Page 63 of Glitterati Omega

Winston nodded. “How’s that work?” Rupert asked. “Somebody donated it?”

“Sort of,” Winston said. “I used some of the Lunex money to buy back the land and set up the grid.”

“Uh-hum.”

Winston sat back, turning to him with a smile. “Now, everyone can cool and heat their homes, and they can cook and clean too. No one needs to worry about being cut off.”

Rupert glanced out the window again; the farm was now fading into the distance. “What about repairs? Or if the grid goes down? The panels will need to be replaced eventually, won’t they?”

Winston nodded. “Everyone contributes a little bit to the pot, based upon what they make each year. The upkeep fund pays for repairs, saves for the future, and pays a couple of people to look after the farm.”

Rupert pursed his lips. “In turn,” Winston said, “they give others in the village money too. Some people will buy food with other food or goods; others earn cash, and we all contribute. Mama Thandiwe accepts herbs from Joni down the road, who grows them in her garden. Thando, one of the alphas who works on this farm, pays her in cash, because of his job.”

Rupert looked away. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because,” Winston said. “I wanted to tell you what I do with my money.”

That was right; Winston had his own money. He didn’t need or want Rupert’s, did he? Or perhaps … Perhaps the alpha was broke and this was a ploy.

“You don’t spend it all, do you?” Rupert asked.

Winston tsked. “Most of it, yes. I give it away. I make more. I give it away.”

Rupert considered for a minute, then said, “You don’t have a car. And your house—”

“Is not very big, is it? But I am one person. How many rooms do I need?” He smiled. “Why do I need a car? I use public transport or cabs, or perhaps there is a friend or sibling who will drive me.”

Rupert thought for a long minute. “Won’t we need a bigger house, if we have a baby?”

“I suppose we might want something a little bigger. But nothing like what you have—isn’t it lonely there by yourself?”

Rupert flushed. “Well. Yes.”

“So maybe a little extra space.”

Rupert sighed and clutched at his purse. The whole thing left him unsettled, and he wasn’t quite sure why. In theory, it should have been easy to say yes. He did want a baby—badly. Giving away his whole universe should have been simple.

But it felt … overwhelming and terrifying. He glanced at Winston again. He had so many questions, and he desperately wanted to ask them. Yet he was afraid of the answers, so he didn’t.

The hospital in Durban was a drudge, mostly because Winston made him wait ina&elike a “normal” person. If this was normal, Rupert didn’t want it. He was bored out of his skull. At least they had internet reception here, so he told Charli to make him an appointment with Dr. Arendse.

He supposed he’d see Dr. Arendse at least. He didn’t know. Did Winston want to live out here, in Durban? Or in the village? Or was Cape Town good?

“I thought we’d go back to Houston,” the alpha said when Rupert broached the subject in the hotel room later, after Rupert had had a minor check-up and been discharged with a course of antibiotics “just in case.”

“Houston,” Rupert said. “Why on earth would we go to America?”

Winston sighed. “My job is there?”

“Well, you could get a new job.”

“I like the one I have, thank you.” Winston frowned. “And what does it matter to you? Youdon’thave a job, and you could get one.”

Rupert considered that for a moment. “I’m not sure my license is valid,” he offered by way of excuse.

“You can write a test, same as I did.”

Rupert thought long and hard, then said, “What if I don’t want a job?”