Harmonious Mates Agency
The Harmonious Mates Agency was disguised as an employment agency, specializing in service staff; cleaners, cooks, waiters, that sort of profile, so it wasn’t unusual for Aelanna and Kora to have dealings with them. It said,Harmonious Employment Agencyon the directory board in the entrance. Sneaky but clever, Aelanna thought. Like the building, the block was down-market, as she was accustomed to in east New York. After all, it wasn’t Manhattan.
“How did you know this place even existed?” she asked Kora in an awed whisper as they entered a bright, immaculate reception through a scruffy outer door.
“Shh, I’ll tell you later,” Kora whispered back.
Nayli came in and stood with her two friends. Kora overcame her surprise to mutter, “You too, huh?” Kora threw her arms round Nayli and Aelanna did the same. But that’s all they had time for because the smart receptionist with perfect hair and makeup emerged from behind her counter and led them to a plush office.
The occupant, Crista Dapkey, wore her brown hair scraped back into a severe bun, and her brown eyes were sharp and intimidating through tortoiseshell-framed librarian glasses. She had a classy wooden nameplate with her name in an elegant script andManagerafter it on her desk. She radiated,Don’t mess with me or you’ll regret it, if you live that long.Aelanna and her friends had entered her territory.
Ms. Dapkey stood up from her ergonomic chair, givingthe girls full view of her coral wool designer suit.
“Oh my, is that from Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue? My mother always goes there,” Nayli declared brightly. Ms. Dapkey granted Nayli a side-eye that made Aelanna shudder. Ms. Dapkey’s appearance was in keeping with the office, that is, smart, expensive and supremely tasteful. Apart from the ultra-modern stylish office furniture, there was a plush crimson sofa, rich and dark, along one wall with a dark wood coffee table in front, a white orchid on it. The carpet was a lighter shade of crimson, and expensive prints inspired by shots from the James Webb telescope in thin black frames lined the off-white walls in a tint that possibly added a string of zeroes to the interior designer’s bill.
“Aelanna Smith, Kora Kelly, Taylor Fairchild, what makes all three of you want to join the Harmonious Mates Agency and go off-planet? There’s no coming back to Earth once you’ve boarded.” She paused, dramatically, of course, for an ominous wrap. “No going back.”
She stepped out from behind her neat desk and strolled to the window, giving the girls sight of her perfectly matched coral designer heels. She folded her arms, turned from the window, and treated them all to the side-eye that Aelanna would remember as her signature look.
“Or did you think we could get you positions at one of the classier hotels?”
Aelanna and Kayli shook their heads.
“I’ve already signed, Miss Dapkey. I just brought two friends along,” said Kora.
Ms. Dapkey waved a hand, dismissing her. “Never mind, I’ll interview you individually to see if you’re suited to our program.”
She sat down at her desk again and took papers from a drawer and handed them to Aelanna and Kayli.
“Study these, but don’t fill anything in yet. I want to talk to both of you privately to make sure you know what you’re in for.”
Aelanna was up first; the other two waited in reception. She sat in the visitor’s chair. The manager studied her from across the desk, and Aelanna tried to steel herself against Ms. Dapkey’s intimidating glare, with partial success.
“Why do you want to find an alien husband?” Dapkey asked.
Because I’m reacting to being jilted. Over-reacting.
“There’s nothing for me here. Everything I try I come up against a dead end, and I haven’t met any men who think I’m good enough to marry.”
“It seems like a drastic step to go to a different galaxy. The journey is longer than you think and you can’t come back. The aliens will send a ship. Earth doesn’t have spaceships suitable for such a journey. Why not try a local dating agency or an app?”
There was silence while Aelanna thought about her reply. She tried a different tack. “I can’t break free of dead-end jobs. Life is so much harder these days. This planet is overpopulated — teeming with people. There’s a lack of resources on a finite planet, and the rich buy everything and prices keep going up until they’re out of reach. There’s nothing left for us ordinary folk.”
“Sounds to me like you should get married. On Earth.” Dapkey met Aelanna’s eye. “However, it’s true that aliens have asked us to supply them human women. They don’t take us for granted.”
Aelanna stared off.She was sick of dating, of having her hopes raised and dashed, time and time again. The Brad episode had caused her to cross a line. If aliens valued women more than men from Earth did, that was a big plus in the aliens’ favor.
“Well?” Dapkey persisted.
Aelanna bravely told the manager the truth. The entire sordid experience spilled out of her mouth. “And I wasn’t good enough for him. I’m twenty-seven. I want to have kids before I’m thirty and I’m running out of time. Brad was my last hope.” By the end of it she was crying, well, if not crying, sniffingloudly.
Dapkey slid a box of tissues over the desk. Aelanna looked up to thank her, and Dapkey’s expression had softened a bit.
She handed Aelanna a clipboard, the application form pinned on it. “Sit over there on the sofa and fill out the form, and we’ll see. I can’t promise anything. Would you like coffee or tea?”
“Coffee, please.”
Dapkey went out of the room and Aelanna focused on the form.
