Public Property (4 page)

‘
Maybe it isn’t him
,’
Emma replied.

‘
Ye
a
h you’re right, it probably isn’t him
. It just freaked me out hearing the name
,’ Freya said.

‘I can understand that,’
Emma answered.

‘But it probably isn’t him,’
Freya repeated.

‘
No
,’
Emma agreed.

‘
But what am I going to do if it’s him?
’
Freya asked her.

‘
Freya! If it’s him you are going to a) be professional and b) remember he
’
s over
thirty
now
,
not the seventeen year old he was when he took the money from your father
,’
Emma told her.

‘
But
I can’t
not
mention that
.
I mean, it would
be odd
if I
didn’t,
wouldn’t it
?
’

‘
Why don’t you see if
he
mentions it and then if you get to your desserts and he
hasn’t
mentioned it
,
you can slip it in over coffee
,’
Emma
suggested
.

‘
Good idea
.
N
ow I know why I called you
.’

‘
I’m glad no one
’
s taken over my role even though you
’
re living further away than ever
,’
Emma told her.

‘
You are irreplaceable. So
, how
’
s motherhood?’

‘
Tiring.
I thought being pregnant was
exhausting
,
but it was nothing compared to the sleep deprivation I
’
m suffering now
,’
Emma explained.

‘
But
Yiannis
is helpin
g with the night feeding
,
right?’
Freya checked.

‘
Yes, he dotes on
Melly
,
but I’m trying to breastfeed so it’s difficult to share that
.’

‘
Urgh
!
God! Sorry, I know it’s meant to be wonderful and natural and certainly all the A-
listers
are giving it a go
,
from what I have heard
,
but God
,
I don’t think I could do it
.’

‘
Well
,
it isn’t easy but I
’
m trying to persevere
.’

‘
I bet if it were
men
with
the breasts, the percentage of babies being breastfed would be dramatically reduced
.’

‘
I expect you’re right
.’

‘
Listen, I
’
m going to try and come and see you
in the next couple of months,
because
I have
yet to
see
my little godchild in the flesh
,’
Freya told her.

‘
That would be ni
ce.
H
ow long is the flight time for you?
’
Emma
asked.

‘
Don’t mention the flight time or I might just hurl right now. It’s something stupid like fifteen hours with a stop in Paris
,’
Freya
said
, her stomach churning at the thought of it.

‘
You mean Nick hasn’t got a private jet
.
’

‘
Nick used to have a private jet. In fact he used to have a lot of fancy things he didn’t need
.
I’ve been streamlining
,’
Freya answered with
a smile.

‘
I hope Villa
Kamia
isn’t on your
“
unnecessary
” list just yet,’
Emma said
.

Villa
Kamia
was
Nicholas’
holiday home
in
Kassiopi
, Corfu
.
Emma,
Yiannis
and Melissa
were living in
it
while their
own
house was being built.

‘
No, don’t worry.
W
e won’t be selling that any time soon
.
T
hat’s the one luxury item I want to hold on to
,’
Freya admitted.

‘
Well
,
hopefully we won’t be in it for all that much longer
.
T
he builders are progressing with the house quite well
.’

‘
Greek builders
,’
Freya remarked.

‘
Yes
.’

‘
Greek builders progressing well
,’
Freya stated.

‘
I know what you’re getting at
,
but it really
isn’t a mythical tale.
T
hey
’
ve nearly finis
hed building the main structure.
W
hen you come over I’ll take you on a tour
,’
Emma promised.

‘
I’ll bring a hard hat, just
in case
the progress slows down between now and then.
’

‘
You have no faith
,’
Emma
said, laughing
.

‘
I’m sorry
.
OK, well, I’d better go
.
I
t costs a fortune to phone you in the daytime. Give
Melly
a kiss from me and tell her Aunty
Freya can’t wait to cuddle her
. U
nsoiled of course
,’
Freya said.

‘
I will,
and
,
Freya, give me a call later
.
L
et me know about Jonn
y
,’
Emma ordered her.

‘
I will
.
I’ve
decided it won’t be the Jonny
we know.
I
t will be some fifty
-
something high roller who wants me to take some pictures of his numerous skyscrapers. I get a lot of those at the moment
,’
Freya
said.

‘
Well call me anyway
,
but not after seven
my
time because we
’
re trying to get
Melly
in
to
a routine
.’

‘
Noted.
I’ll speak to you later
,’
Freya
ended.

As she replaced the receive
r
,
Sasha
came into
the
office
waving a brochure in the air.

‘Don’t tell me
!
N
ew menu for
Phoenix Chinese
?
Gimme
!’
Freya said
excitedly.

‘
No it isn’t, it’s the latest issue of
Entertainment Now
magazine
. Y
ou and Nicholas are on the cover
,’
Sasha
said and she put the magazine down on Freya’s desk
with a flourish.

‘
Oh
,
is that all?
Sasha
, I think we
’
ve had a conversation about this before
-
several
conversations
in fact.
Having my face on the front of
a maga
zine does nothing for me and…
good God
,
will you look at my outfit? Someone call the fashion police
.
W
hat was I thinking? Horizontal stripes do nothing for me
,’
Freya announced, as she picked up the magazine and studied it more closely.

‘
I think it’s quite a nice picture
.
S
ee how the photographer got the light just right? I think this
was taken around dusk, going
by the shadows
,’
Sasha
told her.

‘
Are you trying to impress me
,
Sasha
?
T
his picture was taken when we visited the Carlton Genera
l Hospital to donate some money.
I
t was definitely dusky, good spot
,’
Freya answered her.

‘
Whoever took it has captured Nick really well
,’
Sasha
said
, studying the photograph.

‘
He
’
s the most photogenic person I know
.
I could take a picture of him sat on the toilet and he would still come out looking amazing. Note the hint of jealousy
.’

‘
He has a great bone structure
.’

‘
Yes he does
.
B
ut enough now or next you
’
ll be asking for a poster to go above your bed
,’
Freya
said.

S
he picked up the magazine and
dropped
it in the bin.

‘
Sorry
,’
Sasha
apologised
.

‘That’s OK.
I
t’s you and half of the female population of the world. I am one lucky lady
, but don’t worry, I
do
know it,’
Freya answered with a smile.

As she had no appointments that morning
,
Freya took her equipment and drove to County Bridge. County Bridge was
ten
miles north of Carlton and one of the five old bridges
,
all in a
thirty
mile radius
of
the city
. Freya ha
d been told about their existence
by Casey, who ran the diner in
Mayleaf
. The
ir history was they
were over
a
hundred years old and had been built by
a
group of
Christians for the purpose of giving the surrounding
towns
easy access across the river to the
area
’
s
churches. All of the bridges were different
in their style.
T
wo had arches, two had a straight design and County Bridge, Freya’s particular
favourite
,
was a mixture of both
.
That bridge
had an inscription on one of the spindles halfway across which read
Glory to the
Father, leave sorrow behi
nd and take hope from the past
.

Freya had taken to photographing all the bridges and had built up quite a collection of pictures. Her
favourite
time of day for capturing them was in the early morning when the mist was on the water and the sun was just starting to rise. It was important to have the light just right when taking photos of the bridges, as unlike most of the wooden structures in the area
,
t
he Christian Fathers Bridges
, as they were known,
were painted black.