Page 8 of The Genius
Except it wasn’t the same, since the knowledge that he was bare excited me. Holy Mother Nature, he had packed on weight and muscle these past ten years. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“We could reschedule you for tomorrow morning if you’d like,” the service-bot offered.
Marco looked frustrated when he ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t, I’ll be working tomorrow morning.”
The two of them talked about availability while my brain was running in circles. I was tempted to do the one thing I’d promised myself not to do which was reconnect to see if he remembered me.
It’s been ten years; of course he doesn’t remember. You were just a kid in his eyes and you only knew him for a few months.
I’d had such a crush on Marco back then, and he’d seen me as nothing but an annoying kid who was too smart for her own good.
For years after my time at the school, I’d casually asked about Marco when I spoke to Kya, the teacher at the school where Marco and I had both taught as assistant teachers. But six years ago, someone had shared with me that Marco had married and after that, I never asked again.
I watched in a haze as Marco pulled on a pair of pants with harsh movements that revealed how annoyed he was to have wasted his time.
Why is he here?
His name wasn’t on the list, and even if it were, it wasn’t normal for Nmen to have sex with others once married, but maybe sex-bots didn’t count.
At the same time as Marco closed his pants and bent down to pick up his shoes, I stood in a room not far from him, frozen in an inner battle between desire and reason.
Let him walk away. He thought you were a nuisance when you knew him. You had nothing in common back then and you have even less in common now, the rational part of me argued.
But then Marco looked up and I got a full view of the facethat I’d spend hours studying in secret when I was younger. Back then he’d had stubble; now his beard was full, dark, short and trimmed. His nose was just wide enough to be perfect, and then there were those incredible golden eyes framed by thick black lashes. My stomach did a somersault and all impulse control momentarily left the building.
I had to see if he remembered me.
With my heart hammering I released my ponytail and let my fingers comb through my thick dark hair. I didn’t have a mirror, but the white camisole, long soft blue skirt, and sandals that I was wearing would have to do.
Stepping out into the hallway, I felt detached from my body when the crazy impulsive part of me walked to the test room and knocked on the door.
What are you doing?the rational part of me screamed.This is going to be so awkward for both of you. What are you even going to say to him? You were never good with people. Hurry back to the office before he sees you.
“Yeah?” Marco called from inside the room and looked up when I opened the door.
“Hey.” His smile grew when he saw me.
“Hey.” I smiled back, expecting Marco to say my name in recognition, but he didn’t.
“Did management take pity on me after all?” he asked with his shirt in his hand and waved me closer. “You’re not an old prototype though; I’ve never tested you before.”
He thinks I’m a robot.
It was so awkward that I didn’t know what to say.
Told you this was a mistake. He doesn’t have fond memories of you, because he doesn’t remember you at all. If he did, he’d recall that he used to call you Brainy and make fun of you.
While I stood hiding my disappointment behind a smile, Marco moved into my personal space and let his finger run down my bare shoulder. It sent shock waves down my spine.
Please remember me, I willed him, although logically, I knew it had been ten years and that as a late bloomer, my transformation into becoming a woman had happened after we had last met. I looked nothing like the child he had once known.
Say something, tell him you’re Shelly… come on, don’t just stand here with a stiff smile on your face.
“You want to have some fun with me?” he asked with a charming smile that left even the rational part of me in a puddle on the floor. I should have resisted when he pulled the strap of my camisole down over my shoulder. I should definitely have objected when he cupped my breast.Come on, Shelly, say your name, I urged with my inner voice, but when I opened my mouth to speak it was something else that came out.
“Does your wife know that you’re here?”
He looked up. “My wife? That’s an odd question.”
