Chapter 14: I can't be professional anymore

Troy Bolton was sitting in his office, trying to concentrate on work. But each time he tried, his thoughts wandered over to Gabriella. She was on his mind 24/7 since she left for New York. Today should be the day she got back, but she was sick. He wanted to see her so badly. He wanted to hear her voice. To feel her touch. He didn't even spend a thought on sleeping with another woman in those six weeks.

Over the nearly six weeks without her his feelings towards her became clear. She was on his mind at all times, he missed her, missed her voice, missed her laugh, her touch, he missed everything about her... He was in love with this woman. He fell in love with his one night stand. He fell in love with his assistant. He fell in love with the most wonderful woman he had ever met.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, "Come in!" he cried.

Amber, Gabriella's replacement, walked in, "Is there anything more I can do for you?"

"Yes. You can get me two coffees actually." Troy ordered, "Thanks."

"No problem." Amber said and walked out.

Amber did a good job, but not as good as Gabriella of course. No one could top Gabriella.

Gabriella walked out of the elevator and felt all eyes on her as she made her way to Troy Bolton's office. She was wearing a warm khaki jacket, dark blue jeans and her brown Chloé boots. "I thought she was sick." Gabriella heard the whispers saying.

"Gabriella, what are you doing here?" Ashley asked her.

"Mr. Bolton called me. He said something about an emergency."

"But we have Amber for all emergencies." Ashley said.

Gabriella shrugged, "He asked for me to come. He wanted to talk to be about something. So here I am." Gabriella said and coughed.

"You're clearly still sick. How was New York?"

"It was nice. I hope to come back to work tomorrow." Gabriella said and smiled politely, "Okay I should get going then."

A stranger passed Gabriella in the hallway. She was a young brunette, carrying folders, looking stressed. That's probably my replacement, the brunette thought.

The petite brunette knocked on the office door of her boss and her unborn child's father.

"Come in!" Troy cried, brushing through his hair. He would tell her how he felt. He had to. It was the only way to make things work or not work between them.

Gabriella opened the door and walked in, "You asked for me." she said and coughed again.

"Boy you look horrible."

"Thanks, I missed you as well." Gabriella said casually, but truthfully and rolled her eyes.

Troy got up, "That's not how I meant it. I just meant..."

"That I look sick? Yeah, I know that as well." Gabriella said and sat down. "So, what did you want to talk to me?"

"One second." Troy said and picked up the phone, "No calls for about one hour, okay?"

"You want to sit and talk to me for one hour? A little much, don't you think?" Gabriella asked him confused.

Troy smiled as he eyeballed her. Yes, she did look pale and sick... But yet she was the most beautiful woman he had met.

He would fire her. He so would fire her. That's why he called her in!

"Just tell me if you want to fire me or not." Gabriella said and stroke through her dark brown locks.

"What makes you think that I want to fire you?"

"Why would you possibily call me if not for that?"

"Did you like New York?" he asked her instead. Damn, he didn't have a the courage to tell her.

"Are you really trying to change the subject?" she asked him confused. What the hell was he up to?

"No. I am asking you about your time in New York. So did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Like it."

Gabriella sneezed, "Yes. Very much. I learned a lot and I am now ready to work here again."

"When you are doing better."

Gabi laughed, "Yeah, that might take some time."

There was another knock on the door and the same stranger Gabi met before, walked in with two cups of coffee. The brown haired woman placed them on Troy Bolton's desk and left without a word.

"My replacement?" Gabriella asked him.

"Yes." Troy answered.

"Thought so..."

"Gabriella..." Troy started but couldn't find any words.

Silence overcame the two humans. Minutes passed without any words being exchanged. Both just stared at each other.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk then I can leave again!" the brunette said angrily and got up.

Troy watched her walking to the door. Unable to say anything. Unable to let the words he needed to say so badly come out of his month. He was paralized.

"Gabriella!"

"No! Don't you dare Gabriella me right now! You don't get to do this. Not again. Not to me." Gabriella said and stormed out of his office.

Ashley Bolton watched Gabriella storm out of his office. The brunette was faster than a tornado. She left the building in seconds.

With confusion on her face, Ashley walked into the direction of her brother's office. This was weird. Beyond weird. Did he fire her?

Without knocking, she walked in. "Why the hell is Gabriella Montez storming out of your office?"

"Mind your own fucking business, will you?" Troy snapped at her.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked him, angry but concerned.

"Nothing. Everything's fine." the man behind the desk said and ran with his fingers through his hair.

"Troy..." the blonde Goddess said and walked over to him.

"No. Don't you dare Troy me right now. I am not in the fucking mood to share my fucking feelings with you right now! I told you to mind your own business. This is personal."

"Since when is Gabriella Montez personal?"

"Since she... She's not personal. I meant professional."

"Mhm, right. Professional."

"Ashley, just leave me the fuck alone."

"Are you..." the blonde stopped talking, knowing that her words didn't even reach her brother. He was in his own world. In his own troubled world.

"I will talk to you as soon as I figured things out." he ensured her.

The green eyed woman nodded and walked out of his office.

She closed the door behind herself and took a deep breath, "Whatever this just was between them, wasn't anything good."

Gabriella sat on the dark red comfy couch in her apartment, with ice cream on her tighs, watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Only she wasn't really watching. Gabriella was lost in her thoughts. Lost trying to think of a way to tell him that she was pregnant. As in pregnant with his child.

Gosh, she was really pregnant. Gabriella couldn't believe it! She was carrying human life inside of her!

The ringing phone ripped Gabriella out of her thoughts. She got up and walked over to the ringing phone before she picked up. "Hi, Sharp."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Well not really. I thought he wanted to fire me."

"Did he?"

"No. Luckily no. Or maybe not luckily. I don't know. I guess things would be easier if he fired me."

"Did you tell him about your pregnancy?"

"No. I was too afraid to. I am a coward." Gabriella said and laughed, "Gabriella the coward. Gosh, Sharp what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing." her friend ensured her, "You're just a little confused. It's normal."

"No it's not normal. Not for me."

"When do you plan to tell him?"

The brunette shrugged and sat down on a chair in her kitchen, "I don't know. I really don't. Maybe I just keep it to myself."

"Until when? Until you have a huge bump?"

"Well maybe until I have a date for the abortion."

"Are you seriously thinking about that?"

Gabriella shrugged again, "I don't know. I mean, on the one side I am not ready to be a mother. I mean, children don't even like me!"

"And on the other side?"

"Maybe I should have a child. Maybe that's what's meant to be. Maybe that's my future. A single mother."

"You should tell him. Then you can be single parents together." Sharpay joked.

"Not funny. I won't tell him."

"Well, perhaps-" a doorbell interrupted Sharpay, "Was that your doorbell?"

"Yes." Gabriella said a little confused and walked to her front door. Who was that?

"Who the hell wants to talk to you now?" Sharpay asked her.

Gabriella shrugged, "How am I suppose to know? Probably someone who is having their break right now." Gabriella said and opened the door.

He was standing in front of her. In a simple black shirt and dark blue trousers. He was standing in front of her. In front of her appartment. What was he doing here?

"I... I have to call you back." Gabriella said into the phone and hung up. "What are you doing here?" she asked him confused.

"Can I come in?" he asked her instead.

"As what are you here?" she asked him before she decided whether to open the door or not.

"Not as your boss." he answered.

She held the door open for him. "Come in, then."

He nodded and walked passed her. Something was wrong. Something was different. Something changed. She just wasn't sure what it was yet. Suddenly there was this weird atmosphere. This weird tension between them.

"Why are you here?" she asked him as she closed the door again.

He stood in the middle of her living room and turned around, "Because I want to talk to you."

"We've talked. You called me in earlier and we talked."

"No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Then what do you want to talk about?" she asked him as she filled two glasses with water.

He couldn't say it. He couldn't bring out the words. Couldn't say the words he needed to.

Gabriella looked at the man in front of her. He didn't want to talk. Why didn't he want to talk?

"Okay, if you can't start then I will. You can deny it or not, but we have a chemistry. Something exists between us. And I am not only talking professionally here." Gabriella said and felt the stomach turning around again. But she controlled it. She wasn't going to throw up. Not in front of him.

"What did you do in New York?" he changed the subject.

Gabriella brushed through her dark brown locks and decided to ignore his question, "I can't be professional with you anymore. Not in your office. Not here." she said and shrugged, "I simply can't."

He stared into her chocolate brown eyes and nodded, "Then don't be."

Gabriella sighed and got up. For a second Troy thought that she would leave. Leave him and his unexpressed feelings. But instead she walked around the table and sat on white chair next to him.

"I..." Gabriella stopped as she felt her stomach turning around once more. This time she couldn't control it. She grabbed the trash bin and puked into it.

"Sorry," she apologized, "But it's been going on the last week..." Gabriella said, sneezing again.

He handed her a glass of water and she took it greatfully before she drank it. "Thanks."

Troy got lost in the brunette's eyes. He missed her voice. He missed her perfect lips, her smile... He missed her. He couldn't ignore his feelings anymore. So, he got off of his chair.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked her boss confused.

He pulled her face in his hands and kissed her. He didn't care that she just threw up. He didn't care that she was sick. All he cared was that she was here. That she was with him.

Gabriella let go, "Why did you..."

"I have fallen in love with you, Gabriella. Deeply and head over heels in love. The worst way you could fall in love with. I tried to ignore it. I tried to earase those feelings, but I can't. I am in love with you. And I wanna try to have a relationship. I know I am not the best at relationships, considering my last flings, but I-"

"I am pregnant." Gabriella interrupted him and bit on her lip.

His mouth felt open. Did he just heard her right? Did she say that she was pregnant? As in pregnant, pregnant? No, he must have misheard her. "What?" he asked her shocked and sat down again.

"I did a pregnancy test ealier and it was positive. I've been throwing up the past week about four to seven times a day. My period's about six weeks late and I am very hormonal lately. I am pregnant."

"But... We were safe." Troy felt the floor losing under his feet. This caught him by surprise. He expected everything as an answer but not this.

"Not always."

"I... You said...When... But..." he couldn't bring out words which could describe his feelings. He didn't even know what he was feeling. His feelings were a mixture of everything... A mess.

"The night at Area. I drank alcohol, not a lot but it must've been enough. We didn't use a condom. My pill was effectless. And then there was the time before we both started work. The night at Joe's bar. And then... Truth to be told, we had more than once unprotective sex."

Troy Bolton was silent. He knocked someone up. He had never knocked someone up! He had always been the careful one. He had always used a condom. Until he met Gabriella.

This silence was killing her. It was killing her to see her boss so helpless and confussed. He would fire her now. Perhaps even get up and leave without a word. She was prepared for it. Prepared for the unknown.

His ringing mobile interrupted the silence between the two.

"Yes?" he asked the unknown caller and turned away, so he didn't have to face Gabriella. "Of course. I'll be there." he said as he hung up.

He turned around and stared at her with sorrow in his crystal blue eyes. "I..."

"You have to go. Of course. Go. Who am I to keep you here." Gabriella said and pointed at the door. "You can let yourself out."

He was silent as he got up and walked to the front door. He opened the door and turned around in the doorframe. "We, uhm... You should... We should talk. Later."

Gabriella nodded, "I'll be by your office in a couple of hours."

Without any more words Troy Bolton left Gabriella Montez`s apartment.

Only two hours later Gabriella Montez found herself sitting in the familiar office again. He wasn't here yet. He texted her to go to his office and wait, since there weren't a lot of employees around it was safe to talk about this at his office. Nearly every employee was taking a break. Taking a break from work.

The door opened and the brunette's head turned around.

"Hi." she greeted him simply.

"Have you been waiting for a long time?"

She shook her head, "No just got here. The traffic was horrible."

He nodded.

"So, uhm... Did you... You know think about..." Gabriella couldn't find the right words. She couldn't let her mouth form the right words for the kind of question she wanted to ask him. She didn't even know what kind of question. She only knew that she wanted him to talk. To talk to her.

He walked over to her and sat next to her. He was silent and just stared at her. That was the mother of his unborn child. The mother of their unborn child. That was the one he loved. Who was pregnant. Knocked up by him. His mind had been wandering up and down while he sat in that meeting. He didn't listen to what the others said. No, his mind was thinking about her. About her and their unborn child. About... So much but work.

Then he looked away.

"Troy... Say something. Please." Gabriella begged him.

The icy blue eyed man looked up at her, "You called me Troy."

"Yeah, well I guess this situation requires a personal treatment." the petit brunette said and brushed through her dark brown locks.

"I still have your earring." Troy said feeling in a daze, starring at the monitor in front of him.

"What?"

"You've lost your earring that night." he said and looked at her again. "It's a nice earring. I think you should have it back." Was he seriously talking about a lost earring right now?

"What?"

"I'll bring it by later this day. Or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow. At around twelve."

"I won't be home."

"Why?"

"I have an appointment tomorrow at my gynecologist. At twelve."

"Oh." the blue eyed man said, still shocked by this whole thing. "You want me to go with you?"

The brunette shrugged, "I don't care. If you want to, you can. If you don't, then don't. I won't be forcing you to go. It's your decision."

"Okay..." the man said in a daze. "Are you... Keeping it?"

Truth to be told, she didn't knew. "I don't know."

"Okay..." he said, nodding this time.

"Could you stop that?" the brunette asked him in an angry voice.

"Stop what?"

"Could you finally talk to me about our freaking mistake?" she nearly yelled at him.

"You should stop yelling."

"Or what?" the brunette yelled. "You're gonna fire me? Fine, do it."

"What the hell do you want from me, huh?" he yelled back.

Ashley Bolton was walking down the halls of Wilson's records. The blonde Goddess with the piercy green eyes walked pass the information desk and straight down the corridor in front of her. She loved her work. She loved where she worked. She only didn't really like who she worked for. I mean, working for your brother does seem weird at most of the times, but you get used to it - at least that's what she kept on telling herself since three years now. With a light blue cup filled with delicious coffee the brunette walked passed all the white office doors. Ashley stopped in the hallway as she heard loud voices coming from Troy's office. She turned to her right, to see Amber sitting at her iMac, typing like crazy.

"Hey poppet, " she called the intern, "you know why there's yelling in that office?"

The brunette shrugged, "Not really. It's been going on for a while now."

"Who's in there?"

"The woman I saw you talking to earlier. Khaki coat, dark blue jeans... Brown boots."

"Gabriella?"

"Wait, his assistant? That is Gabriella? No wonder everyone misses her. She looks like a supermodel!"

Ashley glanced at her.

"Sorry." she said and apologized. "But it's true."

"Yeah, I know what you mean... She arrests attention, for sure."

"Well now I know why he hasn't fired her. Although, they do seem to fight a lot..."

"What'cha hear, poppet?"

"Not much. Those doors make sure the words don't come out. Only noise."

"So I shouldn't go in there."

"Probably not." Amber agreed and both women smiled.

"I want you to take a stand for or against this pregnancy. Because I can't seem to decide, whether or not I want to continue this pregnancy." Gabriella said in one breath.

"You want an abortion?" Troy asked her shocked.

"I don't know what I want!" she yelled, "All I know is that I don't want to give everything up." she said and felt the tears forming in her eyes. Damn hormones.

Troy saw her crying from the cornor of his eye and automatically put his hand over hers. Gabriella felt her heart beating faster as she felt his warm soft hand over her cold one.

"I want you to keep it." he said finally, and looked her in the eyes. "I want you to continue this pregnancy."

"But what about my dreams? I am twenty-two years old, Troy. I am not ready to be a mother. I wanted to have a career. And frankly, I'd probably be a horrible mother."

"And you will have a career. I promise you, you will. I will make sure your dreams come true, Gabs." he said and her heart skiped a beat when she heard her nickname. "We will make this work. I will make sure you won't be a horrible mother." he said and smiled.

"Promise?" Gabriella asked him.

"I promise." he said and kissed her hands.

Gabriella smiled, "We're going to be parents."

Troy returned her smile and placed his lips and hers.

Gabriella pulled away, "I could still get you sick." she explained her refusal.

"Like I care." Troy whispered against her lips as he kissed her again. This time she returned his kiss and stroke through his dark blonde hair.

"I love you." Troy said into her chocolate brown eyes.

The petite Spanish beauty smiled, "And I love you, too." she said before she crashed her lips against his again.

Hours later Troy was alone in his office again. The man didn't expect this day to be so surprising, he didn't expect it to be so... Life changing. Troy was finishing off his work for the day in the late evening of Los Angeles. A knock on his door kept him from shutting off his iMac and going home.

Seconds later the door opened. His step-sister entered his office, "You're still here."

"Just like you." he said and shut off his iMac, "What'cha want?"

"Did you fire her?" the blonde woman asked her brother.

Confusion made it's way to his face, "Who?"

"Gabriella. Did you fire her?" she said as she handed him his coat.

"No. Why should I?"

"I don't know. I just heard you guys fighting earlier and I figured you'd probably fire her. Like you did with the past assistants." Ashley explained, "But Gabriella's different."

He nodded, "You tell me."

"Don't fire her. She's a good assistant. I mean, I probably shouldn't tell you this but..."

"But what, Ash?"

"But she managed all of your appointments and made sure everything ran smoothly while she was in New York. That Amber girl she... Well, she actually only did the coffee runs."

"What?" he asked her shocked.

"That woman is amazing. You'd be nuts if you fire her." Ashley said as they made their way out of Troy's office.

"Don't worry, she will be around here for a long time..." the dark blonde man said as he closed his office door.

"You like her don't you?"

"She's my assistant, Ashley."

"That's not the point, Troy. You like her. Admit it."

"She works for me."

"And you like her."

"She's two years younger than me. Probably immature."

"And you like her." Ashley answered with a grin on her lips as they both entered the elevator.

"I don't like her, Ashley. She's a good assistant and a good looking woman, which does no harm in this job. But she is my assistant and we both know that I don't mix my personal life with my professional life. We all know how that ended last time."

"But Gabriella isn't Sydney."

"I am not comparing two different women with you right now."

"No, but I am. They are completely different. Besides, you're still friends with Syd..."

He shrugged, "Kind of, for sure. I mean, it didn't work out between the two of us."

"Did you love her?" she asked him, unsure if he would answer this question faithfully.

He thought for a couple of seconds. "...I thought I did. But I guess I was wrong."

"What'cha mean by that?" she asked him concerned.

"Nothing." he said shaking his head, "Absolutely nothing."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "We cheated on each other anyways..."

"Don't pretend that you wanted it to work out. We both know that you're a player."

"Where's the problems with being a player?"

"You're only playing because you're afraid to get your heart broken, Troy. But sooner or later you're gonna fall in love with a woman so badly, that you gonna have to put your heart out there. You will have to take the risk."

He nodded, "I know." the man agreed as he walked out of the elevator. Too bad she didn't knew that he already decided to take that risk.

I hope you liked this chapter. Please review to tell me your opinions.

Xoxo Nic