Wow. I haven't posted a story in a long time! I don't know, but I just had the muse to write another story and this idea came to my head. I'm really proud of this story and I hope you all will like it. As for my last story that is incomplete, that one will be on hiatus for a while until I can find a muse for it. Until then, please enjoy this new story and review!
ALL RIGHTS GOES TO DISNEY!
"Miss Montez, your fiancé is on the phone."
Gabriella Montez turned her head away from the skyline view below her office in New York. Being on the 50th floor of Sparkle Fashion Industry gives everyone the perks of seeing the other buildings below. The sunrise or sunset shining over New York was breathtaking from the office. When it rained, the city looked terrible. Whenever it shined, the skyline and Central Park could not look any better. Today was particularly a beautiful day in New York City- with the sun shining brightly and the streets filled with taxis and people. A beautiful day meant that Gabriella was a happy girl and when there was a happy Gabriella, it meant it was a good day at work.
"Put him on line 1, thank you Danielle," Gabriella said to her personal assistant. The tall and skinny blonde girl nodded her head once before closing the door as she exited. The red light on her phone set blinked almost immediately after Danielle's departure and Gabriella stared at the red blinking light. It was like the light was burning Gabriella's eyes. She knew she had to pick up the phone call, but she did whatever she could to delay her phone conversation with her fiancé.
Noah Grayson was a powerful businessman, billionaire, and successful. Noah had control of anything and anyone he wanted. If he didn't get it the first time, he will get it the second time. No one dared to cross him or turn his or her back against him. Especially Gabriella.
Pressing the red button and then the talk button, Gabriella picked up the phone from the receiver and pressed it against her ear. "Hello?"
"Hi baby, I was just calling to remind you of our reservations at [i]Masa[/i] for seven thirty tonight. It's important that you make it on time, I'm having the car sent to pick you up okay?"
Gabriella lifted her left hand to her face to look at the shiny and sparkly silver ring with a large diamond in the middle. If the sun hit the ring directly, it could blind anyone within a five feet range. She remembered the engagement like it was yesterday.
Knock knock.
"Come in, I'm not busy right now."
Danielle walked through the doors holding an envelope in her hand with Gabriella's name printed on the front. "From your boyfriend," she spoke as she handed it to Gabriella.
Gabriella accepted the envelope and opened it as her assistant left.
Gabriella-
Meet me on the roof in ten minutes.
Love,
Noah
Gabriella looked at the time and then back at the letter. What could he possible want? Deciding to go early, she grabbed her jacket and headed up to the 60th floor and then to the roof. The moment the elevator opened to the roof, lights and candles were set up everywhere. In the middle of it all stood her boyfriend of two years. A smile spread across Gabriella's face when she saw him standing there countering her smile. "What is all of this Noah?" she asked.
Noah simply stared at her for a moment, taking in all her beauty beneath the stars. He got down on one knee and took the ring out of his jacket. Opening the box, he glanced up at her. "Gabriella, the moment I met you, I knew you were the one for me. I don't think I can spend the rest of my life without you. Will you marry me?"
The moment she saw the ring, the waters formed in her eyes and she felt a tear fall from her eyes and onto her cheek. She knew he was talking, but she didn't really listen. All she could do was freak out that there was a ring for her. When no one spoke, she realized he was waiting for her answer. "Yes!" she said as she bent down to kiss him. He took the ring out and placed it on her finger.
"I love you Gabriella."
"I love you too."
One year later, everything changed. The man, whom she fell in love with, turned into a monster. When he took over the executive position at his business, he changed for the worst. He took money from innocent people and abused his position as head executive. It was like his job got to his head and turned him into someone everyone once loved to someone everyone fears. He even changed towards Gabriella for the worst as well. That was when she knew being engaged at such a young age was a stupid mistake. He forced Gabriella to cut everyone from her life to focus on her job now and their life together. He made sure Gabriella came straight home after work and got a ride to work every morning. Whenever she wanted to take a breather and go shopping, he'd force her to go with a bodyguard. It was like he was sucking her into a world she didn't want to be in. She felt trapped.
"That's fine. I'll see you later Noah, but I have to go. I have a client coming in to talk about some things," Gabriella spoke as she placed her hand back on the table.
"Okay. Knock them dead. If they don't like it, tell me and I'll make sure they'll agree to your business." His voice seemed almost threatening and determined at the same time. "I love you."
"Love you too," Gabriella said almost too forcefully. She placed the phone back on the receiver and sat down in her chair. At times like these, she needed a couple minutes to herself. Gabriella slid her face into her hand and breathed deeply. She had to remind her self that everything was going to be fine in the end.
In a few months, she would be Mrs. Grayson. In a few months, she would be the wife of a man who she didn't love anymore. At the age of 23 She needed to getaway for a little bit- running away was not an option since her fiancé would have a team looking for her. The next best thing she could have was a week getaway. It would be easy to take off of work, but to convince her fiancé would be the difficult part.
"Danielle get in here!"
The blonde quickly pushed the door open and stood in front of Gabriella's desk. "Get Taylor McKessie on line 2 for me please," Gabriella knew that Danielle would have a surprised look on her face.
"I don't think Mr. Gray-"
"I don't care, just get her on the other line. Now." When Gabriella wanted to be demanding, she could. Danielle quickly left the room and left Gabriella waiting. Once the phone light turned on, Gabriella took a few deep breaths and pressed the talk button.
"Gabs? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…I don't know if I can go through with this marriage anymore Tay."
Taylor McKessie was Gabriella's best friend since she was little. Although her fiancé told her to cut everyone out from her life, she stayed in touch with Taylor behind his back. When she would go into work, she'd call her best friend. That was the only time she could talk to her without her fiancé being suspicious. Taylor and Gabriella had split ways when Taylor got into Stanford and Gabriella went to New York University, but their distance never broke their friendship.
"Everything will be fine Gabs, I know Noah sucks but you're a strong girl. All you have to do is tell him you don't love him anymore and you're free."
"It's not that easy Tay, he'll find a way to make my life miserable. He'll take my job and everything I own. I don't know what happened to him. I loved him once and I love him now but not enough to marry him. I just wish…I just…" Gabriella's voice trailed.
"You just what?"
"I just wish I could turn back time and went to Stanford with you." The tears began falling from her eyes as she spoke to her best friend.
There was silence on the only end for a split second. "Stanford wouldn't have made you happy. You went to a school that helped you land the job now. You're living your dream Gabs. It's unfortunate that you met a guy who ended up being a bad guy."
Gabriella ran her hand through her hair and let out an uneven sigh. "I wish I could come stay with you for a week. It would be nice to getaway from Noah for a week and my life here."
"Why don't you? Just tell your fiancé that you have a business trip in California. We can rent out a beach house and you can relax and tell me about your life in New York. If he wants proof that you're going on a business trip, I know someone who's good at hacking and all that fun stuff."
Gabriella bit her lip. That idea didn't sound bad at all. She was already thinking of doing a mini getaway from Noah. But now that her best friend wanted her to fly out, she was all for it. "You know what Tay? That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'll have something set up and I'll talk to you as soon as I figure it out."
"Sounds good, I can't wait to see you."
"Two seconds left on the clock and the Lakers are down by 2. Does Troy Bolton have the skills to win the entire game or tie it? This game is riding on their championship. They need to win this to advance to the finals to take on the Boston Celtics."
"I don't know Howard. This might be the first time he's in this position. With twenty-six points, two more would look amazing on stats. But stats is nothing unless you win."
Troy Bolton sat on the bench as his coach began scribbling a play on his white board. All he could focus on was the scoreboard. Down by two with two seconds. It was do or die. The crowd was expecting to win, and he could let his team in Los Angeles down. Not when they made it this far.
"Troy, are you paying attention?"
He snapped his focus back onto the whiteboard as his coach and teammates all huddled together. The loud noise of the music and yelling of the crowd made it hard to hear the coach. Troy could see the LA dancers in the middle of the court dancing to a song that was playing. Cameras and wires are all over the place and in Troy's face. He did what he could to ignore all the people, but it was difficult.
"Can you do this Troy? It's your shot."
A smirk appeared on his face. A smirk that was all too familiar. It was the smirk that allowed everyone to know that he was confident and skilled enough to do anything he wanted; a smirk that some girls loved, and a smirk that some people despised. Troy and the rest of the team stood up and did their little handshakes. Troy walked to the middle of the court where his team would be throwing the ball in.
The referee's whistle blew and the cheering got loud. Troy quickly ran over to the ball to take a screen before running back towards the three-point line. His teammate over handed the ball over to Troy in the corner and once Troy caught the ball, he quickly shot it from behind the three-point line. It wasn't what the coach drew up, but it was what Troy wanted. The entire arena hushed as the ball went up in the air. The team bench got up as they watched the ball fly over to the hoop. Midway in the air, the final horn sounded and half a second later, the ball went through the hoop and made a swish sound. Troy had won the game. Cheers erupted throughout the entire arena and the team swarmed to Troy, tackling him to the ground.
"LAKERS WIN! LAKERS WIN! THEY'RE GOING TO THE FINALS ON THE LAST SECOND THREE-POINTER BY TROY BOLTON! OH MY GOD! THIS IS THE NBA, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!"
Troy managed to get out of the pile he was in and grinned at the entire crowd. They all clapped and jumped for him as he made his way to the locker room.
"Troy! Can we have a quick interview please?"
An interview wouldn't hurt. Besides, he was on top of the world right now and nothing could bring him down.
"So tell me why you decided to go for the three when you could have easily tied it with a layup?"
"Go big or go home. I wanted to let the fans know that I'm going to win the game for them. It shouldn't have gone to seven games, but since it did, I couldn't let them down," Troy let his shoulders shrug.
"Is that what your coach drew up on the board?"
Troy smirked and shook his head. "No, and I'm sure he'll lecture me later. But he'll be thanking me soon enough." Troy's ego was pretty bad when it came to basketball, but he did not care. He had a reason to be cocky and he was planning on keeping it that way.
"Thank you Troy, go enjoy your win with your team." Troy shook hands with the man who interviewed him before running towards the locker room. He tossed his armband into the crowd and watched as two people fought over it.
"Troy! That was awesome dude!" Chad Danforth ruffled Troy's hair to mess it up. "I can't believe you made that three!"
Troy chuckled and took off his jersey before hanging it up in his locker. "I knew it was going in the moment it released from my hands. There was no way I was letting them beat us again. Not in our house! Let's go out and celebrate tonight!"
"I wish, but my lady is waiting for me at home. Maybe tomorrow! I'm pretty sure you can find a few ladies to take out with you," Chad said as Troy laughed. Troy was a womanizer and everyone in America knew that. Last year, he was voted the number one Hottest Bachelor voted by the women in America. He was also voted the Top Sexiest Man as well. He was never a one-woman man and didn't plan on it either. No one really minded that as long as they had a few hours with the magnificent Troy Bolton.
"You're right. I'll just go party with a few other guys and go home with a couple of ladies," Troy grinned as the two of them changed before going to their press conference.
A/N: I know it starts out a bit slow, but I wanted you all to get the feel of what each character's life is like. It'll get better, I promise! Please please review!