AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It depends how much he cares for you,” Tassia said.
“I can’t face him. I’m embarrassed at how I reacted. I’m ashamed of myself for not trusting him enough to at least doublecheck the facts.”
“You were hurt—it’s completely understandable. Maybe it wasn’t meant for you to get the happy ending with the billionaire but at least you can finish this damn show with your head held high, right?”
“I wanted the fairy tale though,” Micki said in a whisper.
She’d called in sick to the show for two days so on the third day Micki grimly forced herself to get dressed in her rehearsal clothes, grab her bag and make the trip to Level C at the appointed time to rehearse with Andrus. He was waiting impatiently in their rehearsal room, tapping his toe and frowning.
“Finally,” he said. Taking a closer look at her he whistled. “What happened to you?” Your eyes are all red and your face is frightening.”
“Thank you for the critique. Makeup will cover it all for the show, don’t worry. If we do our dance right the attention will be on you anyway. Are you ready?” Micki started warming up and Andrus joined her at the barre although as usual his efforts at stretching and preparation were cursory at best. It wasn’t her problem if he injured himself. She didn’t care about much of anything today except not running into Josh.
“Eddie gave me a substitute dancer so I could keep rehearsing,” Andrus said. “She’s not as good as you are.”
Micki made a noncommittal sound and went to queue up their music. She held out her hand and said, “Shall we?”
She gave him double the required time since it was entirely her fault he’d had to rehearse with one of the backup dancers for two days. Andrus was actually doing better with the steps but he still touched her in inappropriate ways and took liberties as they spun and swayed in the rhythms of the extremely sultry dance. Micki didn’t care about that either, not today. She was a pillar of ice, guarding her heart from further hurt. This was a job, she’d do the task at hand and scurry back to her cabin where she could curl up and cry as much as she needed to.
The next few days passed in much the same fashion. Once she caught a glimpse of Josh at the end of the hall, engrossed in conversation with Elsara and another dancer and her heart contracted with an unbearable pain, but he didn’t look at her. He hadn’t called her again, not once and she was unable to force herself to break her own silence and send him a message. She didn’t think she could bear hearing whatever he might say to her. She knew she deserved harsh words, maybe even scorn, but she dreaded the finality of talking to him. Despite what Tassia had said, Micki didn’t think they’d ever be able to discuss what had happened at the ball like two reasonable people.
They’d simply dance like two talented strangers and eventually the show would be over and she’d never have to see him again.
And her heart would shatter.
Episode five was going in fits and starts. Some of the celebrities had done quite well with their new partners and others had struggled. Josh and Elsara managed a fine performance and received good comments from the judges and relatively high scores. Micki watched all of it on the backstage monitors but turned her back when Josh and his current partner came off after the judging. Josh brushed past her silently but Elsara stopped to hug Andrus and told him to break a leg.
“We left you room in the scores,” she said.
“I wish you weren’t so damn good,” Andrus replied. “I wanted him to look bad.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to ruin my reputation.” Elsara flounced away and the music sounded signaling it was time for Micki and Andrus to take the stage.
The lighting was dramatic, with a lot of red. Micki’s costume clung to her curves, with black fringe that moved sinuously as she performed the dance. Her hair was up and she had on long black gloves. She tried to lose herself into the part and respond to Andrus’s lead with a good performance but it was hard. He managed to brush his hands against her breasts frequently as they danced in close holds and she could feel his arousal against her bottom in the sequences where she had to dance in front of him. She was growing more and more nauseous as the dance continued and couldn’t wait to be through with him and his lecherous ways.
They finished in a dramatic position, Micki on the floor clutching his leg in supplication while he stood proudly, arm reaching to the sky, triumphant over the seductive siren she’d portrayed.
“That was hot,” said the male co-host, making a sizzling sound.
His wife fanned herself and nodded enthusiastically. “The two of you have so much chemistry!”
“Maybe we should dance together for the rest of the contest,” Andrus said, throwing his assigned partner under the bus.
Micki couldn’t control her expression and knew she probably looked horrified but fortunately the show was running a little over schedule for technical reasons and the co-hosts hustled them to the judges.
The acerbic judge got it right. “Love and hate,” she said, “Powerful emotions. I think your portrayal was spot on. Nothing to criticize in either the execution or the staging.”
The other four judges gave lavish compliments, which Andrus was lapping up. Micki kept her smile pasted on and prayed to be released.
The acerbic judge of all people gave them a 10. The rest were 8’s and 9’s and finally—finally—she was free to leave the stage. She walked off ahead of Andrus which was against the show’s protocol but she didn’t care. Micki leaned against the wall and closed her eyes while the music played for the next two teams and then it was time for them all to walk out and learn the results, and most importantly, who was leaving.
Andrus and Micki won, to her shock and chagrin. He fist pumped and danced in place and kissed her cheek, which she tried to dodge but moved too late.
The eliminated celebrity was a sports icon, quite a bit past his best day but a favorite with the audience until now. His actual partner joined him and then the couple floated away in the bubble.
“Back to your original partners next week,” the male co-host announced. “For better or for worse, right?” He nudged his wife, who frowned at him.
“When do we get to try new partners?” she asked, as if joking but Micki heard a few gasps in the crowd and frankly she was happy someone else might be providing the ISD drama after tonight.
