69Summary: This is not quite classic fanfic. All the characters are the same, have similar backgrounds, maybe similar personalities?, but they didn't go to High School together or anything like that. Troy and Sharpay come from opposite worlds, Troy has his MBA (sorry, not NBA), Sharpay is a struggling actress, they seem like an unlikely pair. This story is very focused on the ever changing relationship that Troy and Sharpay have developed and how their separate worlds clash. But something always pulls them back together.
This first chapter starts out when they are still relatively young, Troy's just out of grad school so I'd say about 26, and their relationship is pretty new.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, hardly even the plot this time...
A Perfect Day
BOOM!
Sharpay was jerked awake with the sound of thunder clashing. Scrunching her eyes shut and placing a hand on her already pounding forehead, she sat up and waited for her queasiness to dissipate. It didn't go completely, but it did lessen enough for her to glance over to her bedside clock and see that she had ten minutes before she absolutely had to get up. Flopping back down, Sharpay sighed and listened to the angry splattering of rain beating against her window. 'I drank way too much last night' she humorlessly mused as another wave of nausea washed over her body.
Sharpay lay there, trying to piece together the previous night. It had started at one of those abhorrent dinner parties that Troy always dragged her to. As number two on the Forbes "up and coming" list for top management, Troy had an infinite number of people to impress and parties to attend. He often enlisted Sharpay's help at these functions to win over the wives of the higher-ups. Sharpay couldn't stand those people.
After the dinner party, she and Troy had returned to her apartment where they partook in a little party of their own. Still lying in bed, Sharpay smiled blissfully to herself as she slowly replayed the previous night in her mind.
Sharpay and Troy burst through Sharpay's apartment door, both passionately kissing the other as the door slammed closed without notice. The couple drunkenly stumbled through the kitchen, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake as they languidly made their way to the tiny bedroom, each furiously clinging to the other as though they couldn't quite figure out what felt right.
They finally reach the bedroom where the backs of Sharpay's knees knocked against the edge of the bed, effectively throwing them both off balance, causing them to fall gracelessly onto the mattress. Giggling, Sharpay sat up and readjusted her position to be nearer the headboard. Troy rolled onto his side and faced Sharpay with a content grin lighting up his features. Seeing that grin, Sharpay just couldn't help herself. She leaned down and softly whispered "I love you" into Troy's mouth, following her statement with a sweet, chaste kiss. This sudden change in tenor seemed to sober Troy. Pulling himself up onto his elbows, he fixed Sharpay with an intent gaze and watched as she returned his look with an affectionate smile. Reaching up, Troy placed his hand behind Sharpay's neck and gently pulled her face back down to meet with his.
Just as she was getting to the good part, her thoughts were interrupted with the realization that Troy wasn't currently in her apartment. Of course, this wasn't the first time she'd woken up to find that he had already left for work, but he usually left her a note, at least to say when he'd be home. Sharpay sat up and gave her room a once over in case she had missed it in her hung over, still half asleep haze, earlier. Nope. No note. This small slip on his part slightly perturbed her. It wasn't like him to not say good-bye.
Sharpay shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of these negative thoughts. Instead, she decided her day would not be able to begin if she didn't drink some coffee and soon. Sharpay eased herself out of bed and headed into her kitchen, pausing to grab hold of her churning stomach and to give her vision a chance to clear. 'I drank WAY too much last night'
As she waited for her coffee maker to finish spitting out her coffee, she decided a shower would help her feel better. She staggered her pained body into her bathroom, along they way spotting the stack of bills that had been sitting on her counter for a week. 'I have to remember to pay those today' she thought as she stepped into her bathroom. Sharpay turned the shower water on and waited for it to get steamy. It didn't take long for her small bathroom to fog up, which indicated to her that her water was ready. Slowly, Sharpay eased her aching muscles into the heavy torrent. She tried to relax but all the while her mind kept wandering towards her disapproving thoughts involving Troy's seeming lack of consideration.
What Sharpay couldn't hear while she was secretly airing her relationship concerns to her bar of soap, was her phone ringing in her bedroom.
Ring
'Its just worrisome, that he didn't wake me to say good bye. He always says good bye,' she griped to her shampoo bottle.
Ring
'Alright, maybe he was just in a hurry this morning,' she countered as the stream of water thoroughly rinsed out her conditioner.
Ring
'Honestly, why does it bother me this much? I only offered my entire self to him last night, and what do I get in return? Not even a filthy thank you!'
Beep
Finally, the answering machine picked up.
"Morning Shar." Troy's voice filled the empty room. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you before I left this morning but you looked so peaceful lying there. I couldn't bring myself to disturb you. I just wanted to let you know that I'll have to work a little late tonight but we're still on for drinks at Chelli's, right? I hope. Anyway, if I don't hear from you, I'll meet you there. I have to get back to work but have a good day. I love you."
Still grumbling, Sharpay wrapped herself in her towel and stepped into her room in order to finish getting ready for work. Should she curl her hair today or just blow it out? Glancing over at her clock to see what she had time for, she was horrified to learn that she had misread the time earlier. She wasn't ten minutes early, was running a whole hour late!
"Shit! I can not afford to be late again!"
In a complete panic, she tore around her room, throwing on the first item of clothing her hands could find as she precariously pointed her hair dryer in her heads general direction. That'll have to do. She threw on her coat, grabbed her keys and sprinted down the hallway of her apartment building, not even stopping long enough to lock her door.
As she stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of her building, she was immediately drenched from the splash of a passing car. 'So much for that shower' she thought, but she didn't have time to dwell. Still running, she looked ahead toward her bus stop. As was her current stream of luck, the bus was already idled as its passengers ambled on and off.
"Wait!" She yelled hoping another commuter would hear her and pass the message along to the driver. "Stop!" But she was too late. She was not quite at the stop when the bus eased out onto the road and steadily drove away.
"DAMN it!" The next bus wasn't due for another twenty minutes. She didn't have twenty minutes! She would have to walk. Muttering angrily to herself, she put her head down and started on her way, the whole while cursing herself for not grabbing a jacket with a hood.
It was almost thirty minutes later that a sopping wet Sharpay was trying to slink inconspicuously to her desk. She had a part-time day job as the assistant to the assistant to the regional manager of an unknown publishing company. She hated it, but until she caught her big break as an actress, she needed something to pay the bills.
"Afternoon, Sharpay." The assistant to the regional manager, Taylor, said in a patronizing tone. Sharpay was sure patronizing was the only tone Taylor could speak in.
"Hello Taylor," Sharpay replied with a scowl as she took off her coat and placed it on the back of her desk chair.
Taylor scoffed, "Is that how you plan on holding your job?"
"Huh?" Sharpay asked, confused. She looked down to where Taylor seemed to be referring and was instantly mortified. In her mad rush to leave the apartment, she hadn't realized that she'd put on a thin, white blouse (now soaked) over a black bra (now visible). Humiliated, Sharpay promptly threw her coat back on and closed her eyes, praying that this would all turn out to be a dream. Unfortunately, when she opened her eyes back up, all she saw was Taylor still giving her that condescending glare.
"I'm just going to go to the bathroom," Sharpay quickly excused herself as she ran to the nearest restroom. Exhaling heavily, Sharpay turned on the hand dryer and sat under it, allowing the warm air to lull her into contemplation. 'I hate my job'.
When she finally returned to her desk, displaying as much confidence and integrity that she could gather, she expected her phone lines to be tied up from her absence. Looking down, she was surprised to see every line free.
"Sharpay, I've taken you off phones," Mr. Fulton, her boss, said to her as he poked his head through his office doorway. "I wanted to be sure to get a few, today."
"How about you handle pouring the coffee? You could probably use the practice," Taylor said with a sneer.
'I hate my job.'
The rest of Sharpay's day was spent running from desk to desk, refilling coffee cup after coffee cup. At least she didn't have to look at Taylor's face for the rest of the day. It was in this manner that the last few hours of her work day were gradually whiled away. Had it been any other day, she would have been at her desk to witness the following exchange. As it was, she had herself locked away in the break room, hiding from her coworkers.
"Is there a Sharpay Evans here?" a young messenger asked as he stepped off of the elevators and into the publishing company's realm. He was holding a bouquet of white lily's in his right hand as he read from a piece of paper in his left.
At this very moment, Sharpay was watching through the glass door of the break room, but she could only hear muffled sound, instead of the words being spoken.
"I can give those to her," Taylor said brightly to the messenger with her hand stretched out, ready to receive the flowers.
The messenger approached Taylor's desk, located to the left of the elevators, and handed her the bouquet. "I just need you to sign this receipt," he said as he placed the piece of paper in front of her. She quickly signed and handed it back with a smile and wished the messenger a nice day. Looking at the card that accompanied the lilies, Taylor read "Dear Sharpay, I passed these flowers on my lunch break. They reminded me of you. Hope your having a wonderful day. I'll see you tonight. Love, Troy".
"Ha! Wonderful day, my ass!" Taylor muttered as she threw the note in her trash can and proceeded to display the flowers on her desk as her own.
'I wish Troy would send me flowers, sometime,' Sharpay thought as she turned away from the door and poured herself another cup of coffee. She could feel her headache returning in full force.
The end of the day was slowly approaching. Sharpay was sitting on a toilet seat, by herself, in the women's restroom, counting down the minutes. Looking at her watch she saw that it was three minutes to five. She knew most everybody in the office would be gone, or about to leave, by now. That was good enough, she figured. She left her hiding place and slowly approached her desk, hoping that Taylor wouldn't say anything to her. She picked up her coat, which had been left on the back of her chair, and put it on. She was about to grab her purse and leave when she heard the bark of her bosses voice directed toward her.
"I need you to do some filing for me before you leave."
"Oh, but sir, It's already five and I have to get clear across town to meet my boyfriend. Can I just do it in the morning?" Sharpay pleaded in an attempt to talk her way out of this menial task.
"I would let you do it in the morning, but I don't know if you can actually arrive here in the morning." He replied sardonically. "Get it done. Now."
Sharpay slumped her shoulders and watched Mr. Fulton leave the office. So close! With a groan, she took her coat off again, and walked into her boss's office to grab the stack of papers left for her to file.
Forty-five minutes later, Sharpay burst through the doorway at Chelli's bar. She looked around hoping Troy would be there. She wasn't even sure if he remembered their plans. Looking into a private corner of the bar, she found him sitting at a small booth, talking on his phone.
As she approached, he looked up and saw her arrival. With a smile, he said his good bye into the phone and stood to greet her. Before any words were spoken, Troy wrapped his strong arms around Sharpay in a warm, comforting hug.
"Hi." He whispered into her ear.
"Hi." She replied, happily returning the hug.
Still holding on to her hips, Troy finally pulled out of the hug. With a contemplative expression, he smile and looked deep into her eyes, softly asking, "How was your day?" A simple question and yet, he asked it was such sincerity; such benevolence.
Looking away, Sharpay took a moment to think it over. She'd woken up hung over and just now realized that she'd forgotten to pay her bills. She'd missed the bus and had gotten drenched on her way to work; late. While there, everybody had treated her like shit, and she couldn't help but to think they all expected her to be sacked any day. About to answer, Sharpay returned her gaze to Troy's eyes and faltered. Without him needing to say a word, she could see all his humor and kindness. She could sense his fiery passion, so brilliantly balanced by his serene gentleness. But most of all, she could see his love.
Suddenly, all her anger and frustration simply disappeared. With a gentle smile, she replied, "Perfect. My day was perfect." Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a simple, tender kiss.
So, I was out running the other day when my I-pod played a song I hadn't heard in a long time. I had it on shuffle, so I was encountering a lot of random stuff that day. Anyway, after hearing that song I thought, 'I haven't heard this album since middle school'. So, I decided to flip to that album and I finished my run listening to all this old music. Anyway, long story short, I ended up picturing the scenarios of each song as a Troypay and I thought, 'I wonder...'. So, I went through all the songs, ordered them in a way that worked, and tada! Inspiration for a new story!
Also, I should just warn you outright, this is not going to be all sunshine and flowers. Probably rather depressing, if the tone of the album has anything to say about it.
Please don't hate me for it!
But if you do, Review! . . . And if you don't, still Review!