Free The Forgotten Girl by Kerry Barrett Page A

we have to work together and unless you can lose the attitude, you can’t stay.’
    Vanessa looked horrified and for a moment she stared at me in defiance. Then her angular shoulders dropped and she nodded.
    â€˜That’s the problem,’ she said.
    I raised an eyebrow and she sighed.
    â€˜I wasn’t supposed to stay,’ she said. ‘I was supposed to be going with Sophie to her new magazine – as her deputy. But they had someone in place, and Sophie ditched me rather than miss her chance.’
    She looked up at me.
    â€˜I guess I’m still a bit annoyed.’
    Well, that was an understatement. But I felt a slight flush of shame – what Sophie had done to Vanessa wasn’t a million miles away from what I’d done to Jen.
    â€˜Look,’ I said. ‘I don’t know exactly what went on between you and Sophie, and you don’t need to tell me, but let me lay my cards on the table. Unless we all pull our fingers out, Mode is going to close. They’re desperate to shut us down, and unless we all start coming up with some ideas, we’re toast.’
    Vanessa winced.
    â€˜I’m not very good at ideas,’ she said.
    Another understatement. I started to speak but she hadn’t finished.
    â€˜But I did have one idea,’ she continued. ‘About where we sell the mag.’
    I nodded.
    â€˜I love magazines,’ she said. ‘I work in the magazine business. And I can’t remember the last time I went into a newsagent. Probably at the airport last summer.’
    I nodded again, not sure where she was going with this.
    â€˜So I look online – because my phone is always where I am and magazines aren’t.’
    â€˜You’re not making me feel any better,’ I said.
    Vanessa smiled.
    â€˜We need to sell the magazine where the readers are,’ she said. ‘Gyms, cinemas, coffee shops, Topshop…’
    I was staring at her, open-mouthed.
    â€˜It was just an idea,’ she muttered.
    I reached across the desk and gripped her hand. She looked alarmed.
    â€˜It’s an absolutely brilliant idea,’ I said. ‘Brilliant.’
    Vanessa pulled her hand away but she gave me a proper smile this time.
    â€˜Really?’
    I smiled back.
    â€˜Really.’
    Thinking on my feet, I realised this could be the thing that I needed to get Vanessa out of my way – and make her a bit happier.
    â€˜I’ve recruited a deputy,’ I said in a rush.
    â€˜Oh,’ Vanessa looked a bit put out.
    â€˜It means, I could free up some of your time,’ I carried on quickly. ‘If you’d like to work on distribution ideas? This is such a great plan, but it might take some time to persuade the people who need to be persuaded. Do you want to take it on?’
    Vanessa thought for a minute, and I hoped she wasn’t going to say no. Then she smiled.
    â€˜Yes please,’ she said. ‘If you’re sure you don’t need me on features?’
    â€˜We’ll miss you, of course,’ I lied. ‘But Jen can cover it.’
    â€˜Can I start now?’ Vanessa said. ‘I’ve got a friend from uni who works in PR for Topshop – I’ll give her a call and get things moving.’
    â€˜Go for it,’ I said. She gave me a quick grin, uncurled her long body from the chair and headed out of my office. I watched her go, breathing a big sigh of relief. I’d dodged a bullet there, no mistake. And her ideas about changing our distribution really were brilliant. I’d never have thought of that so if she pulled it off, I’d definitely owe her one.
    Now I just had to make the magazine brilliant too.
    I picked up my pile of magazines and started laying them out on the floor to see if looking at them all together would give me inspiration about why early Mode was such a hit, why Grace was selling so well, and why modern Mode’s sales were falling off a cliff.
    Carefully I laid out the