Page 36 of The Dance Deception
‘Life is sometimes full of surprises and we’ve become so close this week when I was least expecting it,’ Merle continues. ‘We didn’t plan it, and I know it will seem a little soon to some people, but I can’t imagine wanting to spend my time with anyone else right now. I think this could be the start of something really special.’
Then they kiss on the lips. And there it is. Confirmation of what I suspected all along. My fists clench so tightly I can feel my nails digging into my palms. There was absolutely no need to put me through the partner swap if he wasn’t going to work things out with Sofiya anyway. And to then replace me with Emilia without so much as a blink … am I supposed to just be okay with that?
‘So I hope I don’t let her down tonight,’ Merle says. ‘And I hope you won’t judge us for anything other than our dancing. Emilia is a beautiful person and a beautiful dancer – and the best way for me to thank her for all the support she’s given me this week would be for my choreography to take us through to the next round. She deserves nothing less.’
They kiss again as they fade from the screen and I swear I can actually taste the bitterness his fawning monologue has left in my mouth.
It turns out it’s got nothing on how jealous their absolutely mesmerising bachata makes me feel, though. Merle and Emilia couldn’t look more like star-crossed lovers if they tried, as they start their dance with their foreheads touching and her arms round his neck.
Her hair sweeps the floor as he dips her backwards then pulls her back in with a series of body rolls. I can’t take my eyes off them as he drops to his knees to spin her, pulls her down to execute a perfect head roll, then runs his hands up her legs, drawing her up with him and lifting her up into a spin with the splits. They look like they’ve been doing this forever.
They end with her sitting on his knee, head tossed back, and his hands on her hips. Someone wolf whistles in the audience, then the judges are out of their seats, clapping, and Kimberley is fanning herself theatrically as she tells the audience it’s one of the hottest things she’s ever seen.
The audience responds by giving the dance a whopping 9.5. But it’s Merle and Emilia’s celebratory kiss that rattlesme more than their score. My cheeks flush with frustration. Lied to, rejected, and to top it all off, this. More than ever I wish I’d never, ever been paired with Merle. Or Aleksis for that matter. A nice safe option like Tammy’s partner Elijah could have saved me a world of pain.
‘This couldn’t mean more to me,’ Merle gushes, his arms still round Emilia. ‘To us,’ he corrects himself.
‘You certainly seem to have melted a few hearts this evening,’ Kimberley beams. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it one more time for tonight’s winners, Merle and Emilia, who have guaranteed themselves a place on next week’s show.’
As they run off the stage waving, Kimberley invites Beth and Gabriel back out to join her and commiserates with them for coming last.
‘It’s been so much fun,’ Beth says bravely. ‘I feel really lucky to have had the chance to take part. And Gabe was an amazing teacher. I couldn’t have asked for more.’
‘It’s been short, but definitely sweet,’ Gabriel adds. ‘We’ve had two brilliant weeks, I just feel gutted for Beth that there won’t be a third. I think she did so well and she’s an incredible girl – I know I’ve got a friend for life.’
‘That’s so sweet,’ Kimberley says, a hand placed over her heart. ‘But sadly, folks, that’s all we’ve got time for today. So thanks to our three judges, and to you, our studio audience, for helping us out with the scoring again this week – and to you at home, for tuning in. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we have, and we’ll see you again next week here onFire on the Dance Floor!’
The lights go up and the room instantly fills with the sounds of the audience preparing to leave. Minutes later,Tammy and I are hugging Beth in the reception room, grabbing glasses of the free wine and telling her how devastated we are about her exit from the show.
She assures us she’s fine and insists she won’t miss the stress of the live performances one bit, which at least makes me feel a fraction less guilty. If she’d said she was gutted, or worse, burst into tears, I think I would have had to tell her the whole ugly truth about my score and her exit.
I notice Aleksis commiserating with Gabriel on the other side of the room and wonder if he also feels like we’re to blame, knowing tonight might have been a different story without our secret guarantee to go through. But if he does feel that way, he’s very good at hiding it.
Meanwhile, I’m trying really hard not to stare at Merle and Emilia. Now they’ve admitted they’re an item, they’re making no effort to be discreet. She’s sitting on his lap on the other side of the room, taking selfies of them kissing and clinking glasses.
Noticing me watching them, Beth says, ‘I know it’s polite to stick around for a bit and be all pro-show, but why don’t we skip it today and head straight to the pub? The others will be there already, so what say we just go and get the party started over there instead?’
I suddenly can’t wait to ditch my pink and orange ensemble and get away from Channel 6. Even though I’ll still need a brave face for our gathering at The Golden Grape, I tell her I’ll see her out the front in fifteen.
Chapter 21
Although I manage to keep my guilt about Beth at bay for the rest of the weekend – after she promised everyone at the Grape she wasn’t upset about leaving the show – it creeps back into my conscience on Monday morning. As I make my way to the studio, my excitement about learning a newFire on the Dance Floorroutine is tinged with a sense that I don’t really deserve another chance.
But that sparks the determination to prove I really am worthy of my place in the competition this week. I want to get through to the next round, and I want to do it without any interference.
It turns out Aleksis feels much the same way.
‘It does feel a bit like we cheated, even if we don’t know for sure that we did,’ he says. ‘I even thought about withdrawing from the competition this weekend, but eventually decided not to. Better to draw a line under it and move on. Otherwise, we’re just letting Merle win.’
There’s determination in his voice when he continues. ‘So this is what I think we should do … we accept what’s done is done and we come out fighting. We give it everything we’ve got this week, rehearse every minute and give the audience no choice but to give us a genuinely high score next Saturday. We’ll have to work hard, but I promise to give it a hundred per cent from now on. I’m sorry we got off to such a bad start last week.’
I wave off his apology. ‘Let’s draw a line under that too. Fresh start this week and I promise I’ll work my arse off, too. Please tell me we haven’t got the tango, though.’
He holds up an envelope. ‘I haven’t looked yet. Sometimes I prefer to just see what unfolds rather than planning meticulously. I thought we could open it together.’
I glance up at him in surprise. How different this is to last Monday, when he couldn’t even look me in the eye.
I lean towards him as he pulls the card out of the envelope.
