Page 73 of The Dance Deception
‘Is that a yes, then?’ Olivia interrupts. I’d forgotten she could hear what we were saying. ‘The tickets are on hold for another hour and I don’t want to lose them. There was limited availability so we might not be able to get any more.’
I promise to call her back as soon as I’ve checked it with Mum, Dad and Dee.
‘Are you absolutely sure about this?’ I ask Aleksis while I text Dee to find out if they’re free to join us on a Skype chat.
‘A hundred per cent. This is exactly the kind of thing that will make the audience feel like they’ve got to know you, and if that means they vote for us on Saturday’s show, I’m all for it. We’ll have to thank Sarah for suggesting it.’
‘Do you think she just wanted a day down in the south of France?’
‘I don’t doubt it, but who can blame her? It was that or a suburb in Manchester,’ he laughs. ‘No offence to your Auntie Irene.’
‘Dee’s firing up her laptop now, so brace yourself,’ I warn him.
‘I’m good with parents, don’t worry,’ he assures me.
I don’t know how good they’ll be with him, though, once they discover we’re not sleeping in separate beds any more. Given what happened last time, I’m not sure how Dad’s going to react to the news that I’ve got involved with another dancer.
But before I can let him know Aleksis is no longer just my flatmate, Mum’s already telling him how delighted she is to meet him and how he’s been her favourite from the beginning, and thanking him for looking after me on the show.
‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ Dee yells from somewhere off-screen. ‘Just sorting out the monsters.’
‘We’ve been finding it really inspiring,’ Mum says, still focused on Aleksis. ‘We’ve even talked about taking dancing lessons ourselves, once we’re back in the UK.’
‘You’ve talked about that,’ Dad says. ‘I don’t know one foot from the other.’
She pats him on the hand. ‘That’s why you go to lessons. So what’s your last dance going to be? We’re dying to know.’
‘It’s the Argentine tango,’ I tell her. ‘My worst nightmare.’
‘I’m sure it can’t be that bad,’ Mum says.
Aleksis fires me a grin. ‘That’s what I keep telling her.’
‘We’ve already got the champagne on ice,’ Dad admits.
‘No pressure then, Dad!’
‘Sorry, love. We’re just really excited.’
I roll my eyes in exasperation.
‘Perhaps you can just be excited about our other news instead,’ I suggest.
‘What’s that, love?’ Dad asks.
I tell them about the proposed trip to France,
When she’s established I’m actually serious, Mum exclaims, ‘That would be wonderful!’
‘We’d love to see you,’ Dad agrees. ‘And the kids will be over the moon. We can meet you at the airport.’
‘We’ll have a driver to bring us over from the airport,’ I explain.
‘Then we’ll have extra time to get everything ready here,’ Mum says.
Aleksis tells them they don’t need to go to any trouble.
‘I’ll want to do my hair,’ Mum says. ‘And find Dad a new shirt.’
