I'm not sure exactly when I made up my mind to go. It certainly wasn't straight away. The offer was very generous and it was an amazing career opportunity. But it would involve quite a significant lifestyle change and I wasn't sure I would be ready for this. I had developed quite a good reputation for product design and in particular wearable technology. The more minimal the better. I had a very good grounding in technical possibilities and, without meaning to brag, a keen eye for style and proportion. In some ways I loved my job, I had the opportunity to create cool things and get them out into the world. But in other ways, I didn't feel sufficiently valued, neither in terms of the salary but more importantly in terms of respect. I hate to moan as this is something many, maybe most young women face in all sorts of industries. I would watch as my ideas were first ignored or dismissed, then outright stolen and repackaged, all credit to the thief. This sort of, to my mind, blatant conman trick was not only permitted by the structures of the organisation but positively rewarded. I saw lesser-qualified, lesser-talented men, and it was invariably men, promoted over me. So I suppose I was primed to accept a new challenge.
The offer came at the right time in more ways than one. If I was slightly disillusioned with my career progress, I guess you could say something similar about my life outside work, relationships, my social life. They say, if you are tired of London, you are tired of life. Maybe, or maybe you're just tired of London. I shared a small basement flat with my boyfriend Terry. We had been together for just over three years and in some way, perhaps I felt a little stalled there too. He was a good guy and we got along well, though over the years a certain bland comfort had settled in. Out with friends he was effusive and we would have fun and interesting conversation in the group. Everyone thought we were a great couple. But we had settled into a certain tolerable drudgery of a routine. Get up early, rush out to work, get home, rustle up some dinner and watch some tv shows. At first we used to watch together, then at least we had something to talk about. But over time we found that neither of us was that crazy about the other's preferred type of show so it was easier to watch different shows, one of us on iPad or Laptop, the other on the tv. The flood of communication between us we enjoyed at the beginning of our relationship had trickled to something considerably less substantial. We didn't argue and we got along well but maybe I felt something was lacking.
It was an unusually bright February morning when I took the call. By chance I had occasion to pop out of the office to grab a coffee, it had been an early start, the presentation was over and we were told to grab a break, run it into lunch. The cynic in me, subsequently vindicated by the next week's payslip, figured this was a ruse to avoid paying extra hours for the early morning overtime, but the meeting had gone well, the sun was shining and I was in a good mood. I sat on the bench by the duck pond and sipped at my flat white when my phone started buzzing. It was a name I dimly recalled but could not place.
"Jenny Greene?"
"Yup, Tim?"
"That's right, Tim Handsworth, HRR Recruitment? I don't know if you recall, we met at a trade fair last year. You said you might be interested if something came up."
That was it. It had been maybe six months and I had completely forgotten. I had been a little pissed off to learn of yet another undeserved promotion so when Tim approached me at the fair I was primed to talk to him. We chatted briefly and I gave him my details and I hadn't heard from him since.
"Ah, yes, I remember, how are you?"
"Never better. More importantly, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm good"
"Good, but could be better?"
"Haha, you could say that!"
"Don't tell me, some guy is repackaging your work and claiming credit for it and the higher-ups don't care."
"As if that would be possible in our equal opportunity workforce!"
"Do I detect a note of sarcasm, Ms Greene"
"You're a perceptive guy Mr Handsworth. So what can I do for you?"
"Well, maybe it's a case of what I can do for you. Are you familiar with Jeann-Tech?"
"Of course. They are the gold standard for our industry."
"Well, you have popped up on their radar and they asked if I could approach you on their behalf."
"You're not bullshitting me Tim I hope?"
"I swear."
"Jeann-Tech is an amazing company. I absolutely love their work."
"I would love to put you in touch with Karina Munier. She's identified you as a talent they would love to acquire."
"Oh, wow."
"Look, you should be aware that this position will be in their headquarters on St. Jeanne. There is a very generous salary and a resettlement package. There would be no issues with visa and the tax regime is favourable there."
"But it would mean moving to St. Jeanne.?"
"Yes, that's where all the magic happens."
Jeann-Tech are pioneers, the gold standard. All things being equal, this is the company I would want to work for. And I would have no fear about under qualified underlying passing me out. Jeann-Tech is an exclusively female company. But this is because St. Jeanne is an exclusively female island. It is a unique place. I've often thought about visiting Les Trois Soeurs, the tropical islands dedicated to female beauty. Just idle thoughts really but it was the larger middle island St. Colette I imagined visiting. On that island, like its sisters St. Jeanne and St. Josephine, all women are naked at all times. There is no female clothing allowed on any of the three islands. I've seen the photos and it looks like a fun sort of place if you're comfortable with that sort of thing. St. Colette is a liberal democracy and the main transport hub, it's the only island with an airport but crucially, it's the only island with normal conventional relations with the rest of the world or "Outremer" as they call us on Les Soeurs. St. Colette is a member of the UN and due to the relationship between the islands and France, has equivalent status for travel and trade as EFTA countries. There is a reciprocal trade agreement between St. Jeanne, St. Colette and St. Josephine so the other follow de facto EU rules, but they are held at arms length because St. Jeanne is a gynocracy and St. Josephine is an androcracy.
St. Jeanne is a liberal free diverse country in all respects except for the fact that males are not permitted on the island. It is the only all female country in the world. Jeannette woman who are pregnant with male children are not allowed to remain on the island for their pregnancy and if they carry to term must give the child up for adoption if they wish to return. On St. Josephine, men and women both live on the island but only men have rights. Women may be traded as property under their system and effectively live as slaves under various restrictions. It is an authoritarian state, quite unlike St Jeanne and whatever chance St Jeanne has of normal relations with Outremer once they get the rest of the world to accept that excluding men is not inherently unfair, there is little chance that the rest of the world will accept St. Josephine's slavery system. There's some irony in the fact that in its treatment of women, St. Josephine is not all that different to many places in the world.
On all three islands, women remain naked at all times and this was the spark for Jeann-Tech's inventions. Prior to their development, there used to be complicated ledger systems in every shop, restaurant, business, for Jeannettes and Colettas who do not wear clothes and do not tend to carry handbags. They invented the Retina-card eye scan system so that women on Les Soeurs can verify their identity and pay by simple retina scans. Their bracelets, watches, earrings with embedded phones and assorted devices are revolutionary. It was incredibly flattering to be picked out by such a prestigious company and I felt thrilled, vindicated and a little giddy. But I really couldn't imagine St. Jeanne would be for me.
"Look, I know moving to St. Jeanne can be an intimidating prospect but everything I've heard is that everyone who has ever visited has fallen in love with the place."
"Oh, I've no doubt, but it is a radically different place than anywhere I know!."
"For sure, but remember, St. Colette is just a short boat trip away."
I felt a little frisson when he said this, not least because both of us were imaging me being naked on a boat travelling between two sultry islands. But also because presumably the main reason I might want to travel to St. Colette was to get dicked down hard. This remained unspoken between us, thankfully. I was blushing enough as it was.
"Ok, look, let me think about this. It's a bit overwhelming."
"For sure. Look, let's say you think it over and maybe we can schedule a zoom call with Karina over the next few days and she can let you know what she was thinking?"
"That sounds good. yes, let's do that."
What did I have to lose? The very least I could do is hear the woman out.
"Thats great, listen it's been great catching up with you Jenny. I'll get this set up with Karina and we'll touch base soon, ok?"
We said our goodbyes and I sat in stunned silence as my coffee cooled. This was a lot to take in. The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Some emails, a follow up meeting, a program for a new project. I seemed a little more attuned than normal to the preening egos of some of my colleagues and being honest tuned out a few times and wondered about what it would be like working for Jeann-Tech. I knew I couldn't. It just wouldn't be possible to uproot my life and go and live on some weird all-woman outpost. How bizarre. But it didn't hurt to mull it over and if nothing else, it was nice for my ego to have been noticed by a company of its reputation.
