Chapter 2 - Presidential Meeting

2 December Presidential Palace, Capital Country Y

President Dong, stood up to greet the two men being shown in. While he had clearly directed his security staff not to record the conversation and leave them alone, he understood it would happen, but it would not be transcribed.

Despite his guests being long term friends, the presidential security detail was frightened of anyone meeting their president, given the terrorist attack carried out ten years ago by the Devil that seriously injured the then sitting president, killed his wife and vice-president. This was the best that he could do.

"Phillip and Chester, thank you for coming and seeing me."

Phillip Rong responded in a shaky voice "Mr President, a pleasure that we could facilitate your request." Chester stood beside him nodding his head.

As he wanted to talk to his son's friend alone, with a brief movement of his head President Dong signalled to the bodyguards to leave the room. When the door was shut behind them, he motioned for his guests to sit down on the chairs.

"Phillip, Chester, how I do wish Walter was here to see this day."

"Sir he would have been so impressed that despite all the political opposition you faced you took his cause and ran with it, to the end he wanted. It simply was such a that shame that he could not see any way out of what, and please do not take this the wrong way, your parents and parents-in-law forced on him," said Chester quietly.

"You are right Chester. We did everything to protect him, but we all know that they were and still are steamrollers who once they get something in their mind do not move from it. My in-laws were the loudest voices against the changes that have been made to the law. About eighteen months ago, I sat them down and told them bluntly that their actions had driven Walter's suicide and that this was a cause dear to his heart that I was pursuing. Do you know what their response was?"

"No," said both Phillip and Chester.

"They told me that if I had been strong and forced my son to do what was right, he would not have gone against nature and he would still be alive. They have no conscious. My wife and I now only deal with them when we have to, and that is because of our younger children who they have manipulated to believe that they are the perfect grandparents."

"Well the law change will be Walter's legacy. You know the truth behind his suicide, but the public position is the truth as well. He was truly a politically aware child of you and your wife. He saw an injustice in how the law applied to a segment of the population, and from an early age sort to campaign to fix that injustice. You simply took up his fight when he was unable to cope with his own situation and took his own life."

"True Phillip, now, about you two…"

"Where is our relationship at?" responded Phillip.

"You know if I could convince him to leave the country for a week, we would fly to somewhere where we could legally marry, and return. The changes in the law mean that despite never being able to marry here, as our marriage would be legal in the country we married in, and neither of us are otherwise married it would be recognised as a marriage here."

"When you finally extricated yourself from that, what could only be described as a sham of a marriage, Chester, I believed you would have done it them, and damned the world."

"By then I had Dominic to think of. Lexi left him in my care, and that witch of an ex of mine was determined to try and get custody of him as she believed it as would be an income source for her. As Lexi returned a few months ago …"

"You are now free to both pursue your heart?"

"We wish…" came a quiet response from Phillip.

President Dong turned and looked carefully at Phillip. It was then he realised another fact "Has your cancer returned?"

"It has, and this time my oncologist is only giving me a fifty-fifty chance to defeat it."

"Phillip, what can I do?"

"Mr President, there is nothing per se that you can do with regarding my treatment and potential recovery, but I hate to ask you for a favour."

"Ask and I will see what I can do, no promises, but I will try."

"If there was any way that you could ask the Military command if could they post Matthew to the City K army base. That way, as our parents are off in their own world oblivious to what is happening to their two children, if things go wrong, I have my brother near."

"Phillip, I will ask, but I do leave deployments to the military chiefs."

"I know that, but I only ask could you advise them that if it would be possible, I would be grateful."

The conversation drifted into various topics both personal and business before about an hour later they were interrupted by the First Lady, who invited Phillip and Chester to stay for dinner.