Say it with Sequins

by Georgia Hill

  “Bingo.” Carly smiled, revealing large yellow teeth. “Perhaps I made a bigger impression on you than I thought?” she added unpleasantly. “When I found out that Uncle Bob had got me tickets for the final, I couldn’t resist coming to say hello to an old school friend.”

  “Your uncle?” Merry looked from Bob to Carly, as realisation dawned. “So that’s how you found out about my claustrophobia?”

  Bob sniggered. “Carly is brilliant at coming up with these ideas. She’s one of my assistants in the production offices. It made a fantastic piece of television, Meredith.”

  “At my expense!”

  “Oh, come now. You knew what you were letting yourself in for, when you signed the contract.” Bob began to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so funny.”

  Merry sensed Daniel stiffen beside her and put a restraining hand on his arm.

  Carly linked arms with her uncle. “I must say, I enjoyed seeing it too. You have a gift for making a fool of yourself, Merry.” The woman simpered. “But then you always did.”

  Merry felt the anger build inside and was just about to let rip when the third person emerged from the gloom at the edge of the dance floor.

  It was Hillary MacDonald, her old tutor.

  “Oh,” Merry squeaked, nonplussed. “What are you doing here?”

  Hillary had the grace to look embarrassed. “Bob here, very kindly got in touch and offered me a ticket. I was filming nearby anyway, so I thought I’d come along.”

  “Not really your thing, Hil,” Merry said with desperation.

  “No, not really but I’ve heard good things about you Merry. Wanted to see how an ex … erm … student was getting on.”

  “Well, I’m fine. As you can see.” Merry was stunned. All her previous worlds seemed to be colliding, bursting into the safe little bubble she and Daniel had created. She’d loved her time with him on Who Dares Dances, and wanted it to continue just for a while longer. She knew that when the final was over, she’d have no reason to see Daniel again. And the thought was killing her. She simply couldn’t cope with this intrusion now. Then she caught the look in Bob’s eye and the sheer evil enjoyment in Carly’s and somehow knew her discomfort was just what they’d planned. Fury at having been manipulated again surged through her. She’d rarely felt as angry about anything.

  Daniel knew Merry was about to erupt at any moment. He needed to get her away now. He cleared his throat. “It’s time to get into make-up, Merry. Come on.” He dragged her away, feeling the rage vibrate through her.

  It was a lie; they’d both been to costume and make-up hours before but, if they had any chance of concentrating on the final, he needed to give Merry time to calm down. He followed her as she slammed into her dressing room.

  “I can’t believe she’s here. I can’t believe Bob is her uncle! Why the hell did she do it?” She whirled round on Daniel and he knew she wasn’t just talking about the fund-raising stunt. “What has she got against me? I’ve never ever done anything to her. She just took against me from the start. What makes people want to do such snide, conniving, evil things?” She thumped the wall so hard it left a dent and then sat abruptly, on the verge of tears yet again.

  Daniel perched on the edge of the dressing table bench, his blond hair haloed by the bright lights surrounding its mirror. It made him look like an angel.

  Merry looked up, her face in abject misery. “Why Daniel? What have I ever done to warrant such,” she searched for the right word, “mean behaviour?”

  Daniel longed to take her in his arms, to comfort her, to kiss away her worries and frowns. But he didn’t move.

  “Why?” She repeated.

  He shook his head; he couldn’t fathom it either. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “Maybe some people have a gene that makes them want to get at others.” He shrugged. “Bob will do anything for higher audience figures, I know that much from experience. As for Carly, who knows, Merry? Maybe it’s simply because they can. They can bully and stir without risking any come back to themselves. Apparently it’s the argument behind cyber bullying.”

  Merry deflated a little. “This is different though. Carly actually met me at school and decided to get at me even before she got to know me. I can’t remember that I did anything to her to deserve this,” she added miserably. “And then, to get Hillary invited! Why the hell is he here?”

  “Perhaps he didn’t take your affair as lightly as you did?” ventured Daniel, not wanting to think about Merry and this handsome academic. Someone so resolutely from the same world as Meredith, a world so unlike his.

  Merry snorted. “Doubt it. In my college it was considered a rite of passage to bag a prof. I struck lucky with Hillary. He treated it exactly the same way I did; as an enjoyable interlude. We both had other things to go onto.”

  She stood and tried to ease the tension out of her shoulders. Daniel could see new resolution in her eyes, replacing the anger. “I assume Bob and his Santa’s Little Helper thought if Handsome Hillary turned up just before the final, it might put me off,” she grinned at her partner. “They don’t know me very well, do they? It’s simply made me even more determined to win. I’ll be buggered if I let them beat me.”

  She went to Daniel and put her hands into his. “Besides, I can’t let my bestie down, can I?” She leaned against him, feeling his heart beat erratically against her cheek. If only she could tell him how she really felt about him. Her feelings for Hillary limped off into the distance compared with how much she loved Daniel. She sighed. But she was sure he was still in love with Julia and what’s more, if she had to put up with the thought of Hillary being in the audience, it must be ten times worse for Daniel having Harri and his new wife watching too. Handsome Hillary was just someone from her past. Julia was the love of Daniel’s life. That was infinitely worse.

  Daniel misinterpreted the sigh. He stroked her hair. “It’ll be alright, Merry. We’re going to wow them. Just think of holding that trophy up. It’s the best revenge.”

  Merry raised her head and stared into Daniel’s glittering green eyes. “Agreed,” she said. “It’s the very best sort of revenge.”

  ***

  And it had been. The final passed in a blur for Merry, but she loved every second. When it was announced with due ceremony, that she and Daniel had won, she backed off a little and let him raise the trophy. As she watched him hold it triumphantly in the air, she’d never loved him more.

  Daniel gathered Merry to him. He’d worked so hard for this moment and for so many years. As he kissed Merry’s full, eminently kissable mouth, he thought he’d never stop being grateful to her for making this happen. It was her popularity that had got the public’s votes pouring in.

  “We did it,” he shouted over the hubbub surrounding them. “We won!”

  Merry turned to him, her eyes shining. “You did it Daniel, my love. You did it.”

  Step Seventeen.

  The after show party bordered on a riot. Never before had Who Dares Dances been so successful, in terms of votes, audience figures or raising cash for charities.

  “They say it’s over seven million viewers this series,” yelled Suni across the crowded hotel room, to Merry and Daniel, who were standing at the bar. “And everyone wanted to get in here. There are bouncers six deep at the door!”

  It was true. The short series, shoehorned into Fizz TV’s schedule as a PR exercise to counteract rumour and speculation of vote rigging and racism, had exceeded all expectations. In every way.

  “My goodness, this is a crush, darling.”

  Hearing the familiar voice, Merry turned. “Venetia, you came!”

  “Of course, I came. I sat with your parents and that very nice man off the History Channel who used to tutor you at Oxford. The one with the rather rugged Scottish good looks.” Venetia sniffed and looked about her. “I have to say, this isn’t the most genteel of affairs I’ve ever been to.”

  Merry smiled at her. “It’s so lovely to see you,” she said, as s
he hugged her aunt. “Go and sit down over there.” She nodded to where her parents had managed to find a table in a corner and were deep in conversation with Hillary. “I’ll bring the drinks over. Champagne?”

  Venetia raised an eyebrow. “I rarely drink anything else.” She moved away, majestically creating a clear path before her, like an icebreaker.

  Daniel watched as Venetia made her way through the scrum. He saw Merry’s tutor, head to head with her parents. The loss he felt, twinned with a sharp longing, was made all the worse following the ecstasy of winning.

  Merry waggled a bottle of champagne at him and said, “I’ll just take this over and say hello and then I’ll be back.” She gave him one of her broad smiles. Warm and seductive.

  He flashbacked to the one, wonderful night they’d shared. The memory gave him courage. “When you come back, Merry, can we talk?” It was completely the wrong time to do this, but he had to.

  She looked up at him, sensing that he wanted to discuss something important. She nodded. “Of course.” Reaching up, she kissed his cheek. “Be right back.”

  Daniel turned back to the bar and nursed his drink. He was half hopeful, half despairing. If he didn’t take this chance to tell Merry how he felt, he’d be lost forever. Their paths would separate, and there would be no reason for them to ever meet again.

  “What a great night,” said Carly at his elbow. She grinned unattractively.

  Daniel nodded.

  “You two were fantastic this evening. I thought you deserved to win. You were always my favourite professional dancer, Daniel.”

  “Really?” he replied drily. “Thank you.”

  Carly sighed. “I’d love to have a go but I’m not a celeb, so there’s no chance, is there?”

  Daniel drank deeply. “Nope.”

  “Although,” Carly looked up at him coyly, “Uncle Bob’s got an idea for a new twist for the next series. To have ordinary people appearing in it. You know, with good back stories.”

  Daniel turned to her and laughed without humour. “No one would ever say you’re ordinary, Carly.”

  She preened, missing his sarcasm. “Really? You think so? Thanks.” She sipped her wine and looked over to where Merry now sat, squashed between Venetia and Hillary.

  “Now there’s an interesting man,” Carly said. “He was telling me earlier that he’d never really fallen out of love with Merry. You know he’s left his wife, don’t you?”

  That got Daniel’s full attention. “No. No, I didn’t.” He too turned to look at Merry and Hillary. They looked very cosy. He began to feel slightly sick.

  “That’s the sort of girl Merry is,” Carly whined on. “She makes you love her and then spits you out. I’ve never known her to be serious about anything. Or anybody. Likes living in the fast lane, does our Meredith.”

  Daniel thought back to when he first knew Merry. He remembered her saying something similar herself. He watched as another man, tall and distinguished and with trendy specs, approach her. Merry looked surprised and then followed him out of the room, her promise to return to Daniel apparently forgotten. “No,” he replied, half to himself. “She doesn’t seem to get serious about anything.”

  It was useless, he decided. Merry had never, ever given him any indication that she felt anything other than friendship for him. After all, only a few hours ago, hadn’t she called him her ‘bestie’? He was, it seemed, doomed to be the girl’s best friend – and not one she wanted to talk to any time soon. Not only had her ex-lover left his wife for her, she also had this other stranger apparently besotted. He’d give her ten minutes, well, maybe fifteen.

  And then he changed his mind. Enough. He’d had enough of falling for girls who were destined not to love him back. He was tired of his best-friend role. He was sick of not being loved back.

  Glancing at his watch, he muttered a cursory ‘bye’ to Carly and began to make his way from the party. He was stopped by a tiny woman dressed in expensive designer velvet.

  “Daniel Cunningham?” She put a hand on his arm and looked up questioningly.

  “Yes.”

  “I have something I need to talk to you about. I’ve got an interesting proposition I want to put to you. Can we go somewhere quieter?” She gestured around. “Can they spare you, do you think?”

  Daniel looked over to the gap where Merry had been sitting. It echoed the empty space she’d left in his heart. “I think they can spare me,” he said on a bitter laugh. “I don’t think anyone would notice I’d gone.”

  In this he was wrong. Very wrong. Merry came back into the party, desperate to share her news with him. She forced her way through the crowd, asking if anyone knew where he’d gone. No one seemed to know. When she reached the bar, she ordered another bottle of champagne. This deserved more bubbly. It wasn’t every day you got offered a part, no, the title role, in a sitcom.

  When Basil Hynes had asked her to chat, she hadn’t realised who he was or that he was about to change her life.

  “I saw the footage of your challenge,” he began, after introducing himself as a comedy commissioner of one of the main digital channels. “The one where you had to get into the Egyptian sarcophagus.”

  Merry repressed a shudder. The special, which focused on the challenges, had gone out the previous week. Merry had avoided watching it. She tuned back into what Basil was saying.

  “That,” he continued, “along with the way you tackled the dancing, got me thinking. I like your enthusiasm, your gung-ho attitude to things. I think we may have a part that’s perfect for you. And indeed, that you’re perfect for.”

  He went on to explain that the channel had been trying to cast the lead in a brand new sitcom. “We know there’s a market that’s been created by the Miranda show on the BBC. We think young women want their own brand of comedy. Our show will be a little like The Liver Birds.”

  When Merry looked blank, he laughed. “You’re far too young to remember but it was a classic comedy about girls sharing a flat. That’s what our show is about, albeit an updated version. Our lead, Charlotte, is a posh girl, a bit hopeless. A bit like a female version of the sort of characters Jack Whitehall plays.

  Merry tried not to feel affronted that this Basil Hynes thought her perfect for the role of a posh, hopeless girl. This was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in ages.

  “No more stand up,” she said gleefully.

  “Actually, that’s the other thing we liked about you. Charlotte is a struggling stand-up comedian. I happened to catch one of your shows in Oxford just after Christmas. I thought you were very funny,” he put in gallantly.

  “You were a minority of one,” Merry said. “But you’re clearly a man of supreme wit and intellect,” she added hastily, in case the bitterness was too obvious.

  Basil laughed. “I think it’s going to fun working together, Meredith.” He reached into his suit pocket. “Here’s my card. Give me a ring when all this hullabaloo is over and we’ll talk. Give my love to Venetia, by the way.”

  “Oh, you know Venetia?”

  Basil put up his hand as he left. “Everyone knows Venetia.”

  Merry beamed at his departing back. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell her the news,” she said to no one in particular. “And I’ve got to find Daniel to tell him as well.”

  And now, here she was back at the bar, clutching a rapidly warming bottle of fizz and could see neither person she most wanted to talk to in the whole wide world.

  “Looking for Dan?” Like a particularly nasty and persistent smell, Carly materialised beside her.

  “Yes,” Merry said, too happy to feel anything else.

  “Think he’s got a better offer.” Carly nodded her head in the direction of the hotel foyer. “He’s just left with Marisa d’Havilland.”

  “The theatre producer?” Merry whirled round to face Carly. “What can she want with Daniel?”

  Carly looked smug. “Rumour is she wants him to head up a new dance show she’s putting on in the West End. And
you know what they say, no one ever says no to Marisa.”

  Some of the happiness trickled out of Merry. She leaned back against the bar for support. “No, I suppose not,” she said faintly.

  “And it would be a fantastic break for Dan. He’s worked very hard for it too. Imagine, a lead in the West End. Marisa must like him a lot to offer him that.” Carly gave Merry a malicious grin.

  Merry knew exactly what Carly was inferring. Marisa d’Havilland was well known for her cougar-like tendencies. But she wasn’t going to give Carly the satisfaction of knowing she’d scored a bullseye to Merry’s heart, shattering it.

  “Well, well,” she began. “There’s Daniel getting the West End and I’m heading for a telly-land sitcom. A starring role, no less. And where are you going to be, in a year’s time, Carly? Oh yes, stuck in your loathsome excuse for an uncle’s production office.” She waggled the champagne bottle at the girl, who was staring up at her, slack jawed. “Do have fun with your tedious nine to five, won’t you,” Merry added, in a passable imitation of Venetia. “The rest of us will be getting a life. Not to mention fame – oh and fortune! Ta ta.” With that she swept off, using her entire five feet ten inches to full effect. She headed back to her parents, and Hillary, chin up and desperately holding back the tears.

  Step Eighteen.

  “Now Meredith, this will not do. Merry? Are you even listening?”

  Merry and Venetia were relaxing in the sitting room of the Maida Vale apartment. Merry spent most evenings curled up on the leather sofa, glassily watching the television, claiming to be exhausted from filming the sitcom all day.

  She tore her gaze from the television. “Sorry? What did you say?”

  Venetia raised her eyes to the ceiling. “For three months you’ve been like this. Three months! You won Who Dares Dances, your parents are happy and you have this fantastic job with Basil, which I had nothing to do with, just so as you know, and I’ve never seen you look more miserable.” Venetia slid onto the sofa next to her niece. “What is it, darling? You should be cock-a-hoop and positively jumping for joy.”