Author's note: This is story number three featuring my OC Nikki. I had such a huge success with Bewitched that it's given me the confidence to use this character in other stories. That being said, this is not a sequel to Bewitched, sorry to disappoint some of you. But this story does feature the Tommy/Nikki pairing. It may seem a little reminiscent of Reclaiming Love but it's a totally different plotline.
The twenty-seven year old Nikki Durham snuck quietly into the bedroom of her three year old daughter. She walked over to the closet and pulled down a small suitcase and then began hurriedly stuffing clothes into it. She had waited nervously for a few hours wanting to make certain that her husband's plane had plenty of time to take off before she finally got up the courage to go through with her plan.
The fight they'd had before he left had been the last straw. She couldn't take it anymore, this wasn't the way she had imagined her life. She met her husband in college and he had been the perfect guy. Her friends and family had taken to him right away and when he proposed to her when they were both just twenty she hadn't hesitated in saying yes. Seven years later, she wondered why she hadn't been strong enough to leave him sooner. Because he wouldn't have allowed her to leave, that's why.
"Mommy, what are you doing?" her daughter asked.
"I was just packing some of your things, we're going on a little trip," Nikki told her.
"Are we going with Daddy?" Emma asked.
"No, this trip is just for you and Mommy, we won't be seeing Daddy for awhile," Nikki answered.
"Can I bring my toys?" Emma questioned.
"Just Dolly and Teddy, you'll have to leave the rest here," Nikki said knowing that those were the two things Emma couldn't live without.
"Where are we going?" Emma asked once Nikki began getting her dressed for the trip.
"Someplace safe and I promise you everything is going to be ok," Nikki told her.
"Mommy, got a boo boo," Emma said pointing to Nikki's eye which was already beginning to turn purple.
"It's ok Emma, we're going away so that never happens again," Nikki said as the door bell began to ring.
"You're really going to do this," Nikki's friend Jen Gordon stated as she walked in the house.
"I have to, I can't keep living like this, especially now that Emma is getting old enough to sense that things are wrong," Nikki replied.
"Tim is going to flip when he comes back to find you gone," Jen said.
"I know and you're probably the first one he'll call, I hate that I'm putting you in the middle of this," Nikki told her.
"Don't you worry about me, this is one time when my ability to lie to people's faces is going to come in handy," Jen said.
"I really thought he was going to kill me this time and all I could think about was Emma being left here with him and I couldn't take it anymore," Nikki replied.
"Come on, let's get your things loaded in the car," Jen said as she picked up a suitcase that was sitting by the door.
"Emma, stay right here until Mommy gets back," Nikki said as she grabbed Emma's car seat and suitcase and followed Jen out the door.
"Now I paid for the car with cash so it's yours free and clear and all the paper work is under the name Liz Hunt, just drive carefully so the police won't find any reason to pull you over," Jen told her.
"I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you for this," Nikki said as she started to cry.
"Just knowing that you and Emma are safe is thanks enough," Jen replied.
"I'm really going to miss you," Nikki said as she gave her a hug.
"I'll miss you too, I can't believe I'm never going to see you again, but I know it has to be this way," Jen told her.
"I better go upstairs and get Emma," Nikki said.
"Here I took some money out of the bank for you," Jen said once Nikki put Emma in the car.
"You didn't have to do that, I have plenty of money, I took the money that my parents had been saving for Emma, it's the only account that I didn't need Tim's permission to withdraw money from," Nikki replied.
"Then use this while you're on the road, you'll need your money to help you get settled somewhere," Jen said as she gave Nikki the money.
"Am I doing the right thing here, taking my daughter from the only life she's known to one where we'll probably spend the rest of our lives in hiding?" Nikki questioned.
"Nikki the best thing for Emma is to be with her mother and if you stay here any longer I'm afraid if Tim doesn't kill you he'll find someway to take her away from you, this is your only choice," Jen responded.
"But he has all the money in the world, he won't stop until he gets her back and he'll probably have me thrown in jail for kidnapping," Nikki said.
"No, don't do that, stop trying to find excuses to stay, you're her mother, you gave birth to her and in my book that gives you every right to take her out of this environment," Jen told her.
"I wish I could write to you and let you know we're ok," Nikki said.
"It's too risky, do you know where you're going," Jen asked..
"Not really, I just need to go somewhere Tim won't think of looking for me," Nikki told her.
"You should go, we wouldn't want to risk one of the neighbors seeing you or noticing what kind of car you left in," Jen said.
"Thanks again for your help," Nikki replied giving Jen one last hug before getting inside the car.
"Just go and don't look back," Jen told her.
Nikki had been driving for over twelve hours straight since leaving her home in Denver. She was now crossing the California state line. At first, her plan had been to drive across the country and head east but that would have been expected. Most people would naturally head as far away as possible from their home when on the run thinking it'd be harder to find them that way. She was sure that Tim would assume the same about her so at the last minute she had decided to head west towards California. Tim would never think she'd be dumb enough to hide only a few states away. And Nikki was counting on that fact.
"Mommy, when are we going to get there?" Emma asked. She had been asleep through most of the trip.
"It's no fun being cooped up in this car is it, I promise we're going to stop really soon," Nikki told her.
The truth was Nikki really had no idea where she was going. The only time she'd been to California was on a trip to Los Angeles with Tim. Suddenly, a sign caught her attention. On it was the name of a town called Reefside. Why did that name seem so familiar to her?
"Oh my god, Hayley," Nikki said aloud. Hayley had been her best friend in high school but Hayley had moved away their senior year. Nikki remembered an article that her mom had sent her a few years ago about Hayley who had opened up a cybercafé in the town of Reefside. She had no idea if Hayley would even still be living there but it was worth a shot. She pulled into a gas station and walked over to a pay phone.
"Hi information, can you give me the address to Hayley's Cyberspace," she said. She wrote the address on her hand and got back into the car.
"Hey Emma, would you like to meet an old friend of Mommy's?"
Nikki hated to bring Hayley into this mess but right now she didn't have a lot of options. Besides it wasn't going to be forever, she just needed a place to hide out for a few days until she came up with a more permanent plan.