Hey all! Thanks for all your reviews, and sorry for the late update – I have been trying to get ahead on chapters while also writing a one shot for the new ZA Angels write-off! If you are following Angkeats' work on here, you might have heard of it :) She is the one who will be setting the themes each month, allowing any HSM fanfic writers to come up with a one shot based on that theme. So search for the ZA Angels website and have a go if it sounds like something you would be interested in! Anyway, my own one shot should be up very soon, and in the meantime, I hope you like chapter fourteen of The Single Girl...

"Leave it to me, Gabs," my best friend insists casually.

Oh God. Why do I have a feeling that 'leaving it' to Sharpay isn't the best idea?

Okay. It's fine. She's not investigating this on her own. That really would be a mistake.

I need to calm down.

Finally, I put my phone down and take a deep breath, then carry on walking towards the café at which I'm meeting Sophie Morris.

"Hello, nice to see you again. Listen, before you decide whether you want to be my friend there's something I ought to tell you..."

No. Just no. That cannot happen. Who am I to go blurting out big, marriage-destroying secrets?

Exactly. I'm nobody. I have to pretend that I don't care in the slightest what Tim gets up to behind his wife's back.

His lovely, pregnant wife...

This man really is a lowlife.

I've arrived now, and almost instantly I spot Sophie, sitting at one of the outside tables with one hand resting on her bump. I wander over to her and smile warmly. I really did take an instant liking to her at the party.

"Hello!"

She looks up, returning my smile whole-heartedly. "Gabriella! How are you? Lovely to see you again."

"And you! I'm great thank you," apart from the fact that your husband is trying to steal my father's livelihood. "How are you?"

She is still smiling, and I can see she's going to respond just as positively as I did. This is where I begin to feel uncomfortable; because I know that with just one revelation I could bring her world crashing down. And I don't like that feeling one bit.

"I'm very well, thank you!" She pats her bump proudly as I take a seat opposite her. "Just a few more months to go."

"Not long now then! Do you know whether you're having a boy or a girl?" Sophie is so genuine that I start taking a real interest; blocking all thoughts of upset out of my mind.

"No, Tim and I decided we wanted it to be a surprise," she answers fondly. Then after a minute, she starts to explain our meeting. "I hope you didn't mind me phoning up out of the blue yesterday! It was just so nice to meet you at the dinner on Friday; and I don't really know any of the other girls that well. It'd be lovely to finally make a friend."

I know she's referring to the other wives and girlfriends of my Dad's employees – and of course, that's not who I am. I'm the boss's daughter. There's always the possibility that she has an ulterior motive for becoming my friend; but somehow I can't see this woman being capable of that.

Besides, even more unusual than that is the fact that she hasn't become close to any of the 'others'. I mean, there's no reason for her not to be.

"No problem!" I tell her with a bright smile. Someone comes over to take our food orders, and it doesn't take either of us long to simply choose something from the menu offhand.

"Are the other wives not as friendly as you, then?" I add this as a joke after the waiter has disappeared, although now I am kind of starting to wonder...

That comment seems to have been a mistake, though, when I see Sophie looking down awkwardly.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, sorry...it's just that, if I'm honest; I don't think any of them like me," she explains with a sad smile.

Sophie suddenly looks so vulnerable; that confident (yet kind) air has been replaced with shy embarrassment.

She reminds me of myself, I realise abruptly.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true!" I reply, meaning every word as I reach out my hand to pat hers encouragingly. Our food arrives before she can answer me, so instead she offers me a weak, but grateful, smile.

The food is good; the conversation improves after that somewhat awkward moment, and I end up feeling like I've spent my lunch hour chatting with a really good friend.

If only the concept of a friendship with Tim's wife weren't so complicated...

.HSM.

So it's 6pm; we've all finished work for the day, and Sharpay and I are on our way to the office of my father's business to meet Troy. Although he was actually working on the buses today, he went straight into the office after finishing his shift, saying he'd meet us there when we were ready.

Luckily, Troy does have a genuine reason for coming in – he wanted to get a head start on some new work he has to do. I also know that my Dad has gone home already, because Troy text me earlier to tell me.

It would look highly unusual if I turned up here, only to come face to face with my father. I haven't visited this place in years. Then again, that was before I started dating one of his assistants...

Shar and I walk through the doors of the building, trying not to look like we're in a hurry; when of course we are. But any attempts to avoid being spotted by Maggie - my Dad's secretary, who's been here since I was in my teens – fail completely when she happens to look up at the sound of the loud glass doors shutting behind us.

"Gabi!" she exclaims in delighted surprise. "How nice to see you, dear! What brings you here?"

Maggie is at least sixty (I've never actually asked) and is far too gentle and good-natured to ever consider anything untoward, so there's no way I'm going to confide in her about Tim.

"Oh, I just popped in to meet Troy after work," I reply as casually as I can.

She gives me a knowing look and I glance at Sharpay, who in turn is raising her eyebrows at me.

"Ah yes, your father mentioned that you and the young man were courting," says Maggie with a grin.

What is it with that word lately?

"Erm...yes," I manage, hardly daring to look back at Shar again for fear of laughing. "Anyway, lovely to see you, Maggie. We'd better get going!"

"Oh, of course, sorry dear. You know where you're going, do you?"

"Yes thanks!" I call as we walk away and head towards the nearest lift.

As we are taken up to the right floor, I turn to my friend to find her stifling giggles.

"What?" I demand even though I already know what's tickled her.

"Nothing, nothing...so, what exactly does courting entail?"

I give her a stern look, but end up laughing with her in defeat. "Oh, shut up!"

Finally the lift doors open and I step out...walking right into Troy.

"Oops! Sorry, Troy," I say sheepishly as his face crinkles into that familiar smile.

"Hello," he says simply, leaning back towards me to kiss my cheek.

"Hi." For a minute, I forget where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Hi, Sharpay," he adds as we pull away and all start walking in the direction of the office.

"Hello, Troy," she replies.

Well, that was all very formal.

"Hello, office," I can't help blurting out when we get inside.

Sharpay rolls her eyes at me, but Troy just chuckles.

Now, as I look at all the desks scattered around the room; all my humour has gone. We're here to do a job.

Not that I have any idea where to start...

"This is where I work most of the time," Troy tells us. "Along with the other assistants. Frank's office is..."

"Over there?" I finish, pointing to the door right at the back of the room. He smiles back at me. "I remember," I add. "What about Tim?"

"He's been working in a smaller room until he takes over from Frank – his office is down here," he explains, leading both Shar and I towards yet another door to the far right of the room.

And sure enough, there's his name right on the front of it.

"If he's not here, won't it be locked?" I ask, tugging on the handle and proving my point when it doesn't move an inch.

"What do you think I'm here for?" Sharpay asks pointedly, searching swiftly through her bag. Half a minute later she produces one of her bank cards, and I stare at her incredulously. Am I in one of those spy films or something?

I watch in total shock (and, I'll admit it; awe) as she carefully pushes the edge of the card through the gap in the door and wriggles it around. Seconds later she removes it with one hand, and uses the other to open the door.

And it actually opens. So this is what she meant by "leave it to me"?

Shar marches inside, and I'm still too stunned to move of my own accord. So I let Troy take my hand and gently pull me along with him.

"Do I want to know where you learned that little trick?" I manage at last. She doesn't answer, just grins slyly at me and taps the side of her nose.

Okay. I think my best friend might be a spy.

Moving on...

"Er...Troy, what should we be looking for?" Because I am so rubbish at this.

"Any suspicious paperwork; anything lying around that doesn't relate to work he should be doing," he explains as he starts looking through Tim's desk.

Right...come on Gabi, do something useful.

"Almost got it...there!" Sharpay exclaims. I glance in her direction to see that she's successfully managed to unlock the filing cabinet in the corner.

I'm just about to make some remark about that female assistant from the Bond films, when I realise that someone else is coming into the room.

However, this doesn't stop Shar from shouting out, "Oh my God, look at this!" and waving something out in front of her.

I look between her, Troy and the person at the door, and gasp when I see who it is that's watching us.

"Do you kids need a hand?" comes Frank's voice. And strangely, he actually sounds like he means it...

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