Page 46 of Take the Lead

A leksis has me holding on to the kitchen counter and working through a series of footwork drills the next morning, while he sits at the table and works on our choreography.

Every now and again he comes over to correct something I’m doing and we end up kissing for a while.

It makes the drills much more interesting.

Over lunch we discuss what we should do for this week’s video clip and conclude a family Skype from Auntie Irene’s house is the best option. Hopefully Sarah will be able to come up with a way to make it fun to watch. She usually does.

We also decide to go with a repeat of our bachata for our second dance in the final, with a couple of moderations to give the audience something new to see. Although this week’s cha-cha got us our highest score, we both agree it’s too soon to do it again – the audience might find it boring.

By this point, Aleksis has worked his ideas for our Argentine tango into something more concrete, so we spend the rest of the afternoon on partnerwork.

He walks me through the whole routine first, so I can see what we’re working towards, then breaks it down into smaller sections to help me fully understand the mechanics of the dance.

It quickly becomes apparent it’s going to take a lot of work to master the art of the leg flick without kicking him anywhere delicate.

Our plan is to get the tango locked into our memories first, then have a bachata crash course at the end of the week. We stick at it till dinner time, and it’s only then that I check my phone and discover a string of missed calls and voicemails, from a number I don’t recognise.

‘Kate, it’s Olivia from Fire on the Dance Floor again,’ the most recent message says. ‘Can you call me back urgently please. Doesn’t matter what time, I’ll be waiting to hear from you.’

She picks up straight away when I type in the number she’s left and starts speaking before I’ve even said hello.

‘Oh Kate, thank goodness I’ve got hold of you.

Can you and Aleksis be at Heathrow Airport at seven-thirty on Tuesday morning?

I’ve got three tickets on hold for a flight to Toulouse, coming back at seven-fifteen in the evening – so you can go and see your family.

I know it’s short notice, but as soon as Sarah suggested it, we knew it would look great on the show.

She’ll go with you, of course, so she can film it.

‘We’ll have a car pick you up at the other end to take you to your sister’s, so you’ll be there in time for lunch and home in time for bed. Does that sound okay? Can I get it all booked in? Shane really wants this to happen.’

‘What is it?’ Aleksis asks, seeing my body stiffen and my eyes go wide.

‘Olivia wants us to go to France for a day,’ I explain, my mind already racing. ‘On Tuesday. To film us with my family.’

He considers this for a moment then says, ‘That sounds feasible.’

‘But what about rehearsals? That’s a whole day of practice we’ll miss.’

‘I’m sure we could squeeze a bit in – at the airport, when we get back, whenever we can find a few spare minutes.’

‘We’ll lose so much time, though.’ I can hear the rising hysteria in my voice. ‘And what about this?’ I gesture from him to me. ‘I haven’t told them.’

‘I think we should do it,’ he says decisively. ‘They should at least meet the man you’re living with, don’t you think? We can call them this evening and tell them everything. Well, maybe not everything .’

I clearly don’t look convinced because he adds, ‘I think it’ll be a good thing, us going there. It might even stop them feeling so bad about not being here while you’re doing the show.’

‘Is that a yes, then?’ Olivia interrupts. I’d forgotten she could hear what we were saying. ‘The tickets are on hold for another hour and I don’t want to lose them. There was limited availability so we might not be able to get any more.’

I promise to call her back as soon as I’ve checked it with Mum, Dad and Dee.

‘Are you absolutely sure about this?’ I ask Aleksis while I text Dee to find out if they’re free to join us on a Skype chat.

‘A hundred per cent. This is exactly the kind of thing that will make the audience feel like they’ve got to know you, and if that means they vote for us on Saturday’s show, I’m all for it. We’ll have to thank Sarah for suggesting it.’

‘Do you think she just wanted a day down in the south of France?’

‘I don’t doubt it, but who can blame her? It was that or a suburb in Manchester,’ he laughs. ‘No offence to your Auntie Irene.’

‘Dee’s firing up her laptop now, so brace yourself,’ I warn him.

‘I’m good with parents, don’t worry,’ he assures me.

I don’t know how good they’ll be with him, though, once they discover we’re not sleeping in separate beds any more. Given what happened last time, I’m not sure how Dad’s going to react to the news that I’ve got involved with another dancer.

But before I can let him know Aleksis is no longer just my flatmate, Mum’s already telling him how delighted she is to meet him and how he’s been her favourite from the beginning, and thanking him for looking after me on the show.

‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ Dee yells from somewhere off-screen. ‘Just sorting out the monsters.’

‘We’ve been finding it really inspiring,’ Mum says, still focused on Aleksis. ‘We’ve even talked about taking dancing lessons ourselves, once we’re back in the UK.’

‘You’ve talked about that,’ Dad says. ‘I don’t know one foot from the other.’

She pats him on the hand. ‘That’s why you go to lessons. So what’s your last dance going to be? We’re dying to know.’

‘It’s the Argentine tango,’ I tell her. ‘My worst nightmare.’

‘I’m sure it can’t be that bad,’ Mum says.

Aleksis fires me a grin. ‘That’s what I keep telling her.’

‘We’ve already got the champagne on ice,’ Dad admits.

‘No pressure then, Dad!’

‘Sorry, love. We’re just really excited.’

I roll my eyes in exasperation.

‘Perhaps you can just be excited about our other news instead,’ I suggest.

‘What’s that, love?’ Dad asks.

I tell them about the proposed trip to France,

When she’s established I’m actually serious, Mum exclaims, ‘That would be wonderful!’

‘We’d love to see you,’ Dad agrees. ‘And the kids will be over the moon. We can meet you at the airport.’

‘We’ll have a driver to bring us over from the airport,’ I explain.

‘Then we’ll have extra time to get everything ready here,’ Mum says.

Aleksis tells them they don’t need to go to any trouble.

‘I’ll want to do my hair,’ Mum says. ‘And find Dad a new shirt.’

‘What’s wrong with my shirts?’ He sounds perplexed.

Dee appears on the screen before Mum has a chance to answer.

‘Sorry about that – Nathan’s being a right pain today. What’s this I hear about you coming to visit? Did you say you’re flying over on Tuesday?’

I explain the plan again and Dee goes straight into organising mode – what we’re going to eat, what she needs to buy, how she’s going to get the kids to behave while we’re there.

‘It’s only a flying visit,’ I remind her, but suddenly I can’t wait to be there. Hearing them all so eager to see me makes me wonder why I ever hesitated.

‘Then let’s make sure it’s a good one,’ Dee beams. ‘It’ll be great to meet you in person too, Aleksis. You can tell us how much of a pain my little sis is being during rehearsals. She’s never liked doing what she’s told.’

‘She’s the perfect student. We’re working really hard, but still managing to enjoy ourselves.’ He kisses me on the cheek, which doesn’t go unnoticed by my sister.

‘On and off the dance floor?’ she asks, smirking, and I can feel my cheeks flushing. It’s time to fess up.

‘You could put it like that,’ I nod.

‘Amazing. I bet that’s easier than pretending,’ she laughs. ‘You can tell us all about it when you get here.’

‘We will. But right now, we should probably get back to Olivia and let her know she can go ahead and book the flights. I’ll text you from the airport on Tuesday morning to confirm everything’s on time, okay? And all being well we’ll see you around midday.’

‘Can’t wait,’ Dee says.

Aleksis is smiling when I end the call. ‘They seem lovely,’ he says. ‘Maybe after this we should fly to Latvia and meet my parents too. After the competition’s finished, I mean.’

‘Really?’ My stomach flips with excitement that he wants this to happen.

‘They’d love to meet you. They’re pretty laid-back too. I think you’ll like them. And where they live is really beautiful. Do you fancy it?’ He looks hopeful.

I answer him with a kiss. Knowing this isn’t going to come crashing to a halt as soon as the show is over makes me happier than I think I’ve ever been.