We pull up to the French restaurant for the reservations I made downtown. The hostess recognizes me and we have a brief exchange in French before bein... led to our seats. I pull out the chair for you and watch you carefully sit down before moving myself opposite you to pick up the menu and enjoy the night’s entertainment. Boy I am not disappointed. We drink the wine I ordered, order our meal, and settle into the food. The whole time you are uncharacteristically quiet as I know you are struggling. I got toassume that was the way things should be, and I liked the way she ranour lives. It saved me a lot of hassle. I think she was the one whodecided one day that it was time we were married, and I certainlydidn't disagree. By then I depended on her self-confidentself-assurance, and looked to it for guidance. I thought this waslove.Once I tried to tell her about transgendered people, people like me,trying to lead up to a confession that I had once been one of them(and, I guess I hoped. "My good man," the fairy said, "I've been told to grant you three wishes, since you've just arrived in Canada with your wife and seven children..."The man told the fairy: "Well, in Syria where I come from, we don't have good teeth, so I want new teeth, maybe a lot of gold in them."The fairy looked at the man's almost toothless grin and — PING!!! He had a brand new shining set of gold teeth in his mouth!"What else?" asked the fairy, "two more wishes, to go."The refugee claimant now got bolder.. Then they hired my tormenter four months ago. He’s the new Marketer, the guy that cold calls companies and sets up sales visits. He’s not even all that good at his job; I think the calls that agree to visits are just trying to get off the phone with him.Trying to get away from him.I can’t do that. I have sit here in my maple wood-veneer prison and take it.The laughter lowers to a chuckle that creeps around the bottom edges of my desk, rising like a murky, unclean tide. I pull my feet up and put.