AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yep! I can’t wait.”
“Alright,” Tarin said and nodded to someone off the set. The music started, and I knew the song immediately.
“This is by Ed Sheeran; this is a great song.” I rubbed my hands together as I shifted back and forth on my feet. “Big change from a fast fun song to a slow romantic one.”
“As much fun as the first dance was, we want to slow things down for you guys. This one is all about trusting one another. Do you want to see the routine?”
I was totally up for a slow song, and I was raring to be able to hold her closer. “Bring it on.”
Clara took her place, and Victor came out to assist her. I’d learned that Victor was my date’s current training partner. As they started, I found myself excited, but very quickly, that feeling changed to anxiety. “Holy crap,” I said about a dozen times when they did stunts, or he lifted Clara, spinning her this way and that. How the hell was I going to be able to do that in only a few days?
When they finished, I stood there catching flies with my mouth wide open, and Cal chuckled. “You look a little overwhelmed, Harvey.”
“A little? You expect me to do that?” I asked him as I rubbed the side of my face. “Is there any part of her body that I won’t be touching?”
Everyone laughed. “Not many,” Cal answered, and Victor agreed with a chuckle.
Tarin put her arm around my shoulders. “What makes you the most nervous about this routine?”
I laughed. “Everything. I’m not sure I can do all that. That’s a really long routine.”
“You can do it, Harv,” Tarin said, and Cal nodded.
“You can. I promise that you will master this and do it exceptionally well. If you notice Victor, he’s not making a lot of difficult moves. His job is to support Clara and allow her to do most of the work. Don’t get me wrong, your part in this is crucial, and the dance won’t look or feel nearly as beautiful and sexy if you aren’t strong enough to handle it, but I have faith in you.”
I shook my head. “Normally, I’m a pretty confident guy, but not right now. I’m glad that you all have confidence in me.”
“Well, let’s get started, and I think your confidence will grow,” Cal stated and began to explain the beginning of the routine and how we will walk toward one another.
The routine was almost five minutes long, so I was going to have to learn a minute and forty seconds of it each day. On Thursday, I would run through the dance in its entirety over and over again until I had it down pat, and then on Friday, I would rehearse it with Clara at another site before the taped dance. At least this time, we didn’t have any outside influence like we did at the park. The dances would be filmed inside at a hotel using their ballroom.
I ended up staying an hour later on Monday to keep practicing in a small room with Clara. My competition wasn’t coming in until five, so I was glad to have some extra time. On Tuesday, I practiced with Clara another two hours after we finished taping.
I had asked her how the other guy was doing since she was also working with him in the evenings, and she said that he was picking it up quickly. Being the competitive person that I was, that answer frustrated me, but she told me that I had come a long way since we started.
By the end of Wednesday, I thought that I had an excellent grasp on the dance, and I looked forward to going through the entire thing the next day. How strange it was that this dance—scratch that—this whole thing had consumed me. When I was at work, I had a hard time concentrating on anything, and I’d made Alice and Maggie dance with me on a few of the moves to make sure I had the footing right and wasn’t confusing the steps with something else.
I was at the office early Thursday morning, sipping from my green smoothie when Jake stuck his head around the corner of my cubby. “You got a minute, twinkle toes?”
I shook my head at him. “Yes, I can give you a minute. I can even give you a couple of minutes if you stand in for my training partner and help me with part of my routine.”
“Not on your life, sweet cheeks! Meet me in my office in five, and put the coffee on.”
“Coffee is already on,” I told him as he walked away. “You can pour your cup as you walk by it.”
“Fine.”
A few minutes later, I was taking a seat in his office. “You have something against dancing?”
“What? No, not really. It’s not very masculine, but hey, whatever.”
I laughed. “Jake, man, you should see the stuff that I have to do in this dance. I’m lifting the girl and spinning her around. I’ll be lucky if I don’t drop her or get puked on when I make her dizzy. It’s more of a workout than some of my trips to the gym.”
“That intense?”
“Yeah. You should come on Friday and watch it.”
He grinned. “You’re going to let me have a front-row seat to watch you go up in flames?”
