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Chapter Sixteen


“I hate to do this to you guys,” Howie apologized. “But if we’re going to be ready, we’ve got to practice tonight.”

My eyes felt like concrete. We had just eaten dinner and I was full on baked chicken and rice. I had convinced myself that after the trauma of the elevator incident that I had surely burned off enough calories to enjoy more than just lettuce. But now Howie was telling us that we had to meet Fatima at the video location to start going over choreography and I was reminded of how tight the mummy costume was. I groaned.

We walked from the restaurant back to our hotel. We were staying at a hotel halfway between the video shoot location and the Hammerstein Ballroom. I ran up to my room and packed a tank top and a pair of sweats. Nick was waiting outside my room as I opened the door.

“Red Bull?” he said, holding out an ice cold can. “It gives you wings,” he smiled.

“I don’t need wings,” I said, taking a sip. “I just need coordination.”

“You’ll be fine.”

A half hour later we walked into a large warehouse. I looked around astonished. People were everywhere. The set was coming alive before our eyes.

“You’re late,” Kevin said.

“Just like old times,” AJ said, hugging him and Kristin.

“I should make you guys do laps,” Fatima said. “But considering we’re probably going to be here ‘til about one or two in the morning as is, let’s just get to work.”

Now, I must admit that while I don’t and can’t dance, I have always had this silly dream of one day doing Dancing with the Stars. I mean, if Kate Gosselin can do it, why couldn’t I? After an hour of turning right when we were supposed to turn left and clapping when we were supposed to be bowing, I knew why I couldn’t. I was inept. Sweat dripped off my nose. I felt like I was being repeatedly punched in the stomach. The Wii Fit couldn’t help me now. I was doomed.

Everyone else seemed to be catching on. After I screwed up for the hundredth time, Fatima called for a break. Everyone wandered off except for Nick and Fatima. She walked up, touching my shoulder.

“You’re over thinking it,” she said. “You can do it. I see it up here,” she tapped her head. “I just need you to send it down there.” she pointed to my feet.

“I can’t.” I said, shaking my head.

“You can,” Nick said. He walked behind me. I felt his hands grip my waist.

“Start the music, ‘Tima.” Nick said. She walked over to the CD player, starting the track again.

“What are you doing?” I said, craning my head to look at him.

“You’ll see,” he said cryptically.

The music started and I took a deep breath. His touch was unnerving. Just like when we danced at the club, his touch seemed to jumble my thoughts so much that I couldn’t over think. After a few hesitant steps, I actually kept up. I felt Nick lean over me as I leaned down, step back when I stepped back. We were completely in sync.

“Good! Good!” Fatima called out, clapping her hands to the beat. “And one, and two.” She counted off until we ran through the entire part. “Try it again,” she said. She stopped the song and restarted it from the beginning. I felt Nick’s hands drop from my waist; he stepped in front of me, taking his correct place. His magic had done the trick; I completed the steps again, keeping perfect time with him. Fatima stopped the CD player grinning.

“Congratulations, kids. Twenty five seconds down. Two and a half minutes left to go.”

I groaned.

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If I thought the line work was hard, what was to come was even worse. Fatima had Kevin and Kristin come out to demonstrate the waltz sequence. They looked like Ken and Barbie waltzing along the floor. At “so stay with me tonight,” Kevin lifted Kristin up in the air like she was a feather. On the track, Brian took a breath and continued holding “ight.” At that point, Kevin slid Kristin down his body sensuously. She bent backwards like she was made of rubber, her arms sweeping behind her, almost touching the floor. Fatima clapped.

“Perfect! Alright ladies and gents,” she said. “Let’s give it a try, shall we?”

“Nick, I can’t do this,” I said as he took my hands. He shook his head.

“You need to be more like The Little Engine that Could,” Nick said. “No more can’t. Just keep saying I think I can, I think I can. You’ll be fine.” He grinned. “Plus you can’t abandon me now. This is my second favorite part.”

“What’s your favorite?” I asked.

I didn’t get a chance to find out. Fatima started the music and we were off.

It was stupid, but as an (ex) children’s librarian, I couldn’t help but think of The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. I could see every picture as if I was sitting there reading it for storytime. After the third restart, I realized with surprise that I actually had the waltzing down.

“Now we’ll add the lift,” Fatima said, starting the music again.

We started the waltz again. Nick looked down at me, his eyes twinkling. I was sure he could see how nervous I was. Before I knew it, I heard “so stay with me tonight.” Nick’s hands tightened on my waist and lifted me like I weight nothing. All of a sudden I was staring down directly into his eyes, my feet in mid-air, smiling. I focused directly on Nick as we spun in a circle. I vaguely heard Brian’s voice fade on the track and then come back. On cue Nick lowered me. I slid along every muscular inch of him; my mouth turned as dry as cotton. Somewhere in the recess of my brain I remembered the dip. I swung my arms out in what I thought was an imitation of Kristin. Nick held onto my waist. I promptly put all my weight in it.

The next thing I knew I was on the floor; Nick on top of me.

Three hours later I dragged my tired body into my room. For once Andrea’s endless energy had been depleted; she gave a heavy sigh as we lumbered to our beds.

“I have never been more tired in my life,” she whined.

“I glanced towards the clock.” It was three in the morning.

“Well, it’s going to get worse. We’ve got to be back there by ten,” I said. I fell on the bed still dressed. I knew I should take a shower, but I was too tired to care about my funk.

We hadn’t even gotten past the waltz, lift and dip. We still had a lot of song left to cover. I knew I was going to be sore in the morning and it was only going to get worse. Because of my bright ideas, I’d be jumping off a platform in about, oh, eight hours.

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By noon the next day I felt like Rocky. In two hours I had climbed the damn stairs so many times that I wanted to scream. Finally, Fatima was satisfied.

“Now for the jump!” she said.

I stood on the platform, staring down, down, down. I was on the coaster, buckled in, and there was no way I could turn back. If I was sweating before, it was nothing compared to now.

“You’ll be attached to wires,” Fatima explained. “That way if your guy misses the mark, you’ll end up floating to the floor.”

I touched the wires, thinking that there was no way in hell they were going to bare enough of my weight to float me safely to the floor. I swallowed hard.

“You okay up there?” Nick called. I gave him a weak thumbs up.

“Alright, count of three.”

We put on our masks and waited for the music to start.

On cue, show your face to me, we flung them off. I watched the other three girls make the jump, landing in the guys’ arms. My feet wouldn’t move. I heard a groan from the general direction of Fatima.

“I’m sorry!” I called out. I blew a loose strand of hair away from my eyes.

“Let’s try that again,” Fatima said. The girls made their way back up the stairs.

“Hey,” Rochelle said grabbing my arm. “It’s fun. It’s like sky-diving,” she said grinning. I felt myself go pale.

“Oh, shit. That’s not helpful is it?” she said, biting her lower lip. “Okay. It’s like jumping off a diving board. Just pretend you’re going to land in water. It’s safe.”

“You can drown in water,” I reminded her.

"The only thing you’ll be drowning in is Nick’s drool,” she said, pointing below. Nick gave a wave. I sighed, feeling like a baby.

“Okay. Let’s go.” I said, mustering up a teeny tiny ounce of courage.

“Ready?” Fatima called. We nodded.

The music started again. On cue I tossed my mask. I didn’t hesitate; if I did I wouldn’t have gotten a toe over the platform. I jumped, remembering to keep my eyes open. Amazingly I felt the wires tighten, slowing the fall. My body was in a pure state of calm as I felt Nick’s hands wrap around my waist and set me gently on the ground.

“Great, great!” Fatima called. “Let’s get the wires off and do the final waltz.”

Nick unclipped the wires, grinning.

“What?” I said.

“What do you mean what?”

“Why are you grinning?”

“No reason,” he said, grinning wider.

We stayed in place as Fatima started the music. We picked up right after the jump and catch. Confident in the waltz, lift, and dip, my feet almost floated across the floor.

I felt a surge of pride as the song approached the end. I smiled at Nick. Nick gave me the same wide grin from earlier. “Here comes my favorite part,” he said as the last long note floated through the air.

“What?” I said. I studied his face but he didn’t respond; I saw his beautiful ocean eyes grow darker, the sparkle taking on new meaning.

Lowering his head, his lips pressed hungrily to mine. At that moment everything around me ceased to exist; I slid my arms around his neck, clinging on for dear life.

If this was what it felt like to drown, I would gladly take the plunge a million times.