Public Property (3 page)

When Freya arrived at her studio her assistant
,
Sasha
was waiting at the entrance with
a polystyrene cup in one hand and a large pastry in the other.

Sasha
was tall, slim, blonde and twenty
five
. When Freya interviewed for the position of her assistant she
’
d been determined to hire a man
,
because that was what she
’
d been used to. She
’
d also been determined not to hire anyone who was younger, slimmer or more attractive than she was, despite what employment law stipulated. However
,
Sasha
had shown more enthusiasm in photography than the rest of the candidates put together
.
S
he was also computer literate and made good tea. There
was
no competition.

‘
Morning
,
Sasha
, well timed as always
.
Mmm
what
flavour
is this one?’
Freya asked as sh
e took the pastry
and sank her teeth into it.

‘
It’s dark chocolate today
.
Milo
at the patisserie is trying out a new recipe and he wanted me to let him know what you think
,’
Sasha
replied, following
Freya through the reception area and into her office.

‘
Mmm
, well tell him I love him
.
T
his is so good.
Right, so, appointmen
ts for today.
Sadie Fox at nine
and
…’
Freya started, sitting down in her chair.

‘
Actually
,
S
adie Fox called earlier and she’
s had to cancel. She
apologised
and said something about having to fly to Paris urgently this morning
,’
Sasha
informed
.

‘
Oh no!
Sasha
! Why didn’t you call me? I passed up sex with my fiancé for that appointment. Have you seen how attractive my fiancé is?
’
Freya exclaimed in horror.

‘
Yes I have
,’
Sasha
said, nodding
.

‘
You don’t pass up sex with someone as handsome as that unless it’s really
crucial
. Damn that woman!’
Freya stated, leaning backwards in her chair and taking another bite of the pastry.

‘
I’m sorry
.
I didn’t want to call your cell because I assumed you
’
d be driving
,’
Sasha
spoke
.

‘
Which is why they invented the hands free kit
.
Look, never mind
.
I’m sure the no se
x thing can be remedied later. S
o
,
who else is booked in today?
’ Freya asked
.

‘
Just someone who phoned this morning
.
S
omeone
called Jonathan Sanders
.’

Freya paled immediately, not certain she had heard her assistant correctly. It was a name instantly familiar to her.

‘
Sorry
,
Sasha
, run that one by me again. Did you say Jonathan Sanders?
’
Freya checked.

‘
Yes I did. Is that a problem?
’

‘
Yes. No. Well
,
maybe
. I don’t know. Was he English?’
Freya asked, putting the pastry down on top of a photography magazine on her desk.

‘
Yes.
V
ery well spoken
.
’

‘
Well spoken
.
P
erhaps it isn’t who I
’
m thinking of in that case
,’
Freya responded, taking a sip of her tea.

The Jonathan Sanders Freya was thinking of was the boy she
’
d
begun
dat
ing
wh
en she was just sixteen. He’d
been her first love and they
’d been
serious. Serious enough for Freya to tell him her real name was Jane Lawson-Peck
and for her to introduce him
to her parents. Days after that
meeting
,
her father paid him to leave her and she hadn
’
t
seen him since. That was over thirteen
years ago.

‘Are you OK?’
Sasha
asked
.

‘
Yes, yes I’m fine
.
W
hat time
’
s he
coming in?” Freya asked
, composing herself.

‘
He said he wanted to take you out to lunch
, about
one,’
Sasha
added
.

‘
Oh, well, did he leave a number? Maybe I
’ll call him.
I’m probably going to be tied up this lunchtime
,’
Freya said, using her mouse to click open her diary on the computer screen.
She knew she had
nothing else on
but she felt uneasy about
it
.

‘
Yes he did
.
H
ere
,’
Sasha
said and she jotted the number down on a Post-It note and passed it to Freya.

‘
Thanks. So
,
ho
w are you doing for work today?’
Freya asked her, trying to turn her attention to something other than Jonathan Sanders.

‘
I have
an appointment
.
I
’
m having
lunch with H
eather Malcolm about
doing some football
team photos for the university. You said if she called back I could deal with it
,’
Sasha
reminded
.

‘
I remember. Well
,
i
f you carry on being so capable
,
there
’
ll be no need for
me to come here every day,’
Freya remarked.

‘
Sorry, I just
…’
Sasha
started.

‘
Sasha
, I was kidding
.
I
t’s
fine, you
’
re doing really well. I tell you what, tomorrow how about you and I shut ourselves in a room and go through some techniques I think
wi
ll be really useful for you
,’
Freya suggested.

‘
That sounds great
.
I’d like that
.’

‘Good, well, one pastry down.
W
hat’s next?
’
Freya asked, brushing the crumbs from her fingers.

Sasha
went through the rest of the appointments for the week but Freya was unable to absorb
it.
The lunchtime appointment with Jonathan Sanders was disturbing her. It couldn’t be the same person
.
I
t was quite a common na
me, and America was a big place. I
t was unlikely it was the s
ame man. But
Sasha
said he
was
English.
It could be exactly
who she thought. She needed to discuss
it
with someone.
She needed her best friend.

‘
Hello
,’
Emma’s voice answered after several rings.

‘Hello
,
Mrs
P.
H
ow is that goddaughter of mine?
’
Freya ques
tioned. She smiled
at the sound of her best friend’s voice.

‘
Oh hi
,
Freya
.
S
he’s fine, asleep at the moment
.
I was just trying to catch up on some myself
,’ Emma replied
.

Her friend sounded jaded.

‘
Oh God, I’m sorry
.
I didn’t think
.
Time difference.
Typical me, I’ll let you go
,’
Freya
said
.

‘
No, no don’t go
.
I haven’t spoken to you for over a week
.
How is everything in the US?’ Emma asked
.

‘
The US is fine, Nick is fine, I’m fine
…
but
Sasha
’
s just informed me I have a lunchtime appointment with Jonathan Sanders
,’
Freya told her.

‘
Jonathan Sanders?
Your
Jon
ny
?
’ Emma exclaimed.

‘
I don’t know, but t
hose were my first thoughts too,’
Freya answered with a sigh.

‘
What
d
’
you
mea
n you don’t know? You must know.
I mean it’s an appointment, you usually know who you
’
re meeting
.
O
r do they do blind appointments over there to make work more fun?
’
Emma questioned.

‘
Sasha
spoke to him and made the arrangement. She said he was English but she s
aid he was well spoken. Jonny
was from Hackney.
H
e was anything but well spoken
,’
Freya reminded her.

‘
Well
,
a few years have gone by
.
H
e
’
ll be
about
the same age as you now.
T
hings change,
you
can vouch for that
. He might have done well for himself
,’
Emma suggested.

‘
But in what field? I mean how many fields requ
ire him to need a photographer?’
Freya wanted to know.

‘
Perhaps he doesn’t want to meet you in a business capacity
.
M
aybe he just wants to catch up with you. I mean
,
you said a lunch meeting
,
perhaps it’s just lunch
.’

‘
But why?
Why would he want lunch with me now? After all this time
,’
Freya questioned.

‘
I don’t know, perhaps he saw you in a magazine or a newspaper and it brought back memories and he thought it might be nice to get in touch
,’
Emma suggested.

‘
I wonder what he
’
s expecting me to say. I mean he dumped me, for money
.
T
hat
’
s like a red rag to a bull
,’
she
responded, chewing a pen as she thought about it.

‘
Perhaps he thinks you might have calmed down about it now
-
because
you’
re happy with a successful business and a wonderful m
an. He’
s probably thinking
some
of the angst might have evaporated
,’
Emma told her.

‘
Didn’t know me very well then
,
did he? Angst is pretty permanent once you
’
ve pissed me off
,’
Freya reminded her.