Year One Pt. 05

March 2022

Tuesday March 1^st

I was back in the office yesterday but I didn't get the chance to get down to the phone box yesterday or today. I'm sure Cara will want to hear about the papers I found in the dormitory but I can't take any risks.

Wednesday March 2nd

I got fired!

This morning, Lucy called me into her office. I was expecting some sort of problem - there had been a group of team leaders talking together as I got in to the office and they'd gone quiet as I walked by. I was terrified they had found out about the Safeword stuff but it wasn't anything to do with that at all.

"Do you have any idea of the problems that you've caused?"

I looked blank. I really didn't have any idea of what Lucy was talking about.

"Do you think it's sensible for someone that is sponsored by the daughter of one of the Prime Minister's inner circle to be working on Government contracts without declaring it?"

I told her that I hadn't known that Jill's mother had any contact with the Government, only that she was involved with the local party but she didn't seem very interested in what I had to say. "We've got to let you go, I'm afraid. It's a shame because your one of the better ones here out of the men, but the chief exec is feeling really embarrassed. She had the Minister on the phone to her for an hour this morning saying she was worried that it all looked a bit too cosy and while she was all in favour of close links with industry to speed up procurement she didn't want anything going on that looked as if contracts were being awarded for the wrong reasons. So, the upshot is you've got to go."

"Can I explain?"

"Sure, but it won't make any difference and it will just piss me off. HR will have the same point of view too, I think, so take my advice and go quietly. I'll miss having you around -- at least in the stationery cupboard -- but I think it's best if you just get your stuff now."

"What straight away?"

"I'm afraid so. Security and all that."

Ten minutes later I was standing in the street with a few things in a cardboard box, wondering how I was going to explain this to Jill and what the hell I was going to do now.

One thing I had to do was let Cara know about the change in circumstances. I didn't know when I'd be able to get back into Stanbury next, so I left her a note in the phone box, together with some information about the stuff I found in London.

Jill wasn't around when I got in. I spent some time cleaning the place up -- I didn't want to give her anything else to be annoyed about. She still hadn't got back by 11 o'clock so I think she must have been out with friends. I gave up and went to bed.

Thursday March 3rd

I told Jill about the job this morning. She was predictably pissed off. After all, the money from the job was paying for the house that she lives in rent free and quite a lot of the other bills too.

"You'd better find yourself something soon. Otherwise you'll be on a government sponsorship scheme and after what you said about the dormitory in London, I don't imagine that will be too much fun."

She's right about that but I'm not at all sure where I'm going to find another job. Spent the afternoon looking through ads in the local paper to see if there was anything in Stanbury. Trouble is most of them are marked "Males Not Needed".

Jill's out with some of her girlfriends tonight.

Friday March 4^th

I thought I'd try to get into Jill's good books by cleaning the place up. I'm not sure if it's a great strategy as I'm never really sure if she notices when it's a mess but I thought if she found me working when she got up she might think I was contributing to the place. As it was, she rolled down stairs, bleary eyed, at around half past ten, grunted and went out without saying anything.

About an hour later there was a ring at the door and I opened it to Sally. She was dressed as though she was off to play golf -- casual zip-up jacket in pale pastel green with matching slacks. "Ah, yes, I suppose you would be at home, wouldn't you?" was as much sympathy as she offered. "Is Jill in?"

When I told her no, she looked like she was considering changing her plans for the day and abandoning golf in favour of playing around with me but I managed to head her off with a remark about having to get on with the housework. "Very domesticated," she said. "Well, tell Jill I called." I could see her husband in the car. He looked as glum as ever.

I needed some shopping so I went into the village, reckoning I had plenty of time before curfew. As I was walking past the bus stop and I saw a familiar figure leaning up against the old oak tree on the green behind it.

"Hullo Harry," I said.

"I thought I might see you if I hung around here long enough. Bad luck about the job."

"Yeah, well, the stupid thing is it was nothing to do with the whole Safeword business. Just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How's Cara?"

"Worried about you."

"Yeah, worried about whether she can get her hands on those papers more like."

Harry shrugged as much as to say, "Do you blame her?"

"I'm not going to be able to get to Stanbury for a while, so we need another drop-off arrangement." Apart from anything else, I didn't want the documents hanging around the flat any longer than was essential, but I did still want Safeword to have them.

"Can you get down to the village library tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes, probably."

"Cara will be working in there. Bring whatever papers you've got, slip them into a book you don't need and leave it with whatever she's working on."

More cloak and dagger stuff, I thought, but I said, "OK, I'll do what I can. I don't suppose you've got any ideas for a job, have you? My sponsor's gone ape-shit about the fact that there's no money coming in."

"You're asking the wrong bloke, Dave," Harry replied. "I've stayed well clear of anything that might make a sponsor happy. I'll give it some thought though."

Saturday March 5th

This whole secret agent thing has got me nervous as a kitten. I don't know how any of these spies managed to keep their heads above water. Harry suggested putting the papers in an old book but it was difficult to find one that was large enough to hold all the stuff I'd got. In the end I put them in a ring binder with other stuff in front and at the back and had to hope Cara would work out what she could ignore.

The library in the village is quite small, mostly its used by local old folk borrowing novels, so it's not that usual for anyone to be in there working. They have tried to broaden the appeal by installing a coffee machine and wifi, so sometimes you'll get the odd student or homeworker using it. There's a collection of local history stuff as well which attracts some I should think but otherwise the librarian's life must be relatively undisturbed. It's not hard to see why so many of these places are being closed down by the council.

Anyway I turned up with my binder, and a couple of notebooks in a satchel and went in. I couldn't see any sign of Cara which made me feel a bit panicky. The librarian, a grey haired, dumpy woman, gave me a stare that suggested she thought I shouldn't be there. I picked a couple of books off the local history shelf, went to one of the desks that they have for readers and made like I was studying them and writing down some notes.

About ten minutes later Cara came in. It was all I could do not to stare at her but I carried on working. She asked the librarian for something, picked up a couple of books and came across to sit opposite me. I carried on working.

The librarian bustled across and said, "I'm sorry we don't have the space for a male-free section, is this all right," she nodded at me. "I can ask him to move if you want."

Cara smiled and said "No, that's all right. I won't be long and he looks harmless."

"Can't always tell by looks," the librarian huffed, "but if you're happy." She went off with a pile of books to find them their proper home on the shelves and I took advantage of her absence to add my loose leaf binder to Cara's pile of stuff.

When the librarian came back she said, "Thanks ever so. I found what I needed." She picked up her stuff and my binder as cool as you like and walked out. I carried on scribbling notes down for another half hour. An old couple came in asking about the latest thriller by some best selling author and the librarian was explaining that they hadn't got it in yet but by the way would they like to try this instead and the three were deep in conversation so I took the opportunity to gather up my stuff and go.

I felt relieved as I got back into the street but even so I walked home all the way wondering if I was going to hear the screech of a police car and the hand of an MCF officer on my shoulder saying, "We'd like to have a word."

I picked up a few groceries form the village shop and put them down on the kitchen table when I got back. Jill came in after about half an hour and saw them, "Oh, that's where you've been," she said and then disappeared into the lounge to watch TV.

I think I got away with it.

Tuesday March 8^th

Cara has managed to get the stuff I gave her out to the papers. There was even a bit on BBC News this morning. The stuff on male voting rights has got the most coverage, which I suppose is not surprising. The Government response has been that it has no intention to change men's entitlement to vote, only that it wants to involve sponsors more in the process of registration and validation of voter entitlement.

It's sort of interesting to see how the papers have reacted to the Safeword revelations. I guess it reflects how women feel generally about the whole New Order thing. Some papers are claiming the Safeword organisation are just troublemakers who should back off and let the Government get on with doing its job, while others are saying its all fake news and others are horrified by what is being proposed. I haven't come across many women who would side with that last point of view. Mostly they seem to think New Order policies are a good thing for lots of political and economic reasons or they just enjoy the position that New Order has now put them in. That's the difference between Angie, who seems very much bought into the New Order rationale and Sally who, even though she's chummy with the politico's, is keen on it because now she can dominate men in public without anyone batting an eye. Alongside that are those that aren't too bothered, except that it as making their lives a bit easier. I guess Jill falls into that category. Or, she has done up until now.

The Government says they are confident of making an arrest shortly in relation to the unauthorised leaking of papers from the Department of Home Affairs. From the comments it sounds like they are still looking inside the department, which is good news as far as I'm concerned. I'm still pretty jumpy though. There was a police car going through the village this morning with its siren going and lights flashing. That got me sweating, I can tell you!

Jill was out all morning. She got back just after lunch. I thought I'd try to be a bit sociable and asked how her morning had been. I shouldn't have.

"Shitty," she said. "I spent all morning in town looking for shoes and the only ones I liked I couldn't afford because I'm going to have to pay the rent on this place next month if you don't find some cash from somewhere. It's been a week now. Have you go any closer to finding a job? Have you fuck!"

In fairness I hadn't actually done much about job hunting because I'd been too worried about getting the papers to Cara, so I was fairly contrite. "I am trying, but it's difficult."

"Yeah, well, my mother needs some help around the place and she's prepared to pay you the basic male wage for that, so if there's nothing by the weekend I'm going to take her up on it. I'm not sacrificing a pair of Jimmy Choos just to keep you sat on your arse."

I wasn't keen on that as an idea so I spent the afternoon clearing up in the flat just so Jill wouldn't think I was a complete waste of space. She doesn't nag me to do stuff like Angie did but she notices if I don't do it.

About 6-ish she announced she was going out to see some friends. She thoughtfully left me a copy of the local paper, left open at the jobs page, just in case I hadn't got the idea earlier on. There wasn't much there for men at all as far as I could see.

Friday March 11th

I got the bus into Stanbury this morning to do some food shopping for the weekend. I thought I'd have a look around to see if there were any jobs advertised anywhere too.

Needless to say there are plenty of "men allowed" buses outside of normal commuting times, so I got into town fairly easily.

I found a few job cards in shop windows and the like, wrote down phone numbers and addresses and felt I'd had a productive morning.

I stopped by the cafe for a cup of coffee on the off chance that Harry or Cara might be around but there wasn't any sign of them and I didn't think the man behind the counter would welcome an enquiry.

Still, I was just finishing my coffee and about to leave when the bloke behind the counter said, "You're Dave, aren't you?".

I nodded.

"Someone I know suggested they might meet up with you at the bus station if you were going back that way".

I assumed he was talking about Harry or Cara. "I should be back there about three o'clock, I suppose."

"OK," he said in a completely non-committal manner.

So finally I had my meeting with Cara in an empty bus shelter in Stanbury. Harry was standing off a bit keeping watch but Cara came straight up to where I was sitting and plonked herself down beside me.

"You did a good job with that stuff you handed over in the Library. I guess you saw the reaction?"

"Yes. Was that what you were looking for?"

"Who knows? We just want to stir things up and see what happens. I guess any response is what we are looking for."

"Well things are so stirred up that I'm out of work and my sponsor is on my back. Is there any way you can help me find some sort of job?"

"I don't know David. I don't think so. I can't be seen to be setting you up with something. That might lead people to think there was some sort of link between us and that might be difficult. You can see that can't you? Plus you're going to find it difficult to get any more stuff aren't you?"

"Oh," I said, "no product, no support."

Cara shrugged She didn't say but I knew what she was thinking: "What did you expect?"

I did, I thought, have one thing that she might be interested in, though. "Look, I may have some sort of access to a friend of Johannsen's."

She looked at me, obviously trying to decide if I was serious. "Well, if that results in anything, it might make a difference. Safewords hasn't really got much in the way of resources, though. It's not like I can offer you a job or a sponsorship."

"Let me see what I can find."

"All right. We can use the library in Fordswell to exchange messages like we did in the phone box. There's a phone booth at the back of the lobby isn't there?" I nodded. "OK, I'll check it out in a couple of weeks to give you some time to see what you can do. All right?"

Harry came wandering over and said, quietly,"We need to go."

Cara looked up and then took a leash out of her bag and fastened it onto the collar that Harry was wearing. She got to her feet without an other word and led him off.

Saturday March 12^th

I've tried applying for a few jobs that I found the details for yesterday. At least that should keep Jill off my back for a bit.

There was quite a lot on the news this morning about the Government's plans to celebrate their first year in power. Jill reckons that her mother is intending to host a party for local supporters.

She also said her mother might be looking for help around the house and that if I can't find anything else then that at least might be a way I could contribute a bit to the household.

That would be a last resort as far as I can see. I mean it might be useful for getting stuff for Cara but the way that Sally has tried to get her talons into me previously, the price might not be worth paying. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the Johannsen thing to Cara after all.

There was also another piece responding to some of the Safewords stuff. "Contrary to allegations in the press," the bulletin said, "the Government has no intention of suspending male voting rights but in future sponsors will be responsible for supervising the participation of males in elections; including ensuring that they are properly registered and that voting is carried out correctly." I can guess what they mean by "correctly". I bet it means a tick in the box labelled "New Order". There were also three announcements of major consultations on freedom of movement, the managed chastity programme and improving the role of men in the domestic setting.

I suppose I felt a bit pleased that the stuff I had provided was at least causing some debate. I have a funny idea that if it hadn't been published the Government would have been happy to press on without bothering to tell anyone anything. I'm not sure it was worth losing my job for though.

Sunday March 13th

Angie came over to see Jill this afternoon. She didn't seem interested in seeing me, which I thought was a bit tough after the way she had been up in London. I did try to talk to her though while Jill was out of the room at one point.

"Did you hear, I got fired?"

"Yeah, Jill just mentioned it but I'd already heard you really fucked up at the Department."

"I wondered if there was anything you could do?"

"What to get your job back?" She shook her head. "Life's complicated enough in Whitehall without me going out on a limb for something like that. Not a chance, I'm afraid. You must have known that?"

"Well yes, but I though I'd ask in case maybe you heard of something."

"You'd be better off trying to find something near here. Maybe you should have a word with Sally?"

Which wasn't what I wanted to hear at all.

The two of them went out not long after that. I had a bit of time to myself and put the TV on. If I'd been hoping for some respite from my problems there wasn't any. The news had live coverage of a demonstration up in London. There was a rally in Trafalgar Square protesting about the planned changes in make voting. It didn't look like there were as many there as I had seen on other demos.

The commentary said something about Male Control Force officers moving in after a bunch of demonstrators had started throwing bottles. I didn't see any bottle throwing but the site of the MCF phalanx advancing with shields locked would have been enough to put anyone off the idea of turning up to future demonstrations, I would think.

Then the commentator said, "Government investigators are confident of uncovering the source of these recent leaks via the Safewords organisation," (which I bloody well hope they aren't) and "A group of hard line New Order MP's are calling on Florence Daniels the Home Secretary to proscribe Safewords as a group responsible for disruption to public order."

I don't know whether to be worried about the attention that this is getting or pleased that the Government isn't getting as easy a ride as it otherwise might.

Monday March 14^th

I thought I would pop in to the library. Apart from any thing else it would give me a chance to look for jobs and I thought it might help if they got used to seeing me in there every so often. Jill wasn't bothered when I said I was going except to say, "Don't get used to having free time. You need to focus on bringing some cash in."