Page 80 of The Dance Deception
‘Ah, thanks.’ I give her a quick hug. ‘I hope you’re not here too long.’
Aleksis puts his arm round me as we walk to the taxi rank. There’s no one else waiting, so we’re on our way within minutes.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he says, as we hold hands in the back seat. ‘For our second dance, maybe we shouldn’t do the bachata after all.’
‘So what, the cha-cha instead? The audience did love it. And it is a bit more fresh in my mind.’
‘Not the cha-cha, either. I was thinking of the salsa.’
‘The salsa?’ I splutter. Surely he’s not serious. ‘But that was our worst dance.’
‘I know, but we’re in such a different place now. You’ve improved so much and, if I remember rightly, things were a little strained between us when we did it last time. I’m still sorry about that.’
I shake my head to show it’s forgotten.
‘But if we do it again now,’ he continues, full of enthusiasm, ‘we can show everyone how far you’ve come since the show started. And no one will be expecting it – they’ll expect us to pick one of our best dances – so it’ll be a big surprise. It’ll show them how confident we are, that we’d pick our weakest performance and turn it into one of our best.’
‘Would we, though?’ I bite my lip, struggling to remember anything good about our first effort. ‘I was terrible last time,’ I remind him.
‘Which was mostly my fault. It’ll be different this time. We’ll make it more fun; a bit more Cuban. I think a really upbeat salsa will give the audience something to really get behind.’
I can see how much he wants me to love the idea, but I’m still not convinced.
‘How about I show you what I’ve got in mind when we’re back in the studio tomorrow and you can see how you feel then,’ he suggests. ‘But bear in mind that Merle and Emilia will probably repeat their bachata, because that’s what got them their best score, so the audience will probably appreciate it if we do something different.’
I hadn’t thought of that. ‘Okay,’ I relent. ‘Show me tomorrow. But if I’m still terrible …’
‘You won’t be, I promise.’ He gives my hand a squeeze. ‘I know this is the right move, I’m sure of it.’
We’re interrupted when our phones ping simultaneously.
‘You’re not going to believe this,’Sarah has written to us both. ‘That bloody stewardess didn’t tell anyone to put my camera bag on the plane, so it’s still in bloody France. I’m absolutely fuming. I’m sure she did it deliberately.’
I exchange a worried look with Aleksis.
‘They can’t send it over till tomorrow now, then I’ll have to schlep all the way back to Heathrow to pick it up. Like I haven’t got enough to do. I can’t believe she just left it in the corridor. I told you she was a bitch.’
I grip Aleksis’s hand. ‘It will make it back here, won’t it?’
I think I’d have a nervous breakdown if we had to give up more rehearsal time to squeeze in a trip to Auntie Irene’s now.
‘It’ll be fine,’ he reassures me. ‘They know where it is, so they’ll just send it on the next flight. Which means for the next forty-eight hours we can just rehearse solidly and nothing else.’
‘Nothing at all?’ I ask with a suggestive smile, pushing my doubts about the baggage handlers aside. Well, it can’t be all work and no play.
‘Maybe the odd thing,’ he laughs, and I suddenly wish the taxi would get a move on.
Chapter 42
Aleksis shows me his salsa plan in the studio the next day and I can see why he thinks it’s a good idea. It’s a clever mix of snappy spin sequences and light-hearted charm – and it’s not so different from our first routine that I don’t think I can learn it in the little time we’ve got left. I agree that we should go for it and we work on it until lunchtime before switching back to the tango for the rest of the day.
Sarah rings just before the studio closes to warn us her camera bag has still not made it back to the UK. She’s been told it won’t be here till Friday at the earliest.
‘What’s the problem?’ I ask, feeling my stress levels go up a notch.
‘I wish I knew. I’m guessing there’s an issue with luggage travelling separately from its owner or something like that. They’re not being overly helpful.’
I try to sound less panicky than I feel. ‘Does that mean you might have to fly back out there and collect it?’
