Chapter 7
‘You can see my ass in this uniform,’ Nicholas said, pulling at the hem of the skirt.
‘Can you? Let me look.’
He’d insisted they called a cab so he didn’t have the humiliation of walking past the photographers at their front gate. Now they were outside Sam and Jolie’s home in the centre of Mayleaf.
‘I’m freezing,’ he complained as they waited on the doorstep for someone to arrive.
‘I did say you should wear tights but Mr Macho wasn’t having any of it, was he? If you go down with the flu, don’t blame me. Are we expecting snow? I thought snow didn’t exist in Hollywood,’ Freya said, pulling her surgical rubber gloves further up her arm.
‘I don’t believe they didn’t have a nurse costume in your size.’
‘Nick, you know if you’re bigger than Barbie here, you don’t count. It’s just a knock-on effect. You should campaign,’ Freya told him.
‘Nick! Freya! You made it! My God, Nick, you’re certainly making a statement with that costume,’ Jolie announced, opening the door. She was dressed in a cowgirl outfit.
‘Is it OK if I carry on with the statement-making in front of your fire?’ he asked, stepping past Freya.
‘Sure, come on in guys,’ Jolie invited, making way for them to enter.
Jolie was thirty-five and a mother of two six-year-old boys, Michael and Adrian. She and her husband, Sam, ran Mayleaf’s convenience store and were an integral part of town life. Jolie took the minutes of the town meetings and Sam was a member of the Town Festival committee.
‘Jolie, I’m sorry we’re late. I got talking on the phone and Nick was having a prima donna moment over his outfit,’ Freya said, entering the house.
‘That’s OK, you’ve only missed Brian trying to rescue the boys’ football from the tree and falling head first into the compost.’
‘Oh you’re kidding me? I missed the “Brian Episode”! How could that happen so early on in the evening? Nick, I missed the “Brian Episode”,’ Freya announced, disappointed.
‘I have no doubt it won’t be the only one of the evening. Hey, where’s the birthday guy?’ Nicholas asked Jolie.
‘Straight through, into the den. He’s set up a bar in there. We were thinking of going out in the garden but boy, it’s gotten cold.’
‘Drink, Freya?’ Nicholas asked her.
‘Yes please.’ She followed Jolie into the kitchen.
‘I’m so glad you two could come tonight. I know how busy you both are,’ Jolie said, picking up some napkins and glasses.
‘We wouldn’t have missed it for the world. You and Sam have been so great to us since we moved here,’ Freya said, taking some of the glasses from Jolie.
‘Come through and have some food,’ Jolie said. She led the way into the large family room at the back of the house.
‘Hey, Freya, I like your costume and as for Nick’s, well, I’ve suggested to him he ought to think about taking on a different role in his next movie. Maybe a sequel to Tootsie. What do you think?’ Sam called. The store owner was dressed as Dracula.
‘Now do you see what you’ve done, babe? I’m the town clown,’ Nicholas said. He straightened his face and then broke it with a laugh.
‘If only your millions of adoring fans could see you now,’ Freya said, taking the beer Nicholas was offering her.
‘I think you look great, Nick. Take no notice of the old man,’ Jolie said, smiling.
‘Ha! She’s been calling me “the old man” since I got up this morning. You would think I’d turned fifty, not forty.’
‘Well, I don’t think you look a day over thirty-nine and this is a little gift from us. Happy birthday,’ Freya said. She passed Sam a gift-wrapped box and kissed him on the cheek.
‘Oh thanks, guys. You didn’t have to get me anything,’ Sam said.
‘What is it, Dad? What is it? Get off me, Adrian. I want to see!’ Michael (Krueger One) shouted, pushing his brother out of the way in order to watch his father open up the present.
‘The boys bought him a remote-control jeep, which of course they both wanted to play with. Sam liked it so much, they haven’t had a chance to have a go yet,’ Jolie told Freya.
Sam unwrapped the present, opened the box and revealed a watch.
‘Whoa! Is that real gold?!’ Adrian (Krueger Two) shouted out loudly. He tried to grab the box from his father.
‘Nick, Freya, this is too much. I don’t know what to say,’ Sam spoke, running his fingers over the watch and admiring it.
‘Don’t say anything. It’s your fortieth birthday. You have to have some nice treats on your fortieth birthday. Besides, it isn’t real gold. But don’t tell the boys,’ Freya whispered, smiling.
‘It’s great, thank you both. Here Jolie, take a look,’ Sam said, passing the box over to his wife.
Nicholas took Freya by the arm and gently pulled her towards him.
‘I thought you didn’t believe in extravagance,’ he whispered to her.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’ She took a swig of her beer.
‘You bought Sam a gold watch.’
‘No flies on you, are there.’
‘I had one just like it until you made me auction it off,’ Nicholas replied.
‘I wanted to get Sam something nice and I never said we couldn’t splash out on our friends. It’s just unnecessary extravagance that pisses me off, like you having five different expensive watches and only two arms to wear them on. Or the fact you used to have four cars and only ever drove one of them.’
‘Alright, you’ve made your point.’
‘He will treasure that watch and now he thinks it isn’t real, he’ll wear it every day at the store. That will give me a little rush of pleasure every time I see it on his wrist,’ Freya explained.
‘If he doesn’t get mugged for it.’
‘You’re a killjoy, Nursie and I cannot take you seriously while you’re wearing a dress.’
‘Well, Doctor, if you promise me a large dose of your bedside manner later, I might let you take it off,’ Nicholas whispered to her.
‘Hello, Freya, would you like a cupcake? I made them myself,’ Brian announced. He appeared at her side, holding a tray of cakes coated in pink icing.
‘Oh did you? Well, Brian, I will take one for later because I think Sam’s starting the barbecue. I hope we’re staying indoors to eat. Are we expecting snow?’ Freya asked, taking a cake.
‘Just to let you know, I ran out of sugar halfway through the recipe so I used bicarbonate of soda instead. Adrian says they taste different to the ones his mother makes,’ Brian told her.
‘I suspect they do. Are you noting this? “Brian Episode” number two,’ Freya whispered to Nicholas.
‘Noted,’ Nicholas answered.
‘Freya, come and meet my sister,’ Jolie ordered and she took Freya’s arm and pulled her away from Nicholas. She led the way out of the glazed doors and towards a group of women on the patio area.
Freya held her breath as the cold wrapped around her.
‘Lisa, this is Freya. Freya, this is my sister, Lisa,’ Jolie introduced. A brown-haired woman of about her age smiled. She was dressed in a Cleopatra outfit.
‘It’s nice to meet you. Don’t you two look alike,’ Freya commented, visually comparing the two women.
‘Everyone says that. I must be wearing well; I’m the eldest,’ Lisa replied.
‘Well, whatever night cream you wear, I’ll endorse it.’
‘Freya’s a photographer, Lisa. She has her own studio in Carlton and the other week, she took some risqué pictures of Kiefer Sutherland,’ Jolie informed her.
‘Oh my God! You know Kiefer Sutherland?!’ Jennifer, one of the other women at the table shrieked. She was dressed in a Princess Leia outfit and her headdress almost fell off.
‘Well, I wouldn’t say I know him. I mean, I met him last week for the photographs and he was really nice but we didn’t do lunch or anything,’ Freya told them.
‘I love him. 24 was one of my favourite shows,’ Jennifer said, her eyes glazing over.
‘I suppose being engaged to Nicholas Kaden, you become kind of immune to celebrity,’ Lisa suggested.
‘I guess so. The thing is, I don’t even think of Nick as a celebrity. He’s just, you know, normal,’ Freya said. She looked over to where Nicholas was helping Sam, Brian and Casey light the barbeque.
‘Believe me, honey, there aren’t many “normal” men on the planet that look as good as he does,’ Lisa told her.
‘Oh don’t tell him that. I don’t want him getting the idea that he’s handsome or anything,’ Freya joked with a smile.
‘So, when are you two going to get married? Have you talked about a date yet? And where do you think you’ll do it? You know if you live in Mayleaf, you get to have a wedding in the square if you want it,’ Jolie said.
‘Oh, we haven’t really talked about a date. We’re just so busy, there hasn’t been time to think about it.’
She hadn’t thought about it. Not at all. Was that strange? When she’d accepted his proposal, she’d accepted because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but the actual getting married part she hadn’t really considered. What did she want and when did she want it? She knew there was barely a gap in her diary for the next six months.
‘I remember when Sam asked me to marry him. I said I wasn’t going to get engaged to him until we’d set a date for the wedding. Long engagements are just a man’s way of putting off the big day if you ask me,’ Jolie remarked to the group.
‘Well, we haven’t had a long engagement yet. I mean, we’ve only been engaged six months or so,’ Freya answered. Why did she feel like she had to justify why they hadn’t set a date?
‘Oh Freya, I wasn’t meaning Nick was trying to put things off. Me and my big mouth! No, I just meant that for me, a long engagement was out of the question. Well, I was pregnant with twins,’ Jolie explained with a laugh.
‘Are children something else we should have had by now?’ Freya asked.
Their faces told her they weren’t sure if she was joking. She laughed and they relaxed.
‘My advice: leave off having kids for a few years. Your life’s not your own once they’re here,’ Jolie said.
The others at the table all nodded.
‘Or better still, don’t have them at all. They mess up your house and they don’t understand the importance of not covering Mommy with sticky finger marks before she goes to work,’ Lisa added.
‘How old are your children?’ Freya asked her.
‘Seventeen and nineteen and the sticky hands and messy house still applies.’