The Forgotten Girl. Kerry Barrett

Jen and Damo on board was the easy bit, I knew that. But I hadn’t quite expected the rest of it to be so hard.

      We’d finished the Back to Basics issue, and moved on to Body Confidence. I was very aware that I’d already been at Mode for a month and basically done nothing. My deadline was getting closer and things hadn’t changed. I hardly did anything but work and sleep, although I had to confess that was nothing new. And despite all that, I couldn’t help thinking my ideas were dated and tired. I spent ages poring over back issues of Mode and Grace, trying to find out where we’d gone wrong but I hadn’t yet hit on the magic formula that would make our readers come back.

      It was Monday, the Back to Basics issue had been on sale for a week, and I was getting a bit antsy about getting some early sales figures which I was expecting that day.

      And I knew I had to have a catch-up meeting with Vanessa too, which I was dreading. She’d gone from being obstructive and rude, to being outright hostile – I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

      She slid into my office a little while later and sat opposite me in such a sulky fashion that I almost expected her to stick her tongue out.

      ‘Hi,’ I said, cheerfully, gathering together my pile of old issues of Grace and Mode and dumping them on top of the vintage issues Emily had given me.

      Vanessa gave me a tight smile and I suddenly felt angry. I had worked with all sorts of people over the years, some nice, some not – and she was just one more. If she didn’t like me, fine, but we had to work together.

      I took a breath.

      ‘Vanessa,’ I said. ‘Do we have a problem?’

      She flushed.

      ‘What kind of problem?’

      ‘You tell me,’ I said. ‘You’re sullen, unhelpful and you obviously don’t like me. But 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.

      ‘That’s the problem,’ she said.

      I raised an eyebrow and she sighed.

      ‘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.

      ‘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.

      ‘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.

      ‘I’m not very good at ideas,’ she said.

      Another understatement. I started to speak but she hadn’t finished.

      ‘But I did have one idea,’ she continued. ‘About where we sell the mag.’

      I nodded.

      ‘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.

      ‘So I look online – because my phone is always where I am and magazines aren’t.’

      ‘You’re not making me feel any better,’ I said.

      Vanessa smiled.

      ‘We need to sell the magazine where the readers are,’ she said. ‘Gyms, cinemas, coffee shops, Topshop…’

      I was staring at her, open-mouthed.

      ‘It was just an idea,’ she muttered.

      I reached across the desk and gripped her hand. She looked alarmed.

      ‘It’s an absolutely brilliant idea,’ I said. ‘Brilliant.’

      Vanessa pulled her hand away but she gave me a proper smile this time.

      ‘Really?’

      I smiled back.

      ‘Really.’