Public Property (32 page)

T
he intercom buzzed.

‘
Do you want me to get that?
’ Roger asked, standing up.

‘
No, don’t be silly
.
I’ll go
.
Start the DVD without me. I’ve seen them all before,
I’ll catch up
.’ Freya left the room.

She went into the kitchen and pressed the connection button.

‘
Hello
.’

‘
Hi
,
Freya
.
I
t’s Jonathan
.’

‘
Oh
,
Jonny
.
W
hat are you doing here? It’s
late and…’

‘
Can I come in? I really need to speak with you
. I
t’s important
,’ he interrupted.

‘
Well, I have friends here
.
I
t’s not really a good time. Can’t we do
this tomorrow?’ She looked at her watch. She had hoped Nic
holas would be back by now.
She should have stopped him. What if Eric had done something?

‘
No,
it can’t wait.
I need to talk to you tonight
. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.’

‘
Oh, OK
. I’m opening the gate.
C
ome on up to the house
.’

She hurried back into the living room, told Roger and Jolie she had someone com
ing about a business matter
and went to the door
.

He was just
getting out of his car
when Freya opened it. H
e looked awful. He w
as wearing a suit but it was crumpled.
H
is shirt was
hanging out
and he wasn’t wearing a tie. His hair was ruffled and his beard was untrimmed.

‘
Hi
.’ His greeting was
lacklustre
.

‘
Hi
.
A
re you OK? You look terrible
.’

‘
I’ve just had a difficult meeting that’s all
.
I could do with a drink though
. Is that
OK
?’
He looked uncomfortable and started to tuck his shirt into his trousers.

‘
Sure
.
C
ome on in
.’ Freya stepped aside to let him pass by into her home.

‘
I’m sorry to barge in on your evening like this
,
but I didn’t think th
is could wait until morning,’ he said as they made their way into the kitchen.

‘That’s OK.
Jolie and Roger are amusing themselves with Bruce Willis
.
W
e’re good for half an hour or so.
’ She smiled.
‘
Wine?
Beer?
Or tea?
’

‘
Beer would be good. So
,
is Nick not here?
’

‘
No
. Not at the moment. I’m expecting him back soon though.’

If her father hadn’t
hurt
him.
No, she shouldn’t think like that. There was CCTV everywhere these days and Nicholas wasn’t stupid.

‘H
e missed all the drama again. I had another broken window
,’ Freya told him. She pointed at it.

‘What happened? Are you OK?’

‘
Someone broke the window and dumped another dead bird on the floor. If it wasn’t so freaky I
’d
thank them
.
Willis is lapping it up
…
literally
.’ She passed him a bottle of beer.

‘
Willis?
’

‘
Our mad cat
.’

‘
Oh
.’

He seemed disinterested and distracted.

‘A
re you sure you’re OK? Sit down
.’ She pulled out a stool from under the breakfast bar.

‘
God
,
Freya
.
I
just
don’t know how to do this
.’ He let out a weighted sigh.

‘
Oh
no!
You’re going
to pull your support from the
Every Day project
,
aren’t you?
’ She put her hands to her mouth, anticipating bad news.

‘
What? No
.
N
o
,
not at all
.
I
t’s nothing to do with the project
.’

The
phone rang
.

‘
Do you mind if I get that? It might be Nick
.’

Jonathan shrugged.
He took a swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with his hand.

‘
Hello
.’

‘
Freya
,
it’s
Nick
.
Are you OK?’

‘Are
you
OK?’

It was so good to hear his voice.

‘I’m fine
.’

‘
Did Roger call you? I told him not to
.’

‘
Roger? No
.
Why? Has something happened?’

‘
Oh
,
someone broke a window and flung in a dead crow again
.’

‘
What?!
Again! Is Roger there now? Have you called the police?
’

‘Nick, calm down.
I can hear
you’re
driving. I called the police.
T
hey
’
ve been
.
T
he window
’
s fixed and Roger said he
’
d stay until you got home. He’s getting to know Jolie in the company of Bruce and
Cybill
while I talk to Jonny.
’ She looked to her companion.
‘
He’s just turned up, looking like shit I might add
,
and
he’s
acting a bit weird
.
I think
it’s
woman trouble
.’ She smiled and winked at Jonathan.

‘
Jonny’s there?
’

‘
Ye
a
h, he just turned up
.’ She moved with the phone, out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

‘
I want to speak with him
.’

‘
Nick
,
is something wrong? Haven’t we been through the jealousy thing already? He isn’t undressing me with his eyes or any other part of his anatomy
.
H
e isn’t even flirting with me yet
.’

‘
Freya
,
please
.
L
et me speak with him
. Put Jonny on, Freya.
Now.
It’s important.’

She
walked back into the kitchen and held out the phone to Jonathan.

‘
Nick wants to speak to you
.’

Jonathan took the phone and put it to his ear.

‘
Hello
.’

‘
Listen, I know why you’re there and you are
not
going to tell her anything
.
D
o you hear me?
’

‘
I don’t know what you mean
.’ He forced a smile at Freya.

‘
You know exactly what I mean
.
D
on’t piss me off
,
Jonny! I know all about it
.
I’ve just been to see your father
.’

‘
Uh huh
.
I
s that so?
’

‘
I do not want you to tell her
.
I mean it. If anyone
’
s telling her this
,
it
’
s me
.
H
ave you got that?
’

‘
I don’t think I can let you do that
.
I think I need to explain things for myself
.’

‘
If you tell her she might ne
ver be the same again. How the h
ell
d
’
you
think she
’
s going to feel about this?
’

‘
How do you think
I
feel? How do you think
I
’ve
been feeling?
’

‘
I am begging you
,
Jonny
.
I
f you feel anything for her
,
you
’
ll leave this to me
.’

‘
I’m sorry
.
I can’t
.’

‘
What’s going on
,
Jonny?
W
hy did Nick want to speak to you?
’

‘
Freya, there
’
s something I have to tell you. I should have to
ld you from the start, back
when I first found out. But I was scared and my mother was scared
, so
I blocked it out and tried to put it out of my mind
…
ignore it if you like
.’

‘
I have no idea what you
’
re talking about but you
’
re starting to worry me
.’

‘
God
,
this is hard
.
I don’t know where to start
.’ He let out a sigh and put his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

‘
The beginning is usually a good place
.’

‘Yeah, the beginning.’
He nodded his head, looked like he was trying to compose himself.

‘Jonny, whatever it is, just tell me,’ Freya spoke.

‘
My father was a
labourer
. You know that. He worked building sites. He earned OK money but he drank it away.
M
y mother
…
well
I never told you
…
she
…she
was a prostitute
.’

‘
Oh
,
Jonny!
’

‘
She did quite well for herself. I mean she started out on the streets
,
but
then she managed to get herself a permanent
place
at
the bar of
one of the better hotels in that area of London.
I
t
paid
OK
, and when I was a
kid I never wanted for anything.
I
always
had new clothes and football boots and a bike
.
Then I met you.’ He paused for breath.

Freya sat down on the other stool to listen to him.

‘
I thought you were the prettiest girl
I’d
ever seen. You were always smiling and la
ughing…
always. I don’t think I ever saw you without a smile on your face
.’ He smiled and looked over to her.

‘
I never smiled when I lost at bowling
,’ she reminded him.