** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1

A glimpse of things to come 4/?

Stepping out into the cold air of the arcade Nicola rushed toward the end of the short tunnel that she had entered through finally getting out into the fading sunlight outside and leaning against the wall of a closed ice cream store. Gasping slightly to catch her breath she tried to process what had happened in the hour before, now that she was out of the small room and away from the woman who seemed to have such insight into her life it all seemed unreal. If someone shook her now and told her to wake up meaning she found herself sitting on a random beach front bench she'd find dismissing the whole thing as some sort of weird dream remarkably easy. She'd happily reproach herself for having an over active imagination and carry on with the rest of the conference without giving it a second thought.

"Nicola! Nicola where the fuck have you been we've been worried sick!" Ollie shouted as she saw him rush toward her and sighed heavily realising that tiny hope had now been shattered. She hadn't dreamt it, it had really happened and now it wouldn't matter how much she tried to dismiss the confusion it had planted in her head she'd be unable to forget about it.

"I told you I needed some time on my own, what the hell is wrong with you? I've only been gone an hour." She snapped as he reached her and she was finally struck by the fact he was alone. "Where's Glen? Please tell me you didn't push him off the end of the pier I don't know how we'd explain that when we got back to the hotel."

"He's already gone back to the hotel to see if you were there give me a minute to ring him and tell him to call off the fucking search. Seriously Nicola you scared the shit out of me." He replied as she watched him pull his phone out and listened as he told Glen he'd found her and assured him he didn't need to come back out that they'd be back to the hotel later.

"He hasn't gone in and started some sort of mad fucking panic has he? Malcolm will fucking kill me if the whole hotel is on high alert because they think I've disappeared."

"No he's only just got there it's taken us this long to search everywhere we thought you might have been. Come on I need a drink."

"Not half as much as I need one." Nicola sighed falling into step beside him as they headed off the sea front and in the opposite direction to where their own hotel was. "Ollie shouldn't we go back to the hotel, I mean they have a bar. I know last night you drank it dry and probably don't remember but it is there and they do sell alcohol."

"No I think somewhere as far away from the hotel without actually leaving the town is a better bet, then you can tell me what really happened in the last hour." Ollie replied spotting a small deserted looking pub on the other side of the road and placing his hand gently on the small of her back leading her across the road.

"I told you I just needed some time on my own you know this all gets a bit too much for me I hate conference and I hate the fact that you can't even go to the fucking ladies without staffers, other party members or members of the fucking press around." Nicola replied hoping the panic she was now feeling wasn't obvious as they entered the pub and he guided her to a booth in the corner before disappearing to the bar and returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Bollocks, we looked everywhere, we were in and out of everything from joke shops to fucking amusement arcades and you were nowhere, not only that but when I first spotted you you were clinging to the wall white as a sheet looking like you'd just had a ride on the fucking ghost train, which incidentally I know you hadn't cause we tried there too." Ollie continued rolling his eyes at her vein attempts to hide the fact he knew something had happened in the time she'd been gone. "Now are you going to tell me or am I going to have to set Malcolm on you?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Nicola smiled finally feeling herself relax a little as he winked playfully and she tried to think if she should bother making up a story or just tell him. Either way she didn't think he'd believe her so she didn't suppose it mattered. "I ducked into one of the places in the arcade when I heard you and Glen following me."

"OK then where did you go, this isn't exactly the shopping centre of the world and the shops in that arcade were worse than most so there wasn't anything there that you could of spent an hour doing."

"You'd think wouldn't you?"

"Nicola seriously you're worrying me now, did something happen to you? Is there something you're frightened of saying? I dread to think what sort of fucking weirdoes hang around in places like that arcade. Did someone hurt you or say something or….."

"No, fuck no Ollie seriously it's nothing that sinister." Nicola interrupted starting to feel guilty about the panic she could hear in his tone and the concern in his eyes. "Oh what the hell. Ok the shop I went into was one of those freaky shit places full of crystals and other "mystical" crap."

"Nicola stop it, you're not trying to make me believe you spent over an hour looking at crap like that. Fine if you don't want to tell me suit your fucking self I was just trying to help I don't like to see you looking so upset but if you don't want to talk fine just drink your drink and we'll go back to the hotel where no one gives a fuck and …."

"Ollie if you'd let me fucking finish I was going to tell you what happened. Jesus Christ aside from Malcolm you are the most impatient man I've ever known!" Nicola sighed draining her glass and waiting for him to refill it. "I was about to leave again when this girl appeared from the back of the shop she told me she had something to talk to me about and when I followed her into….."

"You followed her? You followed some random stranger into the back of a shop in a sea side arcade that is probably populated by every local pervert. Anything could have happened to you don't you realise that fuck me this is madness I'm not hearing it right I can't be you would never be….." Ollie interrupted his words faltering as his heart racing and his stomach tightening a little at the thought of the million ways she'd potentially put herself in danger.

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

"Of course I want to hear I'm just shocked that you'd blindly follow someone you didn't know."

"Yeah well I'm starting to wish I hadn't but it's done now." Nicola sighed wishing that she had just gone with the making up anything option as she tried to work out how to tell him she'd spent an hour listening to someone tell her things they couldn't possibly know about her past and make predictions about her future that were freaking her out a little more the longer she thought about them. Now that she'd started though she knew she had to follow through and hope that he didn't immediately call Malcolm and ask him to get some men in white coats and a padded van to take her to the nearest psychiatric unit when she was done.