13. Department

Julia stood waiting at the The Couple and Partner Department's User Service Section. She held a queue number in her hand that she had received when she had registered herself at the front desk. There were only a few chairs in the room. They weren’t all taken, but she and many others were still standing in lines, even though they didn’t need to. No one, though had a desire to sit next to each other. It seemed, instead, that most of the women had peeked over at each other’s queue number and organized themselves into some sort of line. Not everyone’s number made sense, and it seemed that different windows catered to different numbers, but it seemed like something for them to do.

By the door, though, you could see one or two women bent over putting their shoes and belts back on. They had just come in. They had gone through security out at the gate, and then weren’t allowed to put their shoes and belts back on until they had reached the department. It seemed silly, and nearly everyone gave the guards a quizzical look the first time that they were called to the deparment and had to put themselves through security, but it was clear that the guards were deadly serious about it all. No one put their shoes back on and they all shuffled along the interior hallway in their stockinged feet.

You could also tell who was new because they were the only ones sitting in their chair. They were also the youngest.

‘Number 358,’ announced a voice. That was Julia. She hadn’t been waiting that long and was surprised that they had gotten to her so quickly. She went up to the window where her number was blinking over the woman behind the counter. She showed the woman her number and stuffed it into the little wire bin on the counter in front of her.

The woman behind the counter looked up at Julia from her computer. ‘Your identification, please.’ Julia took her passport out of her purse and slid it through the compartment underneath the glass between her and the office on the other side of the paritition. She could see others at their desks working on their computers. Someone was making copies at a machine, and there were a few others just exiting a conference room.

‘Happy birthday,’ Said the woman at Julia’s counter.

Julia smiled. ‘Thanks.’

‘27 and still not married?’

Julia shook her head.

‘Are you dating anyone?’

Julia looked up. ‘Yes.’

The woman typed on her computer. ‘On a scale of 1-10, how serious is this relationship.’

Julia thought for a moment. ‘A six.’

The woman typed that into the computer and then read something that came up on her screen. She turned to Julia and looked her in the eye. ‘Is this the same relationship as you were in during your previous interview here?’

‘No, different guy.’

The bureaucrat turned back to her screen. ‘You rated that previous relationship as an 8, but it is already over.’

Julia looked over at the side of the counter.

The woman continued, ‘Are you on birth control.’

Julia nodded.

‘Would you go off of birth control with this current boyfriend?’

Julia shrugged. ‘I guess?’

‘But he is only a six, and you were on birth control with an eight.’

‘I guess so?’

The woman typed on her computer. ‘Right. I am sending your case further along in our process to an evaluation committee.’

‘Why, what’s wrong? This guy is great.’

The bureacrat nodded. ‘That is possible, but I am not certain of your enthusiasm for this particular relationship, and I have to send it further to the professionals to see if perhaps you would be better suited for allocation.’

‘That’s not fair, I don’t get to say how these things work out.’

The woman nodded. ‘Yes, dear, I know. It’s not usually you,it’s the men you desire. Woman, it turns out don’t have a good idea of who they should be with.’

Julia didn’t say anything.

‘There are excellent men out there who don’t get seen by woman, for whatever reason. Many woman often only see those who are going to waste their time. You might be one of these woman. That’s not judgment of you as a person, of course. But we might have an excellent opportunity to arrange something here with a committed partner.’

Julia didn’t say anything.

The woman smiled. ‘If you are interested, we can jump past the process and we can set you voluntarily up with a relationship coordinator.’

Julia shook her head.

‘Alright, thats fine. But please be aware that if this 6 doesn’t work out, there will be a longer evaluation process where your options might be coordinated by this office instead of the free market. For your own sake.’

‘I mean, I am trying.’

‘I know dear, I know,’ said the bureaucrat sympathetically. ‘But when you signed the education contract, you understood that you could not use your education to discriminate in your family and relationship building.’

‘But I am not.’ protested Julia

‘As you say. But,’ said the woman as she pointed her pen at Julia through the glass, ‘You do not seem to be succeeding at using your education to the advantage of yourself and society, either. That is your responsibility, and it seems that you might not be meeting it at the moment.’

Julia said nothing.

‘Alright, please expect a notice in the next two months from this department on any further decision or action. Thank you so much for coming by today, and have a pleasant birthday!’

Julia didn’t know what to say as she left the hall and walked to the subway. She knew that 27 was a particularly sensitive age for the state, but she thought she had more time. Yeah, Greg was nice, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t the one. He was older too, and he still hadn’t settled down yet even though she was definitely not his first girlfriend. Was he going to get into trouble as well?

Julia took the bus back to her office where she tried to focus on her work, but ended up just staring out of the window instead. Her phone rang, and it was Greg. After they said hello and she was about to tell him about the department, he stopped her and told her that he needed to break up with her.

She asked him why, and he said that it was clear it was going nowhere and it was not fair of him to be taking up her life when it didn’t seem like there would be anything of it.

‘Fair to whom?’ she asked him.

Greg didn’t say anything for a moment. ‘I just can’t date you, alright? But you should find someone, fast.’ She hung up on and him and went out to the kitchen to stand and stare as the coffee maker percolated.

When the coffee was done she poured herself a cup and stared at the bulletin board filled with notices about dirty plates and committee minutes.

Her boss Diane walked into the kitchen. ‘Hey Julia, how is it going?’ She asked.

Julia didn’t reply.

‘I figured. I heard it was your birthday, happy birthday, I guess.’ Diane poured herself a cup of coffee.

‘Do you want to know who I heard it from?’ She asked Julia. Julia looked up at Diane, assuming it was her office mate.

‘The C and P department. They wanted to know how useful I found you in your role.’

Julia began to cry.

‘Don’t worry, I told them you were indispensable.’ Diane went over to give her a hug.

Julia wiped her eyes and blew her nose on a paper towel. ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t want one of their men.’ She said, laughing in despair as thoes words came out of her mouth.’

Diane shrugged. ‘Honey, it has changed since the beginning. They don’t just have men who enroll, they enroll every man in it now. You could get a good one now. Most are, you know.’

Julia shook her head, and blew her nose again. ‘I don’t get it. I thought these things were supposed to happen naturally.’

Diane shook her head. ‘Yeah, maybe there were a few years where that was true.’ She turned Julia towards her by the shoulders. ‘Look, they won’t take away your education anymore, I think I can stop that. But that just buys you time, not a solution.’

Julia looked up at her.

‘You need to settle down. Or else they will settle you down.’