Read This London Love for Free Online Page B

didn’t fancy going out with that running club last issue, yet an Olympic gold medalist and you’re all over it.”
    Henry exhaled. “I’m just trying to be proactive!”
    Dawn held up her hand. “Children, please. Speak to Kate and Hannah afterwards, okay?”
    Henry nodded, slumped down in his chair and took a swig of his pint.
    Hannah checked she had everyone’s attention, then continued. “After that, we’ve got a Christmas food special — how to eat right over the festive period — and I’m setting up interviews with key nutritionists and health experts.”
    “Can we get some celebs to talk about what they eat, too?” Kate asked.
    Hannah nodded. “I’m working with a couple of PRs on that. Should hopefully have some news at some point soon.”
    “Great,” Kate replied. “And if there’s a hot woman among them, we’re fighting for the photoshoot, Henry, got it?”
    The whole table laughed.
    “After that, we’ve got a New Year fitness special, how to shift those extra pounds, great healthy recipes and a free recipe booklet. Oh, and I forgot to say, we’ve got our calendar coming out next issue too.” Hannah sat back. “I’m also thinking about a lead feature on pregnancy and fitness, and maybe get a pregnant celeb to talk, too.”
    “Great.” Dawn took a sip of her white wine and looked around the table. “We’ll talk about possible celeb cover stars another time. Anyone got anything pressing before we start on the sub-features?”
    “Actually, I do.” Kate sat up in her chair.
    Dawn turned to her.
    “I know I sound like a stuck record, and honestly, I’m boring myself, but what about a feature on a lesbian running club? Lesbians don’t get enough coverage in a magazine devoted to women, and I think it would be an interesting angle. Plus, you’d snag a bunch more readers by covering it.” Kate sat back and looked around the table, where everyone but Dawn was wearing their positive faces.
    Dawn sighed. “We can do a running club of the month feature in our regular section, but you know what Ben thinks about doing a cover feature on lesbian stuff. The advertisers don’t like it; he’s tried it before.”
    Now it was Kate’s turn to sigh. “And that was years ago — things have changed, as I keep saying. Lesbians can get married now and lesbian families are everywhere — we need to start doing more positive promotion to make it more normal. And I really don’t think readers would have any objection.”
    “I agree with Kate,” Hannah said. “We should have more lesbian coverage in the magazine — famous and otherwise. My mate goes to a running club called Dashing Dykes. Meets in north London — I could ask her?”
    Henry spat out his lager. “Dashing Dykes?!”
    Hannah reached out and cuffed him round the ear, while five other pairs of eyes challenged him.
    Henry shut up swiftly.
    Dawn drummed her fingers on the table. “Like I said, I would , but Ben doesn’t like it.” She turned to Kate. “But let me talk to him again — we haven’t brought it up in a while. I agree with you, but we’ve got to think about the advertisers and what they want too. It’s the way of the world, I’m afraid.”
    “The world is stupid,” Hannah said. “We’re women too, you know.” She drank her bottle of Heineken and raised an eyebrow at Dawn.
    Dawn held up both hands, then sat up straighter in her chair. “Look, I’m on your side. I just need to clear it with the powers that be, okay? But like you say, things have moved on. Let’s hope publishing has too.” Dawn stood up and looked around the table. “Now everyone can have a bitch about me while I go to the loo, then we can go for round two.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    8
     
    Meg was just packing up at the florist after a particularly busy Wednesday — even after a lifetime in the business, customer habits still sometimes caught her off-guard. What started off as a run-of-the-mill day had quickly mushroomed into an