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exactly how much they would all be slathering at the mouth to sign up.  All of them apart from Yuri, that was.
    ‘What’s the matter with you?’ whispered Cam, nudging her sharply in her ribs.  ‘Put your hand up!’
    ‘I’m saving my big guns for later,’ she responded.
    ‘Against a freaking trip to Greece?’
    She shrugged and looked down at the table.  The last place on Earth Yuri wanted to be in was Greece.
    ‘Cam, I think it’s about time we let you off the leash,’ said Don, smiling at him.
    He almost leapt out of his chair in puppy dog like excitement while everyone else deflated.  ‘Really?  Really?’
    ‘Really.  Do some location research and come back to me with a few ideas.’
    He bounced up and down on his chair like a giddy schoolchild.  ‘Certainly, sir!  I mean, Don!  Thanks!’
    Yuri grinned at him.  As much as she was glad she’d not be picked for this one, she was thrilled for her friend.
    ‘Yuri, do you have an idea you wish to submit?  You usually do.’
    What remained unspoken was that her ideas also usually remained firmly in this room.  She’d not had one get past Don yet.
    ‘Yes,’ she said firmly, standing up, then changing her mind and sitting back down again.  ‘Yes.  I want to target an article specifically at our working professionals.  There are many women who go about their daily lives at work, dealing with customers or clients or such-like and putting on happy smiles, when their home lives are being wrecked from marital problems, family issues, that kind of thing.  We could do a case study.  Take someone from a well-known profession like, say, teaching, and look at how they balance the stresses of their job with the stress of home.’
    Don frowned.  ‘You mean a self-help piece?’
    ‘Er, sort of.  It’s not something people talk about much.  Balancing home problems while putting on a brave face at work.  I think it could lead to some really interesting feedback from our readers.
    ‘Hm.’
    Judy shot Yuri a sympathetic look. A ‘hm’ from Don was never optimistic.
    ‘It doesn’t just have to be teachers,’ Yuri said hastily, ‘we could look at women from all walks of life.’
    ‘Yeah,’ interjected Sam from across the table, snapping her fingers.  ‘There’s that politician, the one with the son who’s just been done for drugs.  She got that bill passed at the same time - the one about domestic violence.’
    ‘The model who’s got depression.  You know, she tried to commit suicide last year right after she’d won the Leef contract…’ added someone else.
    Yuri felt a sliver of hope rise up.
    Another person spoke up excitedly. ‘Cleaners!  How do cleaners keep their own houses clean when they’re knackered from cleaning other people’s places all day long?’
    ‘Hm,’ Don repeated.  ‘It’s the February issue.  People need spring time and happiness.  Daffodils, bunnies, that kind of thing.  Not mops and dust cloths.’
    ‘You don’t get spring with lambs and flowers and bunnies till March, really,’ said Yuri, trying to keep her tone light.
    ‘Exactly.  That’s why people need them in February.  They need to read about positive things, not issues that will put them in the doldrums and remind them it’s still weeks to go until they’ll see even a glimmer of proper sunshine.’
    ‘Except when it’s March, Yell will be full of summery things because we’ll focusing on May and June coming,’ said Yuri in a small voice.
    ‘Hm.’
    ‘The article will be positive.  It’ll be how people – women – manage it.  How they do manage to cope in the face of extraordinary adversity.’
    ‘I’m not sure that cleaning your house counts as extraordinary adversity.’
    ‘Well, that wasn’t my example,’ said Yuri through gritted teeth.
    ‘Hm,’ Don repeated yet again.  ‘I’m sorry, Yuri.  I don’t think it’ll fit this time around.  Maybe for April?’
    Cam squeezed her arm.  She took a deep breath and