Hi everyone!
This is the first co-written fic we have done, so please give us your thoughts. We've decided to have Troy and Gabriella meet under very different circumstances at a different time of their lives.
Here's chapter 1, where we get to find out a little bit more about their lives. Enjoy!
Love Helena X
Nicole says… Hey everyone, Helena and I are really excited about this new story so I hope you enjoy it. Also, the credit of this chapter goes all to Helena, who did an absolutely amazing job! The next chapter should be done soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Chapter one
One Step forward, two steps back
As the sun reflected brightly off the marble table top of one of the most exquisite coffee shops in town, Gabriella smiled to herself as she scanned the front page of the newspaper.
The headline read "Montez helps man land over $100,000 dollars in a shocking divorce settlement". She smiled to herself. She knew more of his money should probably have gone to his ex wife, but after what his ex wife had done and hearing the way she had treated him, Gabriella was determined that he would walk away from his divorce victorious.
She was renowned for being one of the best lawyers around and was always in demand. Her motto for every case was that she was "In it, to win it". This motto had always worked well for her, and she won almost every case she ever worked on, so far.
Gabriella was a go-getter. She put work before anything else, and it paid off. She had done extremely well in school, and then went on to study at Yale University. She now works at, and hopes to someday own her Father's Law office 'Schwartz and Montez'.
She loved being in the courtroom, the adrenalin rush she got every time it was her turn to talk, knowing that people were hanging on her every word, knowing that what she said could have the power to make or break a person. It reminded her of the feeling she had when she once starred in a musical during her high school years. 'Twinkle Towne' it was called. Whenever she thought about it, it brought back such fond memories to her, it reminded her of the friends she had made, and those she had lost.
However, the success of her career came at price. She spent almost all her waking hours working on a case either at home or work, which left little time for a social life, let alone a love life. Her best friend Taylor McKessie, now Danforth, a successful doctor in her field of Obstetrics, insisted they meet up once a week for a coffee. It was about the only social contact Gabriella had outside of work, apart from seeing her brother and his family.
It wasn't that she didn't want to see people; she just never seemed to find the time. She lived in a large four bedroom house on a beautiful street in a suburban area of Albuquerque, not far from her closest friends Taylor, Chad and their daughter Kyla.
Aside from worrying about work, Gabriella lived a pretty good life. Although the majority of her four bedroom house was un-used, she had bought it, simply because she could. She enjoyed knowing she could go out whenever she liked and buy anything she wanted.
She had recently come to the conclusion that money would always be enough in life to make her happy. It didn't matter that she didn't have a husband, or kids, or a busy social life, because she thought all she needed in life to make her happy was her money. She thought that money would always be enough in life to make her happy. How wrong she was…
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On the other side of town, a young man, probably no older than 28, was finishing yet another long day at work. His clothes were grubby and stubble covered his sun tanned face. Being a construction worker, he, like the others, spent most of his days working in the hot Albuquerque sun.
As he climbed into his truck, he sighed heavily. He worked so hard, yet the money he had earned was barely enough to put food on the table and pay the bills. He was about the drive off, when he heard someone calling his name.
"Troy, TROY" he heard his boss call to him. He wondered if he was going to tell him he was leaving two hours too early. He knew he was leaving early, as he did every day. He had a small daughter to collect from school, and his boss knew that. He was all ready to explain this to him, when the man handed him his wallet.
"You sure do make a man run" he panted, catching his breath again. "Here, you forgot this, thought you might need it".
"Thanks" Troy said, squinting to see the man in the sunshine. He looked absentmindedly for his sun glasses, but to his dismay, he remembered he has broken them only the other day.
He drove the short trip from the construction site to the elementary school. When he got to the school, the light of his life, his seven year old daughter Colby was waiting for him.
"Daddy" she beamed, seeing him walk across the school yard. She knew he was popular amongst the other parents as some of her friends had told her their mom's thought he was 'hot'. A comment which only fueled his fondness for his looks.
A number of moms raced over to say 'Hi' to him as soon as they saw him walk into the school yard. He made polite conversation as he smiled to them. Some of them were pretty 'hot' themselves, shame they were married he thought to himself, walking away as Colby gabbled away about her day at school.
"Some of my friends are starting ballet class daddy" she said excitedly, as she climbed into his truck. "Can I start too? It's on Saturday mornings and…"
"I'm sorry Colby" he said sadly, feeling awful for disappointing her. "If I had the money I would but right now, we just can't, okay princess. Sorry" he said again, knowing he had probably just broken his daughter's heart.
"It's okay daddy, I understand" she said quietly as a small tear rolled down her cheek. She leaned her forehead against the window, watching the cars go by as he took her to the place they called home.
Sometimes, Colby wondered why her daddy didn't have lots of money. He worked all the time, she knew that. But they never seemed to have enough money to do all the things her friends did.
Hearing Colby sniffle slightly, he knew she was crying. It broke his heart to know he couldn't give Colby what she wanted. The nagging worry that was constantly at the back of his mind was the fact Colby didn't have a mother, and he knew she needed that more desperately than anything else.
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What neither Troy nor Gabriella knew was that something they hadn't even known they were looking for was closer than they ever imagined possible.
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Thank-you for reading, please leave a short review with your thoughts, all feedback greatly appreciated. Chapter two up soon X