Money Power Beauty
Chapter One

You say that you want to go to a land that's far away. How are we supposed to get there with the way that we're living today?

Troy Bolton stepped out of the elevator that took him to his new working environment. Today is his first day at a new job: he now works as a personal assistant of Marcus Harris, the son of the famous IT entrepreneur, Edward Harris. Now Edward Harris was basically the reason Troy was interested in IT, he invented a new operating system when Troy was a young child and he himself, wanted to be just like him. Edward sadly passed away from illness two years ago and his son, Marcus, took over as CEO. A personal assistant wasn't Troy's dream job but getting the chance to see how Harris Industries operates and working directly under Marcus is definitely a chance Troy cannot sacrifice.

Oh hey, I wasn't listening.
I was watching serial, blinded by the sunshine strip.
You, you were in the kitchen.
Oh your mind was marked and wounded with the wounders whip,
and that's how summer passed oh your,
great divide and range of green, green grass.
Oh, maybe it was peace at last, who knew.

Troy walked towards the reception desk and flashed a smile at the receptionist. He saw the receptionist immediately blush, "I am Troy Bolton, Mr Harris' new assistant." Troy took out his ID and showed the pretty brunette.

"Good Morning, Mr Bolton, here is your staff ID card." She handed an ID card with a tag attached to Troy, he looked down and smiled at the picture.

"Not a bad picture, ey?" He joked. The brunette blushed once again,

"Follow me, I will show you to Mr Harris' office and your desk." The brunette came round from the reception and Troy saw her gave him a once eye-over and a smirked appeared on her face, as if she was giving approval of the way he looked.

Troy has always attracted female attention, well by always, after he hit puberty. Before that, he was a skinny built child with a gap in his front set of teeth and a mop of brunette hair. Ever since the beginning of high school, he grew in height and being on the basketball team certainly helped built up his body. He cut his hair from that cute boyish look, which he now styles into that bedhead look but still manages to look sleek and professional.

After following the brunette through the office and up a flight of glass stairs, he made it to his boss' office. The office was completely glass and there was not a single solid wall in sight. The brunette knocked on the door and waited for the man who was sat at his desk to motion for them to come in. Troy followed the brunette into the office and stood before the man. "Mr Harris, this is Troy Bolton, your new assistant."

"Sir, it's a pleasure to work for you." Troy stuck his hand out and shook hands with his new boss. "I am a big fan." Troy added. Troy studied the man in front of him, he was dressed in a smart suit with a striped blue tie, and his hair was slicked back, which drew attention to his strong jaw.

"Are you a fan of my work or my father's?" Marcus chuckled. "Chloe, why don't you show Troy his desk and everything around here?"

The brunette – Chloe - nodded and turned to Troy. "I am sure you will be hearing from me soon Troy." Marcus smiled and turned his attention back onto his laptop.

Don't take it so seriously, no.
Only time is ours, the rest we'll just wait and see.
Maybe you're right, babe, maybe.

It has been exactly a week since Troy's first day at work and today he finally got to go to an expo with his boss. He was so excited to get to spend a day looking at the up and coming technologies as well as listening to everyone's ideas. Troy was sat next to Marcus in the back seat of his car, the driver, Dave, was driving them from Harris Headquarters to the expo.

The car ride had mostly been filled with his boss answering phone calls and Troy replying to emails. Marcus finally decided to break the silence, "Did you know why I hired you, Troy?" He asked.

Troy turned to him and shook his head, "Well I would think it's my skills…" He admitted.

Marcus chuckled, "Yes you are skilled and from what I saw this past week, you are very hardworking. You know my friends asked me why I didn't hire a pretty blonde as my assistant but you instead."

Troy stayed quiet, it was true, many bosses have pretty looking assistants, it was very rare for them to have a guy as their PA. "I don't know if you know, but I get a lot of headlines written about me, people are always trying to make rumours up. I think if they saw me with a pretty blonde, they would say I was cheating on my beautiful wife." He paused, "Even if they know she was my assistant, I didn't want to deal with that you know?"

Troy nodded, it was true, Marcus did get a lot of press. Most of them were good especially after he released his first update for the operating system since his father's death. It exceeded expectations; many thought Harris Industries was finished when Edward passed away, leaving his whole kingdom to his young son, who was only 27 at the time. But about a year later, Marcus released a new update and stocks soared. Now the firm is doing better than when Edward was in charged.

Hello love, my invincible friend.
Hello love, the thistle and the burr.
Hello love, for you I have so many words.
But I, I forgot where we were.

Troy has not met Marcus' wife yet, but from what he heard around the office, she was absolutely beautiful, some even described her to be goddess like. She's never been around for Troy to meet, nor did he know her name, they simply refer to her as Mrs Harris. Troy had never seen her name appear much in the press either, but that's probably because Marcus keeps her away from the public eye.

"Do you have a girlfriend Troy?" Marcus asked.

Troy turned to him "No, sir." He replied.

"A guy that looks like you doesn't have a girlfriend? Or are you just too picky?" He chuckled.

Troy smiled, enjoying the light-hearted conversation he was having with his boss, "I am just not ready to settle down, I guess…"

"I met my wife when she was still in college, I couldn't stay away from her after I saw her. I married her when I was 25, she was only 22, a lot of people said it was early, but you know when you just know?"

Troy smiled again, "Yeah, my parents got married young too. I guess what's the point of looking if you already know she's going to be the one."

"Chloe has her eyes on you, why don't you try it with her?" Marcus patted Troy on the shoulder and smirked.

"Em – I- I'm just not interested in a relationship at the moment… My career is everything."

The car stopped and Troy got out of the back seat, Marcus following behind him. The cameras and press rushed over immediately and a flood of questions were asked, most of them about when Harris Industries will announce a new update or product, some about his personal life. Marcus handled it like a professional, politely dodging the press and making his way towards the front entrance, with the help of his security team of course. A rich man is never seen in public events like these without his security team.

Oh hey, I wasn't listening.
I was stung by all of us, and blind even affable.
And as per usual,
you were skipping and laughing eyes at the bedroom door.
Oh no, and that's how summer passed.
Oh your, great divide, and range of green, green grass.
Oh, maybe I hold on fast, to you.

The next morning, the office was absolutely buzzing. After Marcus' announcement yesterday, stocks soared to an all time peak. Troy wanted to go and congratulate his boss but to his surprise, Marcus was not in his office so Troy settled at his desk, replying to emails and setting up meetings for his boss. A few minutes later, someone cleared their throat in front of Troy's desk. Troy looked up and his eyes immediately lit up, "Troy Bolton?"

The blonde standing in front of him said in surprise, he was speechless. He stared at her for a moment, taking in her beauty. She had blonde curls that fell perfectly below her shoulders, she wore a red dress with a tight fitted black blazer with a pair of black heels and a black designer bag, a brand that Troy had never heard of but was pretty sure it was expensive. Around her neck sat a small but delicate diamond necklace. She stood with confidence and there was a small smirk on her face when she saw his reaction. She was absolutely perfect.

"Are you going to say anything to me?" She asked, taking him out of his – staring.

"Sorry…" Troy simply said.

"I am here to see Marcus." She paused, "My husband."

Troy looked at her once more, "Don't tell me you are married to my boss."

The blonde grinned once again, "You haven't even greeted me yet, Bolton."

"Sharpay Evans –" He was interrupted when she placed a finger on his lips, "Harris actually." He looked down at her hand and saw the ring, her engagement ring was the size of a rock.

"Em yes – Shar- Mrs Harris - `I-" He was interrupted again.

"Don't call me that, it makes me sound all old. I am younger than you Bolton." Troy smiled to himself, Sharpay had not changed one bit, the way she lives everyday with so much confidence. You must be wondering, how do they know each other?

Hello love, my invincible friend.
Hello love, the thistle and the burr.
Hello love, for you I have so many words.
But I, I forgot where we were.

Troy and Sharpay went to UCLA together, they did different courses but hung around in the same circle of friends. Sharpay was in the year below Troy, and she was his friend's girlfriend's friend or was it… - It was one of them friendships. They went to a few parties together, but he wouldn't call her a good friend or anything. Troy had always thought she was stunning when he first met her, but things just didn't work out for them to even have a chance at a relationship. The closest they got was when they made out at Tom Hudson's birthday party but nothing more happened, they lost contact when he graduated.

"You did well for yourself then." Troy said, "It's been a while since we last saw each other." Could it be possible that she now looks even more beautiful than before?

She smiled, "I married someone who just so happened to be rich, big deal." She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, is Marcus here?"

"No… He's not back this morning yet…" Troy frowned, Marcus told him he was going home when they left the expo.

Sharpay closed the distance between her and Troy. "Troy look, it's great seeing you again but I need you to pretend we don't know each other before today, Marcus is really protective of me and I don't want him to overthink anything."

Troy nodded, "Ok." He couldn't hide the disappoint in his voice, he had lost contact with so many of his college friends since he graduated, it was nice to at least see one of them.

Sharpay, obviously sensing the disappointment smiled at him, "How about we meet for coffee at the weekend and we can catch up?"

Troy's heart leapt, "That sounds like a plan."

Oh no, that's how summer passed.
Oh your, great divide, and range of green, green grass.
Oh maybe it was peace at last, who knew.

Song: 'I Forgot Where We Were' by Ben Howard.