CH 7

Gia rushed to grab all the things that she needed for the day, her school things, her purse, her keys, Jacob, his diaper bag. Her mother went to work early today so Gia needed to take her brother to Carol’s house. “OK buddy lets go.” Gia said picking him up. “No.” Jake stated, shaking his head as she carried him. “Yes Jakie, you need to go to Carol’s house now.” Gia insisted as she walked out the door and locked it with great difficulty, with all the things she was carrying. “No. Not doing!” Jake said squirming in Gia’s arms. “Honey, I’m sorry but you have to.” Gia said desperately. She rang the doorbell when she reached Carol’s house and the woman quickly came to the door. “Hi Gia. You need me to watch him late again right?” Carol asked. Jacob turned his face into Gia’s shoulder and she could feel his hands clamp down on to her vest; this was not going to be fun. “Yes that would be great if you could Carol, my mom actually gave me permission to have a few hours to myself since I’ve had to watch him so much lately.” Gia said, although her mother assumed she was meeting with one of the girls from school, rather then with Nikolas Cassadine. Carol gave Gia a sympathetic look as she watched Jacob’s actions; he was so attached to Gia. “OK Jakie, Gia has to go.” Carol said. Jacob squirmed more, shaking his head as he ingnored her. “Jacob, Clair is going to be here in an hour and you can play with her.” Gia said, trying to intice him to want to stay so that he could see his friend, it didn’t help however. Gia gave Carol a look and the older woman stepped forward and placed her hands on Jacob’s back. “No! Want Gia!” Jake screamed as she tried to pull him off of her. “It’s OK Jakie, I’ll be back to pick you up later. I love you, bye.” Gia said quickly, kissing his cheek before pushing him into Carol’s hands as he kicked his little legs and began to cry. She swallowed the lump in her throat and made sure that he didn’t see the tears that threatened to fall as she smiled at him, as his arms reached out to her. She turned around but she could still hear his screaming even when she reached the sidewalk, it was only muffled when Carol shut the door, and it finally faded as she kept walking. Gia sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He did this every once and a while, she felt so bad for the little guy, having to spend so much time away from his family.

“Hey Brandon, I have a friend coming over after school today. I wasn’t thinking that I have soccer practice and she takes the bus so she might be here a little bit before me. Do you think you can let her in?” Nikolas asked as he and his brother got ready for school. “She huh?” Brandon said smiling. Nikolas smirked at him. “Don’t even think about it, she’s mine. Plus I don’t think you could handle her, she’s pretty feisty.” Nik warned. Brandon rolled his eyes and shook his head at his cocky little brother. Brandon knew that he was maybe even a little more popular then his younger brother, but he wasn’t nearly as cocky. He found that to be one of Nikolas’ biggest faults, that and being stupid enough to challenge his older brother. He was looking forward to meeting this girl that his brother was so enthralled with. “Well little bro, if she’s as feisty as you say she is, she might not like you thinking that she’s yours.” Brandon said walking out the door. Nikolas started to think about what his brother just said. He started to wonder, and even fear a little if Gia would end up rejecting him. He wondered if this girl could shoot him, Nikolas Cassadine, down.

Gia had thought about Jacob all day at school, and as she walked to the bus stop after she was let out of school, she called Carol on her cell phone. “Carol? Hi, how’s he doing? Oh good. I’ve been thinking about him all day. Yeah I knew he would be happy when she got there. Oh, that’s good he likes Clifford. OK well thanks Carol, I’ll see you later today, bye.” Gia said, ending her call. She got to the bus stop feeling much more at ease after making sure her brother was OK and sat down at the bench and waited for the bus. Gia began to think about what the rest of her day would be like, her day with Nikolas. They had talked on the phone briefly the other day; Nikolas was on his way out to hangout with some friends and Gia had to get back to watching Jacob. But they had decided that Gia would meet him at his house and they would go to the mall together. Gia was glad that she had a little over a week’s separation from him; it gave her time to cool down. She was still mad at what he said to her, and it would take some time for her to trust him again, but she no longer blamed him for her getting hit. It happened so often; it didn’t take much for Phil to snap like he did and this time was just like the others. Nikolas was just the easiest for her to put the blame on and she realized that it wasn’t fair to him. It also gave the bruise on her face time to fade, she still had a slight yellow tinge to the one on her stomach but she just made sure she didn’t wear anything that showed off her midriff, for that reason Gia was grateful that she had to wear a uniform so she didn’t have to worry about that. The bus pulled up and Gia took a deep breath before getting on.

Brandon Cassadine had just poured himself a glass of Coke and was just about to sit down and watch TV when he heard the doorbell ring. He knew that it must be Gia. He got up, with a smirk on his face, preparing himself for someone dumb and blond, his brothers usual type. He opened the door and had to brace himself against the doorframe, this girl was stunning, his eyes scanned down her body, the school uniform she had on complemented her nicely, adding to her unique looks. There are two of them, Gia thought. She thought that this one was just as sexy as Nikolas, maybe even a little more, but he didn’t have those intense dark eyes that Nikolas had, his were bright and warm. “Hi I’m Gia Campbell, Nikolas invited me over.” Gia said sticking her hand out towards him. Brandon smiled sexily as he took her hand in his and kissed the top gently, causing Gia to blush. “I’m Brandon, Nik’s brother, come on in.” He said stepping aside to let her in. Gia walked past at him, not seeing the way he watched her body from behind, as she walked into the livingroom. Gia began to look around the extravagant room, admiring the artwork on the walls. Brandon was watching her every more, intrigued by her. “Can I get you something to drink Gia?” Brandon’s deep voice broke through the silence in the room. Gia turned around and smirked at him. “I don’t know, are you going to spill it on me like your brother?” Gia asked. Brandon laughed. “What?” He asked. “Oh your brother didn’t tell you how we met? He spilled his drink all over the front of my dress, and not just any drink, punch.” Gia explained. Brandon felt for his brother, there is no way he would want to be put in an embarrassing situation like that when he came to this girl. “My brother can be a klutz sometimes. Don’t worry I’ll be careful. What would you like?” He asked. “Just ice water would be good, it’s hot out there.” Gia said. Her request was purely innocent but Brandon had to stop from picturing himself dumping the cold water on her hot body in a moment of passion between them. He tried to clear his head of these sexual thoughts of her as he went to get her some water. It tugged in the back of his mind that this girl belonged to Nikolas and that he shouldn’t feel this way about her. But on the other hand, he knew that brother was quite a player and Gia could quite possibly be just a brief infatuation for him, a challenge that once he overcame, he would forget about her like the countless other girls he did this with. Brandon walked down the two steps leading to his livingroom with the glass of water in his hand and handed it to Gia, his heart fluttering when she smiled at him gratefully.

“So where’s Nikolas?” Gia asked as she sipped her water. “He has soccer practice but it should be ending right about now so he should be home soon. Why don’t you have a seat?” Brandon suggested as he walked over to the couch, he watched Gia sit down next to him, his throat tightening at the sight of her, crossing one leg over the other, noticing her plaid skirt get shorter and the muscles of her thighs flex. Gia noticed his staring, taking that time to stare back at him. He really did look similar to Nikolas; she had a hard time deciding which one she found more attractive. Her body reacted strongly to both, especially when they checked her out like this, and although her heart sped when either of them did this, Nikolas would always make her knees go weak when he looked at her. But she thought that Brandon’s personality type seemed to match hers much better then Nikolas’, he didn’t seem full of himself like Nikolas. She felt an almost instant feeling of comfort in his presence, unlike his brother whom made her feel on edge most of the time. “So Gia, what’s it like going to catholic school?” Brandon asked, eager to find out more about this intriguing person in front of him. “I hate it. We have way too many rules, the teachers are really mean and I think it’s boring. But the worst part is having to go to school with all girls.” Gia said. Brandon laughed. “Well I don’t think I would mind that very much.” Brandon said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.” Gia made a face at him. They both laughed. “Hey, I can’t help it, I’m a guy. I’ve just always wanted to hop on one of those school buses and “accidentally” get stuck riding with a bus full of schoolgirls.” Brandon said grinning. “Oh stop!” Gia laughed as she hit him playfully on the arm. Brandon laughed. “Ah to spend a day with a bunch of girls who look as good as you..heaven.” Brandon said dreamily. Brandon saw her turn red as her arm raised to hit him and he quickly went to block her, causing her water to spill out onto her leg and on the floor. Gia’s jaw dropped, feeling the cold water run down her leg. “I can not believe you just did that.” Gia breathed. Brandon couldn’t believe it either. He ran to the kitchen to retrieve a couple of towels. He came back out and Gia took one from his hands as Brandon got on his knees to clean up the floor, all the while watching her as she pulled down her stocking and running the towel over her sexy leg to dry it off, causing his throat to go dry. “Man, clumsiness must run in the family.” Gia laughed as she pulled up her white stocking and bent down to help with the floor. “Hey this wasn’t my fault, you’re the one who tried to hit me.” Brandon defended, his head so close to Gia’s. “Are you saying this is my fault?” Gia asked looking up at him. “Maybe.” Brandon grinned up at her. “No Brandon, I’m afraid you’re just as big of a klutz as your brother.” Gia sighed. Brandon waded up his towel and threw it on her head. Gia screeched as the damp cloth hit her skin. She grabbed her towel and began to twist it. “Oh no you don’t.” Brandon said shaking his head, seeing the evil grin on her face that made his heart skip a beat. Gia snapped the towel and hit him on the arm; Brandon lunged forward and wrestled her to get the towel out of her hands as they both laughed. Gia stood up, wining the battle as she had leverage on him, she screamed when he got up off of the floor and began to chase her. Gia started to run out of the room but Brandon quickly caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her as he struggled to get the towel away from her.

Nikolas opened the door to his home and was surprised to be greeted by the sound of Gia’s laughter flowing sweetly into his ears. He began to smile as he neared the sound of it; but he stopped dead in his tracks as he reached his livingroom. His eyes landed on Gia, his brothers arms were around her and they were both laughing uncontrollably together. He felt a lump forming in his throat, his chest felt heavy, jealousy coursed through his entire body. The smile on her face was breathtaking, and he felt like he could almost cry that he wasn’t the one who put it there. The emotions he was feeling shocked him, he had never felt this way about anyone. He loathed his brother in this moment; he had to stop himself from walking up to him and shoving him to the ground and away from Gia. Nikolas cleared his throat and both Gia and his brother looked up at him. “Oh hi Nikolas.” Gia said smiling at him, not making any attempts to break free from Bandon’s hold. “Hey Gia, I’m sorry you had to wait for me.” Nik said. “Oh that’s OK, your brother kept me company.” Gia said and glanced over her shoulder at Brandon. “I can see that.” Nik said softly. Brandon knew that his brother was furious at him, and he could see why. In the short time he had spent with her, he knew that Gia was special. He hesitantly let go of her. “Well, do you want to go to the mall?” Nik asked. Gia smiled at him as she wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes from having laughed so hard. “Sure.” She said walking up to him. Nikolas rethought his idea to try and hold her hand and just walked to the door and opened it. Gia turned around and smiled. “It was nice meeting you Brandon.” She said. “Nice meeting you too Gia.” Brandon smiled back, he too feeling jealousy coarse through him as he watched Gia leave with Nikolas. When the door closed behind them, Brandon collapsed onto the couch. He smiled to himself, overwhelmed by the girl he just encountered, his heart still pounding at the thought of her having been in his arms. He didn’t care what his brother said, he needed to see Gia again, and he would.