Sexy in the City

by Alexia Adams, Galen Rose, Samantha Anne, Carolann Camillo, Nicole Flockton, Iris Leach, Olivia Logan, Nancy Loyan, Stephanie Cage (epub)

  Then they were at the door of the studio, and there was no more chance to talk, as they were bustled in and settled on the sofa. Most of the men were already arranged in a line on the other sofa, and Harry was the last to join them, a moment before Phillipa came in and the cameras started rolling.

  Lisa didn’t take in much of the preliminary chat, in which Phillipa reminded the audience of the rules. The time seemed to fly by until she reached, “The couple judged weakest by the judges, and therefore the first couple to be leaving the show is … ” Then there was what seemed an interminable pause and Lisa met Redmond’s eyes across the room. Even though she agreed with Tiffany and Caroline’s assessment, there was still a flutter of fear and doubt inside her. What if she was wrong? What if the collision had counted against her more than she’d thought?

  Of course, that could work the other way too. If the judges had seen Tiffany’s vicious action and her haste to remove herself from the scene, they might just count it against her and Harry instead. Lisa smiled. She could dream. Tiffany and Harry made for such good television, there was no way they’d be going home in the first week.

  Finally the pause was at an end and Phillipa opened her mouth and took a breath.

  “David and Caroline.”

  Even though it surprised nobody, Caroline’s friendly nature would be much missed, and there was an air of sadness as the girls huddled around her, hugging her and expressing their sympathies.

  Then Phillipa called Caroline and David to the microphone to say their farewells. By the end of their dignified little speech, Lisa had a lump in her throat. Since her shock with the job, her emotions seemed to have come right to the surface, and she tried to force them away. As Phillipa called the remaining couples to the floor for a jive, there could be no room in her mind for anything but Redmond and the dance.

  Standing on the floor and waiting as Phillipa introduced the band and babbled away about the choice of song, Lisa felt edgy and restless, as she always had during the long waits at competitions when waiting for the last dancer to answer to their called number. And why was it, Lisa wondered, that it was always the men who went missing, leaving their partners standing alone on the dance floor looking lost and embarrassed, and pathetically relieved when the missing men strolled in looking perfectly happy and relaxed? Lisa had been in that situation a few times, and she was relieved that this time Redmond was here beside her, flashing her his vivid grin as Phillipa finally stopped talking and the conductor raised his arms to tell the band to strike up their intro.

  When the first notes of her favourite jive rang out, Lisa didn’t have to make an effort to smile for the cameras. The music ran right through her, instantly lifting her mood and setting her feet dancing of their own accord. Redmond seemed to sense her delight and smiled back at her as he led her through the agreed routine, but took advantage of a moment when they drew closer together to mouth something which Lisa thought might be “feeling brave?”

  She nodded, wondering what she’d let herself in for, but feeling certain that in this light mood, with their perfect connection, she could follow it. So she let Redmond lead her into a deep drop, swinging her dangerously floorwards and up again. It felt like being on a rollercoaster — heady and exciting and a little frightening in a “let’s do that again!” sort of way. She grinned brilliantly up at Redmond, who gave her an approving nod and smile.

  As the music died, Redmond spun her in towards him and ended by wrapping her in a tight embrace and lowering his lips to hers. For a moment she forgot the room full of crowds and cameras, and when she started noticing it again, there was ringing applause and raised voices calling out in support of their favourites. She thought they were getting quite a bit of support, but just now it didn’t seem to matter so much anyway whether they won. It was enough to have danced the way they had.

  Dizzy with delight and relief, Lisa hung on Redmond’s arm as he escorted her back to the sofa. This time, without waiting for permission from the presenters, the dancers sat down in their couples and watched as the screens replayed snippets from the dancing, accompanied by comments from the judges.

  “No competition,” Red whispered, not very discreetly.

  “Shhh,” Lisa hissed, but she couldn’t help smiling at his confidence. She didn’t entirely share it, but she had to admit there were only a few serious contenders, so she and Red should certainly make it through this week.

  Would that make it all worth it? she wondered. Would being in the final — or even winning — make up for the shock of losing her job, the fear and uncertainty? She was surprised to find that now she’d relaxed a little, she faced the prospect of looking for something new to do with something less like fear and more like … excitement. Perhaps it was time for a change. She looked around the room, drinking in the buzz of excitement, the colours, the sparkle. No doubt about it: the dull greys of the office paled in comparison. This was where she wanted to be.

  And now she would have a whole week to wait, to find out whether they would stay to dance another week. Oh, she knew they deserved to go through all right, but that meant nothing until you heard the judges’ verdict. Judges, after all, were human. They could be wrong, catch you at the wrong moment, be stupid or unobservant or just plain prejudiced. You weren’t safe until your number was called. That was the mantra she’d grown up with, and it had always kept her on tenterhooks as the floor filled up with dancers.

  When the judges complimented their performance, especially the dramatic drop, Lisa felt less excitement than relief. Redmond flung his arms around her shoulders and squeezed and kissed her as if he felt elated, though she wasn’t sure whether it was just a performance for the cameras. That was the trouble with being a performer. You learnt to hide your emotions, and then you learnt to distrust the emotions you saw in others. She knew she had a wide, delighted smile to match his, even though her stomach was already starting to clench at the thought of how much more difficult the next week’s dancing might be.

  What was Redmond thinking?

  Looking closely, she thought she could detect a hint of tension in his jaw, a distance in his eyes. As the judges went on with their reports, Redmond seemed to be only half listening to them. His eyes were focused elsewhere, waiting for something.

  Phillipa asked a few of the couples for their thoughts, but Lisa and Red were not among them. Lisa, who’d long since learned to pick out the important information and discard the rest, paid no attention to Tiffany’s half sweet, half barbed, remarks. She was busy wondering whether she was right about Redmond’s preoccupation, and if so, what was so fascinating to him. When Phillipa remarked that they were coming to the end of the evening’s show, Redmond seemed to become a little more alert. Lisa took her cue from him and listened as the blonde intoned, “We’re hoping that one of tonight’s couples will have something extra special to celebrate. One very lucky lady’s partner would like to make her evening. You know who you are, so come on out.”

  Phillipa was using a roving mike, and the spotlight followed her lithe figure as she strolled into the middle of the floor and held out the microphone. Beside Lisa, there was a blur of movement. She turned her head just in time to see Redmond disappearing out of his seat, bounding with his usual lithe grace into the pool of light. Phillipa faded back out as Redmond cleared his throat and began, with uncharacteristic hesitance.

  “Thanks for giving me the opportunity to say something very important to my wonderful partner. Lisa, would you come up here too, please?”

  Lisa almost felt as if she was watching herself from outside as she stepped onto the dance floor, her feet carrying her in their usual graceful glide while her brain drifted aimlessly. On top of all the day’s strangeness, this was just too much. She didn’t quite dare to think what Redmond had in store for her.

  “Lisa, you’ve always been my perfect dancing partner, but these past few weeks have finally convinced m
e of what I should always have known: you’re also my perfect partner in every other sense. I hope you don’t mind me picking such a public occasion to say this, but I wanted everyone to know how much you mean to me, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask you. Lisa … ” He paused and Lisa watched numbly as he stepped closer and dropped to one knee. The spotlight trailed after him, and as it settled on him, Lisa finally, belatedly, realised what was going on. He cleared his throat and put the question she’d always dreamed he’d ask and never for a moment believed he would: “Will you marry me?”

  Time seemed to slow, the roomful of people faded to a blur, music and voices became one unnoticed murmur. All her attention was focused on Redmond’s eyes, looking imploringly up at her from the pool of light. Slowly, as the reality of his words sank in, her mouth curved into a beaming smile. She desperately wanted to say yes, but somehow her voice was sticking in her throat, and so she nodded, once, slowly. It was enough. In a moment, Redmond was on his feet, embracing her. The room came back to life and Lisa hid her head against Redmond’s shoulder to shut out the sea of faces, but the waves of applause and laughter and shouting still beat against her ears.

  All too soon, their embrace was cut short by Phillipa taking back her microphone and hustling Redmond and Lisa off the floor. They were immediately surrounded by people slapping them on the back and offering congratulations. Most of them were people Lisa hardly knew, and she wondered whether Redmond did either. She was relieved to see Mark and Elaine shouldering their way through the crowd at the edge of the dance floor.

  Elaine fussed delightedly over Lisa while Mark and Redmond made a path through the crowd for them.

  “My lovely fiancée and I would like some time together.” Redmond smiled charmingly at everyone who tried to detain them, and soon they were on their way out of the studio. Today nobody would hassle them to return their costumes immediately or sign out of the building. Even to the offiicious Barbie doll receptionists, some things were sacred.

  Chapter 13

  Lisa breathed a huge sigh of relief when the door of Redmond’s flat closed behind them, but it was followed immediately by a wave of awkwardness. What happened now? It was all very well for Redmond to go down on his knees in front of a roomful of people, and for her to nod helplessly because she could never refuse him anything, but she had no idea what it was that she’d agreed to. They’d never had a chance to discuss marriage. A big wedding or a small family occasion, in church or a registry office … Would they even set a wedding date, or did he just mean the question in an abstract “let’s get engaged” sort of way? She couldn’t imagine where they went from here.

  Redmond took her hand and pulled her onto the bed beside him, and she nestled into his arms. That way the world felt a little less frightening. Suddenly she realised how tired she was after all the day’s excitement. No wonder everything felt so bizarre and unreal. She’d never had a day like this in her life … it had started with losing her job and things had only become weirder since then.

  “Did we really just get engaged?” she murmured drowsily into Redmond’s shirt.

  “Uh huh.” The amused tone was back and she wished she hadn’t said something quite so idiotic.

  In an attempt to redeem herself by making her daft remark sound like the prelude to a more sensible question, she tacked on, “So now what?”

  She meant about rings and announcements and weddings, but, whether deliberately or otherwise, he misinterpreted her question and answered, “Now we get some sleep and then tomorrow we go to see Mark and Elaine, and practice some more.”

  Well, it answered the question as far as it went, she supposed. Of course Mark and Elaine, the nearest thing she had in the world to family, would want to talk to them properly after their hasty exit from the ballroom. And maybe, just maybe, their presence would unlock Redmond’s tongue a little, because he certainly didn’t seem forthcoming tonight.

  “OK?” Red asked as he lazily began undressing her.

  “That wasn’t what I meant,” Lisa answered, pulling away from him and going to grab her nightdress. Any other time she would have welcomed his enthusiasm. Considering they’d just got engaged, it was ridiculous to be avoiding him, and if it had been a normal engagement she wouldn’t have been, but she still wasn’t entirely sure she trusted his sudden devotion, and she could do with some space to get her head round the change.

  “What did you mean?” Red sat up, realising that things weren’t going the way he’d had in mind.

  “I meant, what happens about us.” Just the word ‘us’ tripped her up. She wasn’t used to there being an ‘us.’

  “In what way?” Red wasn’t making this easy for her.

  “What are we going to do when we get married?” She didn’t let herself use the word ‘if’, although it had crossed her mind. She had to start believing Red meant what he said. “Are we going to live here? In America? What am I going to do for work?”

  “Whatever you like,” Red said lazily, as if they were just agreeing on a restaurant for Sunday lunch. “We’ve got loads of time to plan. Can’t we just enjoy being together for now, and get through the competition? It’s only a few weeks.”

  “Only a few weeks, and then what? How can you just go along without knowing what’s around the corner?”

  Red laughed, then, and stood up and gathered her into an embrace. “It’s always worked for me, but I’m sorry. I know you’re a planner, and I guess I’ll have to get used to that, but really, do you need to sort it all right now? Can’t we get some sleep first?” He pulled her down onto the bed and nibbled playfully at her neck.

  “Sleep?” she queried.

  “Maybe not,” he grinned, tugging her nightie from her hand and throwing it aside.

  “Not sleeping could be good,” Lisa conceded, deciding to set aside her worries at least until the morning.

  • • •

  After that, they settled comfortably into a temporary routine of long hours of practice followed by evenings of teaching. Red continued to insist that he was happy to stay in London if it was what Lisa wanted, and she almost believed him, although it had crossed her mind that even if he believed it himself, his feelings might still change, especially if they didn’t win the competition. So she threw herself into dancing, and consigned her job hunt to spare moments.

  Somehow she did find time to get the corner shop to order in Marketing Week for her, but the job ads never seemed to contain anything quite right. The positions were either too senior, or too junior, or in fields outside her experience. And when one turned up which she could have done, it turned out to be away from London, and there was no point in applying for jobs elsewhere until after the show at least. In the end she signed up with a few temping agencies and postponed the problem of her real career until after the show. As Redmond had said, if they won, or even made the final, there was a good chance of a career in dance, and then she wouldn’t have to worry about dull campaigns ever again.

  The agencies still hadn’t rung her by the end of that week, and she was guiltily glad to go into the next round without new-job nerves hanging over her.

  Lisa and Redmond heard nothing from the film crews all week, but the buzz in the papers and on the Internet was still that they were serious contenders. By the time they arrived at the studio on Saturday, Lisa was settling in there, but she knew she mustn’t allow herself to become complacent. All the couples were stunning and the waltz was Xander and Kasia’s best dance, so there was serious competition.

  Still, Lisa knew she looked and felt good in the dress she’d been given, a stunning confection of icing-sugar white and mint coloured froth. And she still remembered the magic of the waltz she and Redmond had danced the first day they got together after his return from the States. She knew they’d do well if she could let go of the thought of the audience and the other competitors, and just float away on
the music, guided gently by Redmond’s strong arms.

  As long as they went through. This time, there was much less agreement on who was likely to be sent home. Al and Eveline were perhaps less polished and experienced dancers than some of the others, but Fritz and Kathrin were better at ballroom than Latin, and jive wasn’t their favourite dance. Harry and Tiffany had danced well but not spectacularly, and although Lisa thought her and Redmond’s performance had been one of the best, she thought that at least one of the judges might disapprove of their non-traditional style.

  There was simply no way of knowing how the results would turn out this week, and because of that, all the dancers held their breath when the moment finally arrived for Phillipa to pause and make a show of opening the envelope which contained the judges’ vote.

  “Al and Eveline,” Phillipa announced finally, and there was a collective rush of breath. Al and Eveline looked stunned at the result, and Fritz and Kathrin equally so. Then, after the usual round of hugging and comments, but before Lisa had quite stopped shaking with relief, it was finally time to dance.

  As usual, Lisa’s limbs had stiffened as she sat on the sofa, and she stretched surreptitiously as she rose. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Redmond doing the same, and she remembered how he reached out, loosening his long limbs, as he emerged from bed in the mornings. Really, she thought, she’d been so busy worrying about work and the show, she hadn’t been appreciating her time with him half enough. She’d have to see what she could do about that.

  In the meantime, the remaining four couples were settling themselves into their spaces on the floor, keeping by unspoken mutual consent to different corners so that there was less chance of collision.

  With only four couples, it was easier than before to set aside thoughts as to what the others were doing, and just dance as if nothing mattered except Lisa, Redmond, and the slow dreamy music that could have been made for them. They floated their way round three sides of the floor but when they came to the fourth side and a slow heel turn, Lisa felt something give underneath her, and she suddenly felt as if she was dancing on sponge. A step later, when she moved forward on her heel, she realised what was wrong. The heel of her shoe had given way, and as she stepped onto it, she lurched uncomfortably and just managed to save herself from falling. Thanking her lucky stars that they were near the end of the routine, she finished it on her toes with the loose heel dragging awkwardly, sometimes behind and sometimes underneath her straining foot.