Think a title for :Two days later, Joe found himself back at William and John’s villa with another glass of wine in his hand. He had dropped by his friend’s villa because he wanted pointers on his presentation. It had been way too long since he had to mingle and negotiate with the wealthiest Americans. He’d become way too accustomed to having to just do his job and do it well. This wasn’t the life he had envisioned for himself; stuffy suits, fake smiles and trying to convince old men with way too much money to give him something. 
 
This was exactly the life he had been running away from. He didn’t want to constantly live in a pretentious world where people were only nice to you because of what they could get from you. He’d had enough of doing that when he was in his teens and every single one of his father’s business partners had tried to marry him off to their children. 
 
The only thing that stood between him, them and an arranged marriage were his parents. When they were gone, they had passed that baton onto the man whose name he didn’t even dare speak. Every night Joe stared at the number he knew would not have changed and debated dialing it. But every night since his arrival he decided against it. It had been too long. 
 
Another thing standing between the IDM Inc board and his arranged marriage to anyone was the fact that at the age of 28 years old he was still unpresented. With subgender playing an integral role in the successful arranged marriages between wealthy heirs, an ideal subgender for Joe was an Omega or a Beta because then he wouldn’t be forced to take his place at the helm of IDM inc, and he would be expected to be the homemaker in LA. 
 
The fact that he was still unpresented, with no subgender traits to speak of, most of them assumed he was a defective person who would have no value to trade off in a marriage but whose life was only valuable to be an heir – at least that is what he’d heard his late father’s brother grumble at the party thrown to celebrate Joe’s successful completion of residency. 
 
Knocking back his fifth glass of wine, he watched his friends laugh at a joke William told. He watched as John curled into his husband and the way his eyes echoed love as they stared at each other. His heart ached for Jerry once again. 
 
As the night went on, the friends laughed at old stories and anecdotes, snacking and drinking more than what would be recommended, Joe swore he could feel Jerry’s presence like a warm hug. Shaking his head and grumbling under his breath, he tried to focus on his friends instead. 
 
Joe sighed, smiling softly as the buzz of drunkenness warmed his entire body. “I’m really so happy to be home and to see you guys. I missed you.” 
 
Chuckling William nodded, his cheeks flushed with a drunken blush, “Alcohol always made you so nice. Let’s get to bed, friend. You have a presentation tomorrow.” 
 
Joe pouted, knocking back the rest of his drink. He didn’t want to go to bed. When he was drunk, the memories he locked away for his own sanity always paid him a visit. And on nights like this where he watched his friend’s love story play before him, the memories of Jerry were welcome. 
 
William shook his head, standing up and pulling his friend up. Joe swayed as his head swam from the sudden movement. He groaned in response, trying to pull away from his friend who was making him feel like his was about to fall to the ground. Groaning back, William pulled Joe’s arm over his shoulders swearing at him teasingly as he led him to the guest room. 
 
“I wish Jerry would come back to me.” Joe whispered to no one in particular as his friend deposited him on the bed and removed his shoes and belt. 
 
“He could be closer than you think, Jojo.” William whispered back, as he watched his drunk friend settle into the bed and fall asleep promptly. Sighing, he went back to his own room to rest for the next day. 
 
The next day, as the sun rose to shine directly into Joe’s eyes, he was filled with the regrets of drinking in your late 20s. How was it that drinking in your early 20s was so easy? You could drink all night and wake up at 5am, go for a run, make breakfast, meditate and take a nice long shower all before 8am. Now, at the tender age of 28 Joe felt like he had ingested sand, and slept under the hot desert sun. 
 
Even as he forced himself into a freezing cold shower before letting himself take a warm shower, his head ached and his throat felt parched. The only thing that kept him going as he pulled on his three piece suit was the thought of getting the medicines he came for. That day he’d decided on his navy suit that fit much tighter since the last time he wore it because of the muscle he’d gained whilst away at DWB. That day he’d paired it with a black shirt and tie. His hair and beard had been trimmed neatly when he got back from Kenya, so the look was very clean and powerful. 
 
No matter how much he hated wearing these suits, he could appreciate how handsome he looked. His parents really gave him good genes with his brown softly curled hair and green eyes. He had a tall slender build with muscle from hard work and exercise. He looked very good. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he gave his reflection his best fake smile before setting off to the kitchen. 
 
“Woaaah look at how the frog became a prince.” John chirped as he stirred whatever was on the stove. “How’s our favorite drunk doctor this morning?”
 
Joe rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me hit you so early in the morning.” He grumbled, taking William’s coffee out of his hand and sipping some despite his friend’s protest. 
 
After forcing some toast and a second cup of coffee down, Joe stood and bid his friend’s adieu. “Wish me luck, I’ve got old rich people to persuade.” 
 
“Good luck.” John’s still chirpy reply as Joe strode out of the villa to find William’s driver waiting for him to take him to the meeting. 
 
Sliding into his car and taking out his iPad to check the notes again, Joe found himself nervous without a support system here in LA. His nerves only got worse as he watched the skyscrapers come into view with people wearing the kind of brands that could pay for an entire family’s vaccines, he thought he might throw up. 
 
Taking in a deep breath, he reminded himself that this should come naturally considering the fact that he was born to run one of the biggest companies in LA. William’s Rolls Royce pulled to a stop in front of one of the pretentious skyscrapers signifying that he’d arrived. He waited for the driver to open the door before stepping out of the car, straightening his back and his face. 
 
It was game time. 
 
As it turns out, Joe was not as good at negotiating as he thought because those old bastards only gave him a 3% discount provided that the vaccine trials of the drug that they were developing could be tested in the area. And that was after 2 hours of presentations, discussions, negotiations and a give and take. 
 
It was bullshit! 
 
As he slid into his own car at the end of it all, his iPad rang with a FaceTime call. John and William’s faces came into view, expressions hopeful and smiling. 
 
“So, how did it go?” John asked, his expression faltering when he saw Joe’s frown. 
 
Groaning, Joe dragged a hand down his face before shaking his head despairingly. “As expected those old turds refused to go lower than 3% and in exchange for experimental vaccine testing. Even if one would allow such unscrupulous testing, our budget will not accommodate such a high price for the medicines. Even the generic alternatives aren’t worth the procurement costs.”
 
His friends exploded with bitter insults, cursing the names of the old crooks who refused to help a war-torn area in desperate need of medication despite the fact that they could accommodate it if they were willing to let go of a bit of their profit. Joe smiled softly, feeling so much better about the unsuccessful meeting when he heard his friend’s equally frustrated rants. 
 
“No matter. I’ll call the person in charge of the largest pharmaceutical distribution companies in a moment to ensure that you can chat with him. He’ll definitely give you a better deal. You’ll get the necessary assistance, friend.” 
 
Nodding gratefully, Joe agreed and promised a certificate of merit for John’s efforts jokingly before making his way to the hotel some of the other DWB doctors and representatives were meeting at for dinner. 
 
Sitting amongst these influential people from privileged background, Joe could only feel even more exhausted and alone. One would think that these people who are part of such a great cause were some of the most selfless and loving people, but after living in a country where he could see the hands on effects of war and natural disasters Joe had become much wiser. Most of the “higher-ups” at the table were known to have underlying motives that weren’t as pure as the public would like to believe. 
 
But at the end of the day, much like most things, those people were a means to an end and if it meant that the poor could get the help they needed, Joe could stomach them for a night or two.  But he was grateful when the night ended, and he could leave for his own home. 
 
It was so hard to get anything done without influence and power in this country, especially when you had no other negotiating instruments. He couldn’t use his position in IDM Inc to persuade them because anything he could have promised would have to be approved by the CEO who hadn’t even called him despite the fact that Joe knew that he knew he was in the country. 
 
Joe really wanted to go to his family or to David to just get it done. However, his family came with strings attached and he didn’t want to go crawling back to a man he basically told he would never need. It would take too much swallowing of pride and Joe was at capacity for tonight at least. Maybe tomorrow or next week. 
 
Thinking about David was always a bitter pill to swallow especially now when everything in this city reminded Joe of him. David could snap his fingers and get anything done here and Joe had spent a long time running away from that – running away from him and their proposed marriage. But after 3 years of running, he found himself back in the same city as his betrothed. 
 
Shaking the thoughts out of his head and sighing he gave his address to his driver. His apartment had always been his safety from the time he was allowed to use part of his inheritance to buy and furnish it. It wasn’t very fancy or as high-end as one would expect on the heir of IDM Inc. However, it was his and it was beautiful. 
 
On the other side of the city, David Chen stood in his garden, his slimmer frail body wrapped in a thick coat as he listened to someone relay information regarding his betrothed. He knew not to expect anything from Jojo, but knowing that he would go to everyone for help except him hurt his feelings a little. 
 
Sighing, he put down the phone without give a response to the information and stared at the stars. “Soon, little Jojo. Soon we will meet again.”