Page 37 of People Change

‘He’s horrible to you, Shirin. You’ve said so yourself.’

It was strange how quickly she’d forgotten this, how quickly she’d forgiven. She thought from speaking to Rob, hearing the way he viewed things, that maybe he didn’t mean to encourage Jordan. Maybe he felt pressured into it – a bit like Kian’s brother. Maybe he didn’t want to be like that any more, maybe he wanted to change.

When she didn’t say anything in response, Kian said, ‘You don’t fancy him, do you?’

‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘I literally don’t fancy anyone. I wish people would stop asking me that question.’

He pretended to be taken aback, a slight smile on his face, hands raised in the air. ‘Alright, I was only asking.’ He picked up his mug and took a sip, despite the skin on top. And, in Kian’s smile, she felt that order was somewhat restored.

The Bookseller

5 November 2018

WODEHOUSE TERMINATES CONTRACT WITH ROB GRAYSON

Libreria & Co. division Wodehouse Publications have cancelled their seven-figure book deal with Rob Grayson following an onslaught of controversial comments made by the comedian online.

Grayson’s memoir,How to Be Funny, was scheduled to be published next September as Wodehouse’s super-lead non-fiction title.

Wodehouse confirmed that their contract with Grayson had been terminated. Libreria & Co.’s MD Jonathan Webb said: ‘We can confirm that we will no longer be publishing Rob Grayson’s memoir. His most recent comments were deeply concerning and go against our values as an inclusive publisher.’

36,454 people signed the viral petition for Grayson’s memoir to be cancelled, following his increasingly concerning comments on Twitter about who ‘deserves’ to be in this country, and against migrants and Islam on the whole.

When asked for a comment, Grayson said: ‘I am sad that it’s come to this. The woke brigade are attackingfreedom of speech. My publisher knew my views when they offered me my book deal, so it’s clear they’re only trying to appease the overly sensitive by cancelling my book, and in turn are partaking in dangerous censorship.’

His agent, Laurie Rees from John Ryan Agency, said: ‘It is troubling times when publishers make rash decisions based on pressure through social media. We are going to continue to look for a home for Rob’s brilliant book, which focuses on his upbringing, being raised by a single parent from a working-class background. It is funny, heart-warming and very real, and any comments Rob may have made should not detract from the quality of the memoir he has written.’

The incident has sparked a lively debate online about who deserves to be published, and whether freedom of speech is being impacted by publishers’ decisions to publish only books that sit with their values. Many of Grayson’s fans have been outraged at the cancellation and are calling on other publishers to pick up his hotly anticipated memoir.

Journalist and activist Zahra Chandran was embroiled in a Twitter spat with Rob Grayson, and when asked for a comment said: ‘Rob Grayson is a disgrace. How he got a book deal when he was always making racist and Islamophobic remarks is beyond me. I’m glad it has been cancelled because we don’t need any more hate in the world, but it begs the question: why was he given a platform – and a book deal – to begin with?’

Hot Takes

Now

The noise is deafening.

On Twitter people who don’t know Rob create threads, some against him, others making him into a victim.

Colleagues around Shirin speak at her desk about ‘the whole Rob Grayson debate’, saying he is an embarrassment.

Florence and Lilian talk in the kitchen as they make their cups of tea. ‘It’s all gone a bit too far,’ they say in hushed tones. ‘We should be able to separate the author from the writing.’ Shirin is mute as she dunks her teabag into boiling water, using a spoon to press it into the side of the mug. She is stone-faced, though breaking inside, thinking: No, it’s a fucking memoir, you idiots.

She is desperately empty – and lonely. She recognises all of this and her routine takes over. She gets up every morning, goes to work, gets through the day, returns home, makes dinner, sits on her bed, eats, watching TV, until it is acceptable for her to sleep. She lies there for hours, eyes closed, mind whirling. Soon, even food is unappealing. So much so that she resorts to soup for dinner, which always grows cold as she scrolls through Netflix for a show to watch.

In a last-ditch effort to pull herself out of the hole she is in, she asks Hana if she wants to do something. Hana replies that she is busy over the weekend, with the new friends she has made. They are going to a nightclub in Chelsea. Brunch in Knightsbridge. Things Shirin knows Hana can’t afford. She knows she shouldn’t blame Hana for not being there. She hasn’t confided in her. But she blames her anyway. It is easier to have someone to blame.

And so, for the next month, she continues. Work, dinner, TV, sleep.

Rumours

Then

Shirin was wrong. About many things. Kian and Carmen met up twice and it quickly fizzled out. Shirin pretended she wasn’t burning inside the entire time. While this was happening, Rob continued to message her. He was a distraction. Kian might be seeing her friend, but she was talking to a boy, which made her feel less pathetic, though no one even knew they were talking. At school Rob acted like they never spoke, unless it was only them in a corridor, in which case he would smile at her. He would message her afterwards saying she looked pretty, or that he liked her hair tied up.

When Kian and Carmen were no longer a thing, she was surprised that she continued to look forward to logging on to MSN after school to talk to Rob. He was sensitive, and much softer than he appeared. He told her he enjoyed studyingRomeo and Juliet, that he liked Shakespeare in general, which surprised her. She had always assumed he didn’t like literature – likely because she was in the same class as Jordan, and he always mucked about in English Literature. Now she was slowly untangling Jordan from Rob and seeing them as two separate people.

They talked for almost two months, and it was over the Christmas break that things began to escalate.