Thanks for reviews everyone I'm glad you are enjoying it!

Juli93- she 'can't' sleep with anyone due to her issues with men from being a slave. And she didn't want to take a cheque because she felt like Troy shouldn't trust her with a blank cheque!

CHAPTER 7

By the time Friday came round, Gabi had a much better idea of How Things Worked in New York. She even pictured those words with capital letters because that was how Sharpay had begun her teachings.

How Things Worked in New York, lesson 1. That was how it had started and it had been the same all day long through their shopping trip.

Shar had immersed Gabi somewhat in the daily rituals she undertook and gave her a picture of what was out there; but for all the manicures and pedicures and hair salons; Gabi still didn't feel a true sense of home.

At least, not until she had seen the Evangelic Church that seemed to hide itself on the corner of Troy's apartment block. Tiny in its surrounding monstrous apartment blocks; it stood a little old building with no apology and no grandeur. Gabi had gone inside to say a prayer for her family and then found herself going home with the thought that it was home in her head for the very first time since getting there.

And the over the next days she had ventured out alone; each time touching base with the little sacred place before she came back to prepare the evening meal in time for Troy's return.

He had been late those nights. Busy at work; drinks one night with his friends. She hadn't been invited this time but he promised to introduce them soon and that comforted her. It seemed her only way to branch out would be by befriending Troy's friends first- people she could trust, and then working up to meeting new people.

So it came to the night she didn't need to cook because they were dining out. She had cleaned, tidied, left the apartment perfect and she stood now, wondering if the low-cut dress that Shar had chosen wasn't a little too low cut. It's not like her handful-of-flesh breasts were anything to write home about but the dress cupped them flatteringly; leading the material over her shoulders to form the straps; gauzy and demure. The swathed material wrapped around her tiny waist and the skirt flowed down to her toes. She'd tried on both colours; both red and black and she hadn't felt ready to wear red so she'd chosen the black and teamed it with gold shoes with straps at the ankles. Her hair was up; curls cascading here and there and her eyes sparkled with gold dust; her lashes darkened with mascara and her lips shining with gloss.

She didn't recognise the woman in the mirror for she didn't have an identity; but she wanted to make her one; she wanted to feel as beautiful as the woman in the reflection and she imagined her form being enveloped from behind by a loving male counterpart. One who would kiss her neck and tell her how amazing she looked; who would offer to fasten her necklace and turn her for a tender kiss. One who didn't demand or want for anything but that let her go her own way; doing as she pleased.

She closed her eyes against the images that threatened to appear and she took a deep calming breath to steady her nerves. She deserved to be here tonight, she assured herself. She wanted to be Troy's date more than anything in the world right now and that thought made her smile.

Troy. He was waiting for her, downstairs. He'd asked for her help with his cufflinks before he'd gone down and told her to take her time. He knew she was nervous and he let her get ready in her own time.

She headed down, her dainty necklace cupped in her hand as she came up behind him.

"Will you do my necklace?" She asked quietly and Troy turned, astounded by the sight of her.

"W-" he swallowed. "Wow."

"Shar chose the dress," she offered with a tiny smile, begging him not to make her any more nervous.

"Well, it suits you perfectly," he let his eyes roam over her once more, his lips tingling at the V of flesh exposed by her plunging neckline; her small pert breasts cupped by the ruched material either side.

"Troy…my necklace," she reminded him, feeling the burn of desire begin in her tummy at his look and the tips of her nipples began to tingle in anticipation.

Troy noticed her peaks harden under the gauze of the fabric and he swallowed again tightly to remind himself that Gabi was just his housemaid. Nothing more.

He cleared his throat. "Ah, sure…" he took the dainty chain and struggled with the tiny clasp, closing his eyes and pausing as he counted to ten for some control before he tried again.

"Troy?"

He opened his eyes, seeing Gabi looking over her shoulder at him and he was glad she hadn't nestled back against his body or she'd be feeling the heavy weight of his attraction against her perfectly shaped backside right now.

"Ah…sorry," he apologised, fastening the fiddly clasp and then letting the backs of his fingers run down her bare neck; making her shiver. A reaction that only proved to harden him further.

"Are you ok?" She licked her lips nervously. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"Not for the reason you're thinking," he joked, clearing his throat again as he turned back to his desk to get his cufflinks. "My turn for help…"

"If you really don't want to do this then tell me now," she met his eyes as she took his first shirt cuff.

"I want to do this," he smiled a little.

"Then why all the weirdness?"

"You just don't get it do you?" He blew an amused breath out through his nose. "You look amazing, Brie. Really beautiful. Possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. No, you are the most beautiful woman I have seen. And I can't help thinking how lucky I was that I saw you that night."

She pressed her lips together and grasped his jacket once she had done his cuffs. "I'm the lucky one for being saved from that guy."

"Do you know how beautiful you are?"

Gabi's daydream from before came flooding back. The one where the man in her life would fasten her necklace and tell her exactly that. And she didn't know that Troy might be the one who filled that space, but here he was, saying those words.

"I-"

"Look at me," he demanded softly, tipping up her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "You are so incredibly beautiful."

She blinked lazily and swallowed deep in her throat, lifting her lips as she instinctively craved the touch of his, her eyes closing in desired bliss at his words.

"We have to go," his husked voice cut through her state of desire and brought her eyes open wide.

"Wh-?" She swallowed again. "Uh, sure…"

He hastily moved away from her as she stood frowning, blinking at the fast change in mood.

"Do you have a coat?" He checked as he reached the door.

She turned and smiled softly. "I thought maybe I could borrow yours later."

He nodded, his gaze going down her again as she moved toward him and the glow in his eyes could not be denied. "Let's go," he suggested on a tight throat, determined to leave the apartment before his urge to kiss her got the better of him.

/

"You must be Gabriella," Stan Laymore kissed her knuckles and met her eyes; but she shuddered at the look she found there.

"How did you know?" She wondered, making Stan laugh.

"She's feisty, Bolton. I like her." He told Troy.

Troy flat lined his mouth, touching his hand to Gabi's back. "Gabriella is everything a guy could wish for," he commended of his date. "Cindy," he leaned forward to kiss Stan's partner on the cheek.

"Troy. Nice to meet you, Gabriella," the petite brunette added, smiling at the small girl. "So how are you finding America?"

"Difficult," Gabi replied honestly, surprising the other woman with her candidness. "But I'm learning."

"Well, us wives and partners have a weekly Spa trip if you want to join us next time?" The woman suggested. "Waxing, wine, you know the format," she teased.

"Waxing?" Gabi looked horrified. "I think I had enough of that today…"

"Ahem," Troy coughed as he pulled out Gabi's chair and seated her before he sat himself, ordering house white for them all.. "So how have you been, Cindy?" He asked the woman politely.

"Very well indeed. And how was your trip?" She asked back, and then winked. "Apart from the obvious…"

Troy smiled wanly and began a brief run down of his sabbatical, deliberately leaving out the details of Gabi's rescue.

"So tell us about this beautiful Arabian princess then," Stan goaded as they tucked into their main courses.

"Ah, there's really not much to say…" Troy flicked his eyes over Gabi shyly. "I brought her home with me so she could have a better life."

"Being a housemaid is a better life for you?" Stan asked Gabi directly and Gabi smirked.

"You seem surprised."

"Well, we all know how messy Bolton can be!" The man teased.

"I enjoy it." Gabi assured.

"You're looking after him in every way, then?" Stan suggested, making Troy swallow his wine quickly to intervene.

"She's just my house maid." Troy stated.

"I enjoy looking after him." Gabi added, making Troy choke as he took another sip of wine.

"I wouldn't mind some…'house-keeping' duties myself," Stan smiled at Gabi and she frowned, shooting a glance to Cindy who just wiped her mouth with her napkin and avoided looking at anyone, clearly used to Stan's suggestive nature and not quite sure what to do.

"You have a beautiful partner, Stan. Perhaps you should ask her." Gabi suggested, rising from her seat. "I'm going to the restroom."

Troy watched her go with an o'd mouth, his brows raised in pride at her honesty and balls to speak her mind. "She's feisty alright," he murmured to try and ease the moment.

"I need the restroom, too," Cindy announced and Troy squinted across at Stan, wishing they weren't alone right now.

"Now that the little women are gone, can we talk about a deal?" Stan asked and Troy frowned.

"A deal for what?" Troy checked, thinking Stan wasn't referring to his Ski Lodge in Switzerland here.

"The girl," Stan smiled bemusedly. "I thought it was obvious…"

"Wait a minute, how did you even know I was going to bring her tonight?" Troy wondered.

"Look at her," Stan laughed. "There was no way you were going to leave her sitting home…"

"Look, Stan. She's not for sale. She's a person and she works for me. There's no deal to be made."

"You can have my Beach house in California- it's right on the coast. Two steps and you're on the sand," he offered.

Troy shook his head. "I'm sorry; this isn't a conversation I'm going to have."

"Come on, Troy. We've traded before…"

"Houses, Stan. Not people," Troy widened his eyes.

"So, she comes with the house, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I won't let that happen." Troy affirmed.

"You can't have a hired help to suck you off and play slut when you feel like it and not share the love;" Stan whispered, shocking Troy.

He looked up, sensing Gabi's return and he prayed silently that she hadn't heard. Only the tightness in her body and the cold look in her eyes told him otherwise.

"Troy doesn't pay me to play slut," she quipped tightly, hand on hip. "I choose to do it."

"You know what, Stan? This meal is over…" Cindy said behind Gabi, taking her jacket and swifting out, leaving Troy to stand quickly to try and control some of the damage.

"Gabi, go ask Cindy if she needs a ride with us?" Troy asked and she nodded, but stayed where she was, standing over Stan.

"I'm gonna go home and suck him off now. Have a nice evening; it was lovely to meet you." And with that she strutted off, leaving Troy to blow out an exasperated breath as he ran his hand into his hair.

"You are one lucky son of a gun, Bolton. You just let me know when you're done with that one…"

"Just stop, Stan, okay?" Troy squinted. "Your partner of four years just walked out on you and all you can do is sit there and make lewd remarks about my date?"

Stan shrugged. "She is a little firecracker…"

"Yeah and she's my firecracker, okay?"

"I thought she was just a housemaid," Stan smirked.

"Yeah, well. Maybe I lied about that." Troy sighed and stalked away, knowing everything he had just said would be repeated in the papers tomorrow.

/

"يرأس خنزير ، مثير للاشمئزاز ، الأحمق المتغطرس,"

*Pig headed, disgusting, arrogant asshole

Gabi muttered under her breath as she strode along the sidewalk; their car forgotten as she chose to vent some of her anger.

"Brie!" Troy called and chased after her; running up beside her. "Don't run away like that…"

"Why not, Troy? Because I might get kidnapped and used as a slave? Oh no, because that doesn't happen here does it?" She accused.

"Stan's an idiot. He would never have kidnapped you…"

"How do you know that Troy? His words were the same…his thoughts-" She shuddered and he misconstrued her reason, quickly shirking out of his jacket and wrapping it around her.

"He's a guy…some guys are like that. They just see…" Troy sighed, struggling to keep her pace and define himself at the same time. "They just see the outside."

"And what is it about my outside, Troy? What is it that makes men want to fuck me, whether I like it or not?"

He opened his mouth in a silent gasp, a pain shooting into his chest and disabling his lungs.

"Yeah, that's right. I was raped Troy. I was made to suck guys off and wrestled into bed with them no matter what my feelings were, no matter how much it hurt and you tell me it's better here? That guy would have done the same. He undressed me with his eyes and it all came back. Every minute, every day, every time it happened," she broke into a sob here and took a shuddering breath. "I don't want to see that anymore…I don't want to be looked at that way…"

"Gabi, oh god, I'm so sorry," Troy whispered, catching her up into his strong arms and holding on for dear life. "I'm so sorry," he said into her hair.

"I can't stand it anymore!" She cried, breaking down with the pain of her memories. "I just want to be back there, living that emotionless existence where nothing mattered because all that I was, was owned."

"You're worth more than that," he growled into her ear, his heavily muscled body holding her strong and tight as she convulsed with tears. "No-one owns you now…"

"I hate that I hurt so much! I hate that now it matters…"

"This is how it should be, Brie. You should be feeling; you should be happy and sad and sometimes you should feel pain. But you'll get past that. You will, I promise…"

"Stop telling me that!" She bawled, knowing he was right and god, hadn't it taken two weeks to even be able to face this memory?

"They raped me Troy. They took every last ounce of what was left of me…"

"No, Brie," he murmured into her ear, still holding her up where her knees were weak. "You have something left. I know you do..."

"I don't have the strength…" she argued, sniffling.

"You just told that guy in there to go fuck himself," he awed. "That took strength."

"He looked at me like I was naked, my words mean nothing."

"Your words mean everything. Your words meant 'no' tonight and he didn't take you, okay? No-one is going to take you against your will."

"How do you know?" She sighed, weakening further so that he had to bend his knees to hold her weight.

"Because you have me, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to you…"

"How do I know you won't take me?" She challenged tiredly.

"Because I swear it. Right now I swear on my life I will not take anything from you."

"I can't…" she sighed. "Anymore…"

"I know," he scooped her up into his arms, carrying her tired and emotionally wrecked body back to the apartment; taking her to her bed just like he had the night she had gotten drunk and passed out.

"I swear it," he repeated after he'd taken off her shoes and he stood to pull her covers over.

"Don't leave," she begged on a whisper, her voice as weak as her tired body.

"You should be alone tonight," he argued.

"Don't leave," she said again and he kicked off his shoes, slipped off his tie and unhooked his cufflinks; unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a white t-shirt. He unbelted his trousers to sleep in his boxers; quickly deciding to wear pyjama pants which he fetched from his room before settling down; behind Gabi in her double bed.

"Hug time," she sighed in her semi-consciousness, making him smile softly as he shifted up the bed to gently lay his arm over her; giving her the sense of being held without overwhelming her.

"Good night, beautiful." He whispered before he too fell asleep.

/

Morning was awkward.

Gabi didn't know what to do with herself after waking in Troy's arms again so she decided to get the hell out of his bed and go for a walk; something she wouldn't have considered before but now felt was a good way of clearing her fuzzed head.

She didn't know how to go about changing last night. She didn't know how he felt after hearing her words; she didn't know how he might cope knowing she had been abused in that way and although she didn't like to admit it; she did worry that he wouldn't want her now that he knew she had slept with others. Others she hadn't chosen to sleep with. And maybe he wouldn't want to wait around while she learned to deal with those memories. Maybe he had decided she was too much of a burden.

"Morning!" A male jogger called; running in the opposite direction.

"صباح الخير," she replied absently, marching on to avoid conversation with the stranger. *good morning

She didn't know why; but she didn't even consider dating anyone else in this vast city. There were thousands of men, probably hundreds she could date and yet she could only imagine one.

One whose lips she had already tasted and one who's strong arms had held her so tightly all those times since she had come to be here.

"Hey, aren't you Troy Bolton's girlfriend?" The jogger had turned and caught her up.

"His housemaid actually." She corrected.

"Ah…so you're single?" He ventured, slowing to a walk beside her, his easy manner not intimidating her.

"I'm not in a good place for dating;" she admitted ruefully with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh that's a shame," he commented, piquing her interest. She looked at him with bright eyes.

"Did you want to ask me something?"

"Well, if you wanted a coffee sometime…" he offered shyly, meeting her eyes.

Gabi smiled and sighed. "Maybe another time."

"Here's my number," the guy drew out his wallet and handed her a business card. "I hope to hear from you!"

"Have a good run;" she called to him as he sped off and he turned to give her a small wave before he vanished around the corner of the apartment block she had come to think of as home.

As she travelled up in the elevator, she considered that the offers to take her out so far had been plentiful; but not one of those men made her tummy flip the way Troy did; with just one of his deep pinning looks.

"Where the hell have you been?" Troy roared as he skidded to halt on the landing; clearly on his way to the lift.

"For a walk…" she frowned as if that were obvious.

"Well couldn't you leave a note or something?" He asked tersely.

"Why what happened?"

"Nothing happened. I was worried, Brie. After last night I thought…"

"Thought what? That I might kill myself?" She folded her arms and tilted her head.

"I thought that you might leave." He adjusted, his squinted eyes showing his real fear.

Gabi looked up, surprised. "I'd never leave without saying goodbye."

"Thank god you're okay," he sighed, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her and she felt him sigh out into her hair before he stepped back. "Don't scare me like that again."

"I only went for a walk…" she mused as she came back inside.

"How was it?"

"Some random guy gave me his number," she tossed the card on the table and Troy picked it up, still dressed in his pyjama's. "Were you going out dressed like that?" She added.

"I was worried, Brie," he reiterated. "I didn't care much what I looked like."

She giggled. "Well you look silly. I mean, your hair is messy for starters…"

He looked up from the card, his lips pinched in. "I know this guy."

"Wow, really? Small world."

"Not really. He's a journalist."

"Oh." She gaped, then came over and took the card from his hands, seeing the small print of his job description that read 'Media Journalist'. "Oh."

"What did he say to you?" Troy wondered.

"He just asked me if we were dating and when I said no, asked me to go for coffee…" She recalled lightly.

"Mm, smooth," Troy lifted his brows.

"Are you saying he wasn't genuine?" Gabi wondered, thinking that 'Ryan Grinchley' as his card stated his name was, seemed like a nice enough guy.

"I'm saying he's asked me 'off the record' for my opinion on something, then gone and written a whole bunch of bullshit," Troy admitted.

"Well if we didn't talk about you, then it'd be fine to have coffee with him, wouldn't it?" She checked.

"You're going to have coffee with him?" Troy asked shortly, perturbed by this thought.

"I'm thinking about it."

"Even though he's a journalist?" He checked incredulously.

"I told you I wouldn't talk about us…"

"That doesn't mean he won't manipulate you to get what he wants," Troy warned.

"It's my choice," she lifted her chin and he saw a sparkle of independence in her eyes.

"You're right, it is." He conceded.

"Aren't you late for work?" She checked the clock, seeing he had time.

"No but I will be if I don't get a wriggle on…"