Grease Monkey Jive (35 page)

“This really is whacked,” said Mitch, putting voice to Dan’s first impression of the room. “But I kinda like it.”

“You just like the fact she came with you.” Dan inclined his head towards Belinda who was walking ahead with, Scott, Trevor, and Carlie.

Mitch’s face split in a wicked grin. “Watch how happy I’ll be if she leaves with me.”

“The chances?”

“About even money. That’s what Ant’s got on it if you’re interested.”

“Is there nothing he won’t bet on?”

Mitch put a thinking face on and pretended to consider it and both of them laughed. Dan checked to see if Fluke was still out of earshot, behind them with Ant. “Does Fluke know Carlie’s interested?”

“Does a chicken have lips?”

“Should we tell him?”

“Now where would the fun in that be?”

Dan laughed. It was an evil trick of fate that the three of them were romantically entangled at the same time, even if Fluke didn’t yet know he’d won a heart.

“Some mates you are!” said Alex, but she looked just as amused at the idea of Fluke and Carlie getting together. She gave his arm a squeeze and went to change into her rock ‘n roll outfit.

In the men’s change room Scott was more on edge than he was, and since he was white knuckling, it had to mean Scott was a head trauma case. He was pacing, making an odd clomp, click sound with his one boot, one shoe on the tiled floor, a peg leg pirate in search of a parrot.

He was raving about how the pressure was really on, now that the element of surprise was out of the way, and every competitor on the floor was gunning for them given their trick with the loophole. He threw names and facts and statistics at Dan at such a rapid rate that the only thing Dan could do was grip the wooden slat seat and blink at him.

“We need to pull a big performance out of the box, Dan. There won’t be any sympathy points. If anything the judges will go harder on us in the soft zones like entertainment value and artistic merit.”

“Hoist that sail,” Dan muttered.

“Some of the couples have brought in choreography consultants. Can you believe that?”

Scott swung about. “It’s never happened before.”

“Swab that deck.” Dan was absolutely sure Scott wasn’t listening, especially when he didn’t check his pacing and said, “Marjorie reckons the judges are going to be tougher on all the couples in this round.”

“I think I’m in love with Alex.” Scott dead-stopped. Ok, that worked and it felt amazing to say out loud.

“Did you just say...?”

“I said I’m not in love with this freak out.”

“Oh.” Scott squinted, one eye closed in concentration as though he couldn’t remember where he’d left his eye-patch. “Sorry, I’m a little revved up.”

“Tell me what I need to do, but make it practical. It’s not like I have a big bag of tricks up my sleeve.”

Scott sat, crossed his leg, and swung his booted foot, now more schoolboy than pirate. “Let me think.”

Dan waited, anxiety curdling in his abdomen, like milk left out of the fridge too long in the February heat. He’d hoped the almost paralysing nervousness would have eased off, but that wasn’t the case. Seeing Scott have a minor meltdown wasn’t helping.

He closed his eyes and saw Alex’s face that morning, swathed in big dark sunglasses, waiting for him stretched out on a towel just outside the reach of the waves as they met the shore. She’d licked the sea salt from his lips and sucked it from his mouth and it’d been all he could do not to give the junior sandcastle builder next to them a premature sex education lesson right there between the red and yellow flags.

“I want you to dominate her.”

Dan opened his eyes and gave Scott a ‘say what?’ look.

“I want you to go out there and show her who’s boss.”

“You’re kidding right? She’s the boss. I only have the slimmest idea what I’m doing out there.”

“Not with this routine. You know it backwards. I want you to surprise her. Play the big man, make her work for you. Dominate her.”

“Holy fuck.”

“Come on. She’s been leading you around by the chin for months now. It’ll drive her insane and make her work just that little bit harder. It’ll give the audience a different dynamic from the one you showed them last time. No one will be expecting it.”

“You can say that again. And when she tears the heart out of my chest and stomps on it, what then?”

Scott was back on his peg leg now. “You’ll sort it out.”

“Scott!”

“What do you think I am?” – Scott clomp-clicked to the door and answered his own question – “A relationship counsellor?” leaving Dan to shove his gear in a locker and follow.

Half way down the dimly lit besser brick corridor to their team seating, Dan’s heart nearly did its own chest tearing. Alex was waiting for him.

She was Pinkie Tuscadero to his Arthur Fonzarelli, Suzie Quattro to his Jim Morrison. She wore a skin tight black cat suit with a dangerously low neckline and a hot pink polka dot scarf tied at her neck. Her shoes matched her scarf, pink and white with heels so high it changed their height dynamic. With her hair teased, big hoop earrings, and the bubble she blew as he drew level, she had him slack-jawed with surprise and delight.

She popped the bubble, slowly licked the gum back into her mouth, and drawled, “Hello, lover,” making Dan’s heart pull lose from its fibrous moorings and cartwheel in his chest cavity.

He played his part, backing her up against the wall and pinning her there with a hand either side of her shoulders. He stood as close as he could without touching her, except with his eyes which he let travel slowly over every plane of her face, the column of her neck, the curve of her breasts, her high ribcage, narrow waist, and slender hips. She was breathing heavily by the time he finished his visual assault, so he started on a more physical version, one arm circling her waist, his hand closing over the arc of her backside and dragging her hips into his, crushing her shiny lycra into his black leather.

When she was fully aware of what the outcome of this little game would be if they weren’t expected on stage, he said, “You look guilty as sin,” then kissed the laugh off her mouth and stole her gum.

It was with heavy-footed reluctance that Dan let Alex lead him, down the corridor. They passed another couple of male dancers including Ferdy. He clocked a smirk from Ferdy that said, ‘let’s see how you cope this week amateur’, and a round of hearty male laughter that increased his unease chased them out into the arena.

The open competition was in full swing as they sat between Mitch and Fluke, dancers in front of them being eliminated by shoulder-tapping judges roaming the floor. Dan saw both Cooper and Collin avoid the sudden death tap and remain in the competition for another round, but another six couples were eliminated. He still had trouble understanding why.

On his left, Fluke said, “Who are you supposed to be?” and there was nothing sarky in his manner, but he was still Fluke and he was going after his pound of flesh.

“I’m the bloke who’s going to pound you to dust if you don’t lay off trying to make me feel more stupid than I already do.” He tugged at the turned up collar of his leather jacket, tough guy style, but he spoiled the menace of his words by laughing at himself, taking the group with him.

“It’s buzzy in here,” said Mitch. “And if I’m not wrong there are chicks trying to get your attention, Dan.”

“He’s right,” said Fluke. “Those two by the camera stack.”

Dan located the scaffold that the videographers were using to take aerial shot of the floor and sure enough he got waved at. That was the second lot of women he’d seen giving him the eye since he’d sat down.

“No idea.” He shrugged and reached for Alex’s hand, but she was busy painting her lips. It made him grin to realise she’d left the lipstick off before now, planning on being kissed in the corridor.

“You’ve got groupies, fantastic! That’s great for us.” She laughed and pouted luscious pink lips at him.

“It is?”

Now she took his hand. “It’s not a popularity contest, but it doesn’t hurt.”

Dan grunted in response, but Fluke said, “Fair dinkum, dressed like some thin Elvis throwback with grease in his hair, he still pulls the chicks!” and even Gwen laughed at that.

Scott however was not laughing. He was huddled with Trevor, facing down a mutiny of text messages. Dan was keen to get his attention; the dominating thing wasn’t on. This was Alex’s area of expertise; if she was leading him round by the chin then that was only right. Besides, he was more comfortable dancing as they’d rehearsed. This whole thing was risky enough sailing without asking him to take command of the ship.

When Barry Barton announced the start of the main event and called out the running order for the couples, slotting Dan and Alex in the middle of the pack, Scott was on his feet. He gestured to Dan. “I don’t want you watching this. Come with me.”

Dan gave Alex’s hand a squeeze and followed Scott out into the corridor, glad for the chance to catch him alone.

“We need to talk,” Scott barked and Dan caught an edge of anger in his voice.

“I can’t get with your new plan. I just want to do it as we rehearsed it.”

“You need to see this before you decide.” Scott handed over his phone. “Play that.”

Dan thumbed the screen and started a video: he and Alex in the corridor, as close to doing something illegal in a public place as they could get. This was up close, way personal, and specifically not a family show.

“Where did you get this?” He’d been sure there was no one in the corridor. He’d have been more careful where he put his hands, lips, and hips if he’d have known they had an audience.

“It was sent anonymously. It’s gone viral.”

That accounted for the waving and the kiss-blowing that he’d pretended not to see. “Fuck.”

“That’s certainly what it looks like. I leave you alone for five minutes,” huffed Scott.

“We have to show Alex.”

“No, not yet. She’ll be mortified. That’s what whoever did this is aiming for. Gwen’s hidden her phone. It’s better that she doesn’t know til after your performance.”

“Ferdy. He was coming past as we were leaving. He could have taken this.”

“Fuck,” echoed Scott, his cool entirely blown. “It’s something he’d do to embarrass Alex and throw you.”

“Well it worked.” Dan expelled a long irritated stream of air. “Why did you show me?”

“Because I want revenge and you can deliver it.”

“Me?”

“Look, the whole arena is expecting you two to be all over each other. We need to surprise them, give them something new to think about. Use this to our advantage. If we pull this off, you’ll be the couple to watch for the rest of the competition and I can waltz in and capture the castle.”

“But surely the judges haven’t seen this?”

“Trevor checked. They’ve seen it. There isn’t a person here who hasn’t.”

“Fuck.”

“Not really our word for the moment, if you catch my drift.”

Dan bounced his fist against the rough wall, wished it was Ferdy’s head. “What do you want me to do?”

Alex was surprised at the palpable ripple of excitement that accompanied her and Dan as they made their way out onto the floor for their performance, but there was no time to examine it. Dan had her hand tight in his and when she went to take her position he refused to let go. She had to tug her hand away. God, he was nervous.

She mouthed, “Pathetic,” hoping it would make him smile, and he mimed back, “Guilty,” and she knew he’d be ok. They both took their places as the opening beats of their song kicked out. They had four minutes to enchant the audience and engage the judges.

But straight away she knew there was something wrong with Dan. He wouldn’t look at her, kept shifting his eyes away, wasn’t holding the frame, he was up in her space forcing her to step back. It was like he was pursuing her – aggressively. Was this nerves or something else? They were only fifteen seconds into the routine, there was still time for him to settle and he seemed to, finally fastening on to her eyes, being extra lavish with his hands on her body. But at the first lift instead of holding her in an embrace, he pushed away and added some of his own steps, looking to the audience and making a ‘go figure’ gesture.

What!

Where was this coming from? What did he think he was doing? And – what the hell? – he looked like he was perfectly in control and enjoying himself. Alex figured her surprise and annoyance was showing all over her face. She had no idea what Dan was going to do next, so she had no choice but to follow his lead. But she didn’t have to make it easy for him. If he wanted to change it up, then he’d better be ready. This was dance floor war.

So when Dan appealed to her, she played hard to get. When he turned his back on her, rejecting her and hamming it up with the audience, she tried to entice him, tossing her hair and popping her hip and when she got his attention again, she gave him the cold shoulder.

A minute into the song and no one watching had any question about what was going on. This was a lover’s tiff and it had them riveted.

When Dan manoeuvred her into a dip, instead of releasing her, he pulled her so close she thought he was going to kiss her, but then he laughed and spun her into a turn that left her almost breathless. She fought back, increasing the sass in the shift of her hips and throwing him flirty glances, then moving just out of his reach when he tried to touch her.

Alex’s brain was working at warp speed trying to predict what Dan would do next. She shot a quick glance at Scott and caught a nervous expression, but Trevor beside him was beaming and that sound she could hear competing with their music was the audience clapping along. The last thing she saw before Dan lifted her into the scarf was Anna, inexplicably standing on the stage at the edge of the spotlight.

They were fast approaching the section of the song where the singer rapped about his lost love and how she’d changed, and Alex knew whatever happened next wasn’t going to be what they’d rehearsed. But what Dan did next left her flat-footed and open-mouthed.

He danced with Anna.

He broke away from her side altogether and danced with Anna. A twirl, a lift, and a dip, a huge smile on his face. The Casanova character he was playing effectively dumping her for another woman.