Page 53 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“Thank you!” Estelle called again as he exited the room. She opened the pink folder he’d left behind with trembling hands. “Okay. Let’s see.”

“Are you sure he doesn’t eat people?”

“Fairly certain. I mean, yes. He doesn’t eat humans.”

“He licked his lips at me.”

“He likes to toy with humans.”

“What?” I had an instant vision of a cat playing with a mouse before taking its life. I glanced toward the door, assuring myself that it was closed and that I was somewhat safe.

“He doesn’t care much for humans. Barely even tolerates fairies.” Estelle was reading the papers he’d brought her. “It looks like you’ve repaid $1.12. Good work! A dollar-twelve isn’t bad for your first crack at the bat.”

I blinked a few times, my mind letting go of the ogre business and slowly focusing on the amount I’d put toward my account.

“A buck twelve! I did way more than a couple of measly good deeds!”

“There’s a note about bandwidth issues.” She frowned at her paperwork. “You also added a substantial amount to your total.”

I cringed. “How much?”

She ran a finger down a column. “Let’s see. A few wishes and…” She winced. “That broken window while funnelling the energy into your account. That added up quite quickly.”

I leaned forward, dread settling in. “How bad was it?”

“Well, the window itself wasn’t too terribly expensive, but upsetting the owner?—”

“But James calmed him.”

“You started a bit of a cosmic energy wave.” She shut the folder. “But it was a small one. All done now. I did feel it, though.” She gave a shiver. “I much prefer the good energy.”

“What about James? He was with me when we broke the window. Will any of this taint him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Tamara thought it might be bad karma for him, too?”

“Yes, but no. It’s complicated. You’re actively channelling your positive energy toward your debt, so the impact of your actions is amplified in some ways because we are bypassing some of the universe’s natural checks and balances. He isn’t bypassing anything, so he will be fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Seeing I wasn’t fully satisfied, she added, “He had a blip of bad karma, but it’s already balanced out.”

“Clearly he doesn’t have fairy godmother debt like I do,” I muttered, relieved that he would be okay, but a bit sad I was still handling all of this alone. I wouldn’t wish a mess like this upon him, but some company would be nice.

“Of course not. Men don’t have fairy godmothers.”

“They don’t?”

Estelle sighed and shook her head, her red hair shifting like a satin curtain. “Sexist, right? I’ve been advocating for equal rights, but honestly, nobody really seems to care.”

I considered that. Personally, I couldn’t imagine any of the men I knew getting bent out of shape for not having a fairy godmother.

“What was that bit you said about bandwidth issues?”

“Igor noted that the receiving bandwidth was weak.” Estelle scratched an ear, frowning. “That’s odd. I’d better look into that. Good thing you came in.”

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