The Marriage Act(55)
‘They mentioned that in my interview.’
‘I make sure to get my review in first and it’s always flattering so the other person isn’t tempted to leave anything that might trigger alarm bells and suggest I’m not taking it seriously. And, by playing the system, I get to keep my house and full pension and I can afford to spend the rest of my time doing what I want to do and not worrying about losing it all. It keeps the wolves from the door. Not forever, mind, but at least I can’t hear them howling for the time being.’
‘Isn’t it against the rules?’
They stopped talking when one song ended until another began. ‘Strictly speaking, yes. But there are plenty of us out there doing it, as you’ll discover. For the most part, dates will be like this one, perfectly pleasant. They can make it difficult for us to remain single but they can’t force us to be together, can they?’
‘What will you do if they put a deadline on finding someone else?’
Toni shrugged. ‘It’s likely to happen one day. Then, I’ll find myself a single old gay guy or girl who’s happy for a platonic relationship. I’m sorry if you were looking for more and that I’ve wasted your time.’
‘No, not at all,’ he replied and finally allowed himself to relax in Toni’s company.
‘I saw an advert recently for a company that uses not only genetic matching but also AI to ensure that, before you’ve even met your Match, you’re biologically, sexually, emotionally and mentally compatible too. The next generation won’t know what it’s like to date spontaneously. They’ll all be Matched in a laboratory or by an App.’
‘Whatever happened to romance?’
‘That went out with the Ark, Arthur. Like us. Anyway, tell me about yourself.’
Arthur recalled his years served in the fire service while Toni told him vaguely of her career as a therapist.
‘Specializing in what?’ he asked.
‘Couples,’ she said hesitantly.
‘A Relationship Responder?’ Arthur asked. Only when Toni saw him visibly bristle did she offer more detail.
‘Oh, Lord no. I’m most definitely not one of them. I focus on couples who actually want therapy, not those who it’s forced upon.’
‘Didn’t the Government make what you do illegal?’
‘Yes, when they revoked the licences of anyone who refused to retrain. Now they’re only awarded to graduates of their own programmes. So if I marketed myself as a couples’ therapist, I could be arrested and charged with “Fraudulent Misrepresentation”. I still have clients, but it’s all very discreet.’
As the night progressed, they spoke about their travels, films and bands they had seen in their youth. There was a lot more laughter than he had anticipated, and more recollections of their late spouses.
‘What do you miss the most about your husband?’ Arthur asked.
‘Where do I start? The shared memories, the giggles, the knowing there was always someone to talk to, who understood you, who was on your side. With David, I never had to do anything alone. What about you?’
‘I talked to June for months after she died,’ said Arthur cautiously. She was the first person he admitted it to. ‘It made me feel less lonely.’
‘Most nights I dream about David. I’m forever searching for him. I know he’s out there somewhere but I can’t find him. I wake up exhausted. Have you read about those avatars they can create now based on lost loved ones? Using photos and old video footage, there’s a company that can build a model of how David and June looked, sounded and moved.’
‘Really?’
‘They use a device to project them into your house. You can talk to them and they’ll talk back. It’s supposed to stop us from feeling alone. I’m sure they’ll be banned soon as it goes against the Government’s plans for us all to remarry before our partners’ bodies are even cold.’
Arthur had already spent too much time with a shell of June to replicate it with another. He wouldn’t bring her back in any format.
When the landlord rang the bell for last orders, Arthur checked his watch, surprised at how rapidly the night had passed.
‘I never asked you, what are you looking for, Arthur? Love or companionship?’
Arthur placed his hand more firmly on his watch. ‘Neither. I had fifty-three years of both with a wonderful woman. I don’t want or need that with anyone else.’
Toni raised her glass. ‘Then welcome to the club of “doing just enough to get by”,’ she chuckled. ‘Here’s to nothing.’
Arthur’s glass clinked against hers and, for the first time in as long as he could remember, he realized that he had actually enjoyed himself. But more importantly, it had confirmed something that, deep down inside him, he already knew.
42
Anthony
Early morning starts were becoming the norm for Anthony. Awake at four a.m., showered by 4.15 a.m. and sitting at his desk in the home office by 4.30 a.m. Thirty minutes before Jada’s alarm sounded at 7 a.m., he would pad through the house, into the kitchen and make himself breakfast. Then he’d return to his desk with a bowl of cereal, a yoghurt, coffee and enough sugary snacks and fruit to last him until midday. Later, and only when the pinhole cameras he’d installed around the house without Jada’s knowledge confirmed he was alone, he would return to the kitchen to remove a frozen lunch from the freezer and perhaps an evening meal. He’d blast them in the semiconductor oven and store their piping hot contents in thermal heat pots under his desk.