Strictly Business
"Seven Million fucking dollars!" Troy Bolton slammed his fists on the table, making the whole room of people jump. "That is how much we lost to Danforth Enterprises on one contract. ONE!" His normal light blue eyes were as dark as the deepest part of the ocean. "I should fire each and every one of your sorry asses."
"Mr. Bolt-"
He raised his hand to shut his assistant up. "If you don't get me the next four contracts that Danforth should be lined up for, I'm going to hire a whole new Board of Men who will actually fucking work! Get the fuck back to work." Troy growled. "Now."
The twelve workers silently filed out of his office. One remained. His loyal assistant Kelsi. Sure she was scared shitless of her boss but she did a hell of a job. She was one of his closest friends. He smacked his empty coffee cup that remained on the table. "Troy." She said quietly. She only knew to call him by his first name when they were alone. Anything else would be deemed inappropriate.
"Seven Million dollars Kelsi." He exasperated. "They don't understand a contract like that they would each get a weeks paid vacation. They don't want vacations apparently. They want to dick around and not seal contracts that my five year old niece could have closed."
"Do you want another coffee, sir?" Kelsi asked timidly.
He nodded his head. "Yes, get yourself some dinner as well. It's going to be a long fucking night."
"Yes sir." She said walking out of the room.
He took a deep breath, looking out of the window. He slid his hand down his face slowly. He turned on his heels and walked back to his office. "Zeke." He bellowed.
"Yes, sir." The man said, standing up.
"How is the Smith contract?" Troy asked, straightening his tie.
"It's in the bag sir." Zeke said with a wide grin.
"That's what I like to hear." Troy patted his shoulder and he walked away. He took a seat behind his desk and leaned back. He ran his fingers through his hair before turning to his computer. "I need something over Danforth." He murmured to himself.
"Talking to yourself, Bolton? Figures you'll go crazy before you get ahead of me again."
"Danforth, what are you doing here?" Troy asked, standing up. He saw a beautiful young brunette standing next to Danforth. "What do you want?"
"Just seeing if you saw the numbers come in. By that look I'm guessing you have." Danforth smirked. "Conrad was happy to do business with Danforth Enterprises. Word on the street is we have Five Mill over Bolton and Associates."
"It's actually uh Eight Million, Mr. Danforth." The pretty brunette said.
Danforth grinned at the woman. "Of course, as my lovely new assistant Gabriella was saying, Eight Million big ones." He gave Troy a smirk. "Have a nice night Bolton."
Troy narrowed his eyes as Danforth walked out of his office, the pretty brunette following. He waited for the door to close before he let out a groan of frustration. "Fuck!" Troy yelled, taking a seat. He needed to get a grip, and he needed to do it now.
"Samantha." He called his receptionist on the phone.
"Yes Mr. Bolton. How can I help you?" She answered cheerfully.
"I need you to contact Kelsi. Tell her to find out everything she can on a Gabriella that works for Danforth. Preferably before she gets back from dinner. When she gets here, send her up and you can go home." He said, clearing his throat.
"Yes Mr. Bolton. Anything else?"
"No, thank you Samantha. Keep up the good work." He said, hanging up the phone. He turned on the chair and shuffled through some files in the cabinet behind him. He pulled out the Conrad contracts to find out where it possibly went wrong.
Kelsi walked into his office with a stack of papers and a Styrofoam box of food. "Dinner sir. Coffee and Gabriella Montez." She placed the papers on his table.
"Give me a brief overview." He said, opening his box. His stomach rumbled when he saw the tacos.
"Gabriella Juliet Montez. Born San Diego, California. May 14, 1989. Twenty four years old. Graduated from Sunset High School, Stanford University with Bachelor's degree- Pre-law. Went on to Yale where she studied Law but changed her major to Business and got her masters there. She moved to Albuquerque six months ago. She was his intern for three and was hired full time three months ago." Kelsi explained. "I don't know what she has to do with the Conrad deal."
His eyes shot up and wiped her mouth. "Six months ago they were half a million in the hole. How can they get so much money in such a little amount of time? Of course she has something to do with it. Please tell me why our HR didn't hire her."
"She hadn't even applied sir. It's speculated that she was approached by Danforth while she was still in school." Kelsi said, pushing her hair back. "Do you need anything else, sir?"
"No thank you Kelsi." He said, dismissively. "Tell Samantha to go home if she hasn't left already. Make your rounds, if anybody is off task send them here with their desk packed. I'm not putting up with anything tonight. Dismiss them at nine thirty."
"Yes sir." She said with a quick nod. She walked out and shut the door. Troy ate his tacos reading up on this beautiful creature that was Gabriella Montez..
Gabriella Montez worked her ass off in everything she did. She was raised by a single mother who didn't have much else but a steady job and enough money to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. She promised her mother that one day she would never have to work again. That is why when Chad Danforth, a strong business man who was also her former college roommates lover, approached her with a intern opportunity she had to take it.
She was there for three months and in that three months of minimum wage, she made Danforth Enterprises a very large fortune. They were in a pit of despair and Gabriella, initially, saved them. She worked for hours on end, doing what she had to do to make a name for herself. Being Chad Danforth's personal monkey was not in her plans at all. She wanted to be a partner, a part of the board. She wanted to get things done and not pick up his laundry and make his coffee.
Danforth insisted on having her as his personal assistant. He knew she could trust her and he knew she'd do anything he asked of her. She still worked mercilessly with his 'top' agents, a bunch of idiots that didn't know what they were doing. She always wanted more and she was going to get more, no matter what she had to do.
It wasn't odd of her to be leaving Danforth Enterprises at two in the morning. Everybody else had gone home except night security. What was odd though, was to see Troy Bolton standing in front of his car, smoking a cigarette. She did her research on Mr. Bolton but was yet to make an opinion about him. His credentials were flawless but looking at him now he didn't seem like the type of person to be in this business.
"Surprise, Surprise. Danforth keeping you locked up until the wee hours of the morning? That's against his better judgment if you ask me." Mr. Bolton asked. Gabriella jumped, even though she was blatantly staring at him. She opened her mouth to find words. "I was kidding." He said, dropping his cigarette to the ground and stomping on it.
"I'm always here late." She said, meeting him in the middle of the dead street.
"As am I. I'm surprised I haven't noticed you before. It's probably because I wasn't paying attention. I would have remembered if I'd seen a beautiful girl like you." He spoke softly.
She licked her lips. "I'm surprised you're here late. Don't you have people to work for you?"
"Of course. My workers have families. I value family and I let them spend time with theirs. I have none and I am the boss so if I have to stay late to pick up the slack, I will." He said, strongly. He loosened the tie around his neck.
She smirked slightly. "You must not get out much then."
"Nope." He admitted, shaking his head. "I work too damn hard to spend my money on booze."
"But you'll spend it on cigarettes?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.
He shrugged. "They'll kill me faster."
"Wow. Such negativity from a man with a multi-million dollar corp." She pushed her hair back. "Wait until Danforth hears that."
"Danforth knows my ways. We were practically brothers growing up. We graduated together, played ball together, went off to college together…"
Gabriella frowned, tilting her head. "Where did it all go sour?"
"Like I said. I value family, Chad Danforth, does not." He pulled out another cigarette from his pack. He placed it between his lips and lit it. He blew out a puff of smoke away from her face. "Miss the hell out of that asshole though. Wish it was back to old times."
"Danforth said you were soft. Didn't think it was actually true." Gabriella said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Mr. Bolton just shrugged. "He always has to beat me at everything. One day, he's going to lose everything."
"Why do you say that?"
"He'll get greedy, his employees will walk out. I have a better health plan." Bolton said with a shrug, blowing another round of smoke away from her face.
"You don't think you're too soft?" She asked, tilting her head, again.
"If one of my employees get out of hand, I'll toss them out in a heartbeat. I have strict rules and I expect them to be followed." He murmured. "If you ever want a job, you know where my office is." He looked down at his watch. "I have to go. I have to get up in five… well four in a half hours."
"It was nice talking to you Mr. Bolton."
"Likewise Ms. Montez." He said, turning back to walk back to his car. She watched him a little bit longer. When his cigarette went out, she made her way to her car. She was glad Danforth went home early. She would have been in deep shit for talking to Bolton like that. Any association with Bolton was prohibited. It was in her contract..
She drove to her apartment. Tomorrow was her day off. She got to sleep in and finally do things she wanted to do. She was going to get her nails done and call her mom. She was excited for a day full of relaxation. She sunk into her bed after changing. She shut her eyelids only to see a pair of dazzling blue eyes. Bolton was haunting her dreams. Damn him for being so good looking.
Troy Bolton couldn't sleep. He'd been hyped up on caffeine for the last three years. He did rest his body. Sometimes his injured knee ached and he thought about what might have been. He was in a car crash when he was eighteen. He shattered his knee and had some lingering neck pain. It'd been ten years later but he still felt the pain of disappointment creep up on him.
He was supposed to be a superstar. He was supposed to be playing ball for the Red Hawks after graduation. He was supposed to be in the NBA right now. He was supposed to have millions of dollars and four championship rings on his fingers. He was supposed to be married with a couple kids. But here he was, resting helplessly in his house, taking care of his parents who were down the hall. Mom had been sick off and on for a couple years and Dad was getting older.
His sister Emily was six years older than him. She moved out of state when she got married and pregnant. His only niece was five, her name Karlie. He loved his niece like she was his own. He only got to see her a couple times a year due to his busy schedule. He missed seeing her little face and hearing her silly jokes. He made a mental note to go surprise them soon.
He turned over facing the giant window that looked out over the whole city of Albuquerque. He could see his building and Danforth's. He saw East high and West. The lights of the city were shining bright for a Thursday night. He heard a ping go off on his phone. He picked it up and answered it immediately. "Bolton."
"Hello, Sir. It's Kelsi. We just lost the Smith and the Robertson contracts to Danforth. Something is going terribly, terribly wrong." She panted.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." He leaned back on his bed, shutting his eyes. "Fuck. Meet me at work in an hour. Do as much research into it as you can."
"Yes, sir." Kelsi said.
Troy hung up the phone angrily. He jumped into the shower and taking his time before he got dressed in one of his suits. He slicked his hair back quickly before washing his hands. He grabbed everything he needed before he walked out of his bedroom. He lit a cigarette on the way to his car. What the hell was going on with his company?
He thought carefully over the cigarette burning in between his fingers. He stomped it out before he raced over to Starbucks. He got coffee and some bagels for breakfast. He walked into work and went straight up to his floor. Kelsi was waiting for him at his desk with her laptop in front of her.
"Brought you coffee and a bagel." He said, setting hers on the table. "Tell me what you know so far."
"Smith and Robertson were almost locked. They had a two million contract just waiting to be signed. Danforth swooped in with a four mill for both. Smith is in England. He signed it four hours ago. Somebody has to know something on the other side." Kelsi said, taking a long drink of her coffee.
"What do you mean? Like giving them the names of our clients and a play by play of what were doing?" He asked, scratching his stubble that was coming in quickly.
"I think we have a mole, Mr. Bolton."
"That is the last fucking thing I need right now Kelsi." Troy groaned, putting his hands over his face. "What am I going to do?"
"You have to find out who it is." Kelsi said simply.
"How am I going to do that?"
"It's going to be tough. Danforth has made talking to you forbidden in his employment contracts."
"What?"
Kelsi sighed, typing away on her computer. "He has to be doing this under the table to get the upper hand."
"Jesus Christ. Danforth has always been a sore loser." Troy shook his head.
Kelsi licked her lips. "I was reading up on the Conrad contract. You were thinking Gabriella Montez has something to do with his sudden success. Turns out I went to school with her former roommate, Taylor McKessie."
Troy looked over at her, interested. "Oh yeah?"
"Taylor is crazy smart. She's going into politics. You'll never guess what I found out." Kelsi said with a small smirk.
"What is that?" He asked, sitting back.
"She's sleeping with Danforth to get the funds she needs to start her political campaign for Mayor of Albuquerque."
Troy smiled. "Keep going."
"I talked to her before I went to sleep last night. She's moving down here next month. She has to get her campaign together before July. Also we talked about her roommate. Turns out little Miss Gabriella Montez will do anything to get her name in the business. She's not very happy being Danforth's slave."
"You're happy being my slave right?" Troy asked, with a teasing smile on his face.
"Of course, I am. Shut up Troy."
He laughed good naturedly. "She'll do anything to get ahead, huh?" Kelsi nodded. "She's a hot little thing, let me tell you. I think I know the just the offer she couldn't possibly refuse." He said, ideas formulating in his head.
"Do you need anything else, sir?"
"Go put the bagels in the break room. People should be coming in soon. I have to have a little time to work on my plan." He said, grinning.
"Yes sir." Kelsi said just before she grabbed her things and slipped out of the office door.
Gabriella Montez woke up and looked at her alarm clock. She freaked out internally for a moment thinking she was late to work. She forgot it was her day off for a moment. She stretched her back, feeling refreshed. She took her time getting ready and eating breakfast. She sat comfortably on the couch as she dialed her moms number.
"Good morning." Her mother, Maria answered.
"Hey Mama." Gabriella replied. "How's home?"
"It's good, I've been working a lot still since you've been gone." Maria sighed. "When are you going to visit me?"
"When I get the time off. I barely have a day off. It took me three months to get this. Danforth will probably call me in anyway." Gabriella said, sighing. "I'm enjoying it while I can. How's the beach?"
"Wonderful here. Is it hot there?"
"It's nearing monsoon season." She relaxed against her couch. "I miss the beach."
"If you come home, you can spend the whole time with me at the beach." Her mother bribed.
Gabriella frowned. "Don't tempt me." She frowned further when she heard a knock at her door. "Mom, let me call you back, there's someone at the door."
"My lunch is at noon." She reminded. "Talk then. I love you baby."
"Love you too mama." Gabriella hung up before she went to her door. She looked out her peep hole but it seemed to be blocked. She opened her door with the chain lock still in tact. She frowned again when she saw who it was. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." The man said. "Please let me in."
She sighed, shutting the door. She unlocked the door and opened it, letting the man in. "What are you doing-" He was cut off by his lips against hers. She was too shocked to move. He pressed her up against the door, lifting her effortlessly off the ground, holding her thighs.
He pressed his arousal against her as he slid his tongue in her mouth. She clung onto him desperately. It was all so dangerous, spontaneous, utterly sexy. She couldn't help but kiss him back. The man clearly knew what he was doing. He pushed her up, putting only one of his arms under her ass for support. His other hand moved up her shirt, palming her bare breast. His fingers pinched and rolled her nipple causing her to gasp against his mouth.
He pulled away suddenly, placing her on the ground. He held her steady with his hands on her hips. His blue eyes bore into hers intensely. He took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke. "There is somebody in my company working for Danforth. You're going to find out who it is. You're going to tell me even if I have to fuck it out of you. I'll get you anything you want. You have my word." He pressed another harsh kiss to her lips.
"Mr. Bolton-" She said breathlessly, watching him back away from her.
She took a step closer and he stepped around her to open her door. "I'm counting on you, Gabriella." He said firmly. He fixed his tie before he walked out, closing the door behind him.
Gabriella stared at her door. She didn't understand what just happened. She blinked her eyes a couple times. She even pinched himself to see if she was dreaming. She wasn't. She could still taste his sweet coffee flavored kiss. She could even smell him. The biggest give away was the uncomfortable dampness in between her legs. "Holy fuck."
New story. I'll update once a month until i finish up Co-parenting. Hope y'all like it. Don't forget to review.