Hey everyone! I almost have 300 reviews! I'm so excited! Well, this chapter is kind of a filler before the ball, but I like it. Enjoy!

Protecting Miss Montez

Chapter ten

The Dog Park

A charity event was not necessarily what Gabriella had in mind for the Thursday morning before the ball, but she never passed one up that would not only help her father's campaign, but help Human Societies around the state. The first family was going to go to the park at noon to help give dogs hoping to get adopted, baths and attention.

Now, Gabriella was pulling her hair into a pony tail and putting her jeans on at the same time. She wasn't exactly on time and she had already been warn by her dad that if they were late there would be serious consequences to pay.

She hopped out of her room with one shoe on and a piece of hair falling out of her loose ponytail already and Troy could only laugh as he held her up by the arm as she skipped forward while putting her other shoe on.

"Slept passed the alarm?" Troy asked, letting go of her, and starting a speed walk to keep up with her.

"Well, considering my alarm is Rosy, that's not necessarily possible, I actually just ignored her. I'm currently regretting it," Gabriella said as she breathed in quickly, realizing she was out of breath.

"Sounds like you."

"Haha," Gabriella laughed sarcastically as she raced to the limo, getting in only after Troy opened the door for her, his demeanor changing once he got inside where the president was sitting, talking to his wife about what the day would bring.

"Gabriella, do you really think a black t-shirt was an appropriate choice for today? You'll get dog hair all over you," Mrs. Montez said to her daughter as she adjusted the watch that decorated her wrist.

"Do you think white was a good choice? I mean, you'll be giving dogs baths… I hope you're not wearing sexy lingerie under there, that'd be embarrassing, ma," Gabriella giggled, hoping her mom would get the point that she didn't want to be told what to wear anymore.

"Inappropriate, Gabriella," Her father said with a stern look, indicating that he wanted nothing to ruin his day.

"Sorry," Gabriella replied, glancing over at Troy who was clearly trying to suck in a laugh as he sat next to Charles, who looked just as amused.

***

The crowd that filled the park once they got there was a good size. Most had their pet dogs, which was expected, but many were surveying the booths that had caged and leashed dogs in them, all ready to find a good home. Gabriella squealed when she saw the bundles of fur through her window, and just as the car stopped, she was already jumping out, inhaling the fresh breeze.

"Mr. Bolton, I trust that you'll control her," Mr. Montez said somewhat in annoyance, waving her off as if she was someone who brought him a great inconvenience.

"Yes, sir," Troy answered as he quickly followed her away from the car.

A woman grooming a white poodle smiled as the two of them passed her, probably because she recognized Gabriella, but Gabriella was only worried about escaping her parents for the evening.

"You know, you might want to slow down. It might seem obvious you're running away if you actually run," Troy said with a chuckle, walking briskly next to her.

"Did you see how quickly my mom criticized me when I got in the car?" Gabriella snorted, shaking her head.

"Maybe they're just stressed or something."

"That doesn't excuse it," Gabriella told him, shrugging with a short frown.

They were quiet as they walked further along the row of booths, but just as it was getting too quiet a very small, furry puppy bolted towards them, sending the crowd in a panicked frenzy to try to keep the dog from jumping on the President's daughter. Their efforts failed though, and the dogs leaped right towards Gabriella, leaving two sudsy paw prints on her black shirt.

"Whoa, bud."

Troy laughed as he scooped the dog up in his arms, smiling as Gabriella's uncontrollable giggles escaped and made the people around them relieved. She gave the puppy a good pet on the head and then took it from Troy's arms, talking in a baby talk that had Troy eyeing her.

"You're the cutest puppy in the world aren't you?" She continued to laugh, even as the owner of the dog finally got to them, looking apologetic.

"I'm so sorry!" The owner said with a shake of his head. "He's being trained. German Shepherds are a hand full!"

"What's his name?" Gabriella asked, handing the dog over to him while continuing to pet it since it was currently trying to lick her face.

"Moose."

"Moose?" Gabriella smiled. "That's a good name."

The owner smiled, turning his attention to disciplining the dog in the same baby talk that Gabriella had used on him, but even Troy and Gabriella knew that the dog wouldn't know the difference between doing something bad or good when being talked to in that voice. They continued on, making their way to the dog baths that were in the middle of the park. Troy talked into his collar after hearing Charles in his ear, wondering where they were, and Gabriella escaped from his view temporarily while being talked through the steps to giving a dog a bath.

Troy quickly talked to Charles and then found Gabriella again, looking excited as a small poodle-like dog sat impatiently in a round plastic baby pool that was filled with clean water.

"Have you ever done this before?" The woman who was handing over a bottle of baby shampoo over to Gabriella asked.

"No, but how hard could it be?" Gabriella asked.

The woman laughed and shook her head, looking over at Troy who stood with his hands in his pocket on the opposite side of the pool.

"Well, luckily you have some muscle with you. Maybe he can hold the dogs down, and you can do the rest?" The woman handed her a hose, and was off to directing more volunteers to different pools set up around them.

"Come on, muscles, hold the dog," Gabriella laughed, rolling her jeans up to her knees so they wouldn't get wet when she was standing in the pool.

"Very funny, Miss Montez."

Gabriella furrowed her brow, but quickly noticed her parents walking by them, greeting bystanders. She rolled her eyes, petting the dog after kicking her shoes off and stepping in the pool with it.

"Are you going to help?" She asked Troy, scooping water onto the dog to get it wet before adding soap.

"I'm not exactly in the best clothing for this," Troy said, looking down at his suit. "I was only supposed to stand by and be sure no one harassed you."

"Are you afraid to get wet, Bolton? Or are you just afraid of some hard work?"

Troy eyed her, taking his jacket off, and tossing it onto the ground next to him, stepping forward and squeezing the bottle of shampoo until a quarter sized drop hit the dog's fur. The dog looked up at him curiously, but let him continue anyway.

"See, this isn't so bad," Gabriella said as she rubbed the shampoo on the dog, wiggling her toes under the water, liking the feel of her bare feet against the cool water.

"Says the woman wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I can already feel sweat dripping down my back in this," Troy grumbled, fine with taking care of the dogs, but not satisfied with the outfit he had to wear while doing it.

"Well, you look hot."

Gabriella looked at him with a wink, causing his eyebrows to rise above his sunglasses, and a confident grin to appear on his face.

"So do you," He smiled, causing her to happily start a silly conversation with the dog that was currently slurping up the soapy water.

After a good rinse and a towel dry from Troy, their first dog they were assigned to wash was brought to the next grooming station, and a new dog was brought to them. This one, though, forced Gabriella to get out of the pool and for Troy to become worried.

"A Saint Bernard?" Gabriella said when the woman finally got it into the pool.

"Let's see if you think this is easy after a few of these."

"I think she's mocking me," Gabriella said to Troy once the woman was gone.

"I do too."

Troy sprayed water onto the dog with a hose and held onto the collar while Gabriella did everything else. The dog was only worried about the other dogs around it and insisted on jumping out of the pool a few times, but other than that, it wasn't too difficult.

"I wanted a dog when I was little. I asked for it for at least a year straight, but I never got one," Gabriella started when they were in the middle of washing a black lab.

"I had a golden retriever when I was ten. It got hit by a car and Chad found it when he was coming home from a Christmas vacation one year. He was scared for life."

"That's terrible!" Gabriella said in surprise, saddened by the thought.

Troy shrugged, nodding.

"It took me a while to get over it," he admitted as he dried the dog off, laughing when the dog licked him constantly on the face.

"I bet," Gabriella said. "It makes me glad I never got a dog."

"I think it'd be good for you. You know, since you seem lonely."

"Do I really seem lonely?" Gabriella asked as she wiped her forehead off while waiting for another dog to be brought to their station.

"Yeah, you do," Troy nodded, smiled softly at her. "But I don't blame you. I'd be too if I were you."

Gabriella nodded, understanding. As they stood, looking at the soapy water in the pool and at the people around them, they were brought another dog, this one a golden retriever.

"His name's Buddy," the woman said, putting him in the pool.

Gabriella frowned, worried that Troy would become reminded of his old dog, but he just continued, bending down to get a good look at the old dog. Gabriella walked to the side of the pool Troy was at and bumped his shoulder with hers as a way of saying, you're cute, you know that? And he did the same back, as a way of saying; I know you think I'm hot.

Just as they were about to rinse the dog off, a squirrel, who was so daring and brave, slowly tiptoed down the oak tree that was just a few feet away from them and waited for a dog to see them. And the dog that saw it first, just so happened to be Buddy.

"Troy…" Gabriella screeched, as the dog bounded out of the tub, sending Gabriella's feet to fly out from underneath her because she was the one holding onto him.

"Shit!" Troy grabbed Gabriella just as the dog took off and they both went tumbling into the dog hair infested bath water, their legs hanging over the side since they were two times the size of the pool.

The first thing that Troy heard when he came up from the shallow water was a chocking sound from Gabriella as she laughed and gasped for air at the same time. He quickly sat up in the water, wiping water off of his face and even before he opened his eyes he knew they had drawn a crowd.

His blurred vision slowly came back into focus and Gabriella leaned into him, laughing still. Her hair was soaking wet and she grabbed onto his arm, trying to stay up, unfazed by the crowd. Troy laughed too, forgetting that he was on duty for a second, but when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Montez and Charles, he quickly snapped out of his happy look.

"Let me help you up," Troy said as he took Gabriella's arm, pulling her up with him.

Gabriella continued to laugh, ignoring the fact that they were both soaking wet and standing in an ankle-deep pool of water that they had just washed tens of dogs in. Gabriella was still holding onto Troy's arm for support when she saw her parents out of the corner of her eye. She quickly let go and exchanged a look with Troy as they both stepped out of the pool, looking somewhat guilty at the adults watching them.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Gabriella said to the crowd, making them laugh happily, as if young girls falling into a sudsy dog bath happened all of the time at these events. Sooner than later, the crowd separated, going on with their day.

"Gabriella, what were you thinking?" Her mother said as she rushed towards her, grabbing her by the arm like she was worried her daughter would jump in again.

"I wasn't thinking anything, mom, the dog pulled me in," Gabriella said innocently.

"Yeah, and I'm sure the dog pulled Troy in with you, right?"

Gabriella's stomach sank and she glanced over at her mom who gave her a hard stare into her eyes when they made eye contact. She swallowed, looking away from her mom so that her expression wouldn't turn into a guilty one.

"At least I didn't wear white, right?" Gabriella smiled, nudging her mom.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Miss Montez nodded, smiling at the people who were glancing their way as they walked towards the row of limos they came in.

Once they got to the car, they waited for the rest of the people they came with. Troy, Charles, Mr. Montez, a few other security guards and a few press people. When everyone appeared from the crowd and formed a group around the limo door, Gabriella couldn't help but smile at her soaked boyfriend.

"Alright, Troy, I think I've got this from here, why don't you head home and get changed," Mr. Montez said when everyone was filing into the limo. "We'll send a car if you need one."

"No need, Mr. President. I live just around the corner," Troy nodded.

Mr. Montez patted his shoulder, ducking into the limo and closing the door behind him. Troy squinted at the sunny sky, realizing that he no longer had his sunglasses, but didn't feel like going back to get them. The limo slowly pulled away, and he watched it for a minute, until it was far away enough to have no control over.

Gabriella strained her neck to see through the back window, getting only a glimpse of Troy while she was drying off with a towel that security had picked up somewhere. She frowned slightly as she watched Troy walk against the crowd. In the opposite direction of her.

***

"Miss Montez, Troy's back," Rosy whispered as she opened the bathroom door, seeing Gabriella brushing her wet hair after her shower that night.

Gabriella looked at her in confusion, hoping to give the elusion that she had no idea what Rosy was talking about.

"Okay, but why is that my worry?" Gabriella asked.

Rosy smirked, grabbing a lone towel from the floor and folding it in her arms. She patted it, and then set it on the counter, knowing it could be used again.

"I may be a maid, Miss Montez, but I'm not an idiot," she said, with a smile, giving Gabriella a knowing look.

"Rosy… do you?" Gabriella stopped in the middle of her sentence, not sure what she was asking.

"The staff knows everything that goes on in the White House, sweetheart. Even if the President doesn't."

Gabriella's mouth hung open as Rosy turned and hummed a careless song as she left her to think about what she said. The sound of her door room shutting was the only thing she heard after Rosy cheerfully said hello to Troy, as if purposely showing Gabriella that he was really out there.

She tiptoed towards the door, noticing that it was night outside now and that everyone in the White House was probably doing their evening chores or activities. Troy turned his head when Gabriella appeared in the hallway, looking down each ends before pulling him by the arm into her room.

"Gabriella, this isn't a good idea," Troy said, watching as she shut the door behind them. "I already got in trouble once today."

"Rosy knows, Troy."

"Knows what?"

"About us," Gabriella said quietly, as she put her hands on her hips.

"How? If Rosy knows, that means…" Troy shook his head, sighing.

"The whole staff knows!" Gabriella nodded. "I know!"

"Just forget about that for tonight. Tomorrow's the ball and you have that to worry about, okay? We'll figure out what to do later," he said, clearly looking stressed.

Gabriella nodded again, stepping closer to him and giving him a long, I-don't-know-what-I'd-do-without-you hug that Troy returned back to her. He kissed the top of her head before stepping out of her embrace and towards the door, opening it, and returning to his spot in the hallway.

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unknownbyhim22