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I just said?” she asked. “But the answer is, probably not. I just need to work out which flowers say ‘happy dying’ more than the others, give her a call and we’re done. And the hot florist can go back to her loving boyfriend who is undoubtedly waiting in the wings. A crying shame, though.”
    Dawn patted Kate on the shoulder as she pushed herself up. “Perhaps she could be persuaded, you never know. Or perhaps you should just stick to more lesbian-friendly occupations. Truck drivers, gardeners, that sort of thing.”
    Kate ignored her. “Did you want something? Other than to ridicule my life?”
    Dawn looked thoughtful, then clicked her fingers together. “Yes — you free at 3pm for a meeting? We need to come up with some good ideas for cover features for the next few issues.”
    Kate raised her eyebrows. “Forward planning — I’m impressed. You’re like a Duracell bunny today.”
    Dawn winked. “That’s me. I gotta hop to a meeting, but 3pm?”
    Kate nodded.
    “Excellent. I thought down The Grapes?”
    “Oh, one of those meetings…”
    ***
    Dawn had summoned the whole team to the features meeting, which was usual every few months. Even though Kate was responsible for the look and feel of the magazine and Dawn responsible for what went in it, she agreed with Dawn on the fact that everyone should have a say in how the magazine evolved. Dawn was keen on teamwork and brain-storming to get the best possible ideas.
    This particular afternoon was a team meeting in a pub, which Dawn liked to do periodically. Both Kate and Dawn knew that this was often where the magic happened, where their eureka moments occurred. Getting people out of their normal environment and into a more relaxed frame of mind was on old-fashioned trick, but one that worked well.
    There were seven of them in total, which was still a big team compared to some magazines. They sat with their drinks at a round table, most with tablets or laptops in front of them, Dawn with her pen poised over a crisp, white notepad.
    “So, cover features for the next few months. What have you got bubbling, Hannah?” Dawn asked.
    Features editor Hannah tapped some keys on her laptop and looked up. She was an ambitious, perky 28 year old who seemed to go through dates at a rate of knots — men and women, Hannah did both. If there had been a week when Hannah hadn’t had a new date, it’d passed Kate by.
    Hannah had offered to set Kate up on the dating app of the moment so that Kate could share her love of meeting new people and sleeping with them, but Kate hadn’t been so keen. For one thing, she wasn’t sure the pool of available London lesbians was quite as large as Hannah thought. Plus, Kate had a six year head-start on Hannah, so her pool was dwindling, and she certainly didn’t want their pools to mingle — that would be a step too far. Kate preferred to date the old-fashioned way — see someone in a bar, avoid talking to them, get drunk, end up in bed. It’d worked so far in her life. Up to a point.
    Hannah trailed her conker-brown eyes around the group and pushed her glasses up her nose. Hannah always wore glasses when she was being uber-professional. “Right, next month I’ve finally snagged the Olympic gold medalist for the cover — can I have a whoop!?” She got the necessary response before she moved on.
    “When’s the interview happening?” Dawn asked, chewing the top of her pen.
    “Next week with luck — should hear back from the PR this week,” Hannah replied.
    “Great. What else?”
    Henry sat up in his chair. “Can I go with you on that?” He blushed slightly as all eyes turned to him.
    “Aw, does Henry have a crush on the superstar?” production editor Casey said, twiddling her pen between her thumb and forefinger.
    Henry pulled his face into a frown. “No, I just admire her.” Henry paused. “Plus, I think it would be good to send me out on more photoshoots. You said so,” he told Kate.
    Kate grinned. “Funny you