Amari woke up in his own room, he was still sitting on the edge of the bed when the maids came into his room and started preparing his bath water, bathrobe, as well as his new business suit. The maids prepared everything he needed and he walked to the bathroom as usual.
He was still in his overnight conversation with Joshua when he suddenly called him.
"J..Josh?"
Huh? Why? Are you waiting for someone to call you?
Amari stuttered, he could hear the sound of his own heart thumping, it was beating so fast and loud. He was so nervous about getting a call from Joshua.
"Uh, no? But, how did you know my number?"
Joshua's laughter on the other end of the line made Amari's face redden at the voice.
I asked someone to look for it, it's not difficult. You know how my family is, right? Then, why didn't you contact me?
Amari felt like his heart was about to leap out of his body when he heard Joshua talking so long on the phone. It wasn't his first time but Amari couldn't hide his excitement.
"I'm adapting to work. Sorry, it's a bit difficult for that, I didn't mean to not contact you right away."
Joshua didn't say anything, there was a long pause before his voice finally heard,
Okay, I got it.
Amari bit his lower lip, he was trying to find another topic of conversation so that the call wouldn't stop there. But he felt his lips tingle and his head felt filled with so many clouds, he couldn't think.
How have you been?
Just as he was racking his brain for a topic, Joshua's voice snapped him out of it.
"It's much better, I'm fine."
Amari felt his throat choke, he didn't know why his body was reacting this way. It was so embarrassing.
Are you available tomorrow?
Amari's eyes blinked.
"Tomorrow?"
Yeah, I have some business near your office. If you're not busy-
"I'm not busy! We can meet! Of course!" He half-squealed in response to Joshua's invitation.
That's right, I intend to ask you to meet if you're not busy tomorrow.
"ARGGGHHHHH! WHY DO I HAVE TO SOUND SO ENTHUSIASTIC! HE HASN'T EVEN ASKED TO MEET ME?!" Amari screamed in the shower as he soaked his body, frustrated with the conversation he had with Joshua on the phone last night. He felt stupid stuttering and nervous.
Today they promised to meet at the café across from the office after seven.
Amari drowned himself in the bathtub, feeling like a fool. It was just a phone call but his head was already spinning. He quickly came out from the bathroom, put on his bathrobe and prepared to put on his business suit.
One of the maids helped him comb his hair, smoothed it down and he went downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. His eyes rounded when he saw the gray-black haired man sitting on one of the chairs, his round glasses perched nicely on his nose. Eyes that were slanted with brownish color, and lips that smiled broadly when their gazes met.
"Jude?"
"Hi, I've been waiting for you." The man got up from his seat and walked over to Amari, his hands wrapped around his waist and gently kissed his cheek.
Amari jumped slightly when Jude did that.
"I told you not to pick me up..."
"Amari, is that how you talk to your fiancé?" Ashleen admonished Amari from her seat, she invited Jude to sit back down and enjoy his breakfast.
Amari's mood instantly changed, he didn't want to see Jude. His parents must have been so happy to see Jude pick him up this morning.
"How was your business trip this time, Jude?" Jesse asked as he sipped a cup of hot coffee.
"Everything is going well, we're planning to build a new factory there." Jude smiled, explained to Jesse about FOTHER PHARMA's plan to build a new factory and also a new company even overseas.
Their business for HEAT suppressant drugs and RUT was so marketable, doctors and experts also joined in to research and manufacture the drugs. The complaint against Omega discrimination was the biggest complaint in the country for many years, Fother Pharma conducted research with people who are experts in their field to find a strong HEAT suppressant.
Moreover, Omega's interest in the athlete field has widened, with many countries having Omega's with the potential to become a highly promising athlete. Therefore, the drugs that Fother Pharma creates help Omegas and reduce the number of discrimination against them.
Fother Pharma produces HEAT suppressants in the form of drugs that are taken daily or monthly, or injections and also in the form of Fotherpod Heat Suppressant Pumps that can be used every day and deliver HEAT suppressants continuously.
For Amari's parents their marriage was the best option after the Fothergill family themselves asked the White family, they had no reason to refuse. The Fothergill family also has the largest dominant gene.
"I'll be back here soon." Jude smiled and said goodbye to Amari's parents before finally getting into the car, sitting next to Amari who was staring out the window beside him.
Jude undid one of the buttons on his suit and turned to Amari who still wasn't looking at him.
"Are you still mad that I picked you up?" Jude asked while chuckling at Amari.
"I told you not to do this, didn't you see how happy my parents were that you came?"
"Isn't that good?"
Amari turned to Jude, his eyebrows knitted together and he pouted.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just doing what a fiancée should do, nothing more."
"You don't have to waste your time." Amari said, looking again at the window beside him, staring at the trees that the car passed.
It's already their second year of engagement, Jude has been trying to make Amari fall for him. He wants this marriage to go the way his parents want it to, but Amari's reaction to him is far from favorable. They are only six years apart in age, but Amari treats him like a big brother.
"Take off your suit..." Jude said, he opened the large bag in front of him.
Amari turned to him, he didn't say much and did as Jude asked. Amari starts undressing himself, his jacket, a waistcoat, and the shirt. He left one hand open.
Jude looked at Amari's body, in his left hand was a white pod that had to be replaced every month. Amari had never changed it himself, it had all been done by Jude since he started getting his first HEAT.
He removed the pod from Amari's hand, the man wincing slightly in pain. Jude prepared a new pod, dabbing Amari's soft, white skin with an alcohol swab, slightly away from where the previous pod, Jude stuck the new pod there.
"Is this new?" Amari asked as he watched Jude open the app on his phone.
"Yes, this Pod can be connected via phone. You can set up daily injections of HEAT suppressant from your phone for one month." Jude showed the app to Amari who nodded. "Do you want to try setting that up yourself?"
Amari looked at Jude and shook his head, "I'm not interested."
Jude chuckled, "This is for yourself. You should know more about HEAT suppressors than I do."
Ever since he got HEAT, Amari never knew how HEAT suppressants worked. He gave his trust to Jude who was his family doctor before becoming his fiancé.
"I heard you got threatened again after the gunfire at the party?"
Amari didn't answer right away, he was babbling to himself because of what he did Jude always got the news from whoever.
"Yes, someone sent me a threatening package."
"We should speed up our engagement notice."
Amari turned to Jude, they stared at each other for a moment, the bright blue eyes staring disapprovingly at Jude.
"What does that have to do with it? I just got a threat, this has nothing to do with the engagement-"
"Don't you understand? In this country, no one dares to touch people who have ties to the Fothergill family. If you want the threats to stop, you must do as I say." The brown eyes behind the round glasses looked very scary, the same gaze when the man asked Amari to become his fiancée and said that it was for the sake of their parents.
A look that scared Amari to death.
"Next week I'll just be made official as the successor of my family company, I don't want people to talk about anything other than that, people will think I'm just playing around with my family's company if you announce it now." Amari tried to hold back all the emotions that would come out of his voice, he didn't want Jude to see that he was scared right now. He didn't want to look weak. "Shouldn't you be supporting me? I'm not here just to be your fiancé, I still have to run my family company." He finished his last sentence to a silent Jude.
Jude had been asking to announce their engagement for a few months, but Amari had asked him to postpone it many times until it finally lasted for two years. Both Jude and Amari had their reasons, but for Amari, he didn't want to hurt his family. He still doesn't trust Jude.