Public Property (5 page)

Freya stood on one side of the river and waited for the bird she was watching to land on the bridge. It was a black crow with a huge beak, scanning the water for flies it was chasing and catching. It flapped its wings and Freya took a picture.

Crows were the only birds she had ever seen at the bridges
. It
surprised her as the surrounding area was grass and marsh. She would have expected to see a more varied selection of birds. She
’
d also never seen any fish in the river near the bridges, although she knew further
downstream
there was an abundance of trout and carp
.
She knew this because
whenever she walked along the bank to take photographs of the bridges up stream
,
there w
ere
usually a
t
least two or three fishermen.

The crow left the bridge and Freya took her
favourite
camera, Claude, away from her eye and let it hang from her neck. She named all her cameras and Claude
was
given to her by Nicholas as a late birthday present just after they first met.

Freya walked across the bridge and stopped in the middle
to
read the inscription as she did every time she visited.

‘
Glory to the Father, leave sorrow behind and take hope from the past
,’
Freya spoke out loud.

She ran her fingers across the words, feeling the indents made in the black wood. Freya had
interpreted it to mean
there had been sorrow in the present for the Christian Fathers and they were taking hope from the past when their religion
was
founded
.
But perhaps she was wrong.

A crow let out a loud squawk and Freya flinched, the noise interrupting
,
the stillness startl
ing
her. She looked at her watch
and saw it was almost quarter to one.
Jonathan Sanders would be arriving at the office in just over fifteen minutes. If she didn’t hurry she
’
d be late and she really wanted to be in her office and composed before he arrived, just in case.
She h
ad chickened out of calling him.
S
he was certain it wouldn’t be Jonny from Londo
n. Why would it be? They had no unfinished business as far as she was concerned.

She hurried across the bridge and headed back to her SUV, leaving County Bridge, silent and deserted.

By the time she arrived back at the office Freya was red in the face and sweating. There had been awful traffic on the main road and she
’
d had an altercati
on with a
teenage
driver of a
Carlton Cookies van
who
pull
ed
out in front of her from a side street.
If she didn’t love those cookies so much she would
’
ve given the driver a piece of her mind
. She could have
haggled for a large box of white chocolate chip.

She locked the car and jogged towards the office, Claude still swinging from her neck. She hesitated before she went to push open the door
.
S
he could see through the glass
.
I
f she did step inside she
’
d come face
-
to
-
face with Jonathan Sanders. The Jonathan Sanders she hadn
’
t seen since she was
seven
teen. It was him.

He was sat in one of the leather chairs in the reception area and
Avril
, the part time receptionist, was pouring him some coffee. Freya swallowed as she looked at him. He was wearing an expensive dark suit, with a white shirt and a dark grey tie. He looked smart and business
-
like. His hair was
still jet black.
His eyes that
chocolately
dark brown
.
But n
ow he had a short beard, no more than stubble really
.
I
t suited him.

He looked up from the cup of coffee
and
glanced over
at the door. Freya pushed quickly and fixed a smile on her face. She needed to remain in control of this meeting.

‘
Jon
ny
,’
she greeted hurriedly
.
S
he
moved towards him,
hand outstretched.

He stood up, put the coffee cup on the small table next to him and took hold of her hand.

‘
Hello
,
Freya
,’
he greeted
, shaking
her hand
.

A
nd then
,
before she could do anything about it
,
he
drew
her towards him and kissed her first on one cheek and then the other.

‘
Well
,
someone has been brushing up on their g
reeting etiquette
,
haven’t they?’
Freya remarked awkwardly, knowing her cheeks were flushing.

‘
You look great
,’
he told her
. He
look
ed
her up and down.

‘
You always did know how to compliment a girl
,’
she
replied
. She was
moving from one foot to t
he other, unable to stand still
.
Awkward.

‘
I thought we could go out for lunch, if you don’t have any other plans
,’
Jonathan
suggested
.

‘
Well, I
…’
Freya started
. She
look
ed
across at
Avril
who was now
sat
back behind the reception desk.

‘
There are some messages
,
but nothing
looks
urgent
,’
Avril
announced
.

‘Well that’s good.
T
hen we can go
.
Y
es?” Jonathan asked Freya.

‘
I guess so
.
I’ll just ditch Claude
,’
Freya said, pulling the camera up from around her neck.

‘
The camera?
Oh no, don’t leave that behind
.
I’ve got something I would like you to see
,’ he said.

‘
That sounds intriguing
.
B
efore or after lunch?
’

‘
After
,
I think
.
I remember you can’t usually make it past one without needing
something to eat
,’
Jonathan
said, smiling
.
The smile was still as charming.

‘
Things do change you know
,
’
Freya stated
. She was angry but she didn’t really know why. Having him here was upsetting her new balance. He was part of her past. The past she’d tried hard to put behind her.

‘
I know they do
,
but are you telling me your stomach isn’t cr
ying out for a pizza right now?’
Jonathan asked her.

She could almost taste it the second the words were out of his mouth.

‘
We’re going for pizza? Well
,
why didn’t you say? Lead on
,’
she responded. She took a breath, replaced
her smile and wav
ed
an arm at the door.

They left the office and Jonathan led the way towards a sleek, grey Chrysler 300c SRT8 parked in the car park.

‘
This is never your car
,’
she exclaimed, snorting with laughter.

‘
What’s so amusing? You don’t like it?
’ he
asked her
. He
opened the back door for her.

‘
No, it’s fine
. It’s very posh.
I just never saw you as a business executive
.
A
nd believe me, this car has
“
business executive
”
written all over it
,’ Freya said. She ran her hand along the boot.  This car was worth a fortune. It was either an extravagant purchase or Jonny was working for someone like Donald Trump.

‘
What did you think I would end up being
, Freya?’
he asked
.
He met her eyes with his.

‘
I don’t know
.
W
hen you left me I guess I hoped you would end up being a bin man or something
,’
Freya admitted.
That sounded bitter but at least she’d been honest.

‘
Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you
,
but I did a little better than that. So, are you going to get in?
’ he
asked, indicating the open door.

‘
In the back?
Are we really going to relive old times? Because looking in there I have to say it isn’t a patch on the Ford Cortina
,’
Freya joked.
That had come out dry and embarrassing but she didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t know why he was here.

‘
I have a driver
,’
he said
.

‘
What?!
You have a driver! Now you
are
kidding me
,’
Freya
exclaimed. She poked her head into the car. L
ook
ing up
into the driver’s seat
she
saw
the driver. Peaked cap, blue uniform, sat ready to set off.

‘
I’m sorry but this is unreal
.
When we last saw each other you lived on a council estate, you weren’t doing so well at colle
ge and you rode around on a BMX
,’
Freya reminded him.

‘
As you said, things change. Now
,
are we going for lunch so I can tell you what else has changed or do
you want to stand in the car park all day being photographed by those journalists over there?
’ Jonathan asked.
H
e
jerked his thumb behind him. T
wo men
with cameras
were hovering around by the gateway to the building.

‘
I’ll
be wanting
a stuffed crust and garlic bread to start
,’
Freya told him.
She also needed olives and pudding was a must
,
but that could wait until the restaurant. The stuffed crust was the
deal breaker
.

‘
I
’
m sure that can be arranged
.’

The car drove them into the centre of Carlton and stopped outside
La Luna,
the most expensive Italian restaurant in the city. Freya and Nicholas had been there once and the food was excellent
,
but the prices were astronomical
.

‘
Money is obviously no object to you then
,’
Freya
said
as they entered the restaurant.

‘
No it isn’t. Does that bother you? Because I would have thought, having a rich boyfriend, you would have become reacquainted with wealth
.’
O
ne of the restaurant staff took his jacket from him.

‘
Wealth and I have a rather complicated relationship
as you know
. It seems I have it whether I want it or not and it does act a little dejected when I try and give it all away
.’