Chapter 07
The constant vibration of Troy's iPhone sent disruptions to his sleep. Troy's eyes slowly opened and his hand reached out to his phone to unlock the screen with his fingerprint to find a message from Sharpay. "Thanks for an awesome night. I had a great time." He couldn't help but feel like he just received a message from Sharpay after their first date… their first date at that small Italian restaurant with her favorite Eggplant Parmesan. And after that night, he received a similar text from her and he smiled to himself like an idiot in his dorm room.
But that was years ago and now it was different. He set down his phone and looked around the room while he sat up from the bed. Gabriella was nowhere to be found but he could hear sounds and a fresh scent of garlic and vegetables coming from around the living room. He stood up by the side of his bed and walked out of the bedroom with nothing but his boxers on. Following the smell, he looked towards the kitchen and found Gabriella in those lacy shorts she was wearing earlier, the same grey bralette and her curls now clipped up in a loose bun. Her hands were busy grating cheese and the pot was steaming on top of the stove. Troy smiled to himself as he watched her dump the vegetables into the pot and hum quietly to herself.
This was the view he wanted to see every day. He wanted to kiss his wife the way they did a few hours ago and wake up to the smell of home and a beautiful wife walking around in her underwear. He didn't care if she cooked well, he wasn't exactly a traditional man. He just wanted to wake up to see his wife doing things that made her happy and he knew as a husband, that would make him happy.
On the floor above the two newlyweds was a blond that sat in her bed a mess. The bodyguards and Chad all went out for dinner since Troy and Gabriella hadn't called for them all day. Chad did briefly mention to her about the Prince going missing and of course Sharpay acted like she didn't know about any of this. She brought a hand up to her face to itch the bags under her eyes. She was exhausted from her lack of sleep last night but also couldn't be tired because she didn't want to raise any suspicions. She looked down at her phone to see that Troy had read her message five minutes ago but has yet to respond. Maybe last night meant something different for him than it did to her? She threw her phone to the side of her pillow and laid down in her bed while she closed her eyes, holding onto what happened last night in her thoughts.
"This spot right here's nice. Maybe we could even see the sunset." Troy smiled at the blonde as he set down the two bottles of opened wines. He grabbed one of the bottles and gulped down a few large sips before setting it down on the sand again and looking over at Sharpay.
She looked out into the dark ocean with a smile and then back at Troy as they both sat down on the sand. His eyes were so extremely blue even in the dark. She used to love them so much. She used to look into those eyes and run her hands in his hair and whisper things into his ear while he chuckled and kissed her forehead. Sharpay would be lying if she said she didn't miss those days at all. She did. She missed Troy. She missed their good times together, she missed the times when someone was there for her and was adventurous just like her.
"You're so different now." Troy looked at her again and then back out at the dark waves. "You're so mature and I feel like I'm still stuck here."
"What do you mean?" She chuckled while smiling at him. "You've grown a lot as a person. I mean, you're… married now." She looked away. It was something in her eyes that she knew would give it away. A part of her always reminded herself that she would be loyal to the princess and should have no other thoughts because Troy was married now. It was hard sometimes to fight these thoughts, but she knew that she had to stop them. She was the one who left him years ago, so there was no going back now. She made a choice and he moved on with his life.
"Yeah… I don't even want to think about my marriage right now." Troy drank a little more of his wine as he spoke. "It's driving me mad. Gabriella is just a handful. She blames me for everything, sometimes I don't even know what she's talking about."
"Hey… cut her a break. She's a sweet girl and a good woman." Sharpay drank out of her bottle while hugging her legs to her chest. Her work trousers now covered in sand.
"I know but… have you ever wondered what it would be like if we got married instead? Would you be like Gabriella? Would you be a pain in the ass?" He turned to look straight into the blonde's eyes. "I mean, I loved you and we had so much in common."
He loved her. Loved. Past Tense. Sharpay chuckled nervously and licked her lips before speaking again. "Who knows? Maybe we'd divorce?"
"I don't think so. I think we were like peanut butter and jelly. We were inseparable."
They both stopped to laugh at his corny comparison. That's what she loved about the two of them. They always laughed at the right moments and said the right things to each other. "You really think so?"
"Yeah… if things went well back then, I think I would have asked you to marry me. I was really considering it the last year we were still together to be honest." The sour taste of the wine hit the back of his throat again as he took another swig at it. "But I guess now it's different."
"Right…" Her eyes followed the every curve of his face from his tall nose bridge to his defined eyebrows down to his lips where words escaped.
The rest of the night went by with small talk and little mentions of the past. Sharpay tried her hardest not to dwell on anything he mentioned casually. He seemed so far away from her. Whenever he talked about the two of them, it was like another dimension that now ceased to exist. Troy eventually laid down on the sand and started to doze off a little from the wine and lack of sleep.
When the sun came out, Troy offered to treat her to a breakfast in appreciation for the night of chatting.
He needed it. He needed a friend to talk to. He needed someone to understand him and also someone who understood Gabriella. He needed someone to talk to where he didn't have to hold back anything and to have someone like Sharpay help him was incredible and he owed her so much more than just a breakfast but what could he do? That was what friends were for. Friends listen to each other and owe each other 'big time' but really just repay each other in small favors and chats.
Troy smiled to himself as he thought about last night and the chat he had with Sharpay. It was nice to finally have a friend again. And by talking to Sharpay, he realized that Gabriella may not be that hard to crack. He was just lacking in some care and some genuine understanding. As Troy returned his gaze on Gabriella's cooking in the kitchen, he locked onto his target and walked towards the brunette. He only had one other serious relationship in his life and that would be with Sharpay. Gabriella was completely different. Her mood was temperamental and everything between them was unpredictable. Troy and Sharpay had an overall smooth relationship since the beginning. He met her through his friends and thought she was absolutely stunning. He was drawn to her and wanted to get to know her better. And traditionally, you would ask the girl out on a date in which he did just that. They were crazy about each other since the beginning.
He walked up behind Gabriella and leaned down against the back of her ear. "What are you making?"
"Shit!" She jerked forward in surprise causing her to almost knock the pot over in front of her. "Shit, Troy. You scared me." She turned around and held her hand against her chest.
He chuckled softly and tilted his head to look over her shoulder. "What is that?" He eyed the orangy brown sauce that was boiling in the pot with vegetables and some meat peeking through the thick stew. The aroma of onions and peppers almost stung Troy's nose but smelled deliciously pleasant at the same time.
Gabriella turned back around to add two perfectly measured tablespoons of sugar into the pot. "Carbonada Criolla."
"What?" Troy chuckled at the words she spoke. Her voice sounded different and smooth as a foreign language rolled off her tongue as if she spoke the language all her life. He continued to peak over her shoulders to get another scent of the food.
"I went out to buy some stuff when you were sleeping and decided to make Carbonada Criolla. It's my favorite dish. My grandmother used to make it for me." She smiled at herself as she thought of the memories of when her grandmother's cooking. She was a woman of many kitchen skills and it always fascinated Gabriella who was taught to be more business and education oriented. Her mother never let her lift a finger at home. There were servants for everything in her house and her mother once even scolded her for vacuuming her own room. One of the only things her mother gladly let her do even though it was considered a servant's job was cooking. Carbonada Criolla was a dish that none of the servants in her house could ever cook right. The only other person who knew how to make it exactly the way she liked it besides herself was her grandmother who lived in the countryside in Canovia.
"Is it like… Spanish?" Troy had been to many countries before to represent Canovia at different events. He had the luxury to travel to Spain for a week where he spent the weekend in Barcelona and even watched a tradutuibal bullfight. He knew what Spanish sounded like. Every time he visited a country, he would spend some time learning about their customs and simple greetings in their language to avoid any offensive behaviors and sayings. He knew Gabriella spoke Spanish when she said the name of the dish.
"Nope. It's Argentinian." Gabriella threw a squash into the stew before stirring it a little again.
Troy nodded as she looked down onto her dark hair. The messy bun had little curls falling out of it draping down her shoulders. And from her shoulders, his eyes followed the curve of her bare waist. His hands slowly extended out to wrap around her dainty waist while resting his head on top of her shoulder lightly.
"What are you doing…" Gabriela could feel her body tense up as soon as his arms wrapped around her waist and over her belly button. She breathed out slowly while her eyes closed and open again to feel his head resting on her shoulder and his chin just above the thin strap of her bralette. She flinched a little from the heat of his body against her back and tried to wiggle out of his grip. She could feel her heart racing in her ear and her cheeks getting flushed just like a teenage girl getting touched for the first time.
"Stop moving." His voice was muffled from his lips brushing against the bare skin on her shoulder while his eyes were closed, enjoying the scent of the food in front of them and her smooth skin against his.
"No, get off of me." She squirmed around his arms in an attempt to break free from his grip but he only hugged her tighter. Her body started to relax against his now firmer hold. She hated herself for liking his touch and wanting to kiss him. She hated that he knew she wanted to be touched. "Troy…?"
"Yeah?" He opened his eyes while placing a soft kiss on her shoulder that lingered seconds afterwards. His lips felt hot from pressing up against her smooth skin.
"Are you allergic to onions?" She laughed softly after asking.
His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as a smile crept up his lips. "That's a silly question."
"Answer it!" She turned her body around when his grip loosened but his hands were still around her waist but now his hand was placed on her lower back and her arms were wrapped around his neck as they faced each other. Her laughing smile faded to a serious face as she demanded him to answer her random inquiry.
"Okay okay…" He sighed and chuckled softly. "No I am not."
"What about green peppers?"
"No…" He shook his head.
"Yellow squash?"
"What? No." Troy shook his head once more. These all seemed like such strange questions to ask out of the blue. He looked at her with his eyebrow arched questioned her back. "Any more questions?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Good, because I want you to try my cooking and those are the major ingredients in the Carbonada Criolla."
Gabriella turned her body back around to check on the stew. She carefully removed the lid on the pot and sniffed the aroma of the hot stew before leaving his arms to grab a ladle from the top cabinet. The aroma of the garlic and peppers and beef bursted out of the pot and into the air of the enclosed hotel suite. She lowered the ladle into the soup and scooped out just enough for a bowl.
Troy watched his wife as she took one of the two spoons on the granite counter top to taste her own cooking from the bowl she scooped for herself. She closed her eyes while the corner of her mouth lifted into a satisfied smile. "Delicious." Her eyes fluttered open to meet the blue orbs staring right back at her.
He grabbed the spoon on the counter and dipped it into the stew to pick up the soupy content and a piece of beef. The spoon was hot from the temperature of the recently prepared food. He brought the food up between his lips and slowly tasted the flavorful dish in delight. "I love this." He dipped his spoon back into the bowl for more.
"I'm glad you like it." Gabriella also dipped her spoon in to help herself for more of the Argentinian beef stew.
"Is your mom Argentinian?" He asked after chewing on a piece of beef and some peppers.
"Yeah. Although she's Argentinian, she's actually lived in Canovia all her life. My grandparents immigrated here when they were teenagers."
"What about your dad?"
Gabriella scooped more of the stew to chew on a piece of corn. "He's like everything. He's mostly Filipino and Spanish but also mixed in with some Irish and English. But he too has lived here for a long time. All I know is that my great great great great grandfather was probably the Spanish one hence Montez as my last name. My dad and his family lived in Canovia all their lives and for as many generations back I know." She scooped out a little piece of squash and some beef.
"That's really interesting. I wish I was diverse in my background like that. All I know is that I'm white and Canovian." Sighing, he shrugged while thinking about his family history. The royal family liked their bloodline pure. Everyone was Canovian and as far as he knew from history textbooks, Canovians were originally English and French settlers.
"You probably know your generations map clearer than anyone in Canovia." Gabriella rolled her eyes and laughed a little. They learned about the royal family in grade school and the history of Canovia included a brief but long description of the royal bloodlines. In high school, they learned more about the power transfers and various Kings that were dethroned. "I know I learned about it in high school during Canovian History class."
"I know. And you know, you're going to be in those history books."
"Right… as your wife." She looked down at the bowl of stew she was holding and scooped another spoonful of food.
"No… as the Crown Princess of Canovia." Using his spoon to scoop more of the stew, he brought the spoonful of the soupy content up to Gabriella's lips. She gladly accepts his gesture and chews on the beef he fed her.
"That's not I wanted… you know." Gabriella said quietly as the mood in the room started to sour. Troy's smile slipped from his lips. "I wanted other things. I was doing other things and it all got turned around overnight." Her bottom lip trembled as her eyes became glazed with a thin layer of tears. She looked away from Troy and lightly dabbed her eyes with her finger.
"What do you mean?" He looked at the woman in front of him who couldn't even look at him when he mentioned her title as Crown Princess. Did she hate being Crown Princess this much? Did she resent it so much she had to cry just thinking about what she became after their marriage?
"I was doing really well in New York City with my freelance work. I even got an offer to make modern art for an interior designing company that helps design luxury condos that sold for millions of American dollars." She wiped a falling tear drop from her right eye as she laughed it off casually. She leaned on the counter behind her and sighed again now with her eyes looking directly into his. "I thought for once I could do something for myself. I wanted to chase after my passion of visual art before returning home one day to manage the company. My career meant a lot to me but I know my father's company also means a lot so I guess I chose someone else's passion over my own and now I'm here."
Her brown eyes were glazed with more tears when she spoke those words softly. People always say it's not what you say but how you say it that truly matters. And in that moment Troy believed the tears in her eyes when she opened up to him about her life before the royal marriage carried more meaning than the soft tone in her voice. His words were stuck in his throat, unable to be pushed out. He lost the words pushed within his throats the moment he wanted to make a sound. There was nothing he could say because there was nothing he could say to change the fact that she chose to marry him.
"I didn't have a choice really. I shouldn't even say I chose anything. If I didn't marry you, my father would lose the company and I would lose my career as well. My parents financed for everything when I was overseas. I guess you could say I'm too dependent on my parents' wealth to provide for myself and because of that I knew I didn't have a choice. I was too used to luxury. I chose a financially stable life over a life to fulfill my passion." She tried to shrug off the serious air between them as she let out a fake laugh and a fake smile.
Did I also choose Gabriella for stability? Troy thought to himself. The tabloids and the people of Canovia were constantly writing about his 'unroyal' behavior. He gave up the life of partying with a different girl every night and drinking his life away one liquor shot at a time for marriage. He gave those things up to keep his title as the Crown Prince. And he chose marriage to keep his parents happy. He chose marriage to avoid being sent overseas again where he would just be reminded of all the good times he spent with Sharpay and the fact that she wouldn't be with him anymore. He chose marriage because it provided him with the most security and stability. Was it so wrong to choose social stability over something exciting and satisfying?
He watched as the girl in front of him wiped more tears off of her face. How much happier was Gabriella when she was making art she enjoyed?
"Sorry, excuse me."Gabriella turned the other way and excused herself to their room as more tears came rolling down her face. She shut and locked the door behind her leaving Troy out in the kitchen. The tears weren't from the pain of having no choice but from the pain of having to let Troy know. She was now vulnerable. She opened up to him and it frightened her how he would process what she said. Just twenty four hours ago, she resented the way her husband could basically do whatever he wanted and still get away with it but now she was crying over something she told him. This was what frightened her, the fact that their relationship turned zero to three sixty in less than twenty four hours. She was frightened of how easily she could cry just talking to him and how easily she could forget about everything and start kissing him the next second.
This was going to be one hell of a honeymoon.
Sorry for the wait guys! I've been super busy recently. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought in the reviews :) Thanks for reading!