Page 56 of The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating

‘Yeah, I do. And that’s coming from someone who’s spent their whole life trying to avoid reading. It’s easy to read, which is high praise coming from me. It’s funny—’

‘You didn’t laugh,’ I jump in.

‘Not out loud. But that’s probably because I was having to concentrate.’

‘So, you like it?’ I smile tentatively.

‘I love it.’ Dylan looks me square in the face. ‘I can’t offer all the poncey review nonsense used by proper critics, but I can say it’s bloody ace. When you said you were going to write about gin and dating at the same time, I did wonder if it would work. But the way you’ve created a story out of the dating side, and then built in a tailored gin recommendation at the end – it’s genius! If we can get you a good following to start you off, I think this will really take off.’

‘Well… great!’ I feel a surge of enthusiasm. ‘I love the blog site you’ve designed for me too, by the way. It’s so professional-looking.’

‘Great stuff. I made a start last night to get us ahead of the game. Now, we need a name for your blog, then to upload the content, and we’ll get you published. Any thoughts on what you want to call it?’

‘Oh… err… I’ve no idea. You got any thoughts?’

Dylan scratches his head. ‘It needs to be something related to your blogging topic.’

We sit in thoughtful silence for a few minutes.

‘I’m struggling to come up with anything,’ I admit. ‘This seems the hardest bit!’

‘What about something related to gin?’ Dylan suggests. ‘Names of drinks, maybe?’

‘Yes. Gin cocktails. Good thinking!’ I take my laptop from him and do a Google search. ‘There must be something we can use, even just for inspiration.’ I click in and out of some websites. ‘OK… there’s one called an Aviation—’

‘Probably more suitable for a blog about flying,’ Dylan remarks.

‘There’s a Gimlet—’

‘Whoa! Sounds too much like gimp.’

‘Please shut up and listen,’ I instruct him. ‘You don’t need to comment on every single one.’

Dylan smirks like a teenage boy who’s been told off by his teacher.

‘There’s a Tom Collins,’ I continue. ‘Singapore Sling, Pink Gin, Negroni… ooh, I’ve got it! Gin Fizz. That’s perfect! It’s got the gin element; the fizz refers to the romance. And it’s my favourite cocktail!’

‘That’s the balls, Squirt!’ Dylan high-fives me. ‘Nice one. Gin Fizz, it is. Email me your blog post.’

I do as he’s asked while he completes the final touches on my blog site.

‘Nearly done,’ he commentates. ‘I’ve got quite a big Twitter following. I’ll put it out via that and ask some contacts to re-tweet it. I’ll also get my workmates to see how far they can push your traffic using their online marketing skills. They love a challenge. That way you can preserve your anonymity. I’m assuming this is something you don’t want Aaron to see?’

‘Oh, I never thought of that.’ I chew my lip anxiously. ‘Obviously not, because I’ll be writing about customers. I wouldn’t want to cause any damage to the hotel’s reputation.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ Dylan reassures me as he continues to work on the web page in front of him. ‘Just make sure you don’t give away any personal details – about you or the people you write about – or clues to where you work and it’ll be fine.’

‘OK, great.’ I feel better on hearing this.

‘Right, that’s you ready to go,’ he announces. ‘Want to hit the button?’

‘No, I think you should.’ I give him a nudge. ‘You’re the one who’s really made this happen. Go for it.’

‘OK, here goes.’ Dylan hits the ‘publish’ button. ‘That’s you gone live. Congratulations. You’re now officially an online blogger.’

‘Dylan, thank you so much.’ I give him a huge hug. ‘Honestly. Even if this doesn’t take off, you’ve helped me rediscover my writing. Even if I didn’t have financial problems, it still wouldn’t be enough for me to just work in the bar. I love this stuff, and I should never have let myself forget that.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Dylan gives me a playful nudge. ‘At least I’m useful for something.’

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