Death Wish by Lindsey Menges

spat at us while we move through the foot traffic. I look at Harrison out of the corner of my eye. His profile is rigid. I slip my hand from his and move it to his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles into the tense muscles.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, baby,” I whisper. I shoot an angry glare to a brunette man about to open his mouth. The man blanches and runs, swallowing his insult before I gave him a chance to voice it. “They hate us now, but they’ll love us when they decide it’s time to die.”
Harrison nods and places his hand over mine. I’m no longer hurt by it, but when I see my partner’s pain I can’t help but wonder why we are forced to accept this hatred when we’re just doing what we’re told to. I square my shoulders and move forward, bracing myself against the hate and fear that I have endured daily for six years. That’s the price of being a Fairy Godparent.
    *
    Not one minute after we retreated into the safety of my office, a receptionist from the Clerical Department pokes her head in. Harrison stops the story he was telling and we both look up at our visitor.
“Godmother Hayworth, Godfather Berthold, your presence is required in the debriefing room.”
“Thanks, Anna,” we say in unison. She gives us a quick nod before leaving. I turn to Harrison, confused.
“Debriefing room? Do we have any new Wish submissions?”
“I don’t think so,” he responds, seeming unsure. He looks down at a list on top of my desk. “I have a stabbing scheduled for next week, Albert has to orchestrate a self-immolation in two days, and it looks like you and Robin are slotted for the next submission we get.”
He stands up and reaches out his hand to help me from my chair. We leave the office in time to see Robin come around the corner. She shoots me a quizzical look. I motion her over and she joins us as we walk down the hallway to the debriefing room.
“Good morning, Robin.” I greet her with a cheerful grin.
“Hello, Eliza,” she says, returning my grin with a small, shy smile of her own. She looks at Harrison curiously.
“Oh, right.” I smack my forehead at my lapse of manners. “How rude of me. Robin, this is Harrison. Harrison, this is Robin.” I gesture between my partner and protégé to I make introductions. Harrison shakes Robin’s hand.
“So you’re the pixie who stole my lady from me?” Harrison crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. A blush steals across Robin’s face and she stammers, trying to come up with a response. Harrison laughs and nudges her shoulder.
“I’m just kidding, Robin. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Oh,” she says with an awkward smile, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
I smile and slide my hand across Harrison’s back. “Harrison and I have been partners for about three years now,” I explain to Robin.
“Yeah,” Harrison says, resting a hand on my hip. “And we’ve been working together for roughly the same amount of time.” He winks at Robin. I roll my eyes and lightly slap his shoulder while he laughs. Robin smiles shyly.
“ Yes ,” I chuckle, planting a kiss on his temple. “He’s my partner at work and at home. Now shush, they’re starting.”
We walk into the debriefing room just as the lights begin to dim. We stand towards the back of the room with a collection of other Godparents. At the other end of the room is a screen, it’s surface blank at the moment. A projector whirs noisily above our heads.
Jenny, a curvy brunette Godmother whose office is across the hall from mine, smiles and waves when we walk in. I wave back. There are around twenty people in the room, most of them Godparents, but there are also some people who work in the Clerical Department. I even see a couple of people who I can only assume are Surgeons. Their medical scrubs make them stand out. I am about to ask the Godfather standing next to me if he knows what’s going on, but at that moment Primary Godfather Johnson