CHAPTER ONE

8:42 am

Migraine.

His head was threatening to split into two if he doesn’t burrow back into his bed covers and get some more sleep but today is his first day at work and he really needs this job.

Besides, Liam would definitely kill him if he ‘Effs’ this up like the rest. Liam is his best friend and pulled every string to help him get employed. String can be begging the human resources at the company for an interview. Sue him.

The jarring noise of his ringtone against the bedside table shakes the remnant of sleep away. Grumbling, Roy blindly reaches over for the currently offensive device, shooting upright once he sees the I.D. “Li baby.”—a title Liam hates as much as he loves him.

Think of the devil and he comes running over.

“Hey sugar,” He mutters in a sleepy teasing tone as he grabs his towel, preparing for a shower.

“Roy,” Liam’s voice is stern, “Don’t tell me you slept in late!”

“Calm your balls, I’ll make it in time.”

“You’d better.” He warns in a serious tone and Roy rolls his eyes. He could be such a big brother sometimes. Never mind the nonexistent age difference between them.

“Is that why you called me? To act like my alarm bell?”

“No,” he hesitates fractionally before saying, “I called about your choice of dressing.”

Roy’s shoulders go rigid immediately, “What about it?”

He sighs, “You know Anderson Inc. isn’t really a flexible company and they have this stupid ass reputation to protect. You have to dress…normally.”

He feels his chest tighten at Liam’s words, “There’s nothing abnormal about the way I dress.”

“You know what I mean.” Liam sounds genuinely at a loss on how to put his words together and if Roy closes his eyes, he can literally see his best friend running a hand through his thick hair in frustration. “Be professional.”

For a few moments, he debates arguing with him but a flickering look at the wall clock makes up his mind, “I guess I can do that.”

“Great. Have a good day Roy.”

Roy tosses his phone on the bed and storms into his tiny shower cubicle. He still can’t believe people’s opinions about his lifestyle and mode of dressing. It hurts him after so long, so many years of accepting himself for who he is but Liam is right. Even if he is comfortable with being gay, not everyone was and he has to make some adjustments to fit into whatever criteria they followed in Anderson Inc. He needed them, not the other way around.

Shiz!— A replacement for Sh-t! He hates using cusswords so he innovated one.

Roy groans as he runs out of the bathroom. He spent longer in there than he intended and now he has only twenty minutes to spare.

Grabbing his only black suit and throwing it on, Roy cringes at his reflection in the mirror.

Hang him but he abhors drabby colors like black or grey. When there are so many bright colors that actively affect your mood, why stick to depressing colors as evidence of masculinity? 

Lips pulled in a frown, he slaps on globs of gel into his hair, slicking it back till every strand is in place.

He turns but it doesn’t just sit with him living in this societal standard of men dressing so he applies eyeliner and a swipe of nude lipstick. 

The side of his lips ticks up in a smile and he slots on a hot pink tie.

Way better.

He hails a cab and rattles off the address to the driver who keeps glancing at his eyes through the rearview mirror. Roy gives him a look that says, ‘Like what you see?’

Shuddering with disgust, the driver pulls out of the apartment complex. Roy rolls his eyes, silently wondering when people will learn to mind their business.

He is at his destination with a few minutes to spare. The building is an impressive piece of architecture, and Anderson Inc. takes the prime real estate at the peak. The CEO—he halts his train of thought. Bryan Anderson was forbidden areas and Roy is so grateful that he will never meet him during his entire time working at Anderson Inc.

Sucking in a breath, he returns his thoughts to the building. The twenty-something skyscraper had more floors than he could count and the hallowed offices of the CEO were on the last floor whereas Mr. Flake, the executive that hired him to be the company’s social media handler—honestly, secretary—was on the fifth floor. 

Chances of bumping into Bryan. Zero to nil.

Shiz—he can’t help it. Thoughts of the articles he spent the previous night reading about Bryan Anderson flood his mind.

Bryan is 30—10 years older than he is or makes that nine in a few months. He's from a huge family of about five. six? siblings. Anyway, Anderson had to FILE a restraining order against some model that went obsessive over him... charming much. So he is definitely not gay—not that it matters to Roy.

It does.

All the business journals describe him as “ruthless” and “cunning”. Anderson Inc. only used to do business in the United States, but when Bryan took over less than ten years ago, he turned the family business into a global empire by taking a couple of mind-blowing gambles which paid off.

Roy sucks in a breath as the feeling of an ant being crushed by an elephant overtakes him and he gives himself a quick, stern talk.

Roy, you got this. It’s your first day and everyone is going to love you.

Probably not everyone but at least, someone. Right?

 

~

Meanwhile, in the boardroom on the top floor.

BRYAN ANDERSON’s eyes strayed to the windows and he stood up from the head chair, walking away from the conference table filled with boring executives and board members.

Looking down, the first thing he noticed was a man—boy, really—clad in a black suit. His shaft hardened immediately, punching hard against the zipper of his pants. Bryan muttered a curse under his breath, adjusting his hard pulsing length. Such pull he had to the boy already. It was completely out of character for the billionaire. 

The boy looked absolutely stunning in the suit—it clung to his lean frame like a second skin—but Bryan could tell he hated the outfit by how his fingers kept pulling at the hem. Like the black suit was something he usually would never be caught dead in.

A nerve ticked in Bryan’s jaw as he wondered who told him to change.

Change. That word left a bitter taste in his mouth

Even while trying to please others, his little Roy still applied eye makeup,’ Bryan noticed with a smile, his smile amping up when his eyes zeroed in on that pink tie. It made his fingers itch with the need to curl his fingers around it, using it to yank the boy to him before crushing their lips together. Fuck. His cock throbbed…again.

Without a second thought, Bryan strolled out of the boardroom, intending to corner the boy in the elevator and command him to never wear black or whatever colors he didn’t like.

 

~

Hurrying into the pristine lobby, Roy can’t help but stare. It is so cold, austere, and impersonal. The lobby is huge and the reception is painted in dark colors that scream: ‘What business do you have here?’

During the longest elevator ride of his life, he takes a deep breath as the elevator-mirrored walls taunt him with his reflection. They are saying—you don’t look manly enough. Dammit, he hates feeling this way. This is Liam’s fault.

Pressing his lips in a tight line, Roy whips out his phone, soon lost in Instegram reels as his thumb flicks rapidly over the screen.

When the doors open, Roy doesn’t look up from his phone as he steps out and walks right into the hardest figure he’d ever felt. Ow.

Heart thumping like crazy, Roy’s eyes take in a sharp, angular jaw that is shaven, for it is smooth and he inhales the subtle scent of sandalwood cologne. Coupled with the strong scent of his aftershave, it is a heady mix that leaves his senses entranced.

When he feels strong arms wrap around his waist to keep him from falling, Roy’s heart almost breaks out of his ribcage. Who is this man? He thinks giddily.

The man is so tall that Roy’s head barely grazes his shoulders.

Blood rushes south of his body as he hears a baritone voice ask, “Are you okay?”

Roy peeks through his lashes at the sexy-smelling man and the next breath sticks in his throat.

His eyes widen as it meet the man’s startling green ones. He’d bumped into Bryan “effing” Anderson!