Thanks for the reviews, I was really happy to reach over fifty on the last chapter! Well, hope you enjoy chapter ten. As always, feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

It had been a week since Gabriella's hospital trip, and she hadn't experienced any pain since. Instead, she felt herself falling more and more in love with Troy. Ever since she had told him she loved him too, the pair had grown even closer, spending every spare moment together. The only problem with this, however, was that it meant Gabriella having to stretch the truth. She had told him all about her studies and her life as a student when they had first met; but none of that seemed to exist for her while she was here. So she felt as though she was effectively lying about herself. She didn't want to lie to him. Lying to anybody, let alone Troy, was against her nature anyway. But what else could she do? She was a student; she hadn't made up some elaborately weaved story just for him.

So, when Troy told her one day that he had almost a full day of lectures and seminars to attend; Gabriella had blurted out that she also had some classes to go to that day. She was surprised at how quickly she had managed to lie through her teeth. It wasn't something she wanted to get used to doing. Troy had nodded and smiled at her, and they had arranged to meet up in the late afternoon, once his last lecture ended. She had smiled back at him, all the while wanting to say something else: no! This is wrong! I don't have any lectures to go to because I don't really belong here! But how could she possibly begin to explain that? She couldn't. He would think her to be a complete nut-case. And definitely not in the endearing sense. In the 'you belong in an institution' sense.

Because she wasn't working today, and she couldn't spend the day with Troy, Gabriella found herself sitting alone in the apartment with nothing to do. She wasn't keen on spending the rest of the day like this, as she knew it would result in her dwelling on her strange situation. When Troy was around, she did that a lot less. But on her own, her mind would always wander to thoughts of her friends; her family, her life in two-thousand and ten. And even though there was no Troy in that life; she missed everything else about it. This place was full of strangers to her, except for Troy, Anna, and oddly enough, a younger version of Scott.

Suddenly she thought about what option this left her with. She wouldn't see Troy until later; and there was no way in hell she was seeking out Scott, even if he hadn't yet done the dirty on her. Which left one other person. Anna. With her being the manager, Gabriella was sure Anna would be working today. A plan for the day now formed in her head, she picked up her keys, grabbed her coat, and left, heading over to the coffee shop. She arrived there in record time and was about to go in when she realised something that could be crucial to her new 'lying habit'. If Anna saw her, she might easily let slip to Troy that she had come here, and had therefore not been where she said she would be. She quickly brushed the worry aside, though, when she reminded herself that she could always explain that her class had ended early or been cancelled. This idea was followed by a tinge of guilt at how concocted a web of lies this was going to become. Still, she pushed it all to the back of her mind as she made her way into the shop.

Having worked there for almost a month now, Gabriella was used to seeing the place packed. But for some reason that she was unable to fathom at this moment, today the shop was almost deserted. There was no queue whatsoever at the coffee counter, and only two tables were occupied. She was about to take a seat, rather than barge through to the back, when Anna came through from the back room and noticed her standing there. "Gabriella. Well this is a surprise on your day off!" she greeted jokingly, grinning at her newest employee. Gabriella grinned back, feeling glad she had come.

Despite the strict welcome she had received when she had been unwittingly late on her first day, she had since got to know Anna better, and it turned out she was a great person, and a very fair manager, all in all. The woman was, Gabriella had guessed, in her early thirties. She wasn't married, and had a great sense of humour. "Hey, Anna. Yeah, just thought I'd pop in and say hi. And get a drink, of course. Why's it so dead in here?" she replied. She was also curious as to whether there was anyone else working today; because it seemed unusual for there to only be one member of staff working at one time. Anna answered her unasked question in her response. "No idea. It's like this every now and then, but we never figure out why. The other guy working today is out back on a break."

Gabriella's mouth formed a silent 'oh', signalling that she got the point. Anna asked what she wanted to drink and, once Gabriella had ordered and paid, she offered to bring it over to her. She found a table and before long her boss was in front of her, placing her latte in front of her. "Mind if I sit with you for a bit? My feet are killing me, and I very much doubt I'll get mobbed with a roomful of customers in the next five minutes," she said, getting a friendly nod in return. "So," Anna stated, clearly about to move on to a new topic. "You and Troy..." she stopped there. It was already obvious what she was getting at. "I thought you knew that we're together," Gabriella replied with a small smile. Anna smiled back warmly. She did know. She had seen something between them as early on as Gabriella's first day on the job. She just wanted to be nosey, and find out how their relationship was going so far. "I do. I was just going to ask how it's going with you two," she finished.

"It's going great. Really great," Gabriella replied seriously. She started to tell Anna how deeply she cared for Troy. As they continued to talk, her boss made it clear that she already knew that, too. Along with the knowledge of how much Troy cared for Gabriella in return. Apparently the eagle-eyed woman had been able to see it in their eyes, whether they were working with each other or not. The look of love.

Just as Anna stood up to return to the counter, having decided that she'd better set a good example for her employees by at least trying to look busy on a slow day; the door to the shop opened. But it wasn't a customer. It was Troy. As he caught sight of Gabriella and she met his gaze, an awful feeling flooded into the pit of her stomach. He looked hurt. And she could tell by the look in his eye that she had something to do with that.

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Next chapter, you'll find out what has Troy looking so upset, and what the misunderstanding is. Can Gabriella explain herself?