Episode One

Gabriella stood now in front of this tremendous building that said..

'Bolton Enterprise Holdings Inc.'

Tipping her head back she allowed her gaze to follow the line of the building all the way up to the sky. She was still amazed at how tall it actually was from up close.

She still couldn't quite believe that she was going to work for a company that was presented as a global leader in communications technologies, eco-manufacturing and next-generation farming solutions.

Not only that but she was going to work directly under Troy Bolton. The head of the company. Amazing yet terrifying. It has to be a gift sent from heaven to be hired with no experience at all. Gabriella couldn't help but think she just got lucky to be offered this position right after she finished her degree.

She took one last sip from her cup of coffee before deciding to throw it in the trash bin. Before she headed for the clear-glass doors she glanced at her silver watch resting on her right wrist, noting she was 15 minutes early.

"Good morning. How may I help you?" One of the receptionist behind the desk asked with a polite smile as Gabriella approached. T

"Hello, I am Gabriella Montez. Someone by the name Mrs. Banks is expecting me." Gabriella enlightened. She nodded curtly. "One second please, I shall notify that you are here."

Gabriella waited patiently as the receptionist made a call, informing the person on the other side of the call that she was here already. After merely a minute or so she hung up.

"I was told to sent you up to the top floor. You just got to take one of the elevators up to the 35th floor and you will be greeted by Mrs. Banks herself. The elevators are on your right. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "That will be all. Thank you very much."

"Have a nice day miss." Gabriella responded with a halfhearted smile and headed for the elevators. She waited for the doors to close but just as they were closing, a hand abruptly stopped it for doing so. A man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties stepped in as well.

He was tall and lanky, wearing khaki pants with a navy colored pullover over a white long-sleeved shirt blouse. In comparison to the men she seen walking around here he looked rather casual. His shaggy dirty blond hair fell just above his eyes, barely revealing his piercing blue eyes.

"Hey." He said smiling as he went to stand beside Gabriella. His smile seemed to be genuine, not that polite or forced kind of smile. Gabriella thought.

Gabriella glanced momentarily at the stranger and responded with a shy and simple 'Hello'.

"You work on the 35th floor?" He questioned with a hint of curiousness. "I happen to come there often but I have never seen you around." He added as a way of explaining his curiosity.

"That is perhaps due to that today is my first day here. Gabriella Montez, Pleasure to meet you." She introduced, sticking her hand out to him.

His lips formed yet another genuine smile as he happily shook her head for a brief second. "Tristan. Pleasure is all mine."

"Could it be your Troy's new secretary?" He indulged.

She nodded, a little suprised. "From today onwards I'll be Mr. Bolton's new secretary."

"Well then, Welcome to Bolton Enterprises Miss Montez."

"Thank you."

The elevator stopped at the 34th floor. "This is my stop. I guess I will see you around then. Have a nice day Miss Montez."

Before she could respond he was already out of sight. she watched as the door closed again, taking her to the top floor.

As soon as she arrived she was met with a pair of green eyes. It was a tall, red-headed woman with a pale complexion who seemed around her late-thirties. She introduced herself as Hilary Banks, Mr. Bolton's receptionist.

"Let me show you your desk Gabriella."

She motioned for Gabriella to follow after her.

"You will be seated in between Mr. Bolton's office and my desk. You are free to come to me for help any time." She gestured to the desk in front of them. "This is it."

It was a modern cubicle which granted her all the space that she needed. It had an L-shaped desk top, colored in cherry and cream with frosted glass.

Furthermore, she had a comfortable-looking chair, a computer was placed on the middle of the desk, on the left just right under the desk were the drawers with a trash bin right next to it.

Gabriella immediately liked her cubicle. It needs a little personal touch here and there but she will definitely manage.

You like it?" Hilary asked.

"Very much." Gabriella admitted with a small grin spread on her face.

Afterwards Hilary gave Gabriella a little tour around the building, introducing her to several co-workers, telling her the do's and don'ts, what was being expected of her and what is like around here.

It took them roughly half an hour before they finally returned to their desk. Hilary disappeared into Mr. Bolton's office, allowing Gabriella to have a moment to get settled at her desk. She dropped her purse and coat on the rear-end of her desk and sat down. Just wanting to explore, she started rummaging the drawers.

"So your first assignment are these files." Gabriella heard Hilary say and looked up over her shoulder. Hilary held out a stack of files.

"Mr. Bolton want you to sort them out. There's a lot more in his office. We haven't had a new secretary for months and no one was able to find time to sort all this out."

Gabriella nodded. "I can surely do that."

"When you're done, you can put it in his office." Hilary placed the files on Gabriella's desk.

"Wait. So I am allowed to just walk right in when he's not here?" Gabriella inquired.

"Of course. You're his secretary. But when he's in his office, you should knock. For courtesy." With that said, she disappeared behind her desk. Here we go, Gabriella thought.

"How's it going?" Hilary asked.

They had been working for 2 hours or so.

"Uh, It's going just fine." Gabriella replied, flashing a reassured smile.

"Great. How about we take a coffee break for ten minutes or so?"

Gabriella was all too happy to accept. "If you just give me one second.."

"Sure."

"I'm done." Gabriella announced as she picked up the stack of files. "It's all sorted out."

Hilary seemed surprised which caught Gabriella's attention. "What?" Gabriella managed to ask which Hilary just shrugged in response.

"The last one in your position was on it for 2 hours with just one stack of files and you did all of it in what? 2 and a half hour?" Hilary shrugged her shoulders before continuing "Well, she was fired for a reason."

Gabriella nodded briefly, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"I'm going to put this in his office and I will see you at the coffee room, okay?" Gabriella suggested. Hilary nodded in response and off she went.

Gabriella made her way into his office yet again and the sight of it still amazes her. Especially his view of the outside world.

He had big tinted-glass windows which guaranteed you a view on the opposite sky-high buildings, cars and pedestrians below that seems so much smaller from up here and she wouldn't be surprised if she could see her apartment from up here. She thought to herself.

Enough. she told herself, this is not the time to be amazed. She walked over to his brass plated and smoked glass coffee table and neatly put the last stacks files next to the others.

"I already made you some coffee." Hilary mentioned as Gabriella walked into the coffee room.

"Thank you." A smile played on Gabriella's lips as she handed Gabriella her coffee. She took a long sip, savoring the taste of it in her mouth.

"So.. what do you think of your first day?"

"It went pretty well. I am glad my first day isn't hectic as I thought it would be. Because this way I could ease into all this. Especially since this is my first real job ever."

"Glad to hear that."

"So how long have you worked here?" Gabriella asked curiously. "Six years almost." Gabriella's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"That's a long time and you still enjoy it?"

"Weirdly, I do. Most people don't like work in general but I really love my job. That's also because Bolton Enterprises have been good to me all those years. I have none complaints. Except for the food in the cafeteria downstairs."

"Is it really that terrible?" Gabriella asked with a smile. "It is. I warn you beforehand. Been there, done that. Terrible, I tell you."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Shall we call it a day Gabriella?" Hilary proposed after she noticed that is was already past working hours.

As Hilary said that Gabriella looked at the time and it made her realize it was already ten past 5. Time flew by very fast it seems. "Yes. Let's go."

They both gathered their stuff such as their purse and coat and headed for the elevator. "I was so nervous for my first day of work. But it turned out really well." Gabriella confessed to Hilary.

"Maybe one of the reasons is that the boss wasn't here. I would be nervous as hell." She added later.

"I looked through your work. You did a great job. Mr. Bolton will surely appreciate it."

"He's coming in tomorrow right?" Gabriella asked as they got into the elevator. "I saw it in his schedule that he's coming back from his business trip."

"Someone is updated already. My compliments. And yes. He'll be here tomorrow. Nervous already?" Hilary teased.

"No..Maybe..I don't know."

As Gabriella got home she decided to do some research about Troy Bolton. Meeting her boss tomorrow did quite intimidate her and she wanted to know a little something about the people she is working for. The company she is working for.

As she typed Troy Bolton in the search bar of google a lot of links appeared so she just clicked on one and eagerly started reading the column.

About a year ago Jack Bolton, who started the Bolton Enterprises 21 years ago retired from his position. The reasons were unknown to the outside world. Wanting to keep the company in the family he entrusted his lifelong work to his oldest son Troy Bolton making him the head of the company at the age of 28.

Tristan and Tyler Bolton were also immediately introduced into the business world, giving them an important position in the company as well. Tristan the Senior vice president and Tyler the head of the human resources management.

Gabriella was surprised as she saw Tristan's name. What were the odds? She thought. That guy in the elevator was definitely him!

After reading more she found out the youngest Bolton is still in middle school. Trey Bolton.

Later that year the reason for Jack Bolton retiring was revealed. He was suffering from a severe heart condition and wasn't capable of handling stress of managing and directing a multinational coporation like Bolton Enterprises so he had to retire unfortunately.

A photo surfaced of what seems to be of her boss. Troy Bolton. The picture appeared to be from sort of photoshoot.

He was wearing a dark blue-colored suit, his dirty blonde hair was combed back in a sleek hairstyle, bringing all your attention to his beautiful blue eyes. From the looks of it he seems to be fairly tall, lean and muscular. He was posing with his hands in his pockets, his lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes narrowed a bit making him look dark and intense.

He was a handsome man alright. As she scrolled down, a family picture came in sight. The men in the Bolton family were really all handsome. They all featured dirty blond hair, blue eyes they obviously got from their mother, fairly tanned skin and a charming smile that would bring any girl on their knees. Including Gabriella herself.

"Hey Gabs." Zeke, Gabriella's roommate and friend greeted. They met in college and from the first meeting they hit it off pretty quickly. It never evolved to something more than a friendship and Gabriella was glad about that. Zeke was like a brother to her. They are friends for over 3 years now.

Together they moved from L.A. to New York less than a month ago. Zeke got offered a job here and Gabriella was happy to tag along with him. The thought of starting a new in a whole other city appealed to her and certainly in New York there was more chance of her getting a job than in L.A.

"Hey Zeke."

"What are you doing there princess?" He asked as plopped down next to her on the sofa. Gabriella let out a soft sigh. She closed her laptop and placed it on the table in front of her.

"Just researching my boss."

"Oh? What for?"

"I pretty much know nothing about him and I thought as his secretary I might need to know something." Gabriella explained.

"You haven't met him right? Give it time."

Gabriella shrugged. "I guess. What about you though?"

"One of the head chef quit today, I may get the position." He announced. Gabriella stared at her friend, eyes widened. She saw the outlines of a grin starting to appear on his face.

"No way!" Gabriella squealed like a little girl as she embraced her friend in a hug. "You're going to be head chef!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. I'm a possible candidate like the others assistants." Zeke added. "I just need to prove myself."

"But still! You have been dreaming about this since forever."

Zeke chuckled at his friend's excitement. "I did, didn't I?"

"If I get the job, I'll take you to a very fancy restaurant." Zeke proposed.

"That's a promise." Gabriella exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. Feeling so proud of her friend.

END OF THE CHAPTER