Page 50 of The Genius
“Even if you don’t win a tournament?”
“Most of the Motlander women who sign up to be married do it for the wrong reasons. I mean, there are happy couples, but I’ve seen too many failed marriages to be interested.”
“And yet you were quick to offer to marryme.”
I swung my hand in the air. “That’s different.”
“Why.”
“Because I know you and you’re nothing like the other women who sign up for the Matching Program.”
“Interesting. If I’m not like them, then what am I?”
“You’re different.”
“In what way? Less woman?”
“No, you’re more like the rational kind of woman, aren’t you? And smart. I can see you winning the Nobel Prize and shit.”
“I don’t know about that, but you’re right about one thing: I’m hoping to set my mark on the world and improve the quality of life for millions of people, Nmen included.”
“By building better sex-bots?”
“And other things. I’ve got so many ideas that my head sometimes feels like it’s exploding.”
I lifted my arms in a yawn. “All I’m saying is that my friends’ wives are working and having children at the same time. It’s possible.”
She raised her eyes to look straight at me. “I’m getting the feeling that you’re hoping that I’m pregnant.”
“No, of course not.” It flew out of me a bit too loud, but after her repeated refusal to marry me, having a child with Shelly would be a recipe for disaster.
Shelly’s face tightened. “Afraid your child would be a freak like me?”
“A freak? What are you talking about.”
“Brainy, remember?” She was referring to my old nick name for her.
I gave a small eye roll. “Ah, come on, being a genius isn’t the worst that can happen to a person.”
“How would you know?”
“Hey, are you insinuating that I’m stupid?”
Shelly drew in a long breath and hid her face in her hands. “No, that’s not what I meant. Why do we always have to argue?”
“Because you always assume the worst about me.”
“I don’t. With you it just feels like I constantly have to defend myself.”
“That’s bullshit. I always liked you.”
“That’s not true,” she muttered, letting her hands fall down, and looking up at the ceiling. “Most of the time I was invisible to you and when you saw me, you teased me.”
“How else was I going to bring balance between us?”
“What do you mean, balance?”
“My pride was under pressure from the beginning just from the fact that we were both assistant mentors yet you were five years younger and introduced as a genius. Shelly, I was trying to prove myself to Archer and you kept correcting me when I taught a lesson.”
