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Kennedy sat down in the same chair she’d been in just a little while earlier. O’Brien remained standing.
“All right.” Marty didn’t look at either of them. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. O’Brien, you’re off the staff. Although I enjoyed working with you and you had a lot of strong articles come out during your time here, tonight made it pretty clear that the Voice isn’t a good fit for you.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.” O’Brien shot her an icy smile. None of the other editors would look him in the face.
Marty turned to Kennedy. “As for you, we expect a rebuttal in our hands by Monday afternoon at the latest. We all agree that the opinions you stated in your original column are problematic and potentially triggering to students who are experiencing gender-identity issues or self-directed misogyny, and that’s just not something we can leave unadressed.”
Kennedy glanced around the table. “You want me to take back what I already said?”
“That’s the basic idea behind a rebuttal, correct?” Marty grinned sarcastically.
“But I already told you what I believe.”
“Yeah, but unfortunately that’s not the kind of archaic thinking that we at the Voice are able to condone. So what we’ll need from you is two or three hundred words. Nothing lengthy.”
Kennedy felt like she had as a third-grader being told she had to clean her room. “What happens if I don’t submit a rebuttal?”
“Oh, I’m sure any of us here would be happy to write it for you. All you’d need to do is make any last-minute changes in style and voice.”
“No, I mean what if I still stand by what I originally said?” Out of the corner of her eye, Kennedy caught O’Brien’s wide grin.
Marty stared. “Excuse me?”
“I said I stand by what I wrote in my original article. I don’t want to change anything.”
Marty cleared her throat. “In that case ...” She glanced around the table. “Well, in that case ...”
“In that case,” O’Brien broke in for her, “Kennedy, you’re free to go. And since I’m on my way out, too, I don’t think anyone will mind if I congratulate you for writing the first original thought this paper has published in years.”
O’Brien opened the door to the meeting room, and he and Kennedy exited the Voice office.