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Gia and Nikolas Headquarters
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Part Two *So, I might have had an unrealistic view of what life would be like after Nikolas and I pledged our love. For some reason, I think I thought that all of the things about him that annoyed me before (like the way he leaves sections of the newspaper all over the house, making me go on a scavenger hunt just to find the front page) , would magically become un-annoying. No such luck! We were in heaven for at least six months. We both slept in the master bedroom. I was so excited the day I moved my things into that room for good. My excitement was soon dimmed, though, I had to lug half of my clothes back to my old room when we determined that there wasn't nearly enough closet space for the both of us. I didn't complain. I just compromised. I was afraid to rock the boat, so I politely overlooked everything that bugged me. I was willing to make concessions for our love. I would put up with anything if it saved Nikolas distress. Or so I thought... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *Gia annoys the hell out of me. She always has. At first, when we were still young and her shenanigans were new, I used to think that her brash unpredictable moods were adorable. But, after we had lived together for awhile, after the chase was over and we were committed to each other, I was tired. It is possible that she drove me crazy because I let her. Actually, it's more than possible, it's the truth. I told her that I loved her and much to my surprise, she said it back. I didn't want to ruin that. I needed her to love me always, so I bent over backwards not to give her any reason to leave. Blame Laura if you will, but my most intense fear has always been that Gia would decide that she had never really loved me, and leave. Pack up. Walk out. Never come back. But, holding back my true feelings and pretending that I wasn't angry was not building a solid foundation for our relationship. After six months of politely ignoring things, something had to give. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The business section of the newspaper fell from Nikolas' hand as he rolled over on the sofa. A little trail of spittle worked its way down his chin and dropped on the arm that supported his head as he dozed. He was totally oblivious to the rage he was provoking. Upstairs, Gia was livid. She stared at the tall leather boots that stood in the middle of the cream-colored bedroom carpet. She could see the mud, or at least what she hoped was mud, clinging to the bottom and sides of the soles. She balled her hand into a fist and rammed it against the side of her leg. No matter how many times she asked Nikolas not to leave his riding boots lying around dirty, he still did it. He always just kicked them off and went about his business. She would mention that he had left them lying in the middle of the floor. He would assure her that he would go put them away. She would come back an hour later to find them in the exact same place. Gia backed out of the room. She tried to calm herself. She knew it wouldn't do any good to get mad over such a trivial matter. Stinky boots all over the carpet didn't mean much. In the grand scheme of things, Nikolas was a very neat person. He always picked up his towels after his shower. He always made the bed. He always turned on the dishwasher. But, when it came to those damn boots, he couldn't seem to remember that the sight of them made Gia want scream. One bad habit...she could deal with that. She went downstairs, stopping by the sofa to watch him sleep. She grabbed a tissue off of the table and gently wiped the drool off of his lip. She hated it when he drooled. Bending over, she grabbed the newspaper off the floor. Settling in to the large recliner next to the sofa, she leafed through the sections, looking for the front page. Business...Entertainment...Classified... She flipped through again. Classifieds...Entertainment...Business... In the bathroom, next to the huge claw-footed tub, she found the sports section. She picked it up, stuffing it under her arm with the classifieds. She searched the master bedroom, the two extra bedrooms, the hall closet, and the basement for the front page. Her search was unproductive. Gia was more than mildly peeved as she trudged up the cellar stairs into the living room. She came up behind the sofa, angry to find that Nikolas was still enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon snooze. A new line of drool emerged as he snorted, his leg falling off the edge of the sofa. His socked foot was suspended in air. Gia noticed the drool and the sock simultaneously. She recognized the sock as one of a pair that she thought she had thrown away the day before. She knew it was the same sock. She should have been suspicious when he didn't complain about not finding them last night. Normally, he would have complained, having formed an unnatural attachment to the dingy tube socks with the gray reinforced heel and toe, but last night he had just worn a different pair to bed. When he had dug them out of the bottom of the trash, she didn't know. The sight of the big hole in the toe drove her to madness. The man had billions of dollars, and yet he wore his socks until they disintegrated. This fact irked her more than the dirty boots, or the paper, or the drool...well, not more than the drool... The slobber on his chin glistened in the bright sun that washed in from the open windows. She had to get rid of that spittle. She had to rid herself of it. It had to be done. She was about to reach for another tissue, when she had a better idea. Gia took the papers she had tucked under her arm, rolled them up into a long cylindrical tube, and hit Nikolas in the head with them. She hit him a couple of times before he awoke and, completely startled, fell off the sofa. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *When I'm angry, people can usually tell.* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *When Gia's angry, people can usually tell.* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Nikolas grimaced as climbed up off the floor. He looked at Gia incredulously. ''What was that?'' She was smiling. ''I was helping you wake up.'' Nikolas rubbed his aching shoulder, which had slammed into the table when he tumbled off the sofa. ''Does it bring you pleasure to make me look stupid?'' ''Only when I'm mad at you.'' ''You're mad at me? I should be mad at you. As a matter of fact, I am.'' ''You have no reason to be mad at me.'' ''You just pummeled me awake,'' he reminded. ''Pummeled? You make me sound like Ike Turner, or something.'' Nikolas shook his head. Sometimes, he swore she did that on purpose. It seemed as if she deliberately made references to popular culture that she knew he wouldn't understand. Then, he'd have to ask her to explain and it make him feel even more awkward then he usually did. Ike Turner? Did he really want to know who Ike Turner was? Would it change his life if he did? Did anyone even care who the heck Ike Turner was? Why should he have to beg her to explain? Why couldn't she just make sense? ''I think you're just like Ike Turner.'' Smugly, she laughed, ''You have no idea who Ike Turner is.'' ''Are you certain?'' ''Yes.'' ''Then why would you bring him up?. I'm not American. I didn't grow up here. And I don't know who the hell Ike Turner is!'' ''You don't need to get worked up, Nikolas.'' ''Maybe it's about time I told you a few things, Gia, a few things about you that bother me,'' Nikolas grumbled, suddenly annoyed with Gia’s cocky attitude. Gia lifted her chin slightly, ''You're not the only one! You bug the hell out of me. Do you have any idea how disgusting it is to see your stinky riding boots lying in the middle of the white carpet? Or how frustrating it is not to never be able to read the entire paper because you always leave it scattered all over the house. OR-'' ''This is exactly what I'm talking about!'' Nikolas interrupted, ''You always do this. You always make everything about you. I am the one who wanted to unload-'' ''Oooh, unload...isn't that one of those grubby American terms you're not supposed to know?'' ''See? There is yet another annoying trait. You're rude and sarcastic. Do you think you could ever let me finish a complete thought without interrupting with some snide remark?'' ''You're the one who goes around asking those dumb rhetorical questions!'' ''Oooh, rhetorical...isn’t that one of those grubby
collegiate words that you're not supposed to use just so that you can piss off
your mother?'' ''More name calling. How typical,'' Nikolas smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Gia's eyes narrowed into small slits. ''And what's typical of you, Cassadine? Whining...pouting...'' ''So says the queen of both!'' ''Defensive, too. It just about kills you to recognize that you're neither perfect nor worshipped by all that meet you. You know, some people don't give a ***** about Prince Nikolas Cassadine of the great Grecian Isle.'' ''Do you count yourself among them, Gia?'' Gia didn't answer. Instead, she flung herself over the back of the sofa and sat. He watched her pull the front page of the newspaper from behind the sofa cushions. Ignoring him, she started to read. Nikolas went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He noticed the dishes in the sink. They were crusted over with food from the night before. Gia had promised to take care of those. Apparently, she hadn't. He absolutely hated the way she said she would do something, and then didn't. ''Gia!'' he yelled, jumping up and going back into the living room. ''I thought you were going to take care of the dishes.'' ''Well, your majesty, I fully intend to take care of them. Later,'' Gia snapped angrily. ''You said you would do it last night.'' ''I changed my mind.'' “You always do that! You promise to do something and then you don’t follow through.” “What are you trying to say?” Gia demanded harshly. ''First of all, doesn't being consistently unreliable mean that you can rely on me to be unreliable? And if you can rely on me to be unreliable, doesn't that in fact make me reliable?'' ''No, it makes you a flake!'' Gia threw the paper across the room. ''I am not a flake!'' ''Really? You would have to forgive me- and your mother- if we disagree. You dropped out of Colombia on a whim-'' ''I transferred to PCU!'' ''Yes, PCU, where your grades are mediocre and you change your major more times than I change my socks.'' ''That's a laugh. We all know that you don't change your socks. When did you fish those holy monstrosities out of the garbage anyway?'' Nikolas looked down guiltily at his favorite pair of socks. After a moment, he said, ''Don't try and change the subject.'' ''Fine! If my grades are mediocre, that's because I use the time I should spend studying, taking care of you! Making you dinner. Going to those boring L&B functions. Tolerating your loony toons brother and the Nancy Drew clones. Bending over backwards to impress your stodgy uncle.'' ''I didn't ask you to do any of those things.'' ''Yes, you did! In a million subtle ways, you made it clear that as your girlfriend, it was my duty to perform upon demand.'' Nikolas swallowed bitterly. ''You make it sound as if I treat you like a pet.'' ''Sometimes you do...'' ''Then why are you here, Gia?'' ''This is where I live. This is my house...'' ''NO, this is my house and if it bothers you that I wear my holy socks, or lose my newspaper, or leave my boots in the middle of my carpet, then maybe you should leave my house,'' Nikolas said sternly, meeting her eyes as he spoke. ''If you feel as if you're being mistreated, then you shouldn't be here.'' ''Are you kicking me out?'' Gia asked, squaring her shoulders. ''Maybe...Do you want to go?'' ''Maybe...Do you want me to go?'' ''Maybe...Would you go if I did want you to?'' ''Maybe...Do you want me to go?'' ''Yes,'' Nikolas replied, holding his breath. He didn't really want her to go, but he didn't want her to be the one to decide. He couldn't stand there while she deliberated his future. He wouldn't let her walk out on him. If she was leaving, it was because he kicked her out. That was the only acceptable choice. Gia felt her stomach lurch. He wasn't supposed to say that! He was supposed to wrap her in his arms and tell her how much he needed her. That he wouldn't end what they had over a stupid argument about nothing. Without tears, Gia said, ''Then I'll leave.'' Nikolas backed up until he bumped into the chair with the back of his knees. He sunk down into the recliner. Don't go! Gia walked over to the hall closet and pulled out a pair of tennis shoes and her purse. She stuck her feet in the shoes and slung the purse over her shoulder. She walked over to the door, swinging it open. ''Gia!'' Nikolas yelled, springing to his feet. ''What?'' Gia replied. Their eyes met, each one pleading for the other to say something to stop the insanity. Neither would relinquish their pride. ''What about your stuff?'' ''I'll get it tomorrow.'' ''Okay...'' Gia left. Nikolas sat. |