For The Love Of Royal

Her name was Royal Robert, and she was a twenty eight years old woman that lived downtown in Brooklyn, but she didn't have her life together as most twenty eight years old does. Her life was honestly far from being figured out as it should be.

She was single with no prominent promise of getting a man any time soon, but that was the least of her worries these days. What she was worried about were how to pay these bills or those bills and not some silly macho men that wanted a way in her pant.

Oh, she knew what people were probably thinking. The cliché of her name, being Royal when she was not from a royal family? Well, let's just say that her mother loved those once upon a time, stories with anything that had to do with princes and princesses.

When she was pregnant with her, she didn't want to get an ultrasound so it was a surprise but she had already taken the name Royal to fit whatever sex she came out as. It was funny how her life had nothing to do with royalty.

In fact, it had been the opposite of that the whole day. She had just lost her job of two years just because her boss wanted to get in her pants and she didn't allow that to happen. Well, majorly, her life was something one could call a novelty for those rich asses that think that they could do anything and get away with it.

She had been trying to work so hard on holding a job, without anyone wanting to get down with her, and she had been holding onto this job for the past two years, majorly just avoiding her boss until today.

The excuse was because she came late to work. God, how retarded was that? For God's sake, people that busted their asses every day just to work and come up with things at work don't deserve to be fired just like that just because they came last to work, what, twice a month

God, she had never even had any leave time ever since she started working for this company. She worked herself through the weekdays and sometimes even at weekends and her stupid boss had the nerve to fire her?

Stupid prick. He didn't know her worth and paid her less than he should but she had had to manage it just to get by.

She should sue that company for what they are worth, but for what, anyway. It was of no use at all.

She packed her things into the box and swallowed back the lump that had formed at her throat. The tears were threatening to fall but she was not even going to let that happen. She had shouted at the bastard and given him hell for firing her, so she wouldn't let him see her cry.

It was just a tad bit hard, trying to stop the waterworks right now, but it was something she would achieve soon.

Her phone buzzed on the table, but she just picked it up and put it into her bag without picking up the call or checking the screen to see who was calling.

It doesn't even matter now. She didn't want to talk to anybody at the moment. She just wanted to go home and get that chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream out of the fridge and watch some movie with her best friend. Well, the best friend part wasn't going to work because she knew that he was a busy man.

Dylan McCarthy owned a company that give waiters out for a party or an event and he had bailed her out every time she had been in and out of a job.

Not this time. She didn't want him to keep helping her out like that every time. She can't keep running to him wherever she felt like it. It wasn't right. Besides, his fiancé doesn't even like her.

Well, the feeling was mutual. She was one of those vain people that have the thought that they should never relate with people that don't have a certain amount of money in their account.

She often wondered what Dylan saw in her, but then again, people say love is blind. Don't get her wrong, Blair Van Der Baas was a very beautiful woman, and yes, she had one of those white privilege names, no offense, but she just couldn't see it.

She carried her box and walked to the elevator, waiting for the doors to open before stepping inside the car and riding down to the down floor.

When she got to the last floor, she got out and walked out of the building to the parking lot.

Her phone rang again and she cursed as she dragged it out of her bag to see who was calling. It was her mother.

Oh, God! She just couldn't pick a much worse time than this to call. For goodness sake, she had just lost her job. Why does she have to be calling her now? She wondered, asking herself.

She blew out a breath and picked the call. "Hey, Ma. Good, huh..." she quickly glanced down at her wristwatch to see that it was still morning. "good morning." She said. This was great. It wasn't even afternoon yet and her stupid ass ex-boss had fired her.

"Hey, honey. How are you doing, my love?" she asked her.

Royal sighed and the stupid tears threatened her again. She sniffed, yanking the phone from her ear, and making sure she had gotten the tears under control before she put the phone back in her ear. "I'm fine, Ma. How are you going yourself?" she asked her mother.

"I'm doing great, my love. I just wanted to thank you for the money you sent to me last night. I love you, honey. Thank you, so much. I don't need you to worry about me so much. I work too you know." Her mother said.

Royal rolled her eyes at that. Of course, she knew that her mother would say that. She always does, and she would never admit that the bakery was not what it used to be when her father was alive. Her father had died three years ago in a boating accident and it had left her mother in a pile of disaster.

"I know that, Ma. I just want to take care of you. You know it's time you retire and leave the shop for Kingdom to oversee. We both know he's a much better baker than you ever were." She said and her mother laughed.

Kingdom was the name of her younger brother. Yes, that was how much her mother loved those royal bulls and crap. Thank God she wasn't the one that get to be Kingdom. Everyone just called him King, but she loved to taunt him with the full name, so she called him Kingdom.

He had gone to school to become a chef and was still in school getting his master's or whatever. He had also learned everything about baking from their mother, and she can't bake shit, but at least she can cook.

Unlike him who had always stayed with their mother to learn, she had buried herself in learning and working hard to become a mathematics professor. She had finally finished her master's degree two years ago, but she needed a lot of money to start her Ph.D.

She couldn't afford to continue with that because she was still paging off her huge student loans, juggling that between paying half her brother's school fees and her mother's medical bills as their insurance didn't cover that. Their mother was diabetic and it had been hell maintaining the shit out of it.

Well, at least it was good to know that she wasn't just a pretty face. She was very good at mathematics.

"I just wanted to check on you and see how you're doing. I should go now." Her mother said.

"Okay, Mom. I hear you. Thank you for calling." She said and ended the call. With a sigh, she walked to her deadbeat car.

She had inherited it from her father and the house she was living in was inherited from her great aunt on her mother's side. She was a very good woman, but she had no child before she died so she gave it to her. Thank God for those two people. She would have been taking the bus and living on the street. Who knows.

In the car, she texted her best friend to let him know that as of this minute, she no longer had a job and that she was going home to cry herself to sleep after stuffing her face with the ice cream she kept at home.

She sent the text and dropped her phone in her bag the second time, then she started her car and drove out of the parking lot. She needed to just vent and let go of everything, and home was where she could do that, which meant that the earlier she left this piece of shit place, the earlier she get to reach the house.

Dylan wrapped his hand around his best friend as she cried, and he wanted to go over to her workplace and put that bastard in his place. He had his hand tightened in a ball of a fist in anger, and he shook his head as he gritted his teeth as well.

Who fired someone over something as stupid as being late when they did their work like they were supposed to? He asked himself. He had never liked that bastard. They had gone to business school together and he had just hated the adventurous attitude he used in dealing with everything, thinking that it was a joke or something. People's lives are not jokes, and so many people's jobs are what they depended on but not this idiot. He was never serious in his life.

Dylan knew that that was an excuse to just fire the woman as she didn't bow to him as everyone else did or gave him any sexual favors.

Royal had texted him when she lost her job and he had left everything he had been doing to come to her, getting a box of her favorite pizza on his way over.

She had been crying since way before he arrived, he could tell by the puffy look of her eyes. She had denied crying when he asked her, telling him that she was a big girl who doesn't cry over spilled milk, even though he knew that it was far from the truth. Only that, when he had told her to tell him what happened and why she got fired, she had started to cry again.

He knew that her boss, or rather, her ex-boss was a major asshole, but she wouldn't have to face this if she had just come work for him permanently until she could gather enough money to go for her Ph.D. to become a professor. But, she wouldn't take help from him and that itself annoyed the hell out of him.

He pulled her to himself again, telling her to stop crying, and she nodded her head in acceptance.

"I'm so sorry you lost your job, buddy. If that idiot doesn't know your worth, then he is a much bigger food than I thought he was." And he wasn't saying all that because Royal was his best friend. He had seen how she worked, how she put all her all into a job that she had to do and gave it all she had, but the idiot hadn't been man enough to see it. Royal was just like him, a very hard worker, but life hadn't really smiled on her and things had been hard enough as it was, so this adding to the pile of misfortune was not a really good thing to happen to her.

"You know the worst part, Dylan? My mom called to ask how I'm doing, and how work was going. I couldn't even tell her that I lost my job a few minutes ago. I couldn't tell her that I wouldn't be able to pay for her medications anymore. How cruel is that, huh?" She asked as she looked up at him. Her eyes were still watery from all the crying. Her nose was red and her face, flushed.

"You don't have to tell your Mom anything, because she doesn't have to know. You'll get something better and everything will sort itself out." He said.

He was going to have to call his other friends and call in a favor or two to get her something great and suitable, something that pays way better than she was earning from that shit hole company.

"I just hope so, I really do, but I doubt it. I'm going to finish my savings without getting a job and my mother is going to find out. I'm probably just going to drop dead before I know it." She said.

"I know how that feel, baby doll. You're going to be fine, I promise." Dylan said. He was going to do all that was in his power to make sure.

She elbowed him on his stomach and eyed him with mock irritation. "Don't call me that, silly. I've told you that before. And you don't know that everything will be all right, so stop saying that as well." She said.

Dylan smiled, and he kissed her temple. "I know how you feel, trust me. I can relate, but like I said, everything is going to be all right, don't worry." He said.

"You don't know shit. You've never even been out of a job or in a dice like I am. We both know your rich parents won't allow that." She said, and then she regretted it as soon as it left her mouth.

"Wow! Really?" he asked, looking down at her. "I didn't know that that was how you saw me. You of all people know that I don't run to my parents when I have problems, and I worked so hard for everything I have today. I don't know why you would say that." He said, removing his hand that he had wrapped around her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Dylan. I swear I meant that as a joke. I didn't even realize that I was saying that on a serious note. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, man. I meant for it to come out and sound like a joke." She said with a cringe. She hadn't meant for that to come out as if her best friend was some lazy ass man who only had everything he did because he had rich parents.

Dylan was the most hardworking person she had ever known, and she knew how strong he was. She was the one who had always run to him in any case whenever she had a problem or the other. She couldn't possibly ask for a better best friend as opposed to him.

She loved him so much and she knew that he loved her as well. "I'm so sorry once again for saying that. You know I didn't mean it." She said, looking at him with the "I love you so much I just can't control my mouth sometimes" look.

Dylan shook his head and he blew out his breath. "It's all right, baby doll. I know you didn't mean it that way, but it didn't stop it from hurting." He said.

"I just need to find another job, for goodness sake. Any job that's going to resume paying for my student loans, and all the other stuff. I'm so frustrated right now." Royal said.

To be honest, the job needed to be a better paying job, or she was going to just explode and that wasn't a good one. She couldn't afford to not get a better-paying job. Her brother and mother were depending on her for Christ's sake.

"I think I will go warm up this pizza and we can have some ice cream as well," Dylan said. "How does that sound?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and said that it was fine. She watched him leave and she used the palm of her hands to cover her face.

By the time he came back from the kitchen, Royal knew there was something wrong before he could say anything. She frowned and asked him what was going on.

"Huh, Blair... she just called me. She said she needed me to get some tampons to her." He said with an apologetic look on his face.

Royal rolled her eyes and said. "Just go to your tampons sucking creature fiancé." She shook her head and folded her hands across each other. "I bet she's only wanted you to get her tampons because you told her you're here with me." She said. "Such a bitch." She added under her breath.

Dylan smiled, obviously hearing what she said. "And how can you tell that I told her I was here?" he asked.

Royal gave him a look that said. "Really? You're asking me that obvious question again?" but instead, she said. "Because you tell her every time you're here, and then she wants something. I wish we can all just go back to when you haven't met her." She said.

He threw his head back and laughed. "You know, if I didn't know you any better, I would think that you're jealous of her, or that you love me." He said.

Royal rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Of course, I love you, you silly man. I'm your best friend. I just don't love you that way you're suggesting, and God forbid I'm actually jealous of her." She said, and then she frowned. "Wait," she raised her right hand to stop him from moving. "Shit, I think I actually am."

Dylan laughed.

"Why the fuck does she have to take my best friend away from me every God damn time?" she asked. "It's not fair." She said, pushing out her bottom lips.

Dylan bent and kisses her forehead. "I'm so sorry love, but I have to go now. I'll see you later, okay." He said.

With a nod, she sighed and stood up from the chair, walked down the hall to the bathroom to wash her face, and then, she saw him out the door.

When he was gone, she came back to the hot pizza on the table, and the cold ice cream there as well. By the time she was full, the tears had dried up completely.

Walking to her bedroom, Royal checked to see if she had the lights off in the living room. She was so tired right now, but she couldn't afford to leave the lights on. The excessive bill was not something she wanted to add to the list of the things she would want to worry about.

After she was done making sure, she walked to her bedroom with the apple in her hand and laid down on the bed. She had been too tired to cook and didn't want to order in any, so she would have to make do with the apple.

She had been looking for a job since, sending in her applications and checking for vacancies online and on the newspaper, but she hadn't been so lucky to be called in for an interview or anything.

Sighing, she picked up her phone and looked through her mail but there was nothing in it, so she dropped it back on the small bedside table that was at the left side of the room, close to the wall. She closed her eyes and thought of what she would be doing right now if she was still working at that stupid place. She would probably just be driving home in her deadbeat car, or still at the office, working her ass off for that ingrate.

The doorbell rang and her eyes snapped open, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced at the wall clock and frown. Who could that be? She wondered.

"It's probably that stupid ex boss of mine. He probably realize he couldn't go on without me." She muttered as she got up from the bed, and walked to the door. She was just giving herself useless hope, even though she knew that was not possible.

On bare feet, Royal padded out of her room the hall to the front door and pulled it open, without checking the peephole in the door to see who it was.

Perhaps, it was because it could only be one person at her doorstep but the only reason she hadn't thought of it first was because of the time. It's been long they hung out at this time ever since he got himself a trophy fiancé. But, she wasn't surprised when she opened the door to find him there.

Training widely, Royal stepped out of her apartment to pull her best friend into a hug. It's been three days since they last saw each other and that was the day she called to tell him she had lost her job.

"Hey, Dylan. You didn't tell me you were coming over." She said, stepping back away from him to see him smiling down at her. "You sleeping over?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "No, Blair is coming over." He said.

Royal rolled her eyes at that and scoffed. She hated the fact that this Blair character had completely taken her best friend away from her. All those sleepovers they used to have and long night conversations were all gone. She barely saw her best friend any longer and it pained her.

She stepped aside for him to enter into her apartment before closing the door and locking it behind them.

"So to what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you?" She asked him, smiling.

He shrugged his shoulders and the corner of his mouth lifted up in a grin. "I came bearing good news, baby doll. I thought it would be better for me if I told you in person. I would have come over a lot earlier than this but I've been so busy at the office, that's why I pushed coming over until now." He said.

"Really?" Royal frowned. "That's sound promising. What is it?" she asked him as he sat down on the couch?

"I need you to sit down for this so that you won't fall flat on your ass when I tell you." He said, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot.

Royal rolled her eyes at him, seeing as he was being overly dramatic. There was nothing he could say that would make her fall down on her ass. "Oh, please Dylan. Stop being dramatic. Just shut up and tell me the news already." She said, then a thought occurred to her and she raised her hand to stop him from saying anything. "Wait a minute. Let me guess. Did your fiancé break up with you?" she asked, laughing.

"Yeah, right. She left, and I want to marry you." He said, chuckling. Dylan, at first, was always not cool with the way Royal talked about his fiancé, but then he just saw that she was harmless with all of this, and Blair deserved it, knowing she had never liked her too.

Royal sighed and then she sat down on the couch beside Dylan with her brows pushed up and her eyes squinted in question. "Fine, just tell me the news and let's get on with it." She said.

Dylan nodded and then he said. "I found you a job. A very good one that is going to pay well." He told her.

"What? Oh my God, Dylan. Thank you so much. Where? When do I start?" she said, asking him all that all at the same time in one breath.

He threw his head back and laughed. "Slow down, baby dolls. Calm down, okay. I need to answer that one after the other." He said.

Royal couldn't calm down, she just couldn't. She wanted to jump into his lap and hug him and kiss him all over his face. She wanted to thank him over and over again, as she was so grateful. She had not heard about the job, but she knew it was going to a good one, if he said so himself.

"The job is a teaching job, well sort of." He started, but Royal cut in with a frown.

"A teaching job?" she asked him. "Where?"

"Yes, and if you'd let me explain, I'll get there." He said. He knew she was impatient, and he couldn't blame her, so he was going to just get into it.

"It's a job in Beldavia, a small country you can barely see in the map, very far from here. The King of Beldavia told a friend of his, who happened to be my cousin's husband's friend. He told my cousin's husband about the job, and he naturally told his wife. When Olivia told me about it, she said she knew that you were the perfect fit for the job. I already sent your résumé to her from my email, the one I have with me in case I need to send it on your behalf, so the king reviewed it, and he would loved for you to fly over to their country. His younger brother is trying to get a master's degree in mathematics, who better to teach him than someone who is as brilliant as you?" he said.

All the while he told the story, Royal listened in fascination. She shook her head in wonder and said. "Wow, that's great. How soon do they want me to come?" she asked.

Dylan cringed, and he said. "Huh, that's next week. I hope you'd be ready to go." He said.

Royal swallowed hard. She wasn't sure she would be ready by then. She had a lot to put into place, she would need a little more time than that to get prepared.

"They're paying two hundred and twenty thousand dollars annually minus tax, Ro. I think you're going to be prepared before that time." He said, and he chuckled as he watched her eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"What? That much?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, baby doll. That much." He said.

"Holy shit. Of course, I'll be ready. Thank you so much Dylan. You don't know how much this means to me. I'm super grateful, and I'm calling Olivia first thing in the morning to thank her too. Thank you so much, dear." She said.

"You don't have to say much, baby doll. You deserve more than this. I was so happy for you when I heard about the job." Dylan said.

By the time Dylan left, Royal was still feeling so high on the happiness she felt. She was so pumped she couldn't sleep again.