Episode #5: Inconvenient Refugees 5: New deal

Mar,28 2025

By the time we made it to my home, Cathy was finally taking the roast out of the oven, and took Genevieve in as if she were a long-lost friend.

In a way, she was. Back when we got married, just 4 years ago, we were considering moving to a naturist free zone, and, well, not many of them allow tourists.

Giovani's free zone does, but the French free zone was cheaper and, well, safer. When you come as a tourist to a free zone, there is always a non-zero chance that they will keep you as a citizen against your will. It's slim, it kills tourism when it occurs, but did I want to take that change?

Well, we wouldn't have minded being kept in the French free zone, but the Italian one? We weren't so sure. One is democratic and the other an autocracy at the whim of the founder, who is old and makes you wonder who will replace him when he is gone.

It's where we met Genevieve. Her father still held his position, and she was just a young adult trying to find her place in the world. Seeing us in love, she became our tour guide and interpreter.

It's thanks to her that we ended up visiting our current free zone, and I got into an interview with our leader, who saw me as the perfect administrator to help them.

We returned home, sold our house, sold almost all of our belongings, including our car, and well, used that money to buy our spot.

Sadly, this is a standard practice, you need to basically sell almost all your non-personal items and donate all your money to join a free zone. It's like starting a new life, from fresh. Most do have a minimum "application fee" to meet, but ours was small enough that we exceeded it. No, we didn't keep the excess amount.

Even the non-naturist ones usually often provide a new set of clothes more suited to their style. Naturist ones, well, let's say that most civilian residents don't have clothes in their closet like my wife does. She only uses them for official duties, same for Amanda. People do have basic clothes if the weather is bad, like jeans and shirts, but nothing fancy.

"Pardon me Cathy, could I borrow a dress for the interviews, I will help your husband select immigrants"

"Sure, want a plate of my roast? I made plenty"

She looks at it. We tasted the cuisine at her free zone and even if she is a cook, Cathy can't compete. We also know that Genevieve is never hungry. She can always eat, but if not one reminds her to eat, she will just fast for no reason. At least, short term.

"You know what, sure, it smells amazing. Can you just show me your dresses?"

"Just dig in our closet, the room is there. All of them are bra-tops. Not that I have a bra to lend you, the one I still own has cups that are too small for you, and a band that is too large", says Cathy. I look at her with a serious face, as Genevieve gets into our bedroom and starts looking for clothes.

"What, she is a friend?"

"And a fierce diplomat"

"Bah, trust me"

I help set the table, and I retrieve a new sitting towel for Genevieve, who appears wearing one of Cathy's more ordinary dresses. It's a simple sundress. On my wife, it looks spectacular, on Genevieve, her large breasts make it pop a lot more.

"You picked that one?", says Cathy.

"I don't want to flash too much"

"Genevieve, you will always flash too much", says Cathy.

"Hey, you are holding on rather well"

"Thank you. Can you remove it before eating? I don't want it stained"

But Genevieve doesn't need to be asked twice.

We let her take the first bite, a piece of carrots, a leaf of cabbage and a small cube of beef.

She tastes it, smiles and eats it. We both dig in.

"My compliment to the chef"

"I put red wine in the sauce, like you recommended"

"I'll have a case delivered to you tomorrow. Directly from France.", says Genevieve.

Her offers, means that she wants to get in my good graces. But why? Because I can't see it, makes me worried. I somehow think that this is a long con.

We talk mostly about the plight of the refugees, how much they suffered. Genevieve is mad that Ute wants none of them, and that Giovani doesn't do more. Cathy mentions a few things heard on Costa Rica's talk radio, which she listened to while I was gone. In short, they are claiming that the free zones will take most of the 10,000 refugees.

"Wait, I thought it was 4500 refugees", I said.

"Well, that's the thing. The number jumped"

Genevieve laughs.

"Now I get it", she says.

"What?", I ask

"They want the refugees, but the population doesn't want them"

"So?"

"So, they made us take 10 each, That's like 70. Maybe some other free zones, not all are naturist. Let's say that 500 are put in the zones"

"Ok"

"Well, that leaves 4000 to settle. So they claim the free zones took 6000, so it's more acceptable"

I laugh. "This is just a PR campaign? We almost fought in the council room for a PR campaign"

Cathy gets it. "That's the government for you"

"Ok, this will change. I have a plan", says Genevieve.

We still finished eating as she explains it, but she got dressed after the meal, but my suit was left next to the conference room.

She goes right in to confront the representative, while I get dressed. Fatima went home, but Amanda was still at her post, and I cursed as I forgot to bring her some roast.

I see that she has an empty sandwich bag next to her. We only use reusable bags, so when you buy food, you need to return the previous bag.

When I get in, Genevieve is finishing her speech.

"The whole list, all 4500, in a file. Not one by one."

"Sure, but tomorrow. Don't you want the next family? They arrived 20 minutes ago"

I decided to let them in.

A couple, with two teenage daughters, who only speak Arabic. I have a bad feeling, so instead of wasting time with the pros, I instantly jump to the condition. But, the mother is a nurse, and the father is an optometrist. We need one of those.

"Like, we are a naturist free zone. That means that all of us are nude. We don't wear clothes"

Both parents speak decent English, no French at all, which is weird to Genevieve, but she forgets that they spent a few years on the boat, learning English as most countries require it.

"Will we be safe?", the mother asks.

"Always. You will not be hungry, you will not be hurt, you will get healed if sick. We take care of our own"

"Would I wear nurse clothes when I work?", the mother then asks.

"You mean scrubs?"

"Yes. I didn't know the word"

"Sometimes. It depends on the type of work you do. Emergency room, you do."

"And I could have my clinic?", asks the father.

"You would have your clinic inside our hospital, with our existing optometrist. But you would have your patients, and get some of hers"

"And the pay?", he asks.

"No one is paid. No one really pays for anything. Abuse of resources can be punished, but like, your house is free"

"Communist?"

"I guess you could call it that. But only internally. We try to make money, but for everyone"

The four of them talk to each other in Arabic. It gets heated, but I get the impression that the older of the two girls is more in favor than her sister.

"What are the conditions?", says the mother.

"You can stay dressed until you get to your house. You have 6 hours in your house, well, until tomorrow for you, it's late, to decide. If you leave your house with clothes, you go back a refugee. If you leave nude, you stay with us, get food, jobs, a house, healthcare, university classes for your daughters."

"And we can't leave"

"It's like that for every free zone"

"My youngest is 16. She doesn't want to spend her whole life naked. Can she get the right to leave when she turns 18?"

I look at them. This isn't something I can promise. Just the skin cancer vaccine costs a lot. The reason the house is free, and the food, is that we need workers. We need people. And new ones. Young ones.

"I can schedule a meeting with our president when she turns 18. She could plead her case"

They talk more.

The mother speaks up. "I don't want to work at night, I don't want to work in the emergency room. I did all of that. Promise me that, and we will join"

"I can't promise you will not do night shifts to help replace a colleague, but right now, we need someone in pediatric care. We have a baby boom and not enough nurses"

"I love working with babies. This is acceptable. We will join"

"You can decide tomorrow"

"No, we can't. Costa Rica was clear, they need an answer now."

I turn to the employee.

"Is that true?"

"If they cross your border, they are no longer our problem"

"I need to speak with our last arrival then. Welcome aboard. We will do all we can to help you get settled in. Did Natasha teach you English?"

"She did. But our daughters were initially too young, and... it's complicated", she says, ashamed, but I could understand why. Two young girls on such a ship are risky to show around.

"Well, here, they will be safe"

"That's all we want. We thought we would die when the boat sank. The people next to us did"

I turn to the employee. "I thought no one died when the boat sank?"

"That's what the press says", he just replies.

I get Amanda to show them to their house, and sign the paper. I let Genevieve return to her free zone, but she thanks me for being kind to them.

She leaves the dress, where I took my suit. I am sure that Cathy won't complain

She promises to get to my house at the crack of dawn, but even if I try to gain more time to sleep, she just presses on.

I almost ran to Rana and Lunja's house. I knock on the door, and Lunja answer, nude.

"Mr Administrator. It's late"

"You still want to stay here?"

"I am not leaving. Even if Rana leaves. You will need to physically kick me out"

"Can you get her here?"

"Rana?"

Rana arrives. She is nude, and shy, hiding her breasts with her arm.

"I made a major mistake", I say.

"Wait, do we need to leave?", says Lunja.

"No, you need to stay"

"But I had time to decide", says Rana.

"You do, if you don't want to stay, I will not force you to stay, but Costa Rica doesn't want you back. So I can't send you anywhere else"

"Oh."

But Lunja jumps in my arms and hugs me.

"Hum, we aren't supposed to hug if nude"

"I don't care. Thank you.", she says, kissing me on the cheek, and then, letting me go.

"But you will get your restaurant, Rana. I will see to it"

"It's not so bad. I am not sure that I would have left. The house is..."

"It's gorgeous", says Ludja.

I smile. We have some of the nicest houses in the naturist free zones. In fact, some of the most recent revenues are for us building houses for them, but never as nice as ours.

"You will get used to the nudity", I tell her.

"She was, with me. You are just the first man to see her nude like that", says Ludja

"Fatima helped us a lot", says Rana

"She is the best."

"Can I go see Natasha, now?", asks Ludja.

We get out, and I point to their house.

Rana also gets out.

"Dave, right?"

"Yes"

"I am sorry if I am hesitant. We are both so grateful. I will make you proud"

"I suggest you speak with my wife. She is the cook at the hospital, and knows how to order food supplies. Amanda can help too"

"I don't know your wife"

"Then follow me, I will make introductions"

Rana hesitates, but soon smiles, and no longer hides her body.

Cathy, is excited to talk to another chef, and they sit on our couch for almost two hours, talking. I listen in, but this is Cathy's show.

I think I fell asleep at some point on the sofa, but the girls kept talking.

Eventually, Rana went home, and I went to bed with my wife, who kissed me. "You are a great administrator, and a wonderful person"

I tried to compliment her too, but I think I was asleep before I did.