Chapter 5

Gabi had found a nice little corner out in the fresh air but that was covered and warm from the outside heaters and from there she conducted her office work.

She was planning her little shopping trip for later and what she needed to buy and she actually felt a little happier knowing that she could escape this restricted life for a while.

Gabriel was happy for her to leave for the afternoon and all she had to do was bring his lunch in an hour and then she was free.

A big smile plastered her face at the very thought of being able to do as she liked for the afternoon.

"You look like an idiot sitting there grinning inanely" came that familiar yet annoying voice as Troy's body blocked the light briefly as he sat opposite her and started eating like a starved boy in front of her.

"Chew much?" she asked lightly.

His eyes flicked up and her stomach curled at his under-the –lashes look. He smiled too, albeit with his mouth full but it was the first real smile she had seen from him. She knew it was real because the lines at his eyes crinkled and a little crease formed at the side of his mouth that she hadn't seen before.

"Sorry, mom" he apologised gently and Gabi didn't like that tone of voice. Since when did he sound so husky and sexy? She wanted him to go back to being rude and obnoxious. It was a lot easier to plot revenge that way.

"So what are you smiling about?" he asked when she didn't offer any conversation

"Oh, just the fact I have the afternoon off and don't have to look at your face for the rest of the day" she replied happily.

He chewed and swallowed, licking his teeth as he put down his napkin and Gabi felt a little tremor of fear run through her. Had she really pissed him off? God she could get banned from set if she wasn't careful. She sometimes forgot who she was speaking to when it came to Troy. He was considered a major Hollywood actor here, she was small fry.

"Good for you" he said then as he noticed her expression change. From one of happy superiority to one he didn't quite recognise but she had definitely looked worried. And he was fed up of people looking worried around him. The reason he found himself coming back for more abuse from the icy Montez girl was because he wasn't used to being put in his place and he actually kinda liked it. His mom would have done pretty much the same only less kindly.

He didn't want her to sit there and think about him as Troy Bolton. He wanted her to think of him as Ego Trip and maybe, just maybe they might form some kind of friendship.

He had such little time for his friends he wondered if they would still speak to him when he did get home and he missed having peers his own age to have fun with.

It seemed like a long three months without anyone to talk to.

"Bolton!" someone called and he sighed, downing his drink.

"Well, this has been such fun" he said sarcastically "But I have to leave. Have a nice afternoon Miss Montez" he said formally and took his plate over to the catering van before heading back in, once again making her frown at his action. Every now and then he hinted at being a gentleman, she just wondered what happened the rest of the time. Maybe it was the effect she had on him. She was hardly a girly girl and she could only imagine he would bend over backward for one of his harem.

She crossed that thought from her head and ordered lunch for her dad, finally escaping for the afternoon.

----

Gabi lay down her shopping bags on her bed in the hotel and then lay down with them, exhausted.

She was just having the most delicious sleep when the room door banged shut and her father stormed in.

"That bloody Bolton kid!" he roared and Gabi sat up in bed, dazed, disorientated.

"Huh?" she asked sleepily as Gabriel made his way into the alcove and found her sat on the bed.

"He went into my trailer and decided it would be funny to take some of my clothes then turned up on set wearing them and doing a god-awful impression of me" he grumbled and Gabi's brows rose in shock. Troy did that? Troy. Ego Trip? Surely he wasn't capable of it. She bit back a smile.

"Don't you bloody laugh as well!" he shouted and Gabi got up and soothed her dad.

"It IS kinda funny dad. You ARE kinda grumpy lately." She hedged.

"Don't tell me he's got you wrapped round his finger too" he accused and Gabi laughed again, shortly.

"Err, no" she said succinctly with a disgusted face.

He huffed and puffed a bit more. "I'm calling room service do you want anything?" he asked

"Sure, that sounds nice, but why don't we go down to dinner? It'll be nice to get out this room" she suggested and her father nodded.

Gabi ate her pasta and sauce knowing that Troy was sat in the corner of the hotel restaurant. She knew he was there and that he was alone which had made her heart jump a little. She wasn't sure why but she was glad she wasn't the only one who dined alone. But she did feel for him when he was interrupted throughout his meal by fellow guests asking for an autograph and she subtly noticed him paste on a big fake smile and sign away, ever the charmer on the surface.

She curled her lips thinking if only they knew what he was really like. She'd had to sit her father in a place where he couldn't see him for fear of setting him off again and as they finished their meal, he retired to bed kissing her on the hair as she explained she was having a night cap at the bar before she came up.

Dressed in one of her new purchases, a wrap over floral print dress and gladiator sandals, Gabi ordered a hot chocolate from the barman whose green eyes twinkled at her as he served her.

"Beautiful girl like you shouldn't be drinking alone" he commented smoothly.

"How original" a dry voice commented in her ear and Troy sat next to her at the bar on a stool, facing outward where she faced the bar and leaned on it.

Gabi couldn't decide if he was insulting the barman for his pathetic chat up line, or insulting her by saying she only attracted pathetic idiots.

"Oh to be graced with your presence Mr. Bolton" she sighed "My life is complete"

He smirked cockily "I hear that ALL the time" he teased.

"I'm sure your come-on's are a lot worse" she added with a brow lift and smiled cutely at the barman "Thank you, Toby"

Troy frowned "I don't need chat up lines. Women just tend to fall into my bed and who am I to turn them away?" he asked .

She would not laugh, she would not laugh Gabi told herself but her shining eyes gave her away; because as Troy flicked his indescribable eyes to his right to look at her, his lips curled very slightly at the edges at having caught her almost smiling, though she was hiding it by sipping her hot drink.

"Ouch" she complained as she burnt her tongue. Trust her to burn her tongue to avoid laughing at the Egomaniac beside her.

"Want me to kiss it better?" he asked innocently and Gabi gave him a dead stare

"Even the thought of kissing you makes me feel quite ill, Ego Trip. Let alone with tongues. I think I need to lie down" she added haughtily.

"I tend to have that effect on women!" he called after her with a big wide grin which she missed because she refused to turn around. She just paused, clenched her teeth, and then carried on walking with her back like a rod.