Page 39 of The Dance Deception
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Sofiya says as I discreetly wipe up the spillage with my sleeve. ‘Stella is coming here at eight-thirty tomorrow morning. What if she were to see you two leaving here together just as she arrives? That would give her a news story she could run right away, without having to wait for my interview at the weekend. Imagine the headline – “Merle’s girl spotted leaving the house of his ex-wife with her brother”. It’d be trending before you finished your morning rehearsal. What do you think?’
‘I think this isn’t something you’ve only just thought of,’ Aleksis says suspiciously.
‘Okay, I admit it, after you confirmed you were both going to come here this evening, I made up the spare room. But it makes perfect sense. This way, you can start getting people interested in you as a couple right away.’
‘The spare room?’ I repeat.
‘You wouldn’t want anyone spotting you arriving separately in the morning. This way, you can get the ball rolling immediately. And I can lend you all the toiletries and things you might need.’
While I’m still processing this, she adds, ‘Then all you have to do after that is make sure you’re seen out and about together as much as possible to build on your story. I’ve done some research on the most likely places for you to get spotted – restaurants, the theatre; anywhere that might get you in the news …’
‘I only spoke to you an hour ago,’ Aleksis exclaims, but there’s a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
‘I hope you don’t think I’ve overreached, Kate,’ she says apologetically.
‘Not at all, I appreciate your efforts.’ I can only hope this sounds convincing. I’m not sure I’ve really taken everything in yet. It’s all happening so fast.
Minutes later, I’m standing beside Aleksis looking at the double bed in the spare room. To me it doesn’t look big enough to comfortably sleep two people who aren’t in a relationship. And he must be having similar thoughts because he says, ‘I’ll get her to make up the sofa. I don’t mind sleeping down there.’
I agree it’s probably for the best.
We’ve come upstairs to freshen up while Sofiya makes some dinner. She’s given us towels and some clothes for us to borrow while she runs our gym kits through the wash, ready for tomorrow.
I turn the plan over and over in my mind as I showerand get changed. It could backfire spectacularly if we don’t pull it off. We’d be labelled frauds – perhaps we’d be better off just carrying on as we are. We could still do okay on the show without all this.
And there’s another concern. ‘Do you not think it’s a bit dishonest, trying to win this way?’ I ask Aleksis. ‘Like, is pretending we’re a couple to get votes any better than the score potentially being fixed to get us through last week?’
‘If it had been a hundred per cent above board from the start, I think I’d still want to play by the rules,’ he replies. ‘But I can live with a few white lies along the way as long as we’re dancing to the best of our abilities too. It’s just another part of the act.’
‘I suppose so. I just hope my acting is better than my dancing.’
‘You shouldn’t be so down on your dancing. You looked good today and we’ve still got three whole days before the show. We might need to use a bit of that time to practise looking like a couple, I suppose, but it surely can’t be that hard. It’s not like neither of us has ever been in a couple before. Here …’
He turns to face the mirrored wardrobe, throws an arm around my shoulders and grins.
‘See. We already look … well, maybe if you smiled a bit more.’
I nudge him in the side and laugh. ‘There’s a lot to think about, that’s all.’
But I can’t help thinking we look quite good together as I check out our reflection, so maybe it won’t be that hard to convince people we’re an item.
The dress Sofiya has selected for me is a perfect fit and when we head back down to the kitchen, lured by a rich waft of garlic, she says, ‘Oh, that looks lovely on you. I thought we must be a similar size.’
I return the compliment, telling her the steaming bowls of pasta on the table smell amazing, and she looks delighted. Strange as it seems, she doesn’t seem to be harbouring any animosity towards me at all.
‘Did you find everything you need in the room?’ she asks.
‘We just need a sleeping bag,’ Aleksis tells her.
‘I think you’ll be warm enough with just the duvet. It’s not cold this evening.’
‘It’s for the sofa,’ he laughs.
He frowns when she doesn’t respond. ‘What?’
‘I just think, if you’re really going to make this work … I think you need to start acting like a couple right away. I know it’s a lot, but you’re going to have to look totally comfortable together when everyone is watching you, and I think it will help if you’re already used to being close to one another.
‘When Stella arrives here in the morning, she needs to be convinced you’re two people who’ve just spent the night together. I can’t help feeling the best way to do that has got to be if you really have just spent the night together.’
