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Date Posted: 08:29:51 12/06/01 Thu
Author: Leigh
Subject: Re: Holiday Chapter 33
In reply to: Leigh 's message, "Holiday" on 08:06:31 11/30/01 Fri




Nikita applied a thin coat of lipstick and then leaned back to assess her appearance. She wasn’t really in a mood to go out but Carla had called her three times already that afternoon to make certain that she would be at her New Year’s Eve party. Carla had said that it was just a few friends, no more than ten or twelve people, most of them her friends from the art world. But knowing Carla, and having attended more than a few of her parties before, Nikita knew that the actual number of people at the party would probably be double, if not triple, that number. Oh well, how many times had she forced Carla to attend one of Section’s functions? Besides, Nikita thought with a sigh, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to ringing in the New Year by herself at the apartment. Her parents were at the mayor’s ball, and she wasn’t sure where Birkoff was, not that she really wanted to spend New Year’s eve with her little brother. He was okay and she loved him to pieces, but he had his own friends.

She sighed again as she placed her lipstick in her bag and then picked up her cap and fitted it over her head. She didn’t feel like dressing up much tonight and settled for wearing black jeans and a turtleneck. Matching boots, gloves, and a wool coat completed her ensemble and she was ready to go. She made one more stop in her bedroom to pick up her cell phone, made sure the battery was fully charged, placed the phone in her purse, and then checked the apartment once more before leaving.

Nikita took a taxi down to Carla’s place. The streets were crowded with revelers; most of them were headed down to Times Square for the concert and annual countdown. Nikita wondered where Michael was and how he had spent his New Year’s Eve. She’d been so preoccupied with her meeting with Carla the day before that she had forgotten to ask Michael what his plans were for the evening. She assumed he had spent it with Monique and her family, but on the other hand he could have been with friends.

She smiled at the image of Michael out with friends, at a bar, laughing and having fun until she realized that there would probably be lots of gorgeous women out celebrating too. Well that wouldn’t do, she thought, as jealousy pricked her. And then a moment later her lips quirked into a smile; this was the first time she could recall ever being jealous over a man she was dating. How funny!

As she thought more about it, Nikita decided that, wherever Michael had spent New Year’s eve, she hoped he had had a wonderful time. She was sure that if there were any women present where he was, they would certainly have hit upon him. But she knew that Michael was not a player. It just wasn’t in his nature, she’d seen that in the few times they’d been out together and also from their phone conversations. Michael was not the type to play the field and Nikita trusted that he wouldn’t do anything to betray the bond they’d formed.



When Nikita arrived at Carla’s, it was almost 9 o’clock. Rene, the artist who rented the other half of the studio Carla was in, greeted Nikita at the door. He kissed her on both cheeks and took her coat before waving her in to where everyone else was. As Nikita had predicted, there were twice as many people there at the studio than Carla had said there would be. There was music playing, red and yellow lights flashing – Rene was into the psychedelic effect – and several people dancing. Nikita picked her way around them, stopping every now and then to say hello to familiar faces. They were mostly Carla’s artist friends and people from the neighborhood that Nikita had met at previous parties. At the far end of the room, she finally spotted Carla talking with a small group of people. Amongst them, Nikita noticed with amusement, was Chris.

Carla turned as Nikita reached them and a smile lit up her face. “Nicky, you came! I was just about to check on you again.”

Nikita hugged Carla and then smiled a greeting at Chris. “It’s good to see you, Chris. Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year to you too,” he returned, his eyes meeting Nikita’s only briefly. She could tell he felt a little awkward and Nikita resolved to try and put him at ease. After all, she liked the idea of him and Carla being together. Never mind that Carla claimed they were just friends, Nikita could see in their eyes when they looked at each other that there was more going on there than just friendship. She spoke with them for a few more minutes before excusing herself to go in search of a drink.

“I’ll get it for you,” Chris offered, but Nikita shook her head.

“No, you stay here. I’m fine. I’ll get it, besides, there are some people here I’d like to say hello to.”

She found the bar in the back room of the studio along with the food. Nikita made herself a small plate and then stood nibbling at her food as she looked around the room. There were a lot of people she knew there and it would be easy for her to mingle with them, but she was in no mood to. It seemed to her that most everyone there at the party was in pairs; couples out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. It made her loneliness for Michael swell further within her and she began to wish that she had not come after all.

Contrary to Nikita’s observation, there were several unattached males in attendance at the party that night, and they had all by now noticed the tall beautiful bond dressed in black. It didn’t take long before Nikita found herself surrounded by a small group of these men. Carla, looking on from the other side of the room, was relieved to see Nikita smiling and talking with them. She knew that Nikita’s heart belonged to Michael, but since the dumb jerk wasn’t even here to spend New Year’s Eve with Nicky, Carla wanted to make certain that her best friend didn’t spend the evening alone.

Nikita, however, felt differently. She was friendly and polite, but after an hour and thirty minutes of chatting and dancing with her would-be dates, Nikita found herself in even less of a party mood than before. It just wasn’t working, there was only one person she wanted to be with, and he wasn’t here. She finally excused herself at a quarter to eleven and made her way to the coat room. Five minutes later she was out on the street hailing a taxi and headed back home. She would call Carla in the morning and explain to her what had happened.

As the taxi pulled up outside of her building, Nikita finally began to relax. So what if she rang in the new year alone? Right now that sounded pretty good. She’d go upstairs, take a quick shower, put on some music, maybe turn on the television and watch the Time Square countdown, and wait for Michael’s call. The latter part made her especially happy and Nikita began to hum softly as she walked with long strides toward the elevator. She had almost reached her destination when her phone rang. Nikita paused as she fished the phone out of her purse. She had a pretty good idea of who was calling her.

“Yes, Carla?” Nikita said, smiling. There was a pause of silence over the phone, and Nikita frowned. Okay, maybe it wasn’t Carla. “Hello?” she said.

“Happy New Year.”

“Michael!” The smile returned to her face as Nikita pressed the phone closer.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No! I was just getting…” Nikita shook her head and resumed walking. “Never mind that, I’m so glad you called. You’re early though, I thought you said midnight.”

“I couldn’t wait.”

Nikita stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. “Does that mean you miss me?” she asked, smiling as she flirted with him on the phone.

“I always miss you.”

Her heart skipped a beat and, suddenly, Nikita’s longing for him increased a hundred-fold. Her voice lowered, her smile fading. “I miss you too, Michael. I wish you were here.”

There was a pause, and then his voice answered just as quietly. “Do you really want me there?”

“Of course.” The door opened and Nikita stepped out of the elevator and began walking down the hall toward her apartment. She reached into her purse with her free hand to bring out her key. “I went to a party tonight over at Carla’s,” she said, “and all I could do was think of you and wish that you were there.”

“Where are you now?” Michael asked.

“At home, or almost at home. I –“

Nikita paused as she rounded the corner. There was someone standing in front of her door. He had his back to her and was wearing a long black coat, but her heart knew instantly who it was even before he turned and met her astonished face.

“Michael!”

He smiled at her, green eyes lighting up as he held his arms out to her. “Happy New Year,” he said. Nikita flung herself at him, laughing as he grabbed her up and spun her around.

“You came!” she said, tears filling her eyes.

Michael set her down but didn’t release her as he looked into her eyes. “I couldn’t wait till the 2nd,” he admitted, and then he leaned in and kissed her long and deep, much to Nikita’s delight.




**Sorry for the delay. I kept altering the chapter because it sounded so mushy, but, no matter how much I tried to make it less so, the characters ended up having their mush ;-)*** Leigh

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