Thank you so much for reviews :D Love youuuu

Chapter 10

"Who's the hottie?" Charles asked in Gabi's ear as she stared at her screen and typed not a single word for her article- due at five.

"Hm?" she looked up to Charles, who in turn nodded down the office where Gabi could see Troy-of all people- talking to Elaine. And not just talking to her, but talking to her with short hair! He'd cut his hair! She sat bolt upright and gasped out loud.

"You know him?" Charles asked with a happy smile

"What's he done?" she whispered and Charles looked from the boy to her.

"He's asking for column space to talk about his sea-life course…"

"I mean with his hair…" she frowned in irritation, still not looking at Charles while she half-stood to watch her boss shamelessly flirting with Troy.

Charles frowned. "I don't know dear, how was his hair before?"

"Long. Messy," she described and blinked a few times to get used to the smart crop that now showed off not only his eyes, but his amazingly handsome face, too. "Now everyone is gonna be after him…"

"Isn't that the point?" Charles enquired.

Gabi downturned her lips. "I kinda like him." She shared with the older man.

"Then why aren't you telling him that?"

"Don't you start," she complained and stood upright as Elaine made her way down the office with Troy in tow.

"Troy, meet my brightest fashion writer, Gabi …" Elaine introduced. "Gabi, Troy."

Gabi gave a soft and obviously familiar 'hey' to the guest, then met his eyes and pouted. "Where's your hair?"

"Oh, do you like it?" Troy grinned, running a hand through his newly-cropped spikes. "Figured it was time for a change…"

Gabi didn't speak; she still berated herself for leaving the other morning and denying herself the possible- and unknown- pleasure of snuggling in bed with the muscled man before her now.

"Troy is going to write a short piece for the environmental section," Elaine picked up the slack silence. "Seeing as you already know one another I thought he could take the spare desk next to yours, Gabi…"

Gabi shot her eyes up, firstly to her boss, then to Troy. He just pursed his lips amusedly while she floundered.

"Of course, fine," she accepted gracefully.

"Are you okay dear; you look a little peaky…" Elaine worried and Troy tilted his head.

"Do you need some air, I can take you out seeing as I'm going that way…"

"Oh what a nice young man," Elaine fawned and Troy smiled back; waiting for Gabi to accept his offer.

"Fine, why not?" she said through clenched teeth and stiffened when his hand touched her back.

Just great, she mused inwardly.

/

"Look, this wasn't deliberate or anything," he offered as the elevator whooshed open and Gabi stalked off, her usually sky-high heels clipping the shiny foyer floor.

"Right," she rolled her eyes and pushed the rotating central door to escape him.

"She knows my mom and I needed a column for my project work…"

"I see," she stormed towards a bench and made a pained noise when her heel caught on an uneven paving slab; sending her over.

"Whoa…" Troy quickly darted forward to catch her and she paused at his embrace, limping over to the bench to remove her shoes and survey the damage.

"Stupid shoes…" she blamed, throwing them down.

"You're always throwing shoes out;" he mused. "I like these ones though…"

He picked up the white stiletto and eyed it with a small smile.

"Why those?" she wondered.

He met her eyes. "Because you wore them with that little white short-suit thing and you looked amazing in it…"

She nodded sulkily and looked down on her panelled tight white dress. "I guess this clings more…"

"You look amazing in that too," he assured and she twisted her lips.

"I'm sorry I left like that," she offered, sighing.

He shrugged. "It's ok."

"I didn't want us to stop being friends…"

"I don't know if I can…" he admitted ruefully and she looked close to tears so he swallowed down his emotions. "But I can try…" he added quickly.

"No, I deserve that," she acknowledged.

"I promise you, I'm only here to do my piece and then I'll be gone…"

She nodded. "I have to go back in now…"

"I'll see you tomorrow." He parted, picking up her other shoe and gently handing them both back to her.

She smiled as he retreated and at the thought of Troy in her office. With that hair.

He'd never get out alive.

/

Gabi was right about Troy being popular with the ladies in her office. It had taken him ten minutes to get from the elevator to Elaine's desk and there was only six feet between the two. By the time he actually sat down, it felt like half the morning was gone.

"Hey," she greeted him softly, feeling sad but covering it up. "I see your new hair is proving to be a hit…"

Troy lifted his brows and pursed his lips at Gabi's comment, shrugging off his jacket and laying it on the back of his chair as he considered she must have watched him all the way across the office being flirted with and she had some kind of weird look on her face, too.

"Yeah," he replied with a bright smile, covering the fact he had clocked onto her. "Who knew?"

Gabi raked her eyes down him; noticing he was wearing the blue jumper and blue jeans she had chosen for him. Her lips twitched with wanting to say he looked good but she decided it was best not to say anything. He'd told her yesterday he didn't want to be friends and she had to respect that. It was her fault, after all, that they were even in this weirdness at all.

If she had just accepted his feelings for her and given into her own then they would be in a different place right now...she sighed; stopping that thought before it started, deciding to get on with the work she was being paid to do. Something that was very hard with a distracting male by her side.

"Hey, will you read my first draft for me?" Troy asked a short while later, bringing her face up from her screen.

She paused, swallowed and pasted on a smile. "Sure."

"I'm not sure it sounds right…"

She scooted over in her chair and leaned toward him to read the small print on his screen.

Troy watched her lips as she mouthed the words and furrowed her brow in concentration. Jeez, he missed her, he mused. He missed her and he ached with the knowledge that she didn't want to be with him. Not even after everything. But he couldn't deny she was beautiful; or that he still wanted her.

"Well?" he lifted his brows as she sank back into her seat.

Gabi flicked him a look. "You really do all that with the whales and stuff?" Was all she said, awed.

He nodded. "But does it sound okay?"

She blinked and snapped back to reality. "Yeah…yeah it sounds perfect…"

"Great, do you know where the copier is; I need to run off some copies for Elaine?"

Gabi nodded and clicked 'print' using his mouse and then walked to the elevator to take him down to the copy room. She lifted her eyes to the ceiling as awkwardness lay between them in the ride down.

"You should know about the copy room…" she blurted into the silence.

Troy lifted his brows. "Oh?"

"People go there to make out," she explained frankly. "Well, I've heard they do, I don't go to make out but believe me some guys think the girls here will kiss anyone because I had one guy try to-" She paused, realising she was babbling nervously. "Anyway, we have to pass the Men's Health guys and if you go in there with a staffer of the opposite sex, you get put up on the board…"

"What board?" Troy asked, secretly grinning at Gabi's complete embarrassment.

"The 'copy room couples' board in the main staff room," she rolled her eyes. "I got on it once with Charles for Christ's sake…and he doesn't even like girls…"

Troy lifted his brows and smiled. "Am I going to be seen as some kind of lothario?"

She gave him a patient stare. "Only if you get on the board more than once in the same week- with a different girl," she explained and stalked out of the elevator to lead the way.

"Wow, can I get a job here?" he wondered as he followed after her.

/

"Nigel," Gabi greeted the copier room inhabitant already there, twisting to give Troy a pained smile. "Now I'm having a threesome," she told him and he spluttered out his laughter, quickly covering his mouth.

"Wow, they really take this stuff seriously…"

"If another guy comes in here and it becomes a gang-bang, I'm leaving," she arched her brow, folding her arms and leaning back on the desk next to the copier, waiting for Troy to do his copies.

"How do I…?" he looked at her with big innocent eyes and she quickly jabbed the right buttons to set his prints correctly. "Thank you."

Nigel left and the air became thick again; like a water balloon just waiting to burst.

"I like those shoes," Troy complimented of her latest heels- some ankle strapped black lace platforms under layered with pink material and they matched the black lace mini dress she had on. Her hair was up in a clasp and she looked amazing, as always.

"Thank you. I like your jumper."

"You bought it…"

She tilted her head. "I'm glad you wore it."

"Look, we should talk, right?" he asked, turning to her. "Things feel weird and I don't want that…"

Gabi looked up to him, swallowing hard. "I guess I made things awkward…"

He stepped closer, sighing out as he told himself not to give in; not to show her his feelings because all she would do is throw them back in his face again and he didn't know if he could cope with that.

"What are you doing after work?" his heart pounded in his chest as he asked, meeting her gaze and finding their eyes locking; just like always.

"Repairing my feet and then going to bed…"

He smiled to himself. "I was going to ask if I could come with you, but I didn't expect you to say that…"

Gabi smiled and met his gaze again, shyly. "After I mend my feet and before I go to bed, we could do something?"

He smiled warmly at her now he had her gaze. "I'd quite like to just rub your feet and go to bed with you actually…" he remarked and she smiled at him hopefully. He really still wanted that, even though she blew him off?

""You have an article to finish…" she reminded him and he arched a brow.

"Will you help me?"

She shrugged. "I guess so."

"Call it payback for making me choose dress designs…"

"I know nothing about sea-creatures," she offered and he grinned.

"Then I'll teach you."

/

"You really need to take care of your feet…" Troy told her as he took them into his lap and lined up his treatments beside him.

Gabi laid back against the sofa arm and offered a little sad smile. "What is fashion without heels?"

"Feet?" he suggested instead of the painful swollen things he was facing right now.

She smirked.

"These are worse than ballerina's…." he began work, rubbing her feet first with a general ointment, then carefully applying cream to the blisters and rubbed parts, taking care to check her face every few minutes.

"I'll wear my sling backs tomorrow," she promised. "They have adjustable straps…" she added when he looked at her blankly.

"Just don't put on a corset as well or you're really in trouble…"

"Actually I have one of those parties this weekend. Jeremy Star – a new upcoming designer from New York- wants to use burlesque dancers for models in his opening fashion show and it's sparking all kinds of controversy in the fashion world," she explained. "So they asked me to go to the after-party to get the goss…"

"Sounds riveting," he derided.

"Well, seeing as I am also 'too curvy' to be taken seriously as a fashion writer, I'd like to think he can teach me a thing or two…"

Troy raised his brows disbelievingly. "You are kidding me?"

"No, he's a very knowledgeable guy…"

"I mean the part before that. About you being too curvy?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like my shape," she assured. "But to some fashion magazines, the fashion writer should epitomise what's on the catwalk. They feel like a stylist should be able to wear what's out there…"

"Elaine's not like that," Troy commented.

"No, thank god or I'd still be writing for 'Sport Weekly.'"

He looked at her and a smile played at his mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing…" his hands rested lightly on her shins.

"What is it, Troy?" she pushed.

"I just…I think you're curves are amazing…I can't see how anyone would think otherwise…"

She pursed her lips. "Let's put it this way- you have muscles right? But you also have this image, like geeky and adorkable…so you don't want to wear tank tops and show off your body because then it changes people's perceptions of you." She shrugged. "It's kind of like that. When people see you have hips and a bum; they change their mind about your fashion savvy…"

"Well that's just silly…and what the hell is adorkable?" he made a face.

She giggled. "It means dorky and adorable…"

"You think I'm a dork and adorable?" he checked and she blushed.

"Don't take it as an insult," she said.

"I'm…not. I'm just working out where to file that…" he admitted, still not entirely sure where they stood.

"Under 'Gabi was an idiot and she'd like to say sorry'?" she suggested lightly.

He stared at her for a full minute before his warm fingers curled around her calves and lightly rubbed up and down to signal his attraction to her.

"Do you mean that?"

She swallowed. "Yes."

He squinted. "What happened, Gabi?" he wondered of their closeness and her bolting.

She blinked and pressed her lips in. "I ran when I got scared." She said simply. "I honestly didn't believe that I could have you…"

"Have me?" he repeated in a warm husk, arching his brow.

"I mean; like, I felt like I didn't deserve you…" she blushed quickly.

"Oh…" he nodded slowly, sucking his lower lip which annoyed the hell out of Gabi because then all she wanted to do was kiss him.

"Does that make sense?"

"And if I hadn't come here and you hadn't seen me again?" he wondered.

She licked her lips. "I don't know…"

He creased his face. "That's not enough for me," he lay her feet down gently and stood to leave.

"Troy…" she appealed.

"Don't you dare ask me to stay," he glittered, facing away, his body tense with anger.

She rose too and hovered behind him. "Okay, okay…I won't," she swallowed, circling her palms together awkwardly, wondering if he would stay or go.

"Goodnight, Gabi," he said and then walked the rest of the way out of the room; and out of her life forever.