Page 83 of The Dance Deception
‘One day to go!’ Liam has written in the Fire Dancers chat when I check my phone over breakfast. ‘Hope your routines are coming together, K&T. Can’t wait to see them.’
I’d been hoping for news from my sister, but I know it’s too early, even though she’s an hour ahead in France. I just want to know the camera bag has been successfully reclaimed. It would be nigh-on impossible to cobble together a new video montage now – there’s not enough time.
Beth wants help deciding what to wear on Saturday. Aleksis was right – all the eliminated dancers are going to be back on set to create a party atmosphere, but as they’re not competing, they’re not going to be dressed by the costume department.
Tammy tells us her mum and sisters are fighting over who’s going to come and watch the final. Her sisters think they’d benefit more from being on TV, while her mum says it should be her and Tammy’s dad cos they’re older and might not get another chance.
‘Can’t the show make an allowance and squeeze a few extra people in for the final?’ Liam asks. ‘If they’re worried about it giving you an unfair advantage, they can just not give the extra people a keypad.’
Tammy admits she hadn’t thought of that and says she’ll talk to Olivia to see if she can sort something out.
I put my phone away then, so I can focus on the day ahead, but it’s a struggle not to keep checking it every five minutes on the way to the studio. I’m not going to be able to relax until I’ve heard from Dee. I’m desperate to know if her airport mission has been a success, but my phone remains stubbornly silent.
By mid-morning, when there’s still no news, I buckle and impatiently dial her home number. She’d have to be back by now if it had all gone to plan. But it rings out with no answer, and there’s no response from her mobile, Pete’s mobile or Mum’s mobile either.
‘Where are they all? Why are they torturing me like this?’ I moan to Aleksis.
Even Sarah hasn’t been in touch, and she must be having kittens about the AWOL footage by now if it’s not back in her possession.
‘I’m sure we would have heard from her if there was a problem,’ Aleksis says. ‘They’d have to be talking to us about replacement footage by now if they hadn’t got hold of it. Your sister is probably just busy doing all the uploads and Sarah’s probably talking her through it.’
He sounds calm and rational – the exact opposite to how I feel. My body is jittery from the stress.
When the phone finally rings, I nearly jump out of myskin. I break away from Aleksis mid-dance and sprint to my bag, praying for some good news. But it’s Aleksis’s phone, not mine, and his sister’s number is on the screen. His eyebrows shoot up as he listens to what she has to say.
‘I’m putting you on loudspeaker,’ he says eventually. ‘So Kate can hear this too.’
‘I was just letting Aleksis know that Stella has come up with an event tonight that’s guaranteed to get you back in the headlines,’ she explains. ‘It’s a good one.’
This momentarily puts the brakes on my growing panic about the camera. ‘What is it?’
‘Eden Shay is putting on an exclusive gig at a pub in Brixton ahead of the launch of her new album and there are lots of celebrities going, so there’ll be lots of cameras. You’ll need to be there at six-thirty sharp if you’re going to make the red carpet, but it’s really close to your studio.’
‘As intheEden Shay?’ I check, thinking I must have misheard. ‘Like, bestselling artist of the last decade Eden Shay?’
‘Exactly,’ she confirms. ‘Stella was still feeling bad about my interview getting bumped for Merle’s, so when she spotted Merle’s name on the guest list that gets circulated to the press to make them want to send photographers, she called in a favour to get you two an invite.’
‘Are you serious?’ I didn’t think it would be possible to top last week’s film premiere, but I love Eden Shay.
‘I am. And this would even the playing field somewhat, so I hope you’ll agree to go. The last thing you want is Merle and Emilia splashed all over the internet tomorrow instead of you.’
‘Just try and stop me!’ I gush. ‘And please pass on a massive thank you to Stella from me. This is a dream come true.’
I look up at Aleksis to check he’s as keen as I am, and he confirms it with an enthusiastic grin. Then he hits his sister with such a cheeky request that I’m surprised she doesn’t decide to keep the tickets for herself.
‘Any chance you could swing by the apartment to pick up some clothes for us and bring them down to the studio this afternoon? It’d save us having to trek halfway across London and back and cut our rehearsal short. You know where I hide the spare key.’
Amazingly this makes her laugh. ‘I suppose so, seeing as you asked so nicely. But you’ll owe me big time.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ he replies.
‘I’ll chuck in some towels and soap as well, if you like. I presume there are sinks there that you can use to freshen up. And do you want me to bring a couple of my dresses again, Kate? In case there’s something you like the look of.’
I’m sure she’ll have something gorgeous. ‘I’d love that, thank you.’
‘Great, then I’ll see you around five-thirty.’
Aleksis tells her she’s a legend, then puts his phone back in his bag. And our rehearsal goes much better for the following couple of hours. With the gig to look forward to, Dee and the camera bag are temporarily forgotten.
