CH 11

Nikolas awoke with a feeling of excitement charging through him, he had spoke to Gia in his dream and he told her to look for him. His mind raced, he had to call his brother and start his search for Gia. He sat up in bed and was shocked to find Sarah looking at him intently, with a small smile on her face. “Hi.” He breathed. “Well hello there sleepy head, how would you like to spend the day with me?” She asked. “You don’t have to work?” Nik asked. “Nope, not until tonight.” She said. “Well I have to go into the office later but why don’t we have lunch?” Nik suggested. Sarah’s smile grew wider. “OK.” She said softly. She leaned in and placed a light kiss on his lips. A kiss that didn’t feel the same to Nikolas now that he had experienced one from Gia. He wondered if any other woman’s could compare to Gia’s.

“Nikolas, are you OK?” Sarah asked. Nikolas hadn’t been able to get his mind off of his dream, and off of Gia all day. He had been half listening Sarah talk about work, or a friend, or something. He blinked a few times, focusing his attention onto her again. “I’m sorry what was that?” He asked. “Nikolas you seem like you’re a million miles away. Is everything OK?” She asked. Nikolas’ mind was screaming no, but he nodded his head. “I’m fine, I’ve just been busy at work. My uncle has me managing all the meetings at work right now. I’ve just been swamped that’s all.” Nik said. “Well do you want me to talk to your uncle? He likes me.” Sarah said, her eyebrow arching. Nikolas smiled. “I know he likes you, but that’s OK. I mean I’m going to have to do twice as much work when I take over the business. I’m just going to have to deal with it.” Nik said. Sarah frowned. “Well I still don’t like it Nikolas. You look exhausted.” Sarah said, her lip pouting slightly. Nikolas felt his stomach churn, suddenly feeling smothered by this woman. “I’m fine Sarah.” Nik said seriously. Sarah nodded her head in understanding.

Nikolas walked briskly into his brother’s apartment, when Lucky stepped aside to let him in. “What’s going on Nikolas?” Lucky asked. Nikolas threw his hands in the air, at a loss for words. “I’m in love.” He stated. Lucky looked at him in shock. “With Gia?” He asked. A smile spread across Nikolas’ face as he looked at his brother. “Yeah.” He breathed. Lucky sighed as he gave him a look. “Nikolas look I’ve been thinking about it and I think maybe this is crazy. I mean I went along with it because you’re my brother and I wanted to help, but this woman could just be a figment of your imagination, just a girl in a dream. She could not be real Nikolas, and you’re spending quite a bit of time thinking about a girl who doesn’t exist.” Lucky said. Nikolas looked crushed as he plopped himself down on his brother’s couch. “Lucky, you could tell me that a thousand times, and it wouldn’t matter. I still won’t believe you. I know she’s real, I can just feel it.” Nik said desperately. “I understand that Nikolas but I just don’t want you getting hurt.” Lucky said. “Well if you won’t help me I’ll do it myself. But I have to find her.” Nik said as he got up off of the couch. “No Nikolas wait. I’ll help you. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up that’s all.” Lucky said. Nikolas nodded his head and sat back down. “Thanks, but I have to take a chance here. If she’s out there, I have to find her.” Nik said.

“OK Nikolas, why don’t we take a different approach at this then the last time?” Lucky suggested. “What do you mean?” Nik asked. Lucky sighed as he sat down on the couch next to him. “Well why don’t we try analyzing your dreams a little? You can tell me about them and I can see if I think there are any clues about where we might find her?” Lucky said. Nikolas nodded his head slowly. “OK yeah good idea.” He said. “OK so tell me about your dreams, where do they take place?” He asked. “Well twice it’s been on the beach, not one that seemed familiar to me though, and then once in a club, with blues music playing, but I had never been there before. Then there was one where we were at some kind of fancy ball or gala or something like that, and we danced. And then there was one where we were at; I don’t know what it was. Maybe an office building, no more like a school, but then not, I don’t know.” Nik said. He looked at his brother’s confused expression. He thought that what he was about to say next was going to sound really crazy. “OK there were kids there, and we were jumping on a trampoline and playing around, we kissed, it was amazing.” Nik said, a far off look on his face as he remembered the dream. “That’s bizarre.” Lucky’s statement snapped Nik out of the trance he was in. He looked at his brother. “I know it sounds strange Lucky but I’m just telling you what happened.” Nik said. “OK so it was some kind of school then, but not? I don’t get it.” Lucky said. Nikolas licked his lips slightly as he thought about how he was going to word what he was about to say. “Yeah it was almost like a school, but it only seemed to have one classroom in it. I don’t know maybe like a daycare center or something.” Nik said. “Alright so maybe that’s it then. Maybe she works at a daycare center. I’ll get a list of all the daycare centers in the aria and ask if there’s a Gia working there.” Lucky said. Nikolas smiled as he nodded his head. “Yeah that would be great, that’s a good idea Lucky. Look I hate to leave you with this but Sarah is home right now and I need to get back to her.” Nik said. “Hey man it’s no problem. Elizabeth is working so I have some time on my hands anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know if I found anything OK?” Lucky said. “OK thank you.” Nik said as he hugged his brother and then left.

Nikolas walked into Wyndemere where he was expecting to find Sarah by herself. He was shocked to see that she was talking with his uncle. They both looked up as he came in. Sarah walked up to him. “Where did you go? You said that you had to work but Stefan said that he hasn’t seen you all day.” Sarah questioned. “I was going to drop something off at the office but Lucky called and said that he needed some advice. I can’t really talk about it because it’s personal but that’s where I was.” Nikolas said, holding his breath as he waited for her reaction. “Oh I see, well come on in and have some coffee with us.” Sarah said as she grabbed his hand. Nikolas fallowed Sarah into the den and poured himself some coffee from the bar in the corner of the room. He then walked over to where his uncle was sitting. “How are you uncle?” He asked as he sat down across from him and next to Sarah. “I’m doing well Nikolas, I was just chatting with Sarah. We were discussing her sister and your brother, and how wonderful it is that they’re engaged.” Stefan said. Nikolas felt nauseous on this topic and took a deep breath. “Were you now? Well that’s good uncle. It’s so nice that you wish my brother so much luck in his marriage. You seem to be pretty enthusiastic about it, maybe you should offer to be in the wedding, maybe as a ring bearer?” Nik said sarcastically. He felt Sarah’s elbow jab his arm slightly as he watched his uncle’s eyes darken with anger. “Nikolas have you had enough sleep? You seem tired and your attitude is atrocious.” Stefan said. Nikolas sighed. He looked over at Sarah when he heard her beeper go off. “That means I have to go. It was nice chatting with you Stefan. Nikolas I’ll see you in the morning.” She said, giving him a quick kiss before leaving for work. Nikolas turned to face his uncle, suddenly feeling trapped. “Nikolas I came by for a reason. You haven’t been into the office in two days. What has you so distracted?” Stefan asked as he got up and put away his cup. Nikolas stood up to face him, sitting his cup on the coffee table. “Nothing’s distracting me uncle. I’m in no way behind in my work, I have simply just not gone into the office, because well I don’t feel like it.” Nik said plainly. Stefan looked at him incredulously. “You don’t feel like it? My god you sound like a child! Nikolas, Cassadine Industries is very important and you know that. You must take your responsibilities seriously. You also need to settle down, get married and start a family. These are all things that you know are important for the future of our family legacy.” Stefan said. “Oh shut up uncle.” Nik sighed. Stefan was stunned. “Alright I’m leaving. You need some sleep Nikolas.” Stefan said, pointing his finger at him. “You have no idea.” Nik mumbled as his uncle walked out. He plopped himself down on the couch and sighed, picking up one of the small couch pillows, bringing it in and hugging it. “I need you Gia.” He breathed.