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Chapter 1: Prologue (Alec)

Alec Marsters had a good life. Born into a loving, wealthy family, he had lacked for nothing when he was younger. He got along well with his 4 brothers and his parents and was popular in school, not only in general but also among the ladies. The boys were jealous of him. Besides looking like a Greek God with his tall stature; curly brown hair and bright blue eyes he was also intellectually blessed. Exams were a breeze for him and it was therefore no surprise for everyone when he passed with flying colours.

He went to study law and also completed this training with ease, he did an internship at Anderson & Cooper and immediately got a job there. It paid well and he soon bought a beautiful loft in London's trendy Whitechapel district.

In terms of love, he had many short flings with many women but none of them were really serious as Alec quickly tired of the lady in question and still preferred to be single (read going after the women). So, he fell into one relationship to another, including with the it-girl / model of the month, without really finding stability and settling down.

However, the years passed more and more and it started to itch somewhere, especially since one friend after another got married. He was aware of the "Love law", the law that stated that everyone should marry his or her ultimate soulmate but did not believe in it and thought that HE, as a lawyer, could take measures against it.

Alec had taken a stupid personality test on behalf of the government ten years ago, only because he was required, but thought that nothing would come out of it and as the years went by; the fact that he didn't hear anything only seemed to collaborate that notion.

Until one day he comes from work to find a letter, sealed with the mark of the Ministry of Interpersonal relations.

Dear Mr. Marsters,

We are delighted to have found your match based on your personality, aptitude and preference tests that you took ten years ago. Her name is Ella Lawrence, 26, she resides in London and works as an investigative reporter.

Miss Lawrence has also been informed of the match between you and her.

It is required that you will meet with up in the nearest future. We understand that that might be difficult, read awkward to get to know each other so therefore we have organized a "meet & greet" on Tuesday the 28th of February.

On this day you will meet Ella and we'll provide you with information about the one-year "trial period" where you and Ella will live together in one home. If after a year there is no match and no pregnancy has come about, you can both entitled to cancellation of the agreement.

It is extremely important that you show up on match day. We would like to remind you that participation is mandatory and...

There was more but Alec could NOT READ any further for he began to stare at the letter with shock. NO. NO. This wasn't HAPPENING, not now. He was going to get promoted very soon; he had no time for this.

Time for one-night stands, yes. for mandatory relationships dictated by the government, no.

It was ridiculous really. how could the government expect HIM to live with a complete stranger for a year, let alone sleep with her and expect a baby. He was aware that the war with the Netherlands five years ago had a major impact on the population and figures had fallen sharply. The government encouraged people to get married as soon as possible and the government encouraged them to have children.

The morning after he immediately went to consult his bosses, Walter Anderson and William Cooper. They read the letter and then had then shook their heads.

"I am sorry, my boy but there is going you can't do about this", Mr. Anderson said. He was nearing his 70s but still had an unbelievably sharp intellect and had many years of experience. One could be fooled by his kind demeanour and friendly disposition but it would be foolish to underestimate him. The man was a pit-bull in court, often successful and always out to get the best possible outcome.

"You can challenge this law by now but then you would get bogged down in years of litigation. Honestly it is not worth it. Might be better to just go with what they want and get things over with", Mr. Cooper said.

He was slightly younger than Walter, had brown eyes and was a lot shorter than his colleague. However, he always looked great in his tailored suits and his (dyed) hair was always straightened back. His specialty was corporate law and he assisted various, "bad" or not, companies in the lawsuit, most recently EXCOM, a company suspected of having evaded millions in tax.

Alec left the boardroom with a gloomy disposition, hoping a solution could be found somewhere. But there was nothing else to do, he HAD to abide by the rules otherwise he could get a criminal record and as a solicitor he was not keen in getting one.

On a foggy Tuesday afternoon in February, Alec went to the "Interpersonal Relations Building" in London. He walked up to the desk where a friendly receptionist, about 50, with blond hair and red lips pursed, and wearing white glasses hanging from a chain, was sitting. Her name tag said "Linda".

He stated his name and as to why he was here and Linda smiled at him and congratulated him at finding his "match". Alec muttered a polite "thank you" before Linda brought him to a room and said that soon her colleague and his "soulmate" would enter shortly.

There he sat down; nervous, his gaze continuously on the door until he heard a knock. A bald man; dressed in a cheap brown shirt and black trousers, his name was Tom, judging from his name tag, and a woman walked in the room.

The latter looked shyly down before eventually gazing up and eventually resting her eyes on Alec. Immediately after of doing so, her entire face turned a bright red.

Alec's jaw dropped and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Were they fucking serious? SHE? SHE? She was the one that was most suited with him?

He dated supermodels with legs from here to Tokyo for God's sake and he preferred blondes. She was short, had brown hair and brown eyes, and well ... didn't look like a blonde supermodel.

This was wrong. A mistake had been made. It had to be!

The clerk, Tom, walked up to him and gently pulled Ella with him by her arm because she seemed like she'd rather just stay there instead of move into Alec's direction.

"Alec, may I introduce you to Ella".

Ella reached nervously with her hand and said a barely audible "nice to meet you" and he could see that she still felt really uncomfortable.

Well she wasn't the only one.

All Alec could do was stare at her hand for a while and then reluctantly shake hers.

"I'm Alec," he crisply said, not even hiding his disappointment in his voice and eager get out this room as quickly as possible.

Away from this agreement

Away from this building.

Away from her.