A/N: Here it is :D I'm currently going insane right now. Exam prep. Watching Gaga on BBC's big weekend, waiting for Gaga to release 'Hair' (about 9PM GMT time), waiting for a week on Wednesday. I will be 18. I'll be legally required to act like a grown up. Haha. Yeah right.

Anyway, enjoy :D x

Chapter 3

"Can I come?" Sharpay pleaded.

"No," Gabriella exclaimed. "You can't. That would be weird. My friend and my boss? It's weird enough going to a pub with my boss. The only reason I did is because I need reassurance that this isn't a completely stupid idea of mine. Besides, you'd spend the entire evening praising him for his hotness and criticising him for the dorky side of him. No, you can't come."

Gabriella drank some of her iced tea through a straw. She was sat by herself in the corner of the bar area of The Duchess. The dim lighting was just enough for her to be able to read Moby Dick without straining her eyes. She'd spent about twenty minutes staring into her wardrobe before deciding on a white button down shirt and a black knee length skirt. Simple, but smart enough to show Troy and Andy that she wasn't covered in oil all of the time. The only thing that they would recognise would be the bandana tied around her wrist. Whilst listening to Sharpay's babble, she looked around the partly deserted pub and wondered if this was a hoax. Maybe they had stood her up.

"Is he there yet?" Sharpay asked impatiently. Her friend might as well have been sat in front of her for the sheer clarity of the image that Gabriella had of her. Sharpay would be curled up on the couch, next to Zeke, resting one hand on his thigh, the other clutching the phone to her ear, and telling Zeke off when he turned the TV volume up. There was something reassuringly predictable about her extravagant friend.

Gabriella smiled to herself. "Nope. Just me and Moby Dick. And a creepy guy who keeps looking over at me."

"See! You need me for company," Sharpay exclaimed triumphantly.

Gabriella twirled one of her freefalling dark curls around her finger. "No I don't. At least," she countered, "not right now. Shar, you've never dealt with bosses before. They're tricky, hard work, and, most prominently, confusing. I did not put 'nosy best friend' as one of my references."

Sharpay's joyous laugh rang into Gabriella's ear. "You should have done that."

Gabriella rolled her eyes to herself. "Yes, but then I wouldn't have a job."

"Hey, you made it," a voice greeted.

Gabriella looked up to see Troy, Andy and a pretty red-head staring at her. She held her finger up, indicating she'd only be a minute. "Uh, Shar, I have company. I'll call you back later, okay?"

Whilst she was finishing the conversation, Troy and Andy headed towards the bar and the red-head sat down next to her and shrugged her jacket off. Sneaking sideways glances at her, Gabriella saw that she was maybe two years younger than Andy, with little, if any, makeup applied to her face. Her hair was curled generously and pinned into a relaxed up do, a few locks framing her face. Her beauty was simple and natural. But, as Andy's friend, Steph if she remembered correctly, shyly looked over to where Andy was laughing at what Troy had just said, Gabriella realised that she was naturally nice as well as beautiful.

Gabriella slipped her phone into her bag, closely followed by her book. "Sorry about that. Gabriella." She held her hand out.

Steph smiled and nodded, shaking her hand. "Steph. You're working for Troy?"

Gabriella nodded, stirring her iced tea with her straw. "Believe it or not. He seemed reluctant but even he couldn't deny a good mechanic, no matter man or woman."

"He's not as bad as he seems," she murmured. "He's complicated."

Gabriella cracked a smile. "Complicated is my middle name." She paused. "Well, not literally. I actually have five middle names and 'complicated' isn't one of them. But, you get the picture."

"Why are you nervous?" Steph asked quietly with a frown.

Gabriella gave a laugh. "What makes you think that I'm nervous?"

"You rambled. Generally, people only ramble when they're nervous," she murmured.

Gabriella smiled and shook her head. "No nerves her. Nerve-free zone. If the nerve police came in here, there wouldn't be any arrests."

"Gabriella," she said calmly, "you can tell me. Those guys over there are oblivious. They won't register that something's bothering you."

"Sometimes it's better that way," Gabriella whispered. "I don't want this to be a mistake. Troy was too reluctant to employ me for comfort. I just need reassurance that this is going to last because not many people are willing to employ a woman as a mechanic. I don't want this to backfire like an exhaust."

Steph rolled her eyes. "Jesus, another person who uses car similes."

Gabriella laughed. "I can't help it."

"Don't worry about this. It'll get better. Andy likes you. I can tell. Troy is a little harder to convince. But, like you said, he's not stupid. He knows a good mechanic when he sees one. He'll come around, I promise."

Andy and Troy headed back over. Troy had a pint of lager and Ander had a pint of lager and a white wine. Andy gave the white wine to Steph and gestured with his head to the pool room. "Want a game?"

Troy groaned. "You promised that you wouldn't."

"Come on, Dad. We won't be long, I promise." Before either Troy or Gabriella could protest, Andy and Steph had moved towards the pool table.

To do something during the awkward silence, Gabriella sipped her drink. She avoided looking at Troy and, instead, stared at the small money spider that was slowly climbing down the beautiful thread of silk that Incy Wincy (as she named him in the moment) could miraculously and naturally make. She watched the incredible work of Mother Nature before her very eyes and, with a practiced ease, calculated in the minimal time possible that Incy Wincy would land exactly on top of Troy's mop of grey-streaked hair.

Troy had taken his blazer jacket off and was now occupying himself by attempting to stand the drinks' coaster on its side. Instead of taking offence like she should have been that he was obviously bored in her company, she was timing her movement just right so that when Incy Wincy was within reach, she leaned over the table and Troy and let Incy Wincy land safely in the palm of her hand.

She sat back down contentedly and let Incy Wincy crawl all over her palm. She smiled across at Troy. "Isn't he cute?"

Troy looked across and his vision zoned in on the black speck that was moving all over Gabriella's hand. "That was going to land on me?"

Gabriella nodded. "But he's safe now. Isn't that great?"

Troy looked, to Gabriella's amusement, as if he was on the verge of hyperventilation. "Get it away from me. If you value your short-lived job, goddamit, you will get it away from me."

Concluding that losing her job was not worth the satisfaction of teasing Troy's obvious fear of spiders, she stood up and let Incy Wincy free through a nearby open window. She sat back down opposite Troy and folded her arms in satisfaction.

"Don't say anything," he hissed.

Gabriella shrugged. "I never said a word."

"You didn't have to," he muttered. After a pause, he sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I think. I didn't really do anything. It's not like it was going to kill you," she exclaimed.

"I can't help it. I hate spiders. They're horrible." He shivered violently.

Gabriella sipped her drink. "I love spiders. I had a pet one called Fluffy when I was seven. Kept him in a shoebox in my wardrobe and I fed him dead flies."

Troy pulled a face and sipped his lager. "That's disgusting."

"That's what my mum said she found out. So I had to say goodbye to Fluffy. I can remember what my mum said right to this day. ¿Por quémanteneruninsectosuciaenel armariode esa manera?¿Quiénsabequéenfermedadesestállevando?¿Cuándo va asersiempreun niñonormal?2" (A/N: Why would you keep a filthy spider in your wardrobe like that? Who knows what diseases it could be carrying? When will you be a normal child?) She laughed at Troy's vacant expression. "My mum and dad are from El Salvador and moved over here before I was born. People ask me what my first language is. I don't have an answer. I pretty much learnt English and Spanish at the same time."

He nodded slowly. "So what did that mean? What you just said in Spanish, I mean."

She smiled. "She was basically wondering why I wasn't a normal child."

"And then you grew up to be a woman mechanic," he exclaimed.

She laughed. "Yeah. Mum realised that there was no changing my mind so she had to accept it."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence that was spent with the pair of them sipping their respective drinks. A moment later, a shrill series of beeps resonated from her bag. She reached down and dug through the mass of essentials she had before she found her phone and flipped it open. Dropping her bag to the floor, she read the text by Sharpay in amusement.

Rate him on a scale of 1 to 10 x

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she shut her phone and set it on the table without replying. "Best friend," she murmured. "She wants to know my rating of you on a scale of one to ten."

"And you're not responding?" he asked.

She shrugged. "She'll want all the details tomorrow anyway."

"So what's your answer?" he asked, resting his forearms on the table and leaning closer.

A smile pulled at Gabriella's lips as she leaned closer, just like he had. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." She leaned back and shrugged at him. "I'm undecided."

"Well, that's comforting," Troy muttered.

"Be grateful my friend isn't here. She'd be interrogating you," she teased.

Troy nodded to himself, fiddling with a coaster again. "Sounds about right."

"Don't worry. I'm nothing like her. We're polar opposites," she reassured.

In the ensuing silence, a loud ring of laughter rang out from the pool room. Gabriella looked through the doorway to see Steph leaning against a pool cue, laughing at something Andy had just said. "What's their deal?"

Troy looked over at his son and his best friend. He turned back to Gabriella and shrugged. "She's the daughter of some friends of mine, who I've know a really long time. It was sort of a given that they'd be friends and they've proven us right. Kelsi, her mum, keeps saying they'll get together. But, me and Jason are against it."

Gabriella frowned. "Why are you against it?"

He shrugged. "They're so close, we don't want them to get torn apart."

"You can't stop them from being together. People do get torn apart. Sometimes, there's no reason for it. It just happens and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Take it from somebody who knows." She straightened her back and an enigmatic look settled on her face, reminding Troy, once again, of the poker face of a statue.

Troy wasn't sure how to respond and was grateful when Andy and Steph joined them again with empty glasses. "Do you guys want some refills?"

Troy nodded and handed his son his empty glass. "Same again. It's been a long day."

Andy gestured to Gabriella's glass. "Gabriella?"

Her iciness melted away and she realised what Andy was offering. She stared at her empty glass and frowned. "I don't know. I think I should get home."

"Aw, don't go," Steph pleaded. "Stay."

Gabriella shrugged. "Sure. Another iced tea, please."

"You sure you don't want some wine?" Andy asked sceptically as he reached for her glass.

Gabriella shook her head. "No thank you. Just an iced tea."

"How have you guys been getting along?" Steph asked.

"Like a house on fire," Troy muttered.

"Do I detect sarcasm?" she asked.

Gabriella shrugged. "How well do you want us to get along? I learnt that he suffers from extreme arachnophobia."

Troy nodded. "And I know that she was a creepy child who had a pet spider called Fluffy."

Steph gave them both a look of disbelief. "We leave alone and that's the best you can do?"

Troy quirked an eyebrow. "I employed this Spanish-talking, spider-loving woman today. I'm not going to know her life story."

"Besides," Gabriella murmured, "I don't want him to know my life story."

"Why am I not privy to that information?" Troy protested.

"A number of reasons," she exclaimed as Andy returned with their drinks. "Number one, I've known you a day. Forgive me for not being an open book to complete strangers. Number two, you're my boss. Call me old fashioned but I like to keep my personal life separate from my professional life."

Andy nudged Troy's shoulder. "She definitely told you."

Troy nodded slowly and stood up. "I need some air." He left his full glass on the table and left Gabriella, Steph and Andy behind.

In the silence that followed, Steph offered Gabriella a comforting smile. "He'll lighten up. It's still your first day."

"It doesn't make it any easier," Gabriella muttered.

Andy offered her a smile. "Don't quit yet. I know even I didn't make the greatest impression but you'll be good for him."

"Besides," Steph began, "Uncle Troy needs some oestrogen in that place. The testosterone is unbearable."

"Listen," Gabriella started as she rummaged through her bag, "I think I should go." She tossed some change onto the table. "Thanks for the drink but I should go."

Andy shot Steph a worried look. "Look," he started. "Don't quit. Please."

She continued pulling her jacket on. "Listen, Steph told me that your father's complicated. And that's fine. He can be whatever the hell he wants to be. But, when 'complicated' should my legal middle name, I don't need him making my work life hell. Being a mechanic is the one time when things make sense. I take one glance at an engine and I know how to fix it. I don't want him to ruin that for me. Because all of my life, I've been made fun of, bullied, and been made an outcast because I'm a woman. Right from being fourteen when I started. I thought a backstreet garage might be different."

Andy stood up at the same time she did. "I'm serious. Don't quit. My dad is complicated. But, he won't ruin this. We're in need of a good mechanic and he knows one when he sees one. He wouldn't have said yes if he didn't want you around."

"He rejected me before he'd seen me do any work," she protested.

"And he was wrong. Please hang around. Promise me," Andy pleaded.

"What's in it for me?" she whispered.

Andy shrugged. "I'll think of something. And I'll talk to him."

"Fine," she sighed. "But if he doesn't lighten up and at least try to make this work, I'm out. See you later."

Pulling her bag onto her shoulder, she headed to the door. Once outside, she saw Troy leaning against a wall, staring at the sky, his hands dug deep in his pocket. She stared at him, wondering what was going through his head. What made him so complicated? What made his eyes that icy blue? What made him so reluctant to employ her and be civil towards her?

He looked over at her. "What?"

She sighed. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She went to walk away but turned back around to face him. "Everybody has complications. But it doesn't mean you should treat people badly. In fact, you should treat people with even more respect because you never know when you'll need them. Think about that before I get into work tomorrow."