Page 38 of Take the Lead
T he apartment looks just as spectacular when I venture out of my bedroom the next morning.
But despite the uber-stylish furnishings, it still feels homely.
I try to imagine what it must be like to wake up here every morning.
It’s a far cry from the shabby rugs and chipped work surfaces I’m used to.
Aleksis emerges from his room, stifling a yawn.
He’s wearing nothing but jogging bottoms and I quickly look away before he catches me checking out his abs.
Now that I think I might genuinely like him, it’s like I’ve finally given myself permission to find him attractive.
But I don’t want him to know. It would only make things awkward.
I had wondered if he might feel uncomfortable with me being here, like I’m intruding on his personal space. But the fact that he’s wandering round half-dressed suggests he’s perfectly at ease with it, and I can’t help thinking his self-assurance makes him even more likeable.
‘Did you sleep all right?’ he asks.
‘Like a log,’ I nod. ‘Sorry, I just passed out as soon as I lay down. I only meant to rest for a few minutes.’
‘No problem, you obviously needed it.’
He lines up a box of eggs, some mushrooms, a pepper and some tomatoes on the counter. ‘Would you like an omelette?’
‘Ooh, yes please.’
All I’ve had since yesterday lunchtime is an energy bar and a bag of Maltesers, and now I’ve seen the food I realise I’m ravenous.
‘With all the trimmings?’ he asks.
‘Yes please,’ I say again, feeling nothing like his fake girlfriend as I watch him making us breakfast.
Once again I have to check myself, but at least it must mean our plan is working if in trying to convince everyone else of our story, I’ve started falling for it myself.
My stomach rumbles as soon as the smell of cooking fills the air and I’m not sure the omelette lasts more than sixty seconds on my plate, but I still feel like I could devour a three-course meal afterwards.
Thankfully Aleksis is on the same page because he makes us toast as well, and follows it up with yoghurt and fruit salad.
A breakfast designed for another busy day.
Before we head to the studio, Stella video calls us to get some quotes for her latest story. She peppers us with questions about the first time we met, when we realised we wanted to be more than dance partners and whether we were worried we’d moved in together too quickly.
‘It will seem quick to some people, but Kate was coming here most nights anyway, so it just felt like a natural step,’ Aleksis fibs. ‘And this way I get to wake up to this gorgeous smile every morning.’
He winks at me, which makes my heart do a somersault. I try to convince myself it’s down to the nerves of doing this interview.
‘You’re making me blush,’ I tell him, one of the few things I say which is true. ‘But yeah, we were together almost twenty-four hours a day anyway, so it made sense. It already feels like home.’
Stella asks us if either of us have noticed any bad habits in each other around the house.
‘Leaving the loo seat up,’ I tell her, glancing at Aleksis again.
‘Filling the plughole with her hair,’ he adds, looking back at me with a challenge in his eyes.
‘Throwing his clothes at the laundry basket, not in the laundry basket,’ I fire at him with a grin.
‘She always burns the toast when she does the breakfast.’
‘I do not.’
‘Thank goodness for extractor fans, that’s all I’m saying.’
I shake my head in mock indignation.
‘Have you had any big rows about anything?’ Stella asks.
‘No,’ we both confirm.
‘We get on really well,’ Aleksis adds.
‘Not even about Merle? I’m sorry but I’ve got to ask, was there not even the tiniest cross word about the fact that Kate slept with your sister’s husband, Aleksis? Sorry,’ she apologises, visibly cringing.
‘If you let yourself be concerned by other people’s pasts, you would never be with anyone,’ he says.
‘Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn’t define them.
Of course I was angry on Sofiya’s behalf when I first found out what Merle was doing, but in my family, we deal with our anger very quickly.
It’s not healthy to hold on to it and let it eat away at you.
Sofiya has no hard feelings towards Kate, so there was no reason for me to stay upset about it.
As Sofiya herself said, Kate had no idea he was married. ’
‘And Kate, have you never felt awkward about what happened with Merle?’ Stella asks.
‘Honestly, I thought Sofiya would hate me – Aleksis too. But they couldn’t have been nicer about it and I now count Sofiya as a friend. And Aleksis, of course, as a lot more.’
The lie comes so easily, now I’ve apparently started feeling like it would be no bad thing if it were true.
‘And with just ten days to go till the final of Fire on the Dance Floor , how are you feeling about that, Kate?’ Stella asks.
‘We’ve still got this week to get through, but if we make it through to the final we’ll be delighted.’
‘It would be amazing to be the show’s first ever winners, but we’ll be happy with any stage we get to,’ Aleksis adds. ‘Whatever happens, we’ll come away with more than we started with, so it feels like we’ve won anyway.’
I realise the prize money has barely crossed my mind with everything else that’s been going on.
I think about it now: how it would save me from ever falling back into a rut, and how I long for that safety net.
But if having Aleksis in my life is what I get out of the competition instead, would I even care if I didn’t win?
For a moment I try to picture what will happen to us after the show.
We’ve got this weird and wonderful experience binding us together now, but will he still want to see me when he no longer has to?
Or, because of the way it all started, will we just close the door on it and never look back?
A week ago I wouldn’t have cared. But now …
Stella interrupts my thoughts with another question. ‘What’s it like on set, with Merle there too?’
‘We don’t have much to do with each other,’ I reply quickly.
‘We’re either off rehearsing or at costume fittings, but when we do cross paths we keep it very professional.
You just have to get on with it. We’ve only got five weeks on the show – and that’s if we get through to the next round – so I just want to make the most of it and have the best time I can possibly have. ’
Which hadn’t really sunk in until I say it out loud. There’s so little time left and I do want to enjoy it. What’s the point in ruining it by fighting with Liam and worrying about Merle?
After a few more questions about whether I’ve lost weight through all the rehearsing (a bit) and whether I’ll keep dancing after the show (I hope so), Stella wraps things up and Aleksis closes his laptop.
‘That went well.’ He smiles. ‘We’re pretty good at this.’
The way he looks at me when he says it makes me wonder if the boundaries have started blurring a bit for him as well.
‘I guess it’s time to update my parents again,’ I think aloud, and he agrees he should probably do the same.
‘I’ve decided I’m going to talk to Liam today too,’ I tell him.
He looks surprised. ‘Really?’
‘I don’t want the rest of the week to be negative, so I’m just going to accept his apology then let it go.’
Just saying it out loud makes it feel like a weight has lifted.
‘That’s quite the U-turn, but good for you,’ Aleksis says with a smile. ‘You can’t change it, so if you can put it behind you that can only be a good thing, right? What about Merle?’
‘What about him?’ This comes out a little more sharply than I intended, and my cheeks start burning.
He looks at me quizzically. ‘I just wondered if that extends to him as well.’
‘We’ve done all the making up we need to,’ I reply curtly, still furious with myself for what happened in his dressing room. I quickly excuse myself to go and call my family before Aleksis can ask anything else about Merle.
When Mum pops up on my screen, sporting a deep tan and a contented smile, I decide not to mention Merle or Liam or anything that might wipe the glow off her face.
I stick to telling her how much fun the rueda practice is and how gorgeous Aleksis’s apartment is, before admitting I’m going to be living in it for a while.
But although I hurry to explain it’s just to keep our names in the media, I should have known my own mother would be able to read me like a book.
She looks at me fondly. ‘If you say so, darling.’