In Love With My Brother's Fianceé

Royal's POV

My morning routine on workdays was simple. Running a bath for my brother, preparing breakfast, and then running my bath afterward. However, this morning was different. My brother wasn't around, so I only had to prepare breakfast, run my bath, soak myself in a hot tub for a few minutes, and get ready for work. Unlike most girls, I didn't spend much time in the bathroom washing my hair and stuff since my hair was cut short and shaved on both sides, giving me that cute tomboyish look.

As I set my pan on the cooking gas to bake my usual morning pancakes, I hummed to myself while whisking the eggs I would fry afterward. My speaker was beside me, and the melodious voice of Ellie Goulding's "Burn" filled the kitchen - just my ideal way of preparing breakfast.

I sang along with Ellie, moving my body in sync with the music. However, as I was lost in my world of music, the doorbell rang, bringing me back to the present. I rushed out of the kitchen, wondering if it could be my brother.

I opened the door, and my face lit up when I saw my brother smiling. "Hey, handsome," I greeted him.

"Good morning Ry. You know that 'handsome' is not for me, or are you trying to take my mind off calling you that?" I smiled at him, knowing he was somehow right. 'Handsome' was what my friends called me, while my brother and my little sister were the only ones that called me that in my family, much to the irritation of my parents and my elder sister. To them, I was a woman and nothing more. Well, I didn't see myself as one, hence I didn't dress like one. I was the second girl in a family of four and the third child. My brother Karl, whom I lived with, was the second child and the only son, and sometimes, I included myself as the second son. The girls in the house were my elder sister Ashley and my little sister Rachel, whom I called Baby Ray.

I heard my brother's voice, though I couldn't catch what he said. I looked at him, trying to understand.

"Meet my fiancèe, Charissa. Charissa, meet my sister Royal, but we call her Ry or handsome," he said, introducing the beautiful girl standing beside him.

That was when I noticed he was with someone, and I turned to where she was standing. My mouth was left hanging. "Sweet mercy! This girl is gorgeous! How come I didn't notice her?" I thought to myself.

I smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Charissa."

"The pleasure is mine, Royal," she replied in her well-accentuated and lovely voice. I thought angels existed only in heaven, but I was wrong. This lady standing here was more than an angel; she was not only gorgeous but her voice was magical. One look at her, and I was already enchanted, unlike me. I don't usually drool over girls like that; it was usually the other way round. That was the secret about me that I had not told my family - my sexuality.

I finally caught myself before my brother would notice that I was drooling over his fiancee.

I ushered them inside, and the aroma of my pancakes filled the entire sitting room.

"I hope I will partake in these pancakes, Ry?" my brother asked, inhaling the delicious scent.

"For one, you didn't tell me you would be coming back this morning. You didn't even tell me where you were going yesterday. Why would I want to share my pancakes?" I teased him, glancing at Charissa, who was still staring at me. I smiled at her. "I will only pity you because of this lovely lady here."

She smiled back at me, and I felt my heart warming to her.

My brother motioned for her to join him at the dining table, where he was already seated. Karl loved pancakes; they were his weakness.

I glanced at the wall clock and gasped. "I will be late to work today, thanks to someone," I said, playfully blaming my brother.

He laughed, knowing I was talking about him. "Look who's scared of going to work late. Who's going to query the H.R.?" he asked, looking up at me.

"I will query myself; you know that," I replied with a smile, disappearing into the kitchen to get their pancakes and fry the eggs.

Even though I was the Human Resource Manager of the Hotel I worked at, being punctual was my watchword. I had to set a good example for those beneath me.

I carried the steaming hot pancakes and the fried eggs to the dining table. Karl was whispering something into Charissa's ear, and she was smiling.

My heart stood still. I had never seen a smile as lovely and captivating as hers. "I will be damned," I thought to myself.

"You are not joining us?" Karl asked as soon as I dropped the two plates on the table.

"Nope, I will eat mine at the office. I am so behind time," I replied, knowing I needed to hurry.

I left them in the sitting room and rushed into my room and to the hot tub. It was almost 7.00, and I ought to be in the office before 7.15.

I loved my job so much. It was my third job since I got out of college, and it had been the best. Though it was my fourth month there, my account was already smiling, unlike the previous ones. It gave me time for my private life. I loved living a private life, like hell. I'd opted to live alone so I could have the freedom to live my secret life. But trust my mum; she would never hear of it. "The only way you are leaving this house is if you are married, like your sister," she would always say.

I wondered who told her that I would ever say yes to a guy.

My brother came to the rescue. He offered me a room in his two-bedroom apartment, and I was able to breathe freely for me and my ears. I turned the room into my small haven. The room looked and screamed pink - my favorite color. From the bed to my wardrobe, my reading desk, and down to my bathroom, all you could see was pink and, well, with a touch of rainbow.

Thanks to my brother, I stopped seeing my mother's angry eyes often.

I stopped hearing 'When are you bringing your boyfriend over?' Gosh, that question!

My dressing was enough to send a signal to my parents and siblings that I was more of a guy than a girl, but it was only Karl and Rachel, my little sister, that got the message. Thus they called me 'handsome,' which was initiated by Rachel, my pixie sister.

My elder sister Ashley, well, we didn't get along that much. She expected me to be a doll like her but was disappointed with the way my fashion sense turned out. She transferred her way of life to Rachel. My fashion sense made me closer to my brother instead. Growing up, I used to wear his trousers, shirts, and shorts. My mother would always scream in her tiny voice, "Royal! You are a lady, not a guy!" My father would end up laughing at her. Apart from Karl and Rachel, he was another person that understood me.

Sometimes I felt like coming out to them, but I was still a bit scared.

My alarm rang, indicating it was 7.00. "Shoot!" I screamed as I rushed out of the tub. My black trousers, pink shirt, and black blazer were already arranged on my bed. In a few minutes, I was already set for work. I brushed my brown hair backward and dashed out of the room with my bag.

My brother and his fiancèe were already done with breakfast, and my brother was about to go prepare for work when I came out.

"Sis," I turned to him with a questioning look. He only called me that whenever he wanted to beg for something.

"I want Charissa to share your room with you, please," he said, looking at me pleadingly.

"Of course, bro," I replied, handing the keys to him, and smiled at Charissa. "Feel at home."

I bumped my brother's shoulder, waved at Charissa, and left for work.

My phone rang as soon as I got out of the house, and I looked at the screen and smiled. It was Maya; my best friend of all time and, of course, my crush since my college days. She got a job immediately after college at The Beverly Hills Hotel in L.A, California. When she was made the General Manager, she made me stop my previous job, where I was paid stipends monthly, and employed me as the New Resource Manager. That was how I joined the class of the 'money makers' in town.

I clicked the answer button and placed the phone to my ear. "Hey My, what's up!"

"Hey, handsome! I am in front of your gate. Come out now or you will be late for work," she said and hung up.

I smiled and walked to the gate.

My best friend would never cease to amaze me. I bet she must have gotten to the office and found out that I had not arrived, then she came to fetch me - as always.

I opened the gate, and truly she was there, standing in front of her red car, her face beaming with smiles.

"Good morning, handsome," she greeted, with her magical smile as we got into the car. I sat in the passenger seat beside her, and she drove off.

"Good morning, My. I hope your night was good?" I asked and pecked her.

"Yeah, yeah, how about you?" She asked and quickly scanned my outfit.

"You look lit in that stunning trousers and blazer of yours. Good thing I am wearing the same outfit," she said with a wink. "You and I can never go wrong with pink. It's always magical," she added.

Pink was her favorite color as well, and she was wearing the same black trousers, pink shirt, and black blazer as mine.

Maya loved wearing identical clothes with me, even though she had never accepted to go out with me. She was as straight as they came. So she thought, but to me I could sense a flicker of gay vibe around her. But I guess she was holding back because of her boyfriend.

"Why don't you just go out with me, My? We can wear tons of couple outfits together," I teased her.

She glanced lovingly at me. "As lovely as that idea sounds, Royal, you know I can never ditch my fiancé. He would be a dead man. Besides, I am okay with just wearing identical clothes with you and being your best friend."

"That's what you have been saying since College," I replied, and she laughed. Her laugh was always like music to my ears.

"By the way, you look gorgeous," I said, knowing she liked it whenever I complimented her.

"Thanks, handsome," she replied and winked at me.

Maya was the only straight girl that drove me crazy.

The first day I met her at the college cafeteria, dressed in a pink crop top and blue jeans skirt, my heart went out to her. Even though I saw her with her boyfriend Chris, who was now her fiancé, I couldn't help but want to make her mine. We became friends immediately, and I didn't waste time in reaching out to whatever my heart yearned for; I asked her out, but she politely refused. That didn't make me love her any less; we became best friends. I cherished her a lot, and she remained the only straight girl to capture my heart. Well, not until this morning when I came face to face with the queen of hearts - Charissa.

'As I said earlier, I will be damned.'

"Royal?" She called, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, baby," I turned to her.

"I was told by the Managing Director as soon as I got to the office that the CEO would be coming this morning. That was the main reason I rushed out to get you; I wouldn't want him to get to the hotel before you. It won't make a good first impression, you know."

"That's why I love you so much, baby."

She already knew the next thing I would do, so she leaned over, and I pecked her.

"At this rate, you are going to kill me with pecks, Royal." She said as she made a left turn to the road that led to the hotel.

"I wish I could kill you with more than just pecks."

She turned sharply at me. "Naughty girl," she said, and I gave her a wink, which made her blush.

I smiled. No matter what, I would never stop having that effect on Maya.

Royal's POV

Maya drove her car into the parking lot reserved exclusively for the Manager herself. We got down and walked into the Hotel together. We were lucky to have arrived just on time, judging from the smiling face of the M.D. who was at the reception, conversing with the receptionist.

"I can see you went to bundle her to work?" The M.D. asked in his usual jovial tone. Maya's brown eyes sparkled as she replied, "M.D. you wouldn't believe I had to drag her out of her cozy bed to prepare for work."

"You mean she prepared for work in ten minutes? How possible is that?" By then, Maya and the receptionist were already clutching their stomachs as they laughed.

That was our M.D., he never gave us a reason to feel uncomfortable around him or act all superior. He gave his workers a friendly atmosphere to work under, but that didn't mean you could override him when it comes to performing your duty. Hell no! He was