Part Six

            "AJ!" Gia was a little surprised.  She had heard AJ was living at the PC Hotel after his disastrous marriage to Courtney.  She had half hoped that she wouldn't run into him during her stay there.  It was true that once she had nothing against him but after the lies he spun around her friend she lost all respect for him.  She wondered if AJ knew that it was her who helped Courtney figure it all out.  She hoped not.

            "What on earth are you doing here?" AJ asked, stepping into the room uninvited.  He quickly frowned.  "Oh no…that Cassadine brat didn't dump you did he?"

            "That really isn't any of your business." Gia said, turning her back on him to continue unpacking her things.  "And Nikolas is not a brat.  We are in a cooling off period, that's all." She lied.  She wished he would leave. 

            "I am in the room right across from yours." AJ announced.  "It looks like we will be seeing a lot of each other."

            Not if I can help it…Gia thought.  She turned back to him.  "Great." She said with a false smile.  "But that will only happen if you find me home.  With Deception and my friends I probably won't be here much."

            "That's too bad.  I was hoping that we could rekindle our friendship." AJ said sitting in the chair in front of the desk. 

            "I'll try in pencil you in." Gia said as if she was joking with him.  She looked at her watch.  "Speaking of being busy…I have to go to Deception right now." She slipped into her jacket and grabbed her purse.  "So even though I would love to stay and chat I have to run." She gave him a fake smile and ushered him out of her room.  Once he had disappeared into his room, Gia groaned quietly.  Should she talk to the front desk about getting a different room? That would be too much hassle after she had unpacked everything.  She would just have to work overtime to make sure that she avoided him. 

            She had told him the truth.  She had to go to Deception but not for another hour.  She decided to head out anyway. She needed to see about moving her car to the PC Hotel garage.

            ****

            Carly snuggled closer to her husband.  The sun was streaming into their room.  She giggled a little as she glanced at Sonny sleeping.  Memories of the night before came back to her.  The kiss on the couch had turned into more.  She was glad the kids were in bed because they hadn't even made it upstairs. 

            She elbowed Sonny.  "Come on!"  She heard him mumble a little so she elbowed him again.  "We have to get Michael ready for school."

            Sonny pulled his wife closer and sighed.  "Just five more minutes, please?"

            "We had to be up ten minutes ago." Carly said pulling away from Sonny and grabbing her robe.  She opened the door and walked down the hall to Michael's room.  He was pulling on his shirt. "Wow, Mr. Man, you're almost ready."

            "I peeked in your room.  You and Uncle Sonny were still sleeping so I decided to get dressed.  I have to go to school soon, Mom." Michael said.

            "I know." Carly came out of the room just in time to see Sonny walking downstairs to start breakfast.  She then went to get Adella who was probably awake.  She was right.  She leaned down and scooped up her daughter.  "You're such a sweetie." She planted a kiss on Adella's forehead and then headed downstairs herself.

            Michael was already at the table waiting for his breakfast.  Sonny was in the kitchen.  After breakfast, Sonny would take Michael to school before he went to the coffee warehouse for 'business.'  Since Leticia had Mondays off, Carly was going to take Adella to her office at Club 101.  She knew she wouldn't be long there.  She just had to fill out a few order forms and sign off on some things.  She was working hard to get a big act to play her club but she wasn't sure who yet. 

            Carly placed Adella in her high chair and called for Sonny to bring out a bottle for her.  He didn't like it when she went in his kitchen.  She settled down next to Michael and grinned.  She loved her family life. 

            Sonny soon appeared carrying breakfast for his family.  He kissed his daughter's head as he handed her the bottle and sat next to Carly.  He looked over at the couch and then gave her a look. 

            Carly slapped him playfully on the shoulder.  "Stop it!"

            "What?"  Michael asked.

            Before Carly could answer, the door opened and Jason walked in.  He immediately felt guilty for interrupting the family breakfast and turned to leave.

            "No!" Carly called.  "Jason, you don't have to leave.  Have a seat."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Yeah." Sonny said giving the chair across from him a kick so it moved out from the table a little. 

            Jason sat down, ruffling Michael's hair as he did so. 

            "Thanks again for agreeing to watch the kids when we go see Courtney." Carly said between bits of her omelet.  "We would take them but with the new baby, Courtney and Ryan will already be overwhelmed."

            "No problem." Jason looked at Michael.  "We'll have fun, right?"

            "Yep." Michael said with his mouth full.

            Carly made a face at the sight.  "No parties, you hear me?  No wild parties with girls."

            "I don't like girls." Michael announced.

            "He's not yet at that age." Sonny reminded her.  He looked at his watch.  "We have to leave soon, Michael."

            The young boy nodded, gulped down the rest of his food and ran upstairs to get his backpack.  Sonny began to clear the dishes.

            "How's Gia?" Jason asked after a moment of silence.

            "I knew you had a reason for popping in." Carly said.  "She's okay.  We moved her stuff out of that dreary house.  She cried a little but she's strong Jason.  She'll pull through.  She has a meeting at Deception today.  I think she is looking forward to it.  Work will get her mind off it."

            ****

            The elevator doors opened and the first person Gia saw was Elton.  She smiled.  Elton always brought a smile to her face.  He smiled back. 

            "Good morning Ms. Campbell.  A little early today, are we?" He stood up and scurried around the desk to grab her shoulders.  "Being a little early never hurt anyone, my dear!  Laura is on the phone right now.  Why don't you have a seat?  She'll call you when she's ready."

            Gia nodded and went over to sit down.  She looked across the room at the countless pictures of herself.  Each photo represented a successful campaign.  She scanned them, starting with her first ever ad to the latest one that featured her standing among lots of flowers.  It was their spring ad campaign.  Soon it would be time to think about what to do with the summer ads.  That must be why Laura wanted a meeting, Gia thought.  Plus, the Nurses Ball was coming nearer.  It would soon be time for Gia to shoot some photos wearing the Nurses Ball t-shirt.  She loved doing that.  It was for a good cause.  She remembered last years Nurses Ball.  She had convinced Nikolas to do an act with her…

            Gia slapped her forehead.  There he was again.  Creeping into her thoughts.  "Dammit!"

            Elton looked up confused.  "Something the matter, Ms. Campbell?"

            "No." She quickly shook her head.  "I just thought I broke a nail that's all.  Luckily, I didn't.  I have to be careful, you know."

            Elton's phone buzzed.  He picked up the receiver and nodded.  "I'll send her right in." He smiled at her. 

            She smiled back and entered the office.  Laura had a serious look on her face.  Gia didn't like it one bit.  She took a seat as Laura indicated her to.

            "We were going to discuss the summer ad campaign but I think something more important has come up." Laura explained sitting down at her desk.

            "What?" Gia asked confused.

            "Nikolas." Laura answered simply.

            Gia felt her defenses coming up.  "What about him?"

            "He called me this morning." Laura explained.  "In fact I just got off the phone with him before you came in.  He told me that he is no longer in Port Charles."

            Gia sat straight up.  "Did he tell you where he was?"

            "No." Laura said.

            "Did you get his phone number?" Gia then asked.

            Laura shook her head.  "He told me what happened between you two."

            "He did." Gia felt her heart sinking.  This can't be good…

            "God, Gia, did you have to drive him out of town?"

            Gia's eyes grew wide.  She was startled.  "WHAT? I drove him out of town?! You're crazy.  He left on his own.  Yes we fought, but I didn't tell him to leave town.  I told him I couldn't take it anymore.  You know yourself that he is fixated on this idea that he will become his father.  He barely speaks to you anymore."

            "Gia, he wouldn't be fixated on that idea if you hadn't pushed him to go against his morals." Laura said. 

            The younger woman thought for a moment.  "We are not going back to that, are we?" Gia asked.  "We are not talking about that stupid accident.  That was years ago.  I never asked Nikolas to do what he did."

            "How do I know that?" Laura asked.

            "God, I don't believe this." Gia shook her head.  "You told me once that you loved me.  What happened to that?  I never told him to manipulate anyone…"

            "It certainly is your strong suit."

            "This is going in one ear and out the other, isn't it?" Gia asked.

            "I think Nikolas' lies surrounding the accident were the beginning for him.  He went down hill from there. Gia, you pushed him there."

            Gia could think of nothing to say.  Obviously, Nikolas' mother was not willing to see the faults of her own son but to blame it all on her was too much.  She bit her lip to keep from exploding on Laura. "Laura, you have made it clear time and time again that you thought I was not good enough for Nikolas.  You have made it clear that you don't like me.  I have made mistakes; I'll be the first to admit that.  But do not…I repeat do not blame me for what happened between Nikolas and I.  I tried to be supportive but he was dragging me down.  I didn't see you there trying to help him.  In fact you weren't there at all, so get your facts straight before blaming someone.  I would rather we talk business.  I believe that we have the summer ad campaign to work on."

            "Gia, I think it is time Deception had a new model." Laura said.

            "Don't even try this." Gia cried.  "You can't throw me about because Nikolas and I broke up."

            "Frankly, Gia, we have had you as a model for four years now I admit we are running out of ideas for campaigns.  I believe we need a fresh look." Laura said.

            "No, you believe that it is my fault Nikolas left town so you want to fire me for it." Gia felt herself getting very angry.  "You once told me that business was business and family was family.  You told me to suck it up and do my job.  Well, Laura, suck it up."

            "This has nothing to do with Nikolas…"

            "The hell it doesn't." Gia stood up.  "I have a contract."

            "Which runs out at the end of this year." Laura pointed out.  "I think a new face would be best for the company."

            "No it would be best for you." Gia began to walk towards the door.  "I am not going to let you do this." She slammed the office door and walked past a frazzled Elton.  Why was everything falling out of control lately?  She felt like she was getting kicked when she was down. 

            Gia drove back to the hotel thinking of what she could do to stop Laura from doing this.  She had a contract with Deception.  That had to stand.  She went to the desk to pull out her file on Deception.  Finding her copy of the contract, she searched for anything that stated she could be terminated.  There were a few clauses such as her being arrested but nothing to justify what Laura was doing.  Gia wanted to be sure, and she knew exactly who to talk to about it.  Carly had been the one to hire her four years ago so she was the one who drew up the contract.  She would be able to tell Gia if Laura could fire her. 

            She hadn't even been in her new home for five minutes when she was out the door again, contract and keys in hand.  She wasn't going to let Laura do this to her. 

            Soon she was riding the elevator up to Carly's penthouse.  She was beginning to feel like she was losing everything.  First she had lost Nikolas, and now the job she loved was being threatened.  All in less than forty-eight hours.  How much more was she expected to take?

            Gia was on the verge of tears when the elevator door opened.  There was no one by the Corinthos' door, so she knocked herself.  When she got no answer, she cursed and turned back. 

            "Hey."

            "Jason!" Gia smiled.  "I am glad to see you."