Page 29 of The Dance Deception
‘But now I find myself back here again and this time, I don’t know why, it just feels different. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been so public with you. Or if it’s just because while you’re standing here realising you weren’t the first, I’m here finally realising you won’t be the last. And all of a sudden, enough’s enough. I don’t want this to be my life any more.
‘So while Aleksis thinks he needs to protect me from the pain you might have caused me, in fact I’m grateful to you, for giving me the impetus to walk away at last.’
‘Well, I …’
She shakes her head firmly. ‘I’m nearly done. I need Aleksis to know I don’t blame you for what happened. Merle didn’t tell anyone at the show he was married in case it affected his chances. So why wouldn’t you fall for him? What I want both of you to understand is that this is neither a great shock nor a desperate heartache for me. That reporter camped out on my doorstep, trying to get a picture of me looking devastated, is going to have a very long wait. I’m finally ready to draw a line under my relationship with Merle. And Aleksis, I want you to do the same.’
She says this last part in a tone that suggests it’s not up for debate.
‘AlI I want now is for people to see what a brilliant dancer you are. You deserve it. Which means the two of you need to put your differences aside and be the best you can be for the rest of your time in this competition. I’m not leaving until you agree.’
I wait in case there’s more, but she seems to be done this time. I can hear the relief in my voice when I tell her this is absolutely fine with me.
‘Aleksis?’ she says.
My eyes drift his way again and he stares back at both of us for a long moment before giving a curt nod. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding. Finally, the tension in the room dissipates.
‘Then that’s all I have to say,’ his sister says, heading for the door. ‘Lai veicas!’ she says over her shoulder as she walks out of the room.
I don’t know how long I stare after her before Aleksis pushes himself away from the mirror and comes towards me.
‘It means good luck,’ he explains reluctantly.
I study his face, trying to decide if he looks any less like he can’t stand the sight of me. It’s impossible to tell.
‘Well, that was unexpected,’ I admit, feeling dazed. ‘And, er, motivating.’
‘It doesn’t mean we’re friends,’ he says coolly. ‘But we can work together.’
‘Of course,’ I backpedal. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’
‘Let’s get started, then. The camera crew will be with us after lunch.’
I think his tone does get a fraction gentler as we start rehearsing, though, and he seems more patient. We even manage the odd smile when parts of the dance feel like they’re going okay. I’d say I almost feel relaxed by the time Sarah, Steve and Andy arrive.
‘Hi guys,’ Sarah says. ‘It’s that time again. How are you getting on so far this week?’
‘We’re making progress,’ Aleksis replies diplomatically.
‘That’s the most important thing,’ she nods.
She gives our tatty studio a once-over while the other two unpack their equipment. ‘We’re going to need to do a lot of retouching on the background at the editing stage,’ she sighs. ‘But we’ll make it work.’
When the camera and mic are set up, she tells us she’d like to start by filming us practising our routine. ‘And while you’re doing that, I’ll have a think about where we can take it from there.’
What we end up mostly focusing on is Aleksis trying to teach me how to build up the number of spins I can do on the spot. To begin with, it’s almost three – which isn’t great this far into rehearsals – but eventually I manage six, although Aleksis has to catch me a few times and I have to stagger across the room and cling on to the ballet barre once or twice.
Sarah then decides I should have a go at spinning Aleksis. And as he can spin on the spot without me even touching him, we manage to make this look good. Sarah is pleased with how it looks on her monitor.
I notice Aleksis doesn’t ask to see it, which is refreshing after all the interfering Merle did on our filming day. We might not like each other, but I find myself respecting him for trusting Sarah to do her job.
‘This has given me an idea,’ she says, rummaging around in her bag and retrieving a roll of duct tape. Seeing my quizzical expression, she explains that she wants it to look like Aleksis has spun me right through the floor. She pulls the old tape off one of the holes and gets Aleksis to pretend to fix it with new tape while I hold my shoe and look incredulously at the heel.
‘I love it,’ she declares when she’s captured it all on film. ‘Which means, you’ll be pleased to hear, that’s us nearly done for today.’
There’s just a brief recording of us talking about ourweek – both of us choosing our words carefully – before we say our goodbyes.
‘Thanks for making our lives so easy this afternoon,’ Sarah beams. ‘And good luck for Saturday. Hopefully we’ll see you again next week.’
