Gia moved over to snuggle closer to Nik. She reached up to caress his face. She reached up to caress his face. She was surprised to find him awake.
"Hey you. This is a surprise. Nickolas awakes this early on an off day? Wow."
"Yeah, yeah. Gia we have to talk about last night."
"I rather not..." She moved to get up from the bed.
He held her fast. "Nuh-uh. Come on, this is serious, ok? Gia, I'm worried about you."
"Why? I'm fine."
"If you were fine, why were you having a nightmare last night? And not just any nightmare, you were almost out of control. You were screaming and fighting me." He pointed to the bruise on his head. "This is proof."
"I did that? Oh, Niki, I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?" She traced her finger across the reddish spot near his hairline.
"That doesn't matter. You do. Are you feeling too much pressure? Gia, we can postpone the wedding. There's no rush."
She signed. "It's not the wedding. I've been having some bad dreams lately. I guess last night was the worst."
"So is there something you want to tell me?"
"Well, I don't know. I haven't had these dreams since I was 18. Remember when you saw that black and white picture of me on my wall? I was a model a little while for a some extra cash my first year at Columbia. It was cool at first. The money was really good. I was on my own and Mom didn't have me money like before. I loved it, you know?" She sat in his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. "Then I started to receive weird phone calls and hang-ups. It freaked me out so I decided to stop modeling. I had terrible nightmares but they eventually went away until now."
Niki listened carefully. "What happened in the dream?"
"It's always the same. I would be walking down a staircase and I would hear a dial tone in the background. Then an arm would reach out and around my neck and started dragged me backwards up the stairs. The arm would become tighter and tighter until..." Her voice broke.
Nik gathered her close when she cried silently. "Gia, it's just a dream."
"I know but it was so real..." She sniffed and stayed within the circle of his arms for a long while. "Listen to me, crying like a girl. I have to get ready for work."
"Can't you call Carly and call off? New Year's Eve is tomorrow."
"I know but you know how she can be. Plus, the Deception New Year's promotion can't wait for anybody, even me." She started to scoot off the bed, but Nickolas held her fast.
"Hey, don't think that this conversation is over. We still have to talk," he said seriously.
"I know, sweetie. Tonight, I promise." She kissed his cheek and went to the bathroom.
After hearing the shower come on, Nik walked over to the phone, and dialed a number. "Hey, bro. Can you meet me at the Grill in a half hour? Thanks." he walked out of the bedroom door and shut it behind him.
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