Public Property (33 page)

‘And that
wasn’t often
as I remember
.’ Freya smiled.

‘T
hat night when you took me to meet Eric and Barbara
,
your parents
,
I remember thinking they weren’t so bad. They were nice to
me and we had Chinese takeaway.
I thought I could do a lot worse than to have in-laws like them. I was so excited it had gone so well
, I went home and
told my parents about us
.
I told them who you were and who your parents were and how much I loved you and how we were going to get married
,’ he continued.

‘
I never knew
.’

‘
Well
,
that’s when it all went wrong. My mother was furious. I
’
d never seen her that angry before.
She told me I was too young to get married
. She said
it was a ridiculous idea and I had to stop seeing you immediately
.’

‘
What? Why?
’

‘
That’s what
I
said
,
but she wouldn’t answer me.
She
and my father had a blazing row that night
. T
hey were both drunk, throwing stuff around and acting crazy
.
A
nd this was all caused by me telling them about our relationship
.’

‘
I don’t understand
.’

‘
No, neither did
I
.
U
ntil she took me to the hotel the next a
fternoon.
Your father was there
.
I don’t know which was
worse,
the look on his face or
the expression I know was on
mine.
’ He sucked in another breath and blew it out slowly.
‘
And my mother,
she just turned to me and said…
I’ll never forget the words
.
S
he said
Jon
athan
,
I think you me
t Eric last night, over Chinese.
W
ell
,
love,
he’s
your
real
father
.
’

Freya stared at him, unable to take in what he was saying as he continued with the story.

‘
It turns out he was a client of hers, one of her regulars
.
E
xcept that hadn’t been enough for him. He had paid her a small fortune to have her exclusively and he had be
en having her for some years.
I can only imagine what my conception was like
.
’

Freya
just looked at him, her expression frozen.

‘
A
nyway, what I’m trying to say is
,
Eric did wave his
cheque
book around
back then
,
but not in the way you thought.
He
’
d been paying monthly
instalments
to my mother
ever
since he
got his
DNA confirmation. He never saw me though, not once
and he never even knew my name
. In fact
,
the first time he set eyes on m
e
,
was over dinner with you, although he didn’t know it at the time.
’ He put a shaking hand to his bottle of beer.
‘
So, after that
afternoon in the hotel
, h
e got my father a j
ob on the other side of London
and he paid for me to go to university
.
And that was that.
I never saw him again until about five years ago
.’

‘
Is this some sort of sick game of his? Has he paid you to come here and tell me this bullshit to freak me out?
’ She got down from the stool.

‘
No, it’s the truth
.
L
ike it or not, you and I
…
we’re half brother and sister
. And that’s why I had to leave.
T
hat’s why we couldn’t be together
.’

Freya felt the nausea rise up in her throat and before she could stop herself she was vomiting into the sink. She wretched over and over and panic overwhelm
ed
her.

Jonathan moved to
help
her.
H
e gently touched her arm and Freya removed her head from the sink
.
She
stepp
ed
away from
him
like
she
’
d been hit by a bolt of lightning.

‘
Is everything OK in here?
’
Rog
er queried as he and Jolie entered the room.

‘
Yes, it’s fine
.
J
ust leave us alone, please
,’ Jonathan spoke.

‘
Freya?
’
Roger asked.

‘
Actually, I don’t feel so good
.
I feel a bit lightheaded and
…’
She couldn’t control her breathing. Her heart was pounding and the room was spinning.

She heard t
h
e front door burst open.
Nicholas entered the kitchen
and she fell.

‘Oh my God
!
You told her! You idiot! Roger, get an ambulance
. Get an ambulance
now!
’
Nicholas
yelled.

‘
What’s happened to her?
’
Jonathan questioned as Nicholas picked
Freya
up
from the floor
.

‘
Her blood pressure’s been going up and she’s been fainting
.
I wonder what could have brought
that
on?! Jolie
,
could you fetch a blanket? There are some in the cupboard at the top of the stairs
.’ He lifted Freya into his arms and made his way down the hall.

‘
Of course
,’ Jolie answered.

Nicholas lay Freya on the sofa and stroked her hair back from her face. Her skin was pale and moist with sweat.

‘
Come on
,
Freya
.
J
ust hold on for the ambulance
.
T
hey won’t be long
,
I promise
.’

‘
Is she going to be alright?
’ Jonathan asked, entering the room.

‘
How should I know?!
I’m not a doctor am I! But I tell you something, you
’
d better start praying she
’s
going to be OK or you and
d
addy are going to wish you
’
d never set eyes on me
.’

‘
Here’s the blanket
,’ Jolie said. She tucked the throw around Freya.

‘
Thanks
,
Jolie
.
S
orry about this
.
Roger, where
’
s the damn ambulance?
’
Nicholas called.

‘
I’m having trouble getting through
,’ Roger shouted in reply.

‘Forget it! We’ll take her.
G
et the keys to
the
SUV
.’ He picked Freya up again and made his way to the front door.

‘
Look, take my car
.
I
t’s quicker than that thing and there’s more room than your car
,’ Jonathan offered.

‘
I don’t want anything to do with you
,’ Nicholas hissed.

‘
Don’t be stupid
,
Nick
.
F
or
God’s
sake
, just take the car. Take it
for Freya
.’ He held the keys out.

Nicholas grabbed the keys
, Jolie opened the front door and they all went down the porch steps and onto the driveway.

‘
Do you want me to come with you?
’
Jolie asked
,
help
ing
Nicholas
settle
Freya onto the back seat of the car.

‘
No, Jolie, you go home
.
T
hanks for staying with F
reya tonight.
I
…’

‘
Give me the keys
.
You get in the back with Freya.
I’ll drive
,
’
Roger ordered
.

‘
I’ll wait here
.
S
ecure the house if you like
,
’
Jonathan offered.

‘
Call yourself a cab
.
T
here’
s nothing valuable in the house.
T
he only thing
I
care about is laid out
on the back seat of the car
.’ Nicholas got in the car and slammed the door behind him.

Roger sped off up the driveway and out of the
gate
,
just missing the half a dozen photographers camped outside.

There’s no place like home
, there’s no place like home,
there’s
no place like home
.

Freya was Dorothy.
Jonathan was the
cowardly l
ion
.
Nick was the
t
in
m
an
.
Willis was Toto
.
H
er father was the Wizard of Oz.
And
the Yellow Brick Road wasn’t made out of bricks, it was made out of
gold ingots
and
Freya
wasn’t s
eek
ing the wizard’s advice. The c
owardly
l
ion was chasing her
. He was telling her to stop and listen.
Toto was weaving in and out of her legs trying to trip her up
.
T
he
t
in
m
an, who she was trying to reach, seemed to be getting f
u
rther and further away.
T
he Wizard of Oz was laughing, over and over again and the noise was getting louder and louder until she couldn’t hear herself think. She wanted to scream.

Freya snapped open her eyes, her breathing ra
pid, her face damp. Her head throbbed and her throat was sore
. There was a familiar, eye ball penetrating, bright
,
white light above her head
.
It was
then
she
knew she was in Carlton General Hospital again.

‘
Hi
,’
Nicholas
whispered. He
touch
ed Freya’s arm and leaned
closer to her from his seated position at the side of her bed.

‘
Hi
.’

‘
How are you feeling?
’

‘
Was I shot or something
?
B
ecau
se I feel like I’ve been shot…
in the head
.’

‘
No, no shooting
.
J
ust another
collapse
.’
He stroked the hair off her face.