Joe is alone in his Brooklyn apartment, which he can't afford now. The pandemic complicates his plan to get a roommate. If only Michael could have stayed. Joe would join him on the west coast but he likes his job in NYC, in medical billing and coding. He does it online at home, at least for a while, but now he has to go back to the office and work in a plastic tent.<br><br>Vegan chef Michael detests meat, cooking it as well as eating it. Due to the restaurant where he works closing, he has to take a job cross country, leaving Joe behind. This happens before the pandemic, so his new job, cooking vegan takeout, becomes all the more necessary to keep. He lives with his sister in LA until he gets on his feet.<br><br>Joe and Michael find ways to stay connected over the phone, but it isn't the same. Should they try to make it work, or just give up now that they're so far apart? Joe's friend Cindy shares with him the romance stories she reads, but it takes a real-life love story in the hospital to help him decide.

To the Ends of the Earth

“Why do you keep on saying that? What’s wrong with us!”


“Nothing. I like us.” Michael got a serious look on his face. “I’m just saying, why would anyone want to watch me when they have all those porn stars to choose from? Not that I’m into that, but I heard about it.”


“Well sure, before you make your debut, I guess you could lose a few pounds. I would get my hair transplant, but there’s all kinds of stuff out there. You know that. Don’t pretend you’ve never looked.”


“I’m really not into porn. Don’t you know me? Not that there’s anything wrong with it.” Michael wrinkled his nose. “It’s just not my thing.”


“I hear a lot of people like it, all kinds of people, and then there’s those romance novels like Cindy reads. She switched to MM a few years ago and never went back.”


“What did she read before?” Michael asked.


“The regular straight stuff for a long time, dukes and virgins or something like that.” He laughed.


Chapter 3