CH 19

Nikolas woke up when Sarah came home; he had decided to wait to talk to her until after she got home from work. So far, he had been having another dreamless night with no sign of Gia and he was quickly beginning to feel hopeless. “Hey did you wait up for me?” Sarah asked as she walked up to the bed. Nikolas smiled and leaned in and kissed her. “No I tried but I fell asleep.” Nik said softly. Sarah smiled at him. “Are you OK?” She asked. Nikolas inwardly ached; no he definitely didn’t feel OK. He felt lost and sad. He felt like his heart was broken. “Yeah I just wanted to see you that’s all. I haven’t taken much time to do that lately, to really talk to you, you know?” He said. “Yeah I’ve noticed. You never told me about your dream that you had last week. Is that what’s wrong? Does is have something to do with that woman?” Sarah asked. “No.” Nik answered quickly. Sarah looked at him oddly. “Do you want to talk about it?” She asked. Nikolas sighed scooting closer to her and fingering her soft blond hair. “Not really. Look I want to tell you uh, I want to tell you that I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately. I know I’ve been distant and I want to fix that. Will you spend the day with me tomorrow? Maybe we can go to Kelly’s or something?” Nik asked. Sarah frowned. “I have to work tomorrow. How about the next day?” Sarah asked. Nikolas smiled. “Yeah sure, just as long as we have some time together. I want to talk to you about something.” Nik said. “What?” Sarah asked. Nikolas shook his head. “No I want it to be just the right time to talk to you about it. After you’re done with work OK?” Nik said. “Sure.” Sarah nodded softly. Nikolas leaned in and slowly kissed her, guiding her mouth open and pushing his tongue inside. Sarah sighed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It had been so long since they had kissed like this. Nikolas slowly pulled back and looked at her. It just wasn’t the same. But he smiled softly at her. “Come to bed OK? You must be exhausted.” Nik said. “Yeah I am.” Sarah admitted. She got up and walked away to get ready for bed. Nikolas laid his head back, fighting back tears. He missed Gia so much.

~The Next Day~

“Hey bro thanks for coming.” Nik said as Lucky walked up to him. He had spotted his blond hair amongst the mass of people in the mall. “What’s up, why did you want me to meet you here?” Lucky asked. “Well I need you to help me with something.” Nik said. Lucky looked at him, studying his face thoughtfully. “What’s going on Nikolas?” He asked. “I think I’m going to propose to Sarah.” Nik said. Lucky didn’t even try to hide his shock. “Nikolas I, that’s great man!” Lucky exclaimed. Nikolas smiled, his head bobbing in a nervous nod. Lucky looked at his brother again. “You’re not over Gia.” He said. A pain hit Nik’s heart at the mention of her name and he looked down. “Gia’s not real Lucky.” He said. “I didn’t say she was, I said you’re not over her.” Lucky said. Nikolas looked up at his brother. “It doesn’t matter. I should be with Sarah. It’s what she wants, it’s what my uncle wants.” Nik said softly. “Yeah but what about what you want?” Lucky pointed out. “What I want is to be happy.” Nik said. “And you are with Sarah?” Lucky asked. “Of course I’m happy with Sarah.” Nik said. “You’re just happier with Gia?” Lucky said. Nikolas frowned. “I have never been as happy as when I’m with her Lucky, I’m blissfully happy when I’m with Gia. But that’s only when I’m with her. When I’m away from her it kills me. And unfortunately I can never really be with her because she’s not real. I need to be with Sarah.” Nik said. “OK but can I make a suggestion? Give yourself at least one more night to dream about her. You’re about to make the biggest decision of your life. You don’t want to rush into it.” Lucky said. Nikolas sighed. “I would love to take my time Lucky but unfortunately I’m running out of it. I need to be engaged very soon and I can’t go looking for a woman who doesn’t exist.” Nikolas said. "I just think that you should really take a night to think about this Nikolas. This is the rest of your life we're talking about here." Lucky said. Nikolas sighed deeply. "I can't do that to myself Lucky. I would just be setting myself up for more hurt." Nik said. "Yeah but then you would never know." Lucky said. Nikolas nodded softly. "OK I'll give her one more night, but there really is no need. Sarah is the woman I'm going to marry. Now will you help me pick out a ring?" Nik asked. "Wow that sure huh?" Lucky asked. Nikolas fought the urge to say hell no, he wasn't sure. "I'm sure Lucky, I'm going to ask Sarah to marry me,” he said. "Well then lets go." Lucky said. He and Nikolas began to walk the mall together.

Nikolas looked down at the small black box that was resting in his hand. He had been lying on the couch starring at it for several minutes now. Nikolas had decided that the mall was just not the place to buy a ring. So he found a little family owned jewelry shop in town and that's where he found the perfect ring. Inside the box was a beautiful ring. One large sapphire was in the middle, and two smaller diamonds were on each side of it. It was so beautiful. Nikolas closed his eyes and imagined slipping it on her finger. When he pictured her hand, it looked so exquisite on her slender, mocha toned hand. Nik's eyes shot open. He shook his head. "No, stop thinking about her." He cursed himself. Nikolas thought about what his brother said. That sadness from before began to invade him as he thought about the situation. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he looked down at the ring again. He closed his eyes and silently prayed that he could put it on Gia's finger. He didn't know how, but this prayer was his last hope, one final plea to let Gia invade his dreams tonight. He had to see her. He had to make a choice and he had to do it soon. If he didn't dream about Gia tonight, then he would propos to Sarah tomorrow. That was the decision he made. So as he closed his eyes, he tried desperately to see her face in his mind. It worked for just a second. But it was enough to speed the beat of his heart. Nikolas let his body relax and slowly, he fell asleep. The ring in his hand silently dropped to the floor, without any notice to Nikolas.

Gia sat up in bed with her heart pounding; the shrill sound of her phone ringing had pulled her out of her sleep. Shallow breaths pushed between her lips as she thought about the dream she had been having. Slowly, reality began to sink in and she groggily picked up the phone that sat atop her nightstand. “Hello?” She said breathlessly into the phone. “Gia, It’s your mother.” Florence said. Gia looked at the clock, it was 3:00 in the morning. Her heart immediately began to pound at the fact that her mother was calling her so out of the blue and at this hour. She could hear the panic in her voice. “Mom what’s wrong? Where are you?” Gia asked. “I’m in Port Charles baby, you need to get here right away.” Flo said quickly. Gia’s mind raced. “Port Charles, oh my god, Marcus?” She asked hesitantly. “Yes Gia it’s your brother, he’s been shot baby. I’m not sure if he’s going to make it.” Flo cried. Gia’s heart slammed against her chest, and a cry erupted from her lungs. She covered her mouth with her hand to stay calm. Tears slipped down her face as she dropped her hand and began to speak to her mother again. “I’ll be right there mom, tell him that I love him and that his sister is on her way.” She said. She hung up the phone and ran to get dressed.