Ch 1
Troy Bolton was retiring at 30 from the LA Lakers. Chad thought he still had a couple of years in him, but Troy was tired and sore after all of the years pounding the courts. His spirit was tired, too. He was lonely, tired of the traveling life of a basketball player. Truth be told, he'd never taken advantage of the high life offered up at every turn to men in his position. He hadn't partied, only occasionally gone out to the ultra nice restaurants with friends, never took advantage of the legions of women who threw themselves at professional basketball players. He was empty.
He should be empty, he thought. Five years ago, he'd lost his wife in a hit and run accident. He'd met her in college, and they'd married soon after he got his NBA contract. Cindy was the sweetest person he'd ever known. She'd been kind, gentle, loving. They had waited to have kids until they were older, hoping he'd stop being on the road so much. She had her own career, too. She'd kept busy with that while he traveled. He hadn't dated since she died. All of his friends had tried to fix him up, but he'd declined. He just didn't have the heart to try to restart that part of his life. He still felt his heart had a hole in it. He really thought he'd passed the time when he grieved. He didn't dream of her being alive again any more, didn't say goodnight at the end of the day like he'd done for the first couple of years. But he knew he was still left empty by her loss; and he thought it might always be that way. Every woman who wanted to meet the Troy Bolton was a turn off, too. He really didn't want a woman who wanted his fame and money. He didn't have the energy or desire to find one who didn't.
The Lakers had offered him a coaching job. He was thinking about it. He thought about volunteering for a while, maybe with inner city kids. He knew that there was plenty he could do to better the world. Find meaning in life. Figure out what he could do in his future to make it worthwhile. Maybe he'd coach at a high school. Help kids along there. He knew the possibilities were out there.
For now he was keeping his house. He'd bought it when they'd first married, so it wasn't a mansion. That's why he kept it. It was manageable. He didn't need a butler to run it. He had a cleaning service, sent out most of his laundry, and got take out food, if he needed something that he couldn't cook up quickly.
He really needed to go on a nice vacation and rest, too. Get his head on straight, figure things out. His parents were retired now, and travelled quite a bit. He was sure they'd give him plenty of advice on where to go on vacation. They gave him plenty of advice on everything. He laughed.
Gabriella Montez was at 29, one of the best research scientists at her company. She'd gotten her PhD from Stanford, and advanced quickly into management. She now oversaw a whole division of her company. One of the best and brightest. She'd loved her fellow graduate student, John, and lived with him for 2 years before they married. A year after that, he was dead of cancer. He had been the one she could talk to about all of the scientific ideas she had, the one she could talk to about her dreams of someday having a family. He wasn't thrown by her intelligence. He appreciated it. He was kind and handsome in his own way. She was in shock for what seemed like a year, then her memories of him gradually started to fade, replaced by a feeling of loss. She carried that feeling with her. Her work had become her life. Working to make things better for others. That was her purpose. It didn't help the lonely nights and holidays. She'd go home to her mom at Christmas and Thanksgiving, but it still left many empty weekends. Virtually all of her girlfriends were married now. Several of them had children. She kept up with them all, and valued their friendships. She didn't want to horn in on their family lives, though. They tried to set her up with dates over the years, but she was picky. She wanted someone who was smart enough to talk to, and those guys were few and far between. Either crazy as loons, sex fiends, or going out on their wives. That was her luck. So she didn't venture out very often after her first few experiences. It wasn't worth it, and it made her feel worse. Her life was empty, but she was at least at peace with it.
She cruised the internet travel sites looking for a place to go for vacation this year. She took herself on a nice vacation every year alone. She deserved it. She lived in a condo which had little upkeep. A two bedroom, so her mom could come and stay. She wasn't rich, but she could splurge on a nice vacation.