Public Property

by Mandy Baggot

  Nicholas turned back round to face him.

  ‘Please, sit back down. I think you’ll need to.’

  ‘I’m not in to playing games.’ He walked back to the desk and Eric.

  ‘I understand you’ve met my son.’ He relit his cigar and raised his eyes to meet Nicholas’.

  ‘I’m sorry, you’ve lost me.’

  ‘You met my son, the other day. Now, he’s a fine boy, almost a chip off the old block. I mean he has definitely inherited my business brain. He’s rich and successful and he’s going places. In fact the only defect he has is a rather pathetic weakness in the emotional department,’ Eric told him.

  ‘I’m still not with you. I didn’t know you had a son.’

  ‘No, well, it isn’t something I’ve broadcast. In this case, all parties concerned have kept their mouths shut. But despite his rather unsavoury conception, he’s turned out rather well. His name’s Jonathan by the way. I believe Jane still calls him Jonny.’

  ‘Oh my God.’ He took a breath and moistened his lips.

  ‘I did say you’d want to stay and hear it, didn’t I? So, now who’s disgusting, Nick? Jane for sleeping with her half-brother? Or me for parting them when I could?’

  ‘My God. This is sick. You are sick. I don’t believe a word of it.’ Nicholas rose from his seat.

  ‘You’d better believe it, because he’s the only reason I’m not having you and Jane wiped off the face of the planet. He came to me. He heard about your driver’s little incident and he begged me, he pleaded with me to leave his sister alone. It was pathetic. It was utter weakness. He was sniveling and groveling and it made me feel nauseous. And do you know? Despite everything, I think he still loves her. It’s a little frightening considering their genealogy, but I suppose deep feelings never leave you do they?’ Eric continued.

  ‘If you are lying about this, I swear to God I’ll kill you.’

  ‘Empty threats bore me, Nick. No, it’s the truth. Jane has a half-brother. Her ex-fiancé.’

  ‘Is he planning on telling her? Because he’s just pledged a whole stack of money to her charity.’

  ‘Is he planning on telling her? Well, he was sworn to silence by me until I lifted that bar about…ooo, it must be an hour ago now. His begging and pleading hit a nerve with me. Perhaps I’m getting sentimental in my old age. I told him I’d leave you and Jane alone…on the condition he told her the truth about his parentage. I thought that news should be just enough to ruin her wedding day and more importantly your wedding night. I mean, how is she going to feel knowing she’s slept with her brother?’ Eric smiled a smug, self-satisfied grin.

  ‘You are one sick fuck, do you know that?’

  ‘You can leave now. You know where the door is.’ He dropped his gaze and picked up some paperwork from the desk.

  ‘Stay away from me and stay away from Freya, or I promise you, I will make you pay,’ Nicholas warned. He stood up, fixed his eyes on Eric.

  ‘Goodbye, Nick. I would say it’s been a treat. But, well…it hasn’t.’

  ‘The feeling’s mutual.’ Nicholas headed for the door.

  ‘Oh, and by the way, just so we’re clear about things. I don’t waste my time sending threatening notes. I find actions usually work best. So, whoever has it in for Jane on that score, it isn’t me. Letters, they’re so amateur.’

  Nicholas didn’t reply. He pulled open the door and left the office.

  Twenty Three

  ‘Thanks for coming, Roger and for organising the glazier. I do appreciate it,’ Freya spoke.

  The police had been and gone, the glazier had fixed the broken window and Freya and Roger were rejoining Jolie in the living room with fresh drinks and nibbles.

  ‘It isn’t a problem. Stop thanking me. I’m just surprised someone got over that fence that’s all,’ Roger said. He sat down in an armchair.

  ‘Oh don’t! I know exactly what Nick is going to say when he gets home. He’s going to say that’s it, we have to have the electric fence back. Jolie, we had this twenty foot high electric fence at our old house and it was so ugly. The birds kept getting electrocuted when they landed on it and…’ Freya began.

  ‘She’s exaggerating. They got slightly singed.’ Roger laughed.

  ‘It was cruel and it was like living in a compound. Like Guantanamo Bay or something.’

  ‘I’m not sure I’d like one around my home,’ Jolie admitted as she helped herself to some potato chips.

  ‘I know you have reservations about them, but it’s one sure way of almost guaranteeing no one can get in here again,’ Roger stated.

  ‘Notice he said “almost” guaranteeing,’ Freya said to Jolie.

  ‘Well, the only way someone could get in would be if there was a major power out, or if it was turned off from the inside.’

  ‘Oh, enough! I don’t want to talk about security anymore tonight. We have Moonlighting to get through yet.’ Freya got up and headed towards the DVD player.

  The 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. It’s Jonathan.’

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

  ‘Can I come in? I really need to speak with you. It’s important,’ he interrupted.

  ‘Well, I have friends here. It’s not really a good time. Can’t we do this tomorrow?’ She looked at her watch. She had hoped Nicholas 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. Come on up to the house.’

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

  He was just getting out of his car when Freya opened it. He looked awful. He was wearing a suit but it was crumpled. His 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. Are 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. Come 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 this 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. We’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.

  ‘He 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.

  ‘Are 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 h
ands to her mouth, anticipating bad news.

  ‘What? No. No, not at all. It’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. They’ve been. The 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?’

  ‘Yeah, 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. He isn’t even flirting with me yet.’

  ‘Freya, please. Let 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. Do you hear me?’

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

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

  ‘Uh huh. Is that so?’

  ‘I do not want you to tell her. I mean it. If anyone’s telling her this, it’s me. Have 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 never be the same again. How the hell 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. If you feel anything for her, you’ll leave this to me.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I can’t.’

  Twenty Four

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

  ‘Freya, there’s something I have to tell you. I should have told 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. My 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. It 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 laughing…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.

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

  ‘That 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. They were both drunk, throwing stuff around and acting crazy. And this was all caused by me telling them about our relationship.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘No, neither did I. Until she took me to the hotel the next afternoon. 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. She said Jonathan, I think you met Eric last night, over Chinese. Well, 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. Except that hadn’t been enough for him. He had paid her a small fortune to have her exclusively and he had been having her for some years. I can only imagine what my conception was like.’

  Freya just looked at him, her expression frozen.

  ‘Anyway, 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 me, 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, he got my father a job 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. Like it or not, you and I…we’re half brother and sister. And that’s why I had to leave. That’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 overwhelmed her.

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

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

  ‘Yes, it’s fine. Just 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 the 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 y
elled.

  ‘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. Just hold on for the ambulance. They 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 daddy 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. Sorry 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. Get the keys to the SUV.’ He picked Freya up again and made his way to the front door.

  ‘Look, take my car. It’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. For 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, helping Nicholas settle Freya onto the back seat of the car.

  ‘No, Jolie, you go home. Thanks for staying with Freya tonight. I…’

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

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

  ‘Call yourself a cab. There’s nothing valuable in the house. The 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.