Chapter 37
Tiddas chat 3
9 November 2023
Bridie:
Good luck today sissy. BIG LUB
Dotty:
Go show them how deadly ya are tidda!
A shiver of excitement runs over me as the elevator doors open in the cool, magazine-filled offices of The Paris Review. I take a deep breath and smoothe my dress down before I head to the reception desk.
‘Brynn Wallace for Laura Ferguson,’ I say to the receptionist, a guy around my age who definitely fits Corey’s description of the office being cool and literary. He gets me to take a seat and I wait, trying very hard not to look around like I’m a kid and I’ve just been invited into Santa’s workshop. I also cross my fingers and hope that I make it through the interview without any mention of Lucas and the Substack.
A few minutes later, a tall, sophisticated blonde walks into the reception area. ‘Brynn?’ she calls. As I make my way over, I think there’s something familiar about her, and I realise at the exact moment she does, that she is ...
‘Hey, I’m Stacey. I’m the Review ’s current intern,’ she says, and I swear I see her physically trying to tamp down the recognition. Stacey. The girl who opened the door at Lucas’ apartment the day of the flood. Fuck oh fuck oh fuck. This is so, so much worse than having Lucas here.
Stacey shows me into a small room with some papers on the table and gives me instructions for taking the proofreading test.
‘The panel will be with you in about twenty minutes,’ she says. ‘Good luck.’
I turn the paper over, and the words blur together on the page. I can’t stop thinking about what Stacey is going to do now: will she run in and tell her boss that she knows me?
I look around the room for any sign of a camera and then slide my phone out of my bag and flick Sienna a panicked message.
She texts back straight away. ‘Deep breath and get back to the paper. We’ll sort out anything else when it comes up. Remember what you’re there for.’
It’s the encouragement I need and I take another look at the page, inhale deeply and begin.