming from a reasonably poor background myself
,
I thought Freya’s vision for the needy was inspired
.’

‘
You’d better go
, Nick.
Y
ou don’t want to be late for your meeting
.’

If she thought pushing the Ferrari would help she’d be doing it.

‘
I’m sorry, I’m holding you up
.
P
lease, don’t stay on my account
.’ He stepped back from the car.

‘I hope it goes OK.
G
ive me a call later
,’ she urged, leaning into the car for a little privacy.

‘
I will. I’ll see you
.’ He kissed her lips.

‘
It was nice to meet you
,
Nick
.
M
aybe we could get together some time, have a drink
,’ Jonathan called.

‘
Ye
a
h, sure
.’
Nicholas pulled up the windows and drove towards the exit.

‘
That is a great car. I have one myself of course
, but not that particular model. A
nd mine
’
s yellow. I was told the red version was just a little too
Magnum
.’ He
followed the car with his eyes as Nicholas left through the gate.

‘
I’m sorry I’m late
,
I’ve had a bit of a hectic morning. Can I just check in wit
h
Sasha
before we go to lunch?’
Freya asked
moving
towards the door of the building.

‘
Of course.
Shall I wait in the car?
’

‘
Do you still have the driver?
’

‘
Yes I do
.’

‘
Then you
’
d
better go and keep him company.
I won’t be long
.’

She pushed open the door and entered the reception area. The part-time secretary was behind the desk.

‘Hey,
Avril
.
Where’s
Sasha
?
’

‘
Hello
,
Miss Johnson
.
Sasha
had to go out on an appointment so she ask
ed me to come in a little early.
I didn’t mind
.’

‘
Oh OK
.
W
ell
,
make sure I pay you for the extra time
,
won’t you? Keep reminding me
,
Avril
.
W
rite it on a Post It and stick it to a patisserie bag if you have to
.’ She leafed through her appointment book.

‘
I will
.
Patisserie bag, noted.’

‘
Right, well, I’m going on a lunch appointment with
Mr
Sanders
.
I should be back by
three
but I don’t have my mobile with me so you won’t be able to contact me. I assume
Sasha
has briefed you about the journalists
.’ She backed towards the door.

‘
Yes she has, we are making no comment
. Miss Johnson?’
Avril
called before Freya could exit.

‘
Yes
,
Avril
.’

‘I do like your hair that
colour
.
I
t makes you look very mature
.’

‘
Mature?
Mature
as in old? Oh my God
,
does it?
’ She
scrutinised
her reflection in the glass panels of the door.

‘
Perhaps that was the wrong word
.’

‘
Perhaps I was too hasty saying I would pay you over time
.’

She left the building
and
made her way over to Jonathan’s car
. She
opened the back door.

‘
Do I look old?
’ she asked him.

‘
Hmm, you
’
ll have to get a little closer for me to tell
.
I can’t quite get a good enough look at the bags under your eyes from this angle
.’

‘
God
,
it’s
useless asking you
. Where are we going for lunch?’

‘
Where
d
’
you
want to go?
’

‘
Can we just get a hot dog or something? I really don’t feel like a restaurant
.’

‘
Of course
.
Ken, take us to the best hot dog vendor around here
,
’
Jonathan called to the driver.

‘
I promise I won’t
get
chilli
sauce on your seats.’

‘
Who said I was going to let you eat in the car
.’

Twenty minutes later Ken
stopped the car in a pull
-
in
just across the road from a fun fair.

‘
The guy who runs the hot dog stand at this fair has been cooking dogs for over thirty years
,’ Ken told them.

‘
Well
,
Ken I would say that constitutes being the best hot dog vendor around here
.
S
o
shall we go and see what thirty years on the job has taught him?
’ Jonathan asked Freya.

‘
You want us to go to the fair?
Have you felt how cold it is out there?!’
She looked out the window at the amusements.

‘
Well
,
I could see if the hot dog man delivers or send Ken over there
,
but wouldn’t
it be more fun to go ourselves? I’ll give you my coat,’
he offered.

‘No, that’s OK. I have triple layers.’

‘C
ome on
,
Freya, you used to love the fair
,’ he reminded. He opened the car door.

‘
When I was young, unlined and
unbagged
and had decent hair
.’ She stepped out and the ice cold wind hit her straight away. She buttoned her coat up all the way and wished she had a hat.

They entered the fair, found Max’s Hot Dogs and bought two large sausages in rolls with onions and
chilli
sauce.

‘
Ferris
w
heel?
’
Jonathan suggested bit
ing
into his food.

‘
While we’re eating?
’
Chilli
sauce drizzled down her chin.

‘
Why not?
’

‘
Well
,
from what I can remember about going to the fair with you, you used to throw up on the
Ferris w
heel
.’ She let out a laugh.

‘
That was a story made up by Carl Curtis because he was jealous I had a girlfriend and he didn’t. He liked Emma remember
,
but she wasn’t interested. You and I went on the
big
w
heel several
times together.
I remember a lot of things about that ride but throwing up
isn
’t
one of them
.’

Freya felt her cheeks redden and she hid her face by taking a huge bite of sausage and almost burning her lips.

‘
Come
on,
let’s have a ride on it
.
O
r are you too grown up and old to enjoy the simple pleasures in life?
’

‘
No
,
I’m not too old and I’m not going to puke either. I’m the girl who ate a four course meal and half a dozen puddings on a
c
ross
c
hannel ferry in a force
seven
storm
.
I have no idea what motion sickness is
.’

‘
I
’
m arranging some plans to be drawn up of the site at
Gatebrook
to show
how I envisage the development.’

They were high above the park now, swinging in the air as they slowly rotated around the wheel.

‘
Good, well I can show you what we have planned for
Chesterville
and we can coordinate the two
.’

‘
I saw
The Gazette
today
,’ Jonathan stated.

‘
Oh, you did.
You and the entire country
.
I’ve had journalists phoning the studio all m
orning apparently
and all because I made one stupid, but private, remark
.’

‘
I know it isn’t any of my business and you can tell me to shut up if you like
.
B
ut don’t you think this awkwardness with Eric
’
s been going on too long now?
’ He looked across at Freya.

‘
Awkwardness
?
’
Freya said, looking straight back at Jonathan.

‘
Well, you said one of the main reasons you fell out with him was because you thought he
’
d parted us deliberately
.
N
ow
I’ve told you that wasn’t the case. Perhaps
y
our getting married
is
the perfect time to lay matters to rest
.’

‘
Did you get me up on this Ferris
w
heel to talk about this because you knew the only way
out
was down?
’

‘
O
ne of my weak points is family
.
I don’t like to see families torn apa
rt just because no one will budge an inch on anything. I mean
,
you could
both hold
your hands up and say
OK I’ve made mistakes
and then you could move on, start afresh
.’