Page 68 of The Genius
“Then why don’t you explain it?”
“Northlander women are rare and precious. They know and understand our culture. They respect their husbands and are obedient by nature.”
I pushed my chair back in place and picked up a book that had fallen down. “Have you met Laura?” My tone was sarcastic. “Why don’t you ask Magni how obedient she is?”
“Laura is an anomaly.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “And you’d rather have a wife who bows her head and says yes than one who challenges you?”
He shrugged. “I told you. I’ve seen too many unhappy marriages between my friends and their Motlander wives. I’m not signing up for the Matching Program. Not that any of them would pick me anyway. I don’t have much to offer a woman if I don’t win the million dollars.”
“Motlander women aren’t materialistic.”
Marco scoffed. “Bullshit. Men with money have a ninety-two percent bigger chance of being picked by a Motlander woman through the Matching Program. That’s a fact!”
I sighed because, sadly, he was right.
“Not everyone in the Motherlands is like that, and I don’t believe you’ll be happier just because you have a faster drone and a bigger house.”
“I do,” Marco stated. “It would help a lot.”
Shaking my head, I sat on top of my desk and reached for my salad just as Marco plunked down in my chair. “You think we Nmen are strange.”
“Because you are.”
Marco smiled at me. “But we know how to fuck.”
“You do. I can’t speak for the rest of your countrymen.”
“If anyone is an expert, it would be you, what with all your research.”
“Good point, but I meant that I can’t speak from personal experience.”
We ate in silence for a minute or two before Marco spoke again. “Why don’t you want children, Shelly?”
“I told you, it’s not something I’ve thought about.”
“You haven’t gotten your period yet.”
I hesitated before answering. “No, I haven’t.”
Marco lifted his foot and placed his right ankle over his left knee. “Do you think you’ll get it soon?”
“Probably.”
“Look, I know you’ve told me several times that you’re not interested in being a wife and mother, but if you’re pregnant with my child, we need to figure ou…”
“I’m not, Marco.” I cut him off in a firm tone.
“Shelly, I don’t have much to offer, I know that, but I would love our child.”
“There’s no child, Marco.”
“But if there was, what would you do? I know you don’t want to live in the Northlands permanently, but you’d still let me see my kid, right?”
I got up. “I don’t want to speculate about hypothetical problems. I’m a pragmatist, I like to relate to facts only, and so far, nothing suggests that I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER15
