A/N: Long time since I uploaded, huh? So sorry about that! :( Stress, stress and more stress. And I just can't find time to relax and write stories. Sorry guys, but I will try harder, I promise3333
Gabriella entered the Gucci building bright and early on Friday. Eight in the morning was not her happiest time, so she kept her head down and covered her eyes with her oversized sunglasses. She wore a blue Freepeople maxi tube dress, paired with a thick leather belt, and her Jeffrey Campbell Sunny Wedge Sandals. Her arms were covered with bracelets of all kinds, and necklaces dangled from her neck, casually. She strolled towards the elevator, and headed up to the third floor to pick shots for the upcoming fall line.
Her shoes padded along the shiny hardwood floors as she made her way to Daniel's office. She looked through the glass doors and noticed some other workers, like the designer and buyer for Gucci, sitting in Daniel's office looking through photos Gabriella had taken yesterday. With her iced Chai tea latte in her hand, she snaked her way through the crack of the doors and removed her sunglasses.
"There she is. Our star model," Daniel complimented with a smile, as he got up to peck Gabriella's cheeks.
Gabriella smiled softly at him, and the others in the room, and took a seat across from them. They had already set photos into piles of what they wanted to use, and what they didn't, so all Gabriella had to do was help eliminate more of the photos. The less photos, the better; therefore there's room for other models.
"So, Gabriella we were looking through some of these photos and made a rough copy of a layout. We're hoping to have at most three pages of you," the editor of Gucci, Jackson Reed, said.
"In fact, we're also having another photo-shoot for another model for the fall line today. So, if you want to stop by and check it out that would be great. Then after, we can discuss the cover over lunch," Daniel said.
"And who might the other model be?" Gabriella questioned.
"Troy," Daniel answered, plainly.
Gabriella held her emotions to herself, blushing a bit. Ever since last night, all she could think about was him. They held a love-hate relationship at this point; it confused Gabriella so much. One minute, they would act like they hated each other, and the next they were making out in Daniel's office. What happens between them, no one knows; not even them. It seemed like innocent flirting and teasing at the time, but now, it's more than that. It's like they have developed feelings for each other. As much as Gabriella hated to say it, he wasn't that bad of a guy to fall for. She's known him for years now, and they could pretty much be mistaken as a married couple for all the things they knew about each other. However, that didn't help Gabriella at all in their messed up relationship. So she just tried to roll along with life and see what happens between them in the future.
"Gabriella? Are you coming or not?" Jackson asked, about to head out the door.
"Coming!" Gabriella yelled, getting up and grabbing her bag, running out the door behind him.
Troy walked along the sand coast, his hands in his pockets, and hair blown back by the breeze, as the camera snapped multiple shots of him. He wore a red cotton striped polo, khaki Bermuda shorts, lace up sneakers and aviator sunglasses. His feet grounded into the sand with every step he took, and the sun made his skin glow in the warm summer morning. He barely noticed his surrounding, focused on his modeling, and listened closely to the photographer.
"Troy, hold it right there," Daniel's new assistant photographer, Ethan, yelled, as Troy held his gaze looking into the ocean.
Gabriella just arrived at the set, located on the beach she was just at a few days ago. It was somewhat crowded, but the area near the shoot wasn't, due to the restrictions Gucci had. She slipped off her shoes, so they wouldn't get sand in them, and held them in her hand, while she walked closer towards the set, until she spotted Troy. She couldn't help but smile as she saw him smile at the camera, and play along in the sand.
As Troy glanced up at the camera, he spotted Gabriella standing behind. He smiled widely as she shot him a small smile and waved.
"Perfect Troy, perfect! Hold it there."
Troy held his pose, his eyes locked with Gabriella's, until the photographer called for a small break for a film change. As he went to go chat with Daniel and the other workers, Gabriella made her way over towards Troy, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Happy to see me?" Gabriella teased, as Troy looked down at her, smiling.
"Are you kidding? You're probably the best thing in the photo-shoot," Troy said, winking at her.
Gabriella giggled, looking away, seeing that they were quite a distance away from the others. She looked back at Troy, taking in his appearance, while running a hand through her wavy hair.
"You look nice," Gabriella complimented.
"If you think this is nice, you should stay and wait for the swimwear," Troy suggested, as Gabriella blushed.
As he spoke, she noticed Troy getting closer to her body; his hand making its way to her hair as he pushed a strand behind her ear, admiring her beauty. His hand trailed down her cheek, stroking it softly, before planting a lingering kiss there. Gabriella's breath hitched in her throat, and she put her hands on his chest, pushing him back a little; afraid someone might see. The last thing she needed was someone to see their twisted relationship in play.
"Troy, stop," Gabriella demanded, softly, but Troy ignored her kept planting kisses along her jawline.
"No one's looking," Troy assured, looking back at the Gucci workers gathered under the shaded area.
"Still, Troy, just please," Gabriella begged, pushing him away harder this time, and looking into his eyes.
Troy decided to quit, and sighed. He pulled away from her and they started walking towards the group of Gucci workers.
"Meet me after for dinner?" Troy asked, nervously, which had shocked Gabriella.
She wasn't used to seeing Troy getting nervous and sweaty around women, especially Gabriella; she found it sort of cute coming from him. However, the answer remained unanswered as time passed by like the crashing of waves. She was confused as to why he would ask her personally to go out with him. It gave her chills to think that they were becoming something more than just friends now, and farther more than just enemies. Gathering herself together, and noticing she had to go soon, she put her fixed her shades and started striding away, looking back at Troy over her shoulder.
"Pick me up at 8."
"What am I supposed to wear!" Gabriella panicked as she paced around the lustrous hardwood floors of her bedroom.
Sharpay sat on the ivory bedspread in the center of the room flipping through Glamour magazine. She rolled her eyes as Gabriella began throwing clothes around her room like a teenager looking for an outfit for the first day of school. She found it amusing how not too long ago, Gabriella could care less about Troy, but now, if she wears the wrong dress out on their date, the world is going to end. She had invited Sharpay over after lunch, and has been going on for an hour about what color she should wear, or whether or not wearing a thong would be asking for trouble. After about five minutes, Sharpay tuned her out, grabbed a magazine and had Gabriella suffer alone over something that wasn't worth suffering for.
"Sharpay! What about this?" Gabriella asked, as Sharpay glanced just over the brim of the magazine at the dress Gabriella was wearing.
"Cute," Sharpay commented, and then turning back to her magazine, un-amused, since it was Gabriella's hundredth dress she put on.
"Cute? Just cute? Not even REALLY cute?" Gabriella questioned.
"Fine! It's REALLY cute! Gorgeous, Beautiful, Dazzling, Mind-blowing, out of this world stunning! Happy now?" Sharpay yelled, annoyed, throwing her magazine down in the process.
"I liked the cute better," Gabriella stated, plainly, and Sharpay grabbed her bag and headed towards the door frustrated.
"Gabriella, I'm sure whatever you wear, Troy's going to have his eyes all over you anyway! And if you really liked him, and you know he likes you the same way to, then you wouldn't have to worry about what you wear! I mean just last week, you acted as if you could care less if this guy drowned in a river, but now, you care so much about him and what he thinks of the color of your toe nails! Seriously, are we in first grade again? Just wear what you're wearing now and call it a day. I'm going home, hasta la vista."
And with that, Sharpay exited the room, leaving Gabriella alone. She looked over in the mirror at her reflection, and smiled. Guessed it didn't really matter what she wore after all.
Her gray 5-inch louboutins patted nervously on the ground underneath the table, while her hands fiddling with her purse in her lap. She ended up wearing a crimson red dress (what Vanessa Hudgens wore to the Ellen show this year) and small diamond earrings to her date, and quite frankly, Sharpay was right; Troy liked whatever she wore anyways.
Troy sat across from Gabriella in a soft baby blue button up and light gray slacks. They ended up going to Beso, Troy picking Gabriella up at eight sharp. They had ordered their food, and while waiting, they made small talk, but surprisingly there was no sexual energy given off, making Gabriella nervous. She was so used to heavily flirting with guys, but Troy, at this moment, was different. She didn't want to mess this up, so she kept her mouth shut for as long as she could, not wanting to say anything she would regret.
She rested her elbow on the table, and her chin on the palm of her hand, as she listened to Troy tell her about the photoshoot he had today. She laughed at the few jokes he made about how much Daniel and the other workers sweated so much on set, and how he wasn't the only one with his shirt off for that shoot.
"Luckily, when the shoot was over, it had gotten cooler as they packed up because I couldn't stand another minute of Harold without his shirt," Troy joked, referring the bigger male who was Daniel's student assistant. Gabriella laughed, picking up her glass of wine and bringing it to her cherry red lips, taking a sip.
Troy did so as well, and set his glass on the table, the waiter coming to take their clean plates off their table and refilling their glasses of wine. The check was also presented on the table, and Troy instinctively grabbed it, but this time, he felt an unusual tug at the other end of the folder. He looked up and his eyes met with Gabriella's, whose hand was also on the check.
"I can take it," Gabriella assured tugging the check a little towards her, but Troy fought back and tugged with the same strength, the check still placed in between them.
"Gabriella, seriously, don't worry about it. I got it," Troy reassured, using his strength to take the check away from Gabriella's grasp, and quickly placing his credit card in the slot.
"Troy, c'mon, I don't like when people pay for me," Gabriella pleaded, trying to grab the checkbook back again, but Troy moved it further away from her grasp.
"You never had a guy pay for your dinner?" Troy asked, surprised, as Gabriella nodded.
"I don't want to be a burden, so I always pay for myself. I don't feel like it's right for the guy to have to pay for everything," Gabriella stated, as Troy smiled at her, handing the waiter the checkbook.
"Well then I'm honored to be the first guy to pay for your dinner," Troy stated, smiling.
As Troy drove Gabriella back home, she was fidgety the whole time. This was one of the best nights' she has had in a while; she didn't want it to be over so soon. In all honesty, it didn't feel like a date whatsoever to Gabriella, it felt more like a get together with an old friend; which is what she would prefer over a date any day. No flirting, no touching, no nothing. It was fun to be able to be with a guy she didn't have to have sex with.
When they pulled up to Gabriella's house, Gabriella sighed quietly to herself as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Troy had parked on the side of the road, and made his way to open Gabriella's door for her. They then walked slowly to Gabriella's front door, savoring all the minutes they had left with each other before the night was over.
"I really had a lot of fun tonight Troy," Gabriella confessed, as Troy nodded in agreement.
"Me too," Troy grinned, as they both arrived in front of Gabriella's door.
Gabriella fiddled with her keys in her hand, not turning around to the lock just yet, waiting for Troy to say good-bye. This moment was probably the only awkward moment of the night, because they had acted so much like friends the whole evening, it was weird to go back to an actual dating couple.
Luckily Troy had had a lot of experiences like these, and boldly grabbed Gabriella's waist, pulling her towards him. Gabriella smiled softly before wrapping her arms around him, her fingers making their way into his short-cut hair. He then planted a passionate kiss on her lips, both their eyes closing in absolute lust of the moment with each other.
The kiss had been a perfect way to end a date, a perfect way to say goodbye. After a few seconds, Gabriella was the first to pull back slightly, but Troy quickly captured her lips again, lingering for a few minutes to remember the moment. She then pulled away a little more this time, grabbing her keys and running her hands through his hair one last time.
"Soon," Gabriella assured, kissing his lips for the slightest second, and smiling as she made her way into her house, shutting the door behind her.