Page 18 of Take the Lead

D espite convincing myself I’m going to go in all guns blazing the next morning and confront Aleksis before he’s even changed his shoes, I hesitate for a moment too long when I arrive at the studio and he starts dishing out instructions before I’ve had a chance to say anything.

I almost lose my nerve completely, but we’re not far into the rehearsal before he infuriates me enough to snap me back into action.

‘Not like that, like this,’ he says impatiently as I mess up a toe-tap sequence that he’s had to show me five times already.

I keep starting it with the wrong foot, which leaves my weight on the wrong leg for the next move.

‘You’re not listening to what I’m telling you,’ he huffs, his voice dripping with irritation.

‘Are you surprised?’ I fire back, throwing my arms up in anger.

‘I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m sick of it.

You either boss me around like a three-year-old or act like you’d rather be anywhere else but in this room.

Well, you might not care about this dance or the show or anything else, but I do.

‘We’ve only got a few days before we’re doing it live and I, for one, want to at least try to get through to week three.

So for five minutes could you please just put the attitude aside and stop treating me like I’ve got the plague or something?

Because if we carry on like this it will almost certainly be the end of the show for both of us. ’

‘And what a shame that would be,’ he sneers, his eyes flashing with anger. ‘But you don’t have to worry about that, we won’t be leaving the show just yet.’

‘We will if we carry on like this.’

He shakes his head and glares at me.

‘What?’ I snap. ‘What is it?’

‘Did you know he was married?’ he asks.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Merle. Did you know?’

‘Is that what this is about? No, I didn’t know, although I fail to see how that’s any business of yours.’

‘That’s something, at least.’ He looks away from me.

‘Aleksis, I’ve had a shitty enough time dealing with all that crap without you wading in on it as well.’

‘Oh, you think you’ve had a shitty time, do you?’ he rages. ‘How do you think Sofiya is finding it, seeing those images of you and him splashed all over the internet? And then having to put up with the press camped out on her doorstep day and night?’

I swallow, taken aback by the venom in his voice. ‘I’m sure she’s—’

‘No, you don’t get to comment on it,’ he cuts in, his voice biting. ‘Because you’ve got no idea. And in answer to your earlier question, what does it have to do with me? I’ll tell you what. That’s my sister whose husband you’ve been screwing.’

I feel like I’ve been slammed into a brick wall. ‘Your sister?’

No wonder he’s so angry with me.

‘That’s right. So if you’ve been asking yourself why I don’t want to be stuck here in this shitty studio with you, now you know.

Do I want us to go through to the next round and have to do it all again with you next week?

No. I can’t think of anything I want less.

But do you know what my consolation prize was for being forced to swap partners and dance with you?

We’re going through on Saturday, no matter what. They’re going to make sure of it.’

‘You mean they’re going to fix the scores?’ I don’t want to believe it. Surely they wouldn’t do that.

‘Yes, if they have to. So there’s really very little point in me wasting my time here trying to teach you this dance, because it’s all bullshit anyway.’

When I fail to respond – my mind is reeling – he tells me he’s leaving.

‘I’ll be here tomorrow, because that’s when we have to film our segment for the show,’ he says. ‘And don’t worry – I’ll pretend I don’t hate you for a couple of hours. But apart from that I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to be around you, I’ll just tolerate you until this is all over.’

I can feel tears pooling in the corners of my eyes as I watch him stalk out of the studio. I don’t think anyone has ever despised me so much. I can hardly blame him, either.

I just can’t get my head round that fact that Merle’s wife is his sister.

And Merle obviously knew this when he suggested the partner swap, so he was well aware of what a horrendous position he was putting us in.

Did he do it deliberately, knowing it would likely ruin any possibility of us being any competition for him on the show?

Does he want to win that desperately? Or did he just want to be partnered with Emilia so much that he didn’t care where that left me and Aleksis?

And on top of that, to learn the audience vote is going to be fixed. It makes me wonder if that’s why I came out on top last week instead of Emilia, when she’s clearly the better dancer. Is Aleksis right – is it worth us even trying to do well?

I can’t believe what a nightmare this week has turned into. The thrill of being in the studio with Merle and our surprise Saturday night win are both distant memories. I’m not sure I even want to carry on with the show if this is how it’s going to be from now on.

With nothing else to do I head back home, typing an email to Shane on the way to tell him I want to withdraw from Fire on the Dance Floor , and suggesting they could reinstate Liam in my place.

But I don’t send it. A part of me doesn’t want to give up, no matter how uncomfortable it is with Aleksis and how bogus the scores might be.

I can’t help wishing my experience could be more like Tammy’s and Beth’s.

Why couldn’t I just have been a regular contestant on the show, enjoyed my five minutes of fame, not had sex with my married dance partner, stayed in the competition for a couple of weeks, graciously lost out to Emilia just before the final and left with my head held high? Instead of this mess.

I don’t know how I’m going to handle a day in front of the cameras with Aleksis tomorrow.

He might be able to brazen it out, but I’m not sure I can.

I don’t even know if Lucy’s words of encouragement can get me through this time, although she does her best to lift my spirits when I tell her what’s happened.

I get a pep talk from Mum and Dee over Skype too when I confess how badly the rehearsals have been going.

And Mum offers to fly back yet again, so I backtrack and tell her it’s not as awful as I’ve made out.

There’s no point both our weeks being ruined.

Ten more days of this, though – the thought doesn’t exactly fill me with joy. With our free pass on this week’s show, the earliest I’ll be eliminated from the competition is the following Saturday. Can I tolerate Aleksis’s hostility until then?