Page 40 of One Hollywood Sunset

This was bad. Anything with her father involved was bad but this, telling the world he was dead! Nothing good was going to come out of that. How stupid was she? Why had she said it? She didn’t think. That had always been her trouble and now she was neck deep in just that.

‘Well, I don’t know how they got hold of it but they did and they printed it. Brian also said he heard something about it on the news this morning.’

‘Oh my God. What am I going to do?’ She put her hand to her chest as the breath caught there.

‘Look, calm down. Let’s think rationally about this.’

‘Think rationally?! How can I think rationally? My father’s going to take one look at this and think I wanted it. The paper’s already asked him about it and he refused to comment. What does that say?’

‘It says he knows how to handle the media and he’ll let his press agent take care of it.’

‘Oh no, no. You don’t know my father like I do. He won’t be letting anyone else handle this. He’ll be handling it himself. If there’s one thing I know about my father, it’s that he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.’

‘Freya, calm down. What d’you think’s going to happen?’

‘What’s going to happen is what always happens. He’s going to punish me.’ She felt the tears brimming in her eyes.

‘That isn’t going to happen. Come here, come on.’ He pulled her into his arms. ‘It’s not so bad. I mean, you said he was dead. It was an off-the-cuff remark. It didn’t mean anything.’

His words did nothing to comfort her. She knew the man. She knew how he operated.

‘He won’t like it. It won’t be acceptable, for me to speak out like that, off-the-cuff remark or not. I’ve put him in the papers and brought everything all back up again. He’s going to do something about it, Nick. He’s going to hurt you or me, or Emma. Oh God! What if he hurts Melly?’ Her voice came out as a shriek and the tears fell.

‘Listen, that isn’t going to happen. I mean, read the article again. It’s just rubbish. So, someone overheard you say your father’s dead? What’s that really going to mean to him? You aren’t part of his life anymore. To you, he is dead,’ he reminded.

‘He just won’t like it. He’ll feel insulted and people will be looking at him wondering why he isn’t going to his only child’s wedding. Then the rumours will start and people will start asking questions again about all the things Russell told Shooting Stars magazine,’ Freya told him.

‘The truth, you mean.’

‘Yes, the truth. But dealing the truth was too much of a price to pay and it was over. But now? God, why can’t I keep my big mouth shut?’ She wiped at her eyes, then put her fingers in her mouth to chew the nails.

‘Come on, babe, it’s going to be fine. Look, if you’re really worried, let me sort it out. I’ll get Sandra on to it. We’ll issue a statement telling everyone you were misquoted and we’ll cut this off before it has a chance to do any damage, to us or your father,’ he said, running a hand through Freya’s hair.

‘It’s too late; it’s done and he won’t let it go again.’ Her voice was trembling now. That’s what that man did to her: terrified her. All the happiness and excitement she felt earlier about her wedding and choosing a dress had all but evaporated.

The phone rang.

‘That’ll be the start of it. That will be a reporter,’ Freya stated, letting go of Nicholas and going back over to the newspaper.

‘No, it won’t. Hello,’ he greeted.

Freya looked again at the photograph on the front page of the paper and racked her brain as to who would have overheard her comment about her father.

‘Yeah, she’s here. No, that’s OK, I’ll just pass you over.’ He held the handset out. ‘It’s Sasha.’

She took the phone and he put a strong arm around her, kissing her cheek.

‘Listen, I’m going to grab a shower. Don’t worry about it, OK? I’ll deal with it, I promise.’ He squeezed her free hand. ‘Oh, and these letters are for you too. One of them looks like it’s from a shopping channel.’ He passed her the rest of her mail and left the kitchen.

She put the phone to her ear and raised her shoulder to keep it in place as she opened the first letter.

‘Hello, Sasha. Is the office on fire?’

‘No. Sorry to call you at home again but I’ve had journalists calling already this morning asking about your father. I just wondered what, if anything, you wanted me to say.’

‘Nothing, just say nothing. I know that’s something I usually can’t manage but I’m sure you’re far more adept at it.’ She let out a sigh and took the letter from the envelope.

‘You don’t sound surprised they’ve been calling. Has something happened? Is everything OK?’

---