Page 124 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz
I have to smile. I thought my lad lacked intuition but that’s clearly not the case.
‘You know, Will, maybe Iamhaving a mid-life crisis, but underpinning it is wanting the best for you…’
‘Not now, Mum, I’m off out with James. Catch ya.’
He hangs up and I smile to myself. He’s a good kid, on the whole.
*
At the end of the show, all the dance groups, in full costume, gather on the stage to hear the results. We stand in a large semicircle as we wait. There’s a drum roll as Frédéric steps forward and announces each set of winners.
‘Mesdames et messieurs. Les résultats de L’Expression Paris. En troisième place, c’est le groupe,’ – Frédéric leaves a long dramatic pause – ‘Bold as Brassqui a exécuté la danse “Roxanne”.’
There is a loud blast of music – the first bars from the “Roxanne” track – over the speaker. The audience cheer as Sheila leads her group to the front of the stage. They all turn their backs on the audience and give a saucy wiggle of their rear ends – annoyingly to the flashing of cameras and rapturous applause – before accepting a small shield.
We all clap half-heartedly.
Frédéric then puts his hand up in the air and adds, ‘Mesdames et messieurs, la chorégraphe de cette danse était Clarissa Kirkland.’ He starts clapping and points towhere Clarissa is sitting in the audience next to Hazel and Fay. She gets to her feet and bows graciously.
We all cheer loudly. Sheila grimaces and gives a slow handclap, clearly disappointed she’s no longer the centre of attention.
‘À en deuxième place…’
We all hold hands, willing our group to be ahead of Sheila’s.
‘…c’est le groupe,Dance ExcellenceavecClarissa Kirkland by ze very same Clarissa Kirkland.’
We whoop and grin at each other as the audience applaud and whistle.
‘Wowzers, second place.’ Bonnie gives Ingrida a high five.
‘Result. We beat Sheila’s Maggots.’ Cath punched the air.
We head for the front of the stage and pass Edith, standing with her quartet. I reach for her hand and pull her along with us to the front of the stage, shoving Fay’s green bowler hat into her hands.
A few bars of “Dancin’ Fool” play out loudly and we all step to the front of the stage and in unison raise our hats then bow. Asha accepts the shield on behalf of the group, and we all turn to acknowledge Clarissa with our outstretched hands. She again stands and even from this distance we can see she is wearing a grin like a Cheshire cat.
‘Et maintenant, Mesdames et Messieurs, les gagnants d’Expression Paris sont… Corps et Ame.’
Edith and the other three dancers in her ensemble leapup and down, and we all cheer loudly as they claim their trophy.
‘What a result.’
‘First and second place for Fay’s daughter. She will be very happy,ja?’
Clarissa meets us in the dressing room, her eyes sparkling, as she thanks us for all our hard work.
‘What a shame Monica missed the awards,’ Bonnie says.
‘I understand some important family business came up.’ Clarissa barely looks at me, but in the briefest of eye contacts I know Monica’s told her about Vince and that we won’t be sharing this information with the others.
*
Once changed and packed, we all have a celebratory drink in the café, and I wave the other women off in their taxis as Hazel and Clarissa leave for their posh hotel and the others return to Smut Central with Fay.
The night’s getting cold and, waiting on the steps of the theatre, I pull my jacket tighter around me. Come on Max. Where are you? If only I had my frigging phone.
His taxi finally appears, and he gets out, tells it to wait and walks to meet me.
