On the plus side, if she didn’t have to go to the office all week, she might just have time to fit in some daytime dancing practice and visit her neglected juniors in the evenings. On the down side, she’d have to start worrying about how to pay the bills. She wasn’t sure whether her newfound celebrity status was going to help or hinder her job search. It certainly didn’t make her look like the most serious professional in the office. She hadn’t thought through the implications of the show on her career, and she wondered whether she’d have made a different decision if she had. Now, though, it was almost impossible to imagine going back to life as it had been. The only way was forward, and for some reason that started with wiping down the surfaces in the kitchen and then, while she was on a roll, dusting the tops of the cupboards.
The phone rang while she was teetering on a chair with a rag in her hand. She considered not coming down to answer it, on the grounds that if there was any more bad news she didn’t want to hear it, but then the feeling of suspense and dread about the possible bad news was worse than anything she was likely to hear. She scrambled down and picked up the phone just as the answer machine kicked in.
“Are we still OK to pick you up after lunch?” Elaine asked.
Elaine and Mark were determined to come to every filming session and watch their star students. Lisa wasn’t entirely happy about that — she’d be less worried about messing up with an audience of strangers than with her beloved teachers in the front row — but she’d decided there was little she could do about it. It was, after all, a public event. Anyone could attend who wanted to, so there was no point in quarrelling. She might as well accept the lift.
“Sure,” she agreed, and when she’d established that was all Elaine wanted, she rang off quickly, not wanting to get into too much conversation in case she let herself go and start talking about work and her worries. She’d do her best to keep it out of her mind until after the show. And cleaning was a great distraction. Terri would just have to wait until tomorrow for a phone call, too. She’d understand.
Having finished with the surfaces, Lisa hauled the hoover out from the cupboard and began on the floors. So she didn’t hear the door buzzer until a long tone intruded on the vacuum’s steady hum. Someone had evidently been buzzing for a while, and had finally started leaning on the entry phone in desperation.
Lisa looked at the clock on the video. Elaine was early.
She wiped a sleeve across her eyes, scooped up her shoe bag and costume carriers, and trotted downstairs.
Outside the door, Elaine’s burgundy people-carrier was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Redmond was leaning on the lowered window of the now-familiar sports car. She ran to him, then realised that greeting him through a car window with an armful of bags was well-nigh impossible. He popped the catch on the boot, got out to help her pile in the dresses, and then folded her into an embrace she thought would never end.
Finally he held her back at arm’s length and inspected her tear-stained face. She wished she’d known he was coming so she could have tidied herself up more, then chided herself for the thought. She should look after herself, whether or not she expected Redmond to see her.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She shook her head. “You don’t want to know,” she choked out. “What are you doing here anyway? Elaine was meant to be coming for me. Does she know?”
“Yes to the last question. I got bumped from my flight but I managed to get moved to an earlier one, so I called her from the airport to say I’d pick you up on my way by. They’ll see us up there.”
“Thanks,” she said weakly, letting him open the door for her and help her into the low seat.
“You’re welcome.”
He walked round to the driver’s side, settled in, and started the engine before raising the subject again.
“So come on, tell Uncle Redmond what’s the matter.”
She grimaced. He sounded so ridiculously cheesy, though he’d probably done it on purpose to try and make her smile.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Not till after the show, at least.”
“If you don’t, I’ll be forced to regale you with the excitement of my flight details instead,” he threatened.
“Go ahead.”
“Oh dear, it must be bad!”
“It is.” Tears prickled at her eyes again and she blinked them away, hoping Redmond wouldn’t see. If he did notice, he said nothing, just waited.
Eventually the silence became too painful, and Lisa found herself blurting out, “I lost my job.”
Saying the words somehow made them even more real and terrifying. It was the kind of thing that should happen to other people. Not to smart, star performers, which until a few weeks ago, Lisa had considered herself — and, she thought, had been considered by others.
“Why? How?”
Lisa thought for a moment how to explain the situation, then gave him a brief summary, not trying to shift the blame because she was well aware the fault was her own.
To her surprise, Redmond laughed out loud.
“It’s not funny! It’s a disaster!”
Her protest became a wail and then she was crying again. It was getting to be a habit. This time Redmond couldn’t do much because he was driving, but when they paused at the lights he handed her a tissue and gave her hair a brief stroke.
“It’s a problem,” Redmond conceded quietly. “But you have to admit it is quite funny. The guy sounds like he deserved it.”
“That’s just it,” Lisa sniffed. “He deserved trouble but I got it. He’s the client so he’s right even when he’s being obnoxious, and if I dare to say he’s being obnoxious, then I get fired.”
“Which isn’t technically legal. You haven’t been warned first or anything.”
“They’ll wriggle out of it somehow. They’re calling it redundancy.”
“Which means you get paid?”
“Not much, though.”
“Better than nothing.”
“True.”
“Hey, don’t worry. It’ll get sorted. You’ll see.”
“Sorted how? I can’t imagine Alan ringing next week to offer me my job back.”
“I can’t imagine you’d take it if he did. Next week you’ll be trying to decide which top studio to take a teaching job with.”
“If we don’t get kicked out.”
“What’s happened to that confidence you used to have? Of course we can win. Tell me honestly, who’s better than us? Nobody!”
“Not normally, but I’m not normal at the moment. Normally nobody’s better than me at work either, and look at me now!”
“That’s different,” Redmond said, calmly and rationally. “You’ve been concentrating on your dancing, so you took your eye off the ball a bit in the office. That’s understandable. But your work’s only suffered because your dancing’s improved. So if you were good before, you should be unbeatable now.”
“After we’ve had almost a week without practicing together?”
Redmond nodded. “That’s why I kept throwing in new things when we started dancing together again. I needed to be sure you could pick things up quickly and run with them, because I knew we wouldn’t have much time to prepare for this week.”
Lisa’s mind wasn’t working quickly, but it got there in the end.
“Hang on,” she objected, “you said you only got the call that day. So how come you knew to test me before that?”
“I only got the call that day, but I had an idea this might come up. I’d been working on a deal and I shouldn’t have left it when I did to come over here, but, as I said, the competition seemed like an unmissable opportunity.”
“Some time,” Lisa said, attempting to sound light, “you’ll have to tell me about all these deals of yours.” The “international man of mystery”
act was beginning to wear a bit thin, and she wanted to know more about Redmond’s life. She’d have asked him outright, but she was afraid he’d refuse to tell her, and she didn’t want to row with him about it when so much depended on their getting on well. It was yet another conversation to add to the list of things they’d have to face up to after the show.
As Lisa had expected, Redmond grinned mysteriously. “All in good time, my dear,” he said.
“Did you know you can be infuriatingly patronising at times?”
“I do now.”
“Good.”
“Although that may not be the best thing to say to someone who’s giving you a lift across London out of the kindness of his heart. Keep it up and you might find yourself walking.”
“Keep up the patronising tone and I might be glad to!”
“All right, I’m sorry. It was mean of me, I know, but I’d rather not talk about it until things are a bit more definite. Is that OK? I just worry about jinxing things, and it’s all looking a bit shaky as it is.”
“I won’t ask anymore, then, but do tell me when you can, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
There was a pause as they both cast about for a safe topic of conversation, and then Redmond threw caution to the winds.
“So are you going to be OK? You sound pretty upset about this job thing.”
That’s putting it mildly, Lisa thought, but the truth was, given a bit of time, she could see that what he’d said was true. Her focus lately had been elsewhere, and a year ago that wouldn’t have happened. So maybe the whole situation was telling her it was time for a change.
“I think so,” she said instead, settling for a note of cautious optimism. “I don’t quite know what I’m going to do, but I guess I’ll figure something out.”
“Good for you,” Redmond encouraged.
“You don’t sound too worried about it all.”
“Of course not. I know it’s been a big shock for you, but you’re tough and smart. To be honest, I don’t think you’d do something like that entirely by accident. I reckon maybe your subconscious had decided you were in a bit of a rut and decided to do something to shake you loose.”
“Thanks, Dr. Freud,” Lisa said sharply. “Remind me when you got your psychology degree?”
Underneath, though, she couldn’t help wondering if he might have a point. Even before Redmond’s arrival and the debacle at work, she remembered feeling a little restless and unsettled. Once or twice at work she’d created a really great layout and then found herself looking at it with irritation instead of satisfaction, thinking that there should be something more to life. New directions, new possibilities. And now she had them in spades: Redmond, dancing, and the search for a new job to look forward to.
“Sorry,” Redmond said, sounding for once in his life almost genuinely contrite. “That was probably out of line. I tend to say what I think.”
“No, really?” Lisa had forgotten how much she missed having someone forthright around, and being able to trust that she’d get an honest opinion.
“Do you mind?”
“Not if you don’t mind me doing the same,” Lisa said, though in truth she’d never be quite as forthright as Redmond. Still, it was nice not to have to watch her tongue too much. Though, as she’d already learned, honesty could be a dangerous habit to settle into.
“I don’t know,” Redmond said, though his grin suggested that any objections would only be in jest. “It depends what you’re going to say. Try me.”
Lisa thought for a moment. “Did you miss me?”
“Didn’t have much time to,” Redmond admitted. “I had to pack a lot in to get back here in time. But it was strange not to have someone to talk to about the day, and my bed felt pretty empty at night … for about three seconds before I crashed out. You have no idea how exhausting back to back meetings and flights can be.”
“And you flew in this morning, and now you’re driving. Is this a good idea?”
“I’m fine. If I get tired, we’ll stop. But it’s easy enough driving in London. Nothing goes at more than ten miles an hour, so even my slow reactions can handle it. So I’m fine for now, and I’ll get over my jet lag during the week.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Nothing’s ever that easy.” Lisa sighed, thinking of how complicated her life seemed to have become.
“You’re too young to be such a cynic,” Redmond said. He grinned as if he was joking but Lisa had the impression he meant it more seriously than he’d like to admit.
She thought about it.
“It’s not easy, though, is it? Wanting things doesn’t mean you get them. If it was that easy we could wave a magic wand and sort things out for Mark and Elaine, and I wouldn’t be stuck here and you in America, and I wouldn’t be out of a job for making the mistake of being honest for once.”
Redmond looked as if he was about to say something, but when he opened his mouth it was only to remark that they were passing a very nice little café, and ask if she’d like to stop?
Much as she wanted to continue the conversation, she decided it would be better to make use of the ladies’ toilets in the café to clean her face so that she didn’t arrive scruffy and smeared with tears. By the time she got back to the car, Redmond seemed to have decided that the moment for serious conversation had passed. They spent the rest of the journey listening to the radio, although Redmond looked deep in concentration, either on the road or on his thoughts, so Lisa wasn’t sure how much he heard.
“Are you sure you’re OK?” Lisa asked as they made their way through to the studio. “You must be exhausted.”
“Well, I have to admit those big sofas look quite appealing. But I’ll be fine when we’re dancing. The music always gives me a lift.”
She knew what he meant. She felt the same. Once the beat got into your body, you came alive.
“Good.”
They reached the dressing rooms, and Lisa reached up to give Redmond a quick kiss before going to get ready. She was already settling into the routine of getting into her makeup and whatever dress had been left for her. Today’s was a skimpy silver Latin dress not totally unlike the one Redmond had brought for her to practice in on Wednesday. She flushed as she remembered where that had led, and forced herself to return her attention to the dress and the dance. The dress was short, but fringed with tassels which added a little to the length, and slightly reminiscent of a 1920s cocktail dress. It would be perfect for their cheeky, Charleston-ish steps, and she silently blessed the costume department.
Caroline, spectacular in a short red dress with a jewelled belt, gave Lisa’s hand a squeeze as she passed. Lisa smiled up at her. Thank heavens for one friendly face. Tiffany had been lurking nearby since they came in, and it was surely only a matter of time before she opened her mouth and said something which set Lisa fuming.
As if on cue, Tiffany looked over at the the two women standing close together, and her lip curled.
“It’s so nice to see such supportiveness behind the scenes,” she purred. Lisa waited for the sting behind the smile, and it soon came. “Of course, you can afford to be friendly when you know you’re not in the running for the serious competition.”
Lisa drew in a sharp breath, but before she’d found the words to speak, she remembered Redmond’s admonition. A catfight would just make them both look foolish and unprofessional. Instead, she met Caroline’s gaze and rolled her eyes, and Caroline grinned back. They both knew it was fear and insecurity that fuelled Tiffany’s bitchiness.
“Time we were getting on,” Lisa said, wanting to put distance between herself and Tiffany, who was still fiddling with her acrylic nails.
Once they were on set, there was little Tiffany could say, but as Lisa and Caroline left the room, she fir
ed off one parting shot.
“See you afterwards. Well, Lisa anyway. I imagine you’ll survive until next week. Caroline, it’s been nice to see you again.”
“Bitch,” Lisa couldn’t help murmuring under her breath, counting on the creak of the door closing to cover the sound to all except Caroline.
“Ignore her,” Caroline said calmly. “It’s true, anyway. We were far the weakest dancers last week, we’ll be first off. But it doesn’t matter. Being here was an experience, and it’s publicity for the studio. We’re doing OK anyway, and we don’t need this, not really. It’s different for people like you and Red. You were made to be stars.”
“He was,” Lisa agreed. She’d never felt the same herself. In Redmond’s absence, she’d become one weak meteor in a falling shower, and even though his arrival had set her back on high, she wasn’t wholly convinced it would last.
“Oh, you two were made for each other.” Caroline smiled. “If you can’t see it, you’re the only one. But I thought now you were going out, you’d have to believe it.”
The temptation to tell the truth was almost overwhelming, but she bit it back. She was so tired of lying to all her friends outside the dancing world. It was some consolation that Jerry knew how things had begun with Red, and didn’t judge her for it, but she had no confidence that Terri or Marian would share that attitude, and while Caroline was clearly sympathetic, Lisa certainly couldn’t tell the truth to someone so closely connected with the show. So she contented herself with remarking, “I’m not quite used to it yet, I guess. It still seems a bit too good to be true. Not that I’m complaining.”
Sexy in the City Page 155