Page 38 of Bad Words

27m ago @LolaXu: Ok everybody, if you want to sign my petition asking @TheParisReview to take down Parker Navarro’s disgusting story about Selina Chan, HERE’S THE LINK!! Tysm to everybody who thought of more points to add about how this is borderline sexual harassment and maybe also a death threat???? [LINK]

41m ago @ChristianGateheadAuthor: On the heels of Saturday’s panel, a new interview with @ElectricLit about the decline of our literary culture and, yes, Selina Chan and her ilk. [LINK]

51m ago @2223333windo: @SelinaChan bitch

The City office occupied the top floor of the Baumgartner, a historic nineteenth-century building a stone’s throw from Union Square, whose austere limestone dripped with black rain marks. When you exited the elevator on our floor, you were greeted by a vast oaken wall, CITY MAGAZINE carved into its polished surface. Each letter was six inches deep and a foot high. Some mornings, I still stopped opposite the two enormous words and let their impact ring through me. I thought about the writers who had paused in that spot, taking in this monument to City’s work.

The Monday after the Wiseman Festival, I hesitated longer than usual. I told myself that this place had chosen me for a reason.

When I reached my office, I found the door open. Scott was standing at the window, gazing outside with his hands folded behind his back. This would have looked more impressive if my window hadn’t been three feet from the adjacent building, with a view of a brick wall and a drainpipe oozing slime.

I knocked twice on the doorjamb. “Morning.”

“Selina. Hi.” Scott turned to me with a troubled air.

“How was your weekend?”

“Not especially noteworthy, but let’s speak about yours. Hayden sent me the video of the festival program.”

I tugged the door shut. “Was she not happy with it?”

“No, no, she was thrilled. She said something about a clip blowing up on TikTok.”

“I thought I’d die before I ever heard you say the words ‘blowing up on TikTok.’”

“And yet.” Scott took the chair in the corner with a groan. “Did you see the morning’s updates?”

“You mean Christian Gatehead’s interview?” I tossed my purse onto my desk. “Or Lola Xu’s petition making me out to be a tragic martyr?”

“Both. Look, Selina, I’m concerned that this feud is beginning to overstep some boundaries for you.”

“I don’t care what Christian Gatehead thinks about me.”

He adjusted the knot of his tie, his silence oozing skepticism.

“Seriously,” I said, “I’ve taken worse.”

“You shouldn’t have to ‘take’ anything. Something like Saturday is a world away from your job description.”

“Right, but if it’s benefiting City—”

“You’re a critic. What benefits City is your criticism.”

I angled myself away from Scott to unshoulder my backpack, not overfond of the way he was watching me, as though I needed a rescuer. Still, he made a fair point. As recently as two months ago, I’d spent my days reading new releases. Drafting reviews. Cooking dinner without opening social media and reading about every way in which I was insufferable or evil or pitiable or laughable.

I sank into my office chair, feeling exhausted. I’d slept terribly since Saturday, my parents’ call circling my head like a buzzard. They’d emailed a follow-up as I’d left the bar. Xiao Yan—We are sorry to hear about the fight. We want to know how you are handling it. If you call we will talk again. From Dad and Mom. I hadn’t replied and didn’t know if I would.

“What about Hayden?” I said.

“I already spoke with her,” Scott said. “She … well, her ideal scenario was that you sign this petition and sue The Paris Review for libel, but I told her you’d be more interested in being roasted alive over a slow flame.”

“You know me so well.”

“I try.” Scott took a small mock bow. “Anyway, as an alternative, she agreed that it’s not a bad idea for you to lie low. Right now, public sympathy for you and City is high. You were just doing your job, and here come these men making vindictive public attacks and writing … unusually detailed short stories … you see the angle. And if you fire back, the goodwill could vanish. So, she thinks you could cool things off while she figures out next steps.”

“What next steps?”

“Unclear. She did also suggest that, short of mentioning the petition, you post something on your social media reminding the world that you’re a human being with feelings.”