Thank you to the reviewers of last week: traylorlove, LunaSolTierra, MermaidRam85, LaUr3n-ShAuNy and Quizas. Your reviews meant a lot to my return to fan fiction
Hope you enjoy this chapter,
Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters apart from my own original ones. And I do not own any places or anything, unless they sound like you don't know them, then MAYBE I own it 3
Saturday (Date Day)
Pacing across the magenta rug in her apartment, Taylor anxiously bit the side of her thumb. What was she doing going to share coffee with Troy Bolton? There was no going back now, Troy had probably already made his way there and she couldn't leave him hanging. Not when he's paying a whole lot of money for the sessions with her. Plus that's just rude. Why was Sharpay taking so damn long with Taylor's earrings? Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Almost running to the it, Taylor opened it and pulled in the energetic blonde.
"Take your time." Taylor groaned, snatching the box away from Sharpay. Sharpay crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at Taylor.
"Why are you so worried about your appearance today, Tay?" Taylor rolled her eyes and strolled to her full length mirror to put on her earrings.
"I always care about my appearance, Shar." Sharpay shook her head and sat down on the comfortable leather sofa.
"Yeah, but not like this." Sharpay gasped. "Aww. Taylor. You care extra because it's Troy." Taylor scoffed and sighed at Sharpay. Okay, so in a way Sharpay was right. But then again, Taylor hadn't been on a date for a while so she had to pull out all the stops. She thought about this. Date? She was going on a date with Troy Bolton? No, no, no. This was just a coffee. With a client. Nothing more, nothing less. Smiling to herself, she turned a little in the mirror to check herself out. She had to admit, after not being in the game for 15 months, she looked good. She had on a sleeveless yellow bow summer dress, espadrille sling back wedges and the wooden hoop earrings that Sharpay had borrowed from her.
"No, Shar. I care because this is my first... outing with a male, in a while." Sharpay laughed loudly.
"You mean date?" Taylor sharply turned around.
"No. No, no, no. This is not a date. Just a friendly coffee, with a client."
"If you say so. But I know how this is going to turn out. You're gonna go for a drink, you're gonna discover you might have feelings for Troy, he's going to start to fall for you, then you're gonna grow old together, overcoming all the ups and downs that will come with your relationship because your love for each other is so strong."
"You need to stop reading fan fiction, Shar. No way am I falling in love with the guy. Sharpay it's just one coffee, maybe a muffin too. What's the most that can happen?" Sharpay opened her mouth to answer but Taylor raised her hand. "Don't answer that." She jogged to her bedroom, coming out with her clutch and a hair band.
"Up or down?" she asked, as Sharpay strode over to her.
"Down, so that when Troy plants a hot kiss on you, he can run his hands through your—"
"Sharpay! That's up it is." She replied, tying her hair into a neat ponytail with one swift movement of her wrist. "I should get going. I'm hungry anyway." Taylor hugged Sharpay and made her way out.
"Get me back a blueberry muffin!"
At the coffee house.
Taylor sat patiently as she played with her Blackberry. 20 minutes had passed since the agreed time of 3. 'Maybe he had some sort of meeting.' Taylor thought, lifting her head up again to check just in case he was about to stroll in. Nothing. Just other people. People smiling with their children, or couples linking arms and laughing. Children and a partner. That sounded good for Taylor. She wanted that. She wanted a family. She wanted-, her thoughts seized as she saw a tall, blue eyed man walk in.
Her smile faded when she realised that the man wasn't Troy. Tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear and looked down.
An hour had passed, and no one had come. Taylor angrily grabbed her things and stormed out of the coffee house, earning a few stares from customers. Taylor was absolutely livid! She'd just waited for an hour and Troy didn't show up. He didn't even have the decency to have called her to cancel. Did he even have her number? Well, he could've asked Jenny. Or better yet, he could've told Jenny that he wasn't coming. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened and she clenched her jaw the more she thought about it. How could she have even thought that he would show up? Urgh!
When Taylor got home, she was met by eager brown eyes.
"So?" Sharpay asked, "How was it? You falling for him yet?" she joked, nudging Taylor. Taylor just dropped her things and placed her hands on her hips.
"The jerk didn't even show up! I got dressed up for nothing!" Sharpay's jaw dropped.
"What? Why?" Taylor sighed.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna go change then we can watch some TV." She smiled weakly at Sharpay and walked to her bedroom to change. When she came back out, they sat on the sofa and began to watch E! News. They were joking and laughing at something that Zeke had said when the female hosts' voice caught their attention.
"Basketball superstar and oh-so-hot Troy Bolton was seen today leaving Breeze hotel with leggy supermodel, Tiara Gold. The two were seen at around 2:30 this afternoon and were then spotted entering the expensive store, 'Jewels.' We're not sure if anything is going on between the two, but we're definitely sure that the two would make beautiful children!"
Taylor glared at the screen, not believing what she had just heard. Well there was no doubt about it now, Troy had stood her up. For Tiara Gold! She knew exactly what they were up to in Breeze hotel. This was the exact opposite of what Taylor had told him he had to do. She shook her head and laughed bitterly.
"Tay, why are you laughing? It's kinda creepy."
"Oh nothing. I'm just thinking of how fun it's gonna be when Troy comes for his session next week." Taylor smiled to herself, planning out exactly what she was going to say.
The Next Week
For the next week or so, more news escaped of Troy's sightings with different models. Every time Taylor saw them, it made her contemplate the conversation she was to have on the day of Troy's session. And today was that day. She looked down at herself and undid one button. She quickly did it back up and pushed her hair out of the way.
"It looked fine, Tay." Gabriella told her, entering the room and setting Taylor's coffee down.
"With the button undone? Don't you think it's a bit much? I don't want to look like I actually care." Gabriella giggled and raised an eyebrow.
"Purple silk shirt? Tay, already, anyone can tell that you put in that extra bit of effort today." She stated; smiling as Taylor adjusted her skirt.
"Yeah well I did take a bit longer to straighten my hair." She said, stroking her beautiful thick hair. "You just missed your dad by the way." Gabriella rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
"I'll see him when-" She was cut off by a cough coming from the door. Both women's eyes darted to the figure at the door and Taylor rolled her eyes as she saw what was in his hands. Gabriella's eyes however, were fixated to this man. To her, he was stunning. Sure, she'd seen him on the TV and everything but in person, this guy really was all as sexy as people made him out to be. How could Taylor be mad at him? If it were her, she would've forgiven him the moment she saw his mesmerising blue eyes.
"Hi." Gabriella said, eagerly strolling up to him and extending her hand. Troy, not wanting to be rude, shook her hand. "Gabriella."
"Troy Bolton."
"Yes she knows. Everybody knows you." Taylor said, rolling her eyes once again. Troy chuckled at Taylor's attitude and turned his attention back to Gabriella.
"Gabriella, it's nice to meet you." Smiling at her, Troy rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.
"I should be going. Have a good session, Mr Bolton."
"Oh please, pretty girls like you can call me Troy." Gabriella took a deep breath as an attempt to contain the squeal that was about to escape her mouth. Taylor placed her hand on her forehead and inwardly groaned. Wow, he was so cheesy. The door shut and Troy just stood in the middle of her office.
"You gonna just stand there?" Taylor questioned, leaning over purposefully and sorting out some of her papers. Troy caught her game immediately and he didn't resist either. His eyes dropped and he was not disappointed by what he saw. He stepped forward and placed the daisies on her desk.
"These are for you."
"What for?"
"For not being able to attend our date." Taylor raised her manicured hand.
"It was not a date, Troy. It was just a coffee. Well, it was going to be just a coffee. But you didn't show." She responded, flashing him a sarcastic smile.
"Sarcasm's not hot, Taylor." Taylor rolled her eyes and began to tap her fingers on the desk. "Stop rolling your eyes, one of these days your eyeballs are gonna stay in that position." Taylor had to try her hardest to keep herself from smiling. She didn't want to give in so she bit the insides of her cheeks. Troy noticed her trying not to laugh. "You're gonna end up like this." He rolled his eyes up so that you couldn't see his iris. This did it for Taylor and a bright smile burst onto her face.
"Wow. Taylor Mckessie just smiled. I guess she isn't as miserable as I thought."
"Yeah, well you probably would've found out earlier if you hadn't blown me off. You completely ignored my advice, didn't you?" Troy nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"Busted, huh?"
"Yeah."
Troy sighed. "Tay, it's hard."
"Taylor." Troy looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "You called me, Tay. Only my friends call me that."
"Oh, okay. I thought that after that bonding session we had, we were at least friends... Taylor."
"Who said I wanted to be your friend?"
"Who doesn't want to be my friend?" Taylor was about to roll her eyes when Troy's words echoed in her head. Instead she just shook her head.
"Can we please just get on with the session? You were saying something just now, I wanna focus on that. You said it's hard. What is?"
Troy looked around and plopped down on the clients' chair, getting comfortable. He placed his hands behind his head and stopped to think. "Getting rid of my usual habits. I can't stop just like that. It's gonna take time."
"Okay. So how's your time management?" Taylor asked, bringing her chair closer to the clients seat.
"I don't know what this has to do with anything, but it's quite good actually."
"Hmm. Three o'clock, what does that look like on an analogue clock?"
"Big hand on twelve, small hand on three. Taylor, what does this have to do with anything?" Troy asked, genuinely confused as Taylor sketched something down on her notepad.
"Do you own a phone, Troy?" Troy looked up at Taylor and laughed. "I'm just asking, Troy. Answer the question."
"Yes, Taylor, I do."
"So why didn't you call to let me know that you were gonna be fucking Tiara all night and spoiling the chick, so you wouldn't be able to make it?" Taylor retaliated, smiling slyly at him.
"You want an apology?"
"It would be nice." Troy sat upright in his chair and took one of Taylor's hands and held it in his own.
"Taylor, I'm sorry I wasn't able to make our date-"
"It wasn't a date."
"Let me finish. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make our date, because believe me; I was looking forward to it. It's just that something came up." Taylor raised an eyebrow, a thought coming to her mind. "You got a dirty ass mind, Taylor." She couldn't help but throw her head back and roar with laughter. "But in a way, that's a good thing." Troy said, licking his lips and dropping his eyes back to Taylor's full lips. Her hands suddenly began to clam up, so she quickly snatched them away and crossed out something on her notepad.
"Let's start. Now, why don't you want to stick to one woman?"
"It's not that I don't want to. It's just difficult for me. Especially when all these women are throwing themselves at you. I got needs, Taylor. And I'm pretty sure that not just one woman can fulfil them." Taylor wrote down some notes. "Unless, you want to try." Troy winked at her smoothly.
"Woah. No. Mr Bolton, I don't think you can handle what I've got." Taylor replied, playing along with Troy. She enjoyed messing around with Troy. And slowly, she was starting to warm up to him. Don't get me wrong, she still thought he was a selfish lunkhead basketball player. But he was also a funny, genuine guy.
Troy instantly looked her up and down, sneaking in one more look at Taylor's curves. "I can try, if you let me." There was an awkward silence as the two just stared at each other, lust and want in their eyes.
"Back to your addiction, Troy." Taylor stated, clearing her throat and looking down at her paper. "I understand it's going to take time, but that just means you're gonna have to take things one step at a time. So every week, I'm gonna set you a target. I expect you to meet the targets by the time of our next session. Don't try cheating, cos believe me, I will find out." Troy rubbed his chin as he watched her speak. Her confidence and her ability to speak was something he found attractive. She was articulate, independent and she had faith in him. Plus, judging by the way she played along to his little games, she was a little freak inside. Troy definitely wanted to discover that side of Taylor.
"So, Troy, I want you, for this week, to try and cut down the amount of parties you go to. Try 3 maximum per week."
"3! What am I meant to do for the other 4 nights?"
"Catch up on some sleep, read, go out for dinner with someone, that way, you're also incorporating what we talked about last week." Troy sighed and pressed the bridge of his nose.
"Taylor, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to do it." Taylor reached out and touched his arm, looking directly at him.
"Troy, I think you will be able to do it. Don't get happy or anything, but I believe in you." Troy flashed a smile and nodded.
"Fine. I'll try."
"That's all I'm asking." Taylor glanced up at the clock and frowned when she realised that her time with Troy was running out. Troy caught her look and once again, held her hand softly.
"Taylor, since for the next week or so, I'm gonna be free for 4 nights, would you like to go for dinner? I promise I'll be on time."
"Troy..."
"Taylor, I know I'm not your favourite person in the world, but I want us to at least be friends. You have to admit, you have fun in our sessions. I have fun too and it seems as if we'd have a good time."
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Are you saying yes?" Troy asked, praying that she says yes.
Well you're gonna have to wait for her reply! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm really happy with where this story is going and I hope you guys like it too!
R&R
MissMercedesJade
No longer TraylorxChaylor