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“You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “Haven’t you ever seen this trideo? It was a huge hit in its day.”
“My brothers and I weren’t encouraged to spend much time watching trideos,” he said with visible amusement. “We were into sports and school and learning the ropes of the Benfield Corporation, starting at a young age.”
“Sucks to be you,” Micki said. “We’re going to have to watch the trideo before we can tackle the dance. Clearly you need the context and as for me, I happen to love this story. But I’ll warn you, it makes me cry.”
Josh was clearly startled at her declaration but he patted the couch agreeably. “No time like the present. I’m sure the ship can spool it up for us.”
“I need popcorn.”
“All right, I’ll order that too.. This viewing is turning into quite an event.” He chuckled as he made the official requests of the ship. “I hope this is as good a story as you’re building it up to be.”
“It’s the best.” Micki settled in next to him on the couch.
The opening scene of the trideo materialized in the space in front of them and the music swelled. Micki shushed Josh when he made one critical comment too many and they sat in silence for the next two hours as the story’s events unfolded in holographic style in his suite. He bit his lips a few times to keep from saying anything sarcastic and cradled her sweetly when she cried at the tragic parts. She’d never seen the trideo in such glorious clarity and detail and had the ship rerun the dance finale about six times.
“I can do this,” Josh said. “All I have to do is catch you and lift you above my head.”
“I’m glad you’re so confident. I’ll be running to you full tilt if you’ll notice. We’re going to have to practice this a million times. I’m thinking we’ll rehearse this part of it on the beach deck at first, so if we fall I won’t get hurt.”
The week six show was also the semifinal determination of which three couples would be in the grand finale. As Micki waited for their cue she was nervous. On the one hand, giving this iconic scene to Josh was a good sign, she believed, but on the other hand it did have to be executed perfectly to capture the magic and joy. The original trideo stars had been young and in love with each other, so she knew she and Josh could project the same emotions.
Kumisarc and Elsara had been assigned a dance from a famous children’s movie and he’d been given a ludicrous costume to wear but the couple did the dance to perfection and the applause was thunderous. Micki had received a one sentence, written formal apology for “taking the emotion of the dance and the win too far”, which incensed Josh but she accepted it. She and Andrus had both begged off from doing the customary winners’ interviews the next morning and for once the show permitted the exception, sending the judges to be interviewed instead, discussing how the season had gone so far.
Micki’s eye was on the prize of winning the entire contest and she was sure she needed to be a team player with the ISD management to reach episode seven. Their mysterious algorithm could cut whatever way the show’s powers that be wanted it to work as far as she was concerned, so she wasn’t going to give Eddie Bevnar any cause to eliminate Josh on her account.
There was a Benfield security man backstage and one of the ship’s own security officers posted there as well. The area had been reconfigured so Micki and Andrus were far apart at all times, which she appreciated.
Now it was their turn and she and Josh took their places on stage, along with a number of the ISD pro dancers who were going to provide the background activity framing the central dance. The song’s beginning was slow, as the two main characters—a bad boy and the ultra-uptight good girl who’d fallen in love and lust while dancing and then been separated by cruel fate and her parents—circled each other as they were reunited through the male character’s heroic efforts. They began to dance and the music slowly became more joyful, the steps more intricate and the embraces tighter.
Suddenly the mood changed and Bad Boy was yanked away from her. Micki danced alone, trying to capture the emotions the original actress/dancer had portrayed—hope, determination and love. Josh was doing his own epic struggle dance against the ‘enemies’, with new dancer allies to help. She did a graceful pirouette on cue to find him free of those who’d tried to separate them one final time and she ran to his arms. This was it, the pivotal lift which had to be just right. She and Josh had practiced it endlessly, first on the beach where they were hopelessly inept, with soft sand to cushion the inevitable falls and only Maeve to watch. Then in the rehearsal room where he became more assured and she trusted him implicitly to catch and lift her in triumph.
Time seemed to slow for Micki as she ran across the stage to Josh. She focused on his beloved face, set in an expression of happy anticipation. We can do this. Her tiny leap into the air right before she reached him had to be perfectly timed. In one smooth movement Josh placed his hands at her hip bones and added his power to her upward momentum, raising her above his head in triumph. She struck her pose, an incredibly graceful arch, the folds of her short dress cascading around her. Head raised, arms curved, she balanced in his grip. This was the trickiest part, not to overbalance but they’d practiced it so many times she wasn’t concerned.
They held the pose for the required number of seconds and then he lowered her. They kissed and the background dancers moved in to strike poses, framing Josh and Micki.
There was utter silence as if the audience had forgotten to breathe, lost in the dance and then they went wild, cheering and clapping, rising to their feet in a standing ovation.
Micki took Josh’s hand and they did their bow and curtsey.
The co-hosts couldn’t be heard over the clamor and were sensible enough to wait it out. When the sound finally died down, Fred said, “No need to walk to the judges table tonight. Take a look.” He made a sweeping gesture with his cue card and Micki turned to see all five judges on their feet, applauding and five magical 10’s appearing on the scoreboard portion of the dais.
“Too bad that wasn’t the finale,” Josh said as they finally left the stage. “And I didn’t drop you.”
“I trusted you.” Micki’s eyes were full of tears, both from the emotion of the dance itself and from the deep meaning the performance had carried for her when it came to reuniting with Josh.
The other celebrities and dancers clustered around, although Kumisarc was nowhere to be seen, offering congratulations.
“I had a bit part in that trideo,” the celebrity actress said gracefully, “I was just starting out in the business as an ingenue at the time and I was on set the day the dance was filmed. Tonight I thought I was watching Frankie and Tammy themselves. Simply beautiful, my dears.” She gave Micki an air kiss and then planted a real kiss on Josh. Micki didn’t mind and she knew the ISD cameras were no doubt filming this ‘candid’ backstage tidbit for the audience to see later.
No one was surprised when Josh and Micki were declared the winners and therefore passed through to the finale. Probably no one was surprised when the major film actress and her partner were declared the runners up, also in the finale. Undoubtedly the announcement of a tie between Andrus and the remaining sports star shocked the cast and the audience.
The co-host announced the show’s algorithm had been used to break the tie and Andrus Kumisarc was in the finale.
Of course. Micki ground her teeth as Andrus and Elsara ran to join them and the actress and her partner in the spotlight. The show wants to keep the billionaire drama going right to the end. We’re going to need a helluva finale dance to win this.
I hope I can sleep tonight and I hope I dream a dance.
