Page 4 of Take the Lead

T hat evening, after I’ve delighted Lucy with all the details of my day, she persuades me to go to our local pub, Balham Bowls Club. A guy she likes from work is going to be there and she’s hoping they’ll get talking away from the prying eyes of her colleagues.

We find a table in the main bar and I’m determined to go easy on the alcohol, what with rehearsals tomorrow, but Lucy has other ideas. She buys a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and sloshes a large measure into each of our glasses.

‘Steady on!’ I hold my hand out to stop her pouring me any more.

‘I need the Dutch courage,’ she says. ‘If I feel brave enough, I might ask Aiden out tonight. If you’re going to get all loved-up with Merle, I need to find myself a man quick, before I’ve got no one left to hang out with.’

‘I wouldn’t say loved-up, more like in lust. But you’ve had a crush on Aiden for ages, so you should definitely go for it.’

As for Merle, it’s true that I can’t stop thinking about him.

I keep imagining us glammed up on a night out at a fancy wine bar, snuggled up in a booth together while all the other girls look on with envy.

Or at my flat, him padding round the kitchen in his boxers as we make breakfast together after a night of steamy sex – like Ed used to do when we first got together.

Even better, we could skip breakfast altogether and just stay in bed, naked, for a whole weekend, doing nothing but enjoying each other’s bodies. Ed and I never did that. Could it happen?

‘Here he is.’ Lucy grips my arm and nods at the door as her colleague walks in.

I can see straight away why she likes him.

His whole face lights up with a beaming smile when he spots the friend he’s meeting.

They bump fists, then the friend waggles his half-empty glass at Aiden, who turns and makes his way to the bar.

‘Go!’ I urge Lucy. ‘Go and talk to him.’

She nudges in beside him and I watch ten minutes of hair swinging and exaggerated laughter before she returns to our table with another bottle of wine.

‘Well?’ I ask.

‘Well, I couldn’t go to the bar then not buy anything, could I?’

I roll my eyes. ‘But did you ask him?’

‘No! It’s too early for that.’

‘But you really like him?’ I don’t really need to check – it’s so obvious. She never usually loses her cool around guys.

‘I do,’ she admits.

So before she has time to stop me, I walk over to Aiden and his friend and invite them to join us. They don’t hesitate and pull up chairs, Aiden squeezing in next to Lucy and saying ‘Hello again,’ as he flashes his infectious smile.

‘This is Warren,’ he says, introducing his friend.

‘Kate,’ I say, shaking hands. ‘And Lucy, of course,’ I add, pointing at my startled best mate. I know she’ll thank me later.

‘Looks like you ladies are planning quite a session,’ Warren says, indicating the two bottles of wine on the table.

Lucy finds her tongue. ‘We’re celebrating. Kate’s going to be famous this weekend.’

‘Not famous,’ I correct. ‘Just on the telly.’

‘Ooh, what are you in?’ Warren asks.

‘It’s a new show called Fire on the Dance Floor . It’s a bit like Strictly, but with real people rather than celebrities.’

‘Wow, so you’re a dancer?’ He suddenly seems very interested in me.

I laugh. ‘I’m working on it.’

He wants to know everything – how I came to be on the show, who I’m going to be up against, how I rate my chances of winning – and just talking about it makes me shiver.

It suddenly hits home just how utterly flat I’ve been feeling since breaking up with Ed.

But a hint of my old self might just be returning, thanks to Fire on the Dance Floor .

‘I’ll be up against six other contestants this week,’ I explain to Warren. ‘Then one of us will be eliminated every week until there are just three left in the final.’

‘Who’s the biggest threat?’ he asks.

That’s an easy one. ‘A girl called Emilia. None of us really believe she’s never danced before.

She picked up all the steps on the first attempt during training – the rest of us didn’t.

One of the other contestants, Tammy, even smacked straight into me on the first day, because she turned the wrong way.

We laughed about it though. It broke the ice and we ended up going for coffee afterwards. ’

‘It doesn’t sound like she’ll be in the running.’

‘Oh, Tammy’s got some moves,’ I assure him. The one I feel a bit sorry for is a guy called Liam. He did okay in the group classes, but he did struggle to look graceful because he’s built like a tank, whereas the other two guy contestants are really lean and flexible.’

‘That must be annoying for him,’ Lucy says.

‘He’s such a nice guy, he took it all in his stride. He just really wants to win so he can use the prize money to open a gym. He’s applied for every show you can imagine – Love Island , Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? – but this is the only one he heard back from.’

‘How much do you get if you win?’ Warren asks.

‘Twenty-five thousand.’

His eyebrows shoot up. ‘Seriously? Wow! That’s a decent wedge. What would you do with that kind of money?’

Of course I’ve asked myself the same thing, even though there’s not the remotest chance of me walking away with the prize money.

Hypothetically, aside from sticking a load in a savings account to give me a security blanket for my future, I’d spend a portion of it on travelling.

My sister did a round-the-world trip a few years back and has always raved about how amazing it was.

So I tell him I’d chuck some clothes in a backpack and head overseas for a couple of months.

‘It isn’t very likely though,’ I hastily add. ‘I haven’t even got through the first week yet.’

‘And how’s that going?’ he asks.

Lucy stifles a giggle and I shoot her a warning look. I’m not about to share those details with a complete stranger.

‘It’s intense, but I’m loving it,’ I tell him, and leave it at that. He doesn’t need to know exactly what it is I’m loving about it.

Talk then turns to what everyone else would do if they won ￡25,000 and at some point another bottle of wine appears. I don’t really notice the room is swaying until the bell rings for last orders and I have to hang on to the back of my chair to stand up.

By this point, Lucy and Aiden are leaning into each other and it looks like things are moving in the right direction there, so I tell them I think it’s time for me to go home. Warren stands up to leave with me.

‘Stay,’ Aiden says. ‘It’s still early.’

‘It’s midnight and it’s closing,’ Warren points out. ‘And we’ve got work tomorrow. You can stay for one more, but we’re heading off.’

‘Okay, sure, see you later,’ Aiden replies. Then he asks Lucy, ‘One for the road?’ and her grin gets nearly as wide as his.

Outside the pub, Warren takes my hand and asks if there’s any chance I might fancy extending the evening back at his place.

I’m flattered, but although I might have been tempted if he’d asked me just three days ago – it’s the first time since Ed that I’ve clicked with someone so well conversationally and I’ve enjoyed our flirty banter – I tell him it’s a no.

Because the only person I want to extend my time with right now is Merle.