Girly preparations Ballroom dancing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t realise just how important it would become in shaping my future until I had to take the place of one of my bosses following an accident. Dancing Queen A novel by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 24 My Weekend with Helen

Helen lived with her parents in a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in a 1970s development about a twenty minute walk from our work. Her elder sister was now living in Croydon and her parents had gone to visit her for a few days.

‘Mum prepared something for us to eat before she left, it will just be a question of our heating it through later,’ she said.

‘That’s fine by me.’

‘You can use my sister’s former bedroom tonight; it’ll have everything you need to get yourself ready tomorrow night. Just put your case inside the door for now and come through to my bedroom as I’ve had an idea about what you can wear tomorrow night.’

I did as she instructed and joined Helen in her bedroom. Both rooms seemed so much more comfortable and welcoming than my own bedroom at home, with their carefully co-ordinated colour schemes, soft pastel furnishings and thoughtful arrangement of mirrors and lighting.

‘It was your fancy red nail polish that gave me the idea,’ she announced as I entered. ‘You will no doubt discover that a girl can sometimes get carried away and buy something that looks great in the shop but as soon as she gets it home it turns out to have been a mistake.’

She reached in to her wardrobe and pulled out a bright red mini-dress with a halter top. It was the same colour as the one I was planning to wear next weekend to dance the tango.

‘This dress was one of my mistakes; it looks great but doesn’t really suit my colouring. But I have a feeling it will look just right on you though.’

‘Helen, I can’t keep borrowing other people’s clothes all the time. I was prepared to find something for myself tomorrow and had taken out some money from my savings account for that purpose.’

‘At least try it on. It has only been worn once and then for only half an hour or so. If it fits you and you like it, you are welcome to buy it from me for £25.00 which is less than half of what I paid for it.’

I had to admit to myself that it did look nice.

‘I suppose I could try it on,’ I offered.

‘Good, take off your existing dress, and also your bra as you are going to need a strapless one. I’ll loan you one of mine for now and you could buy yourself one tomorrow.’

I did as she asked and Helen handed me a bra from her drawer.

‘How are your boobs these days?’ she asked.

‘They’re fine thanks, most of the time I forget that they are not the real thing. I’ll leave them in place for the time being but I plan to remove and re-affix them in time for next weekend.’

Helen helped me into the dress which was rather skimpy and quite different from anything that Mum or Louise had loaned to me, but it fitted me alright and felt nice to wear. Upon inspection in Helen’s full-length mirror there was no doubt that the colour suited me.

‘Well, what do you think?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know; I like the colour but it is rather short. I would feel quite exposed. What do you think?’ I asked.

‘I think you look really great wearing it,’ she replied smiling. ‘You look sexy but without appearing trashy. If you do decide to wear it I can see that I’ll have to keep a close eye on Joe.’

‘But don’t you think there is a danger that I might give myself away if I wore this tomorrow night?’ I asked.

‘Maybe we will need to undertake a little taping to ensure that there are no visible bulges down below, or perhaps you could get yourself some control briefs; but I think your boobs should be alright,’ she replied.

‘I suppose it does look nice,’ I commented as I gradually got used to the sight of myself in the mirror.

‘It looks great on you, but on me it made me look as if I was suffering from some skin complaint. My sister commented that I looked like a raspberry with legs,’ she said laughing.

‘In that case I’ll accept your offer, on condition that you help me to get ready tomorrow,’ I said, handing over the £25.00 for the dress.

‘It’s a deal, but that doesn’t excuse you from coming shopping with me in Luton tomorrow morning as there are a couple of things I will need. Also I’ve had a few ideas as to how you might spend the money that you’ve just saved yourself.’

Helen’s telephone rang at that point and so we never did get to discuss her plans.

Now that I’d finally made up my mind to embrace life as Michelle, at least for the next ten weeks, Helen was clearly determined to make sure that there would be no backsliding on my part. Over dinner we discussed our beauty regimes for later that evening and the following day.

‘I’m going to need to defuzz my arms legs and armpits this evening, ready for tomorrow night, how about you Michelle?’ she asked.

‘I did mine last Friday and so I suppose it is time to do them again.’

(Fortunately I only ever needed to shave my chin every third or fourth day, although I had been doing so a lot more often since the advent of Michelle, just to be sure.)

‘Whilst we are at it we can also paint one another’s toenails, as well,’ suggested Helen.

Mine were already done but the colour would need to be changed as I planned in dancing in a pair of open-toed heels the following night. Fortunately I’d brought with me both the lipstick and nail varnish that I bought with Mum. Helen had noticed they would match my new dress.

‘What else will I need for my makeup tomorrow night?’ I asked as I fished out the bottle of nail varnish from my bag.

‘Don't overdo things, you will only need a small amount of foundation and concealer and put on a light blush.’

‘What about my eyes?’

‘You can use a little eye shadow, mascara and eyeliner, if you wish. Choose something a little subdued; a smokey eye would suit you and draw attention to your eyes.’

We also both washed our hair and then helped one another to style it ready for the following day.

‘These hair extensions are fine for work or when you are ballroom dancing, but I think your hair could really do with a little more length and body when we go out clubbing tomorrow night,’ she said as she curled my hair using a pair of tongs. ‘Why not use some of the money you saved to buy yourself some clip in hair pieces tomorrow? I could show you how to put them in.’

‘Are you sure they would not fall out during the course of the evening?’ I asked.

‘Not if you put them in properly in the first place.’

‘In the case I’ll let you decide, you are my mentor, after all,’ I replied.

Over the next hour, whilst our hair was drying, Helen chatted to me as if I always had been Michelle and I always would be. There was absolutely no reference or acknowledgment of any other life. We gossiped about her former boyfriends and our colleagues at work.

‘Rich is a great guy, but he’s a little too serious for his own good. You’re going to need to bring him out of his shell, tomorrow night.’

‘But I’ve never been clubbing before, I don’t even know what to do,’ I complained.

‘Michelle, you are the acknowledged Dancing Queen even Sarah says so, and she should know.

‘But that is for ballroom dancing, where there are strict rules about how to dance. Club dancing is entirely different, as far as I can see there are no rules.’

‘I know and that’s the attraction for people like me.’

‘But what will I do? I’ve never been to a nightclub before.’

‘Begin by sitting down, sipping your drink, making small talk and enjoying the music. Keep an eye on what other people are doing, and don’t leave it too long before you get up and start to dance. Don’t wait to be asked, Rich is your escort, he has asked you out, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t suggest to him that you should both get up and dance, If you sit around for too long some other guy might try his luck.’

‘But I won’t know any dance steps. I’d be frightened of showing us both up.’

‘Believe me Rich won’t be making a detailed critique of your style. He'll probably just be pleased to be dancing with such an attractive girl. He’ll be far more worried about how his own dancing looks to you.’

‘But what will other people think about me?’

‘Who cares? If there are any bystanders who seem to be judging you, it is because they're too nervous to try it themselves.’

‘I suppose so,’ I said sounding unconvinced.

‘Try and move to the rhythm and blend in to the crowd: that way you won't feel insecure since nobody will be able to recognize that you're just practicing. Don't be too vigorous and always be aware of your surroundings.’

‘I am not sure I will be able to blend in with the crowd in that dress you want me to wear.’

‘There will be more eye-catching costumes than that one on show. As far as your dancing is concerned try to be low key to begin with. You can demonstrate how good you are, and get invited to dance on the podium another time, once you’ve had a little more practice. It's okay to dance in a simple, repetitive way and just enjoy your friends' company.

‘Don't worry I won’t try any crazy moves. I’ll just blend in and be a bit boring and unoriginal.’

‘If you like we can practice a few basic moves tonight.’

‘Yes please.’

‘I assume you’ll be dancing in heels tomorrow night.’

‘Yes, I’m now quite used to wearing them and dancing in them.’

In that case put them on whilst I find us some suitable music.’

She docked her iPod into two speakers in her bedroom and began to play music with an insistent beat.

‘This is known as house music; there are various types of electronic music, each one has its own beat. You will soon get to recognise them.’

I felt as if I’d missed out on a whole area of my education as a teenager.

‘Begin by moving your arms back and forth in time to the beat. Now bounce up and down on your knees. Rotate your body a bit in time with your knee movements as if you're skiing. Keep your torso fairly loose and relaxed.’

I followed her instructions: it wasn’t too complicated; it was nothing like some of the moves I’d been used to.

‘Try relaxing your arms a bit and let them swing up and down with your knee bends and torso rotations.’

Once I’d got the hang of it I started to enjoy myself.

‘Don't just limply swing your arms, get your shoulders into it.’

It seemed odd to be following the same kinds of instructions that I would give to novice ballroom dancers.

‘Good, that’s right. Now take steps side to side, or back and forth, mix up your arm movements and nod your head. You’ll be able to add some more fancy moves and sequences later if you want to.’

‘Don’t we get to move around the floor?’ I asked.

‘You can move a little and exchange places with your partner if you like, but it is considered bad manners to go wandering round the floor or to invade other people’s dance space during any particular track. You and your partner find yourself a piece of the dance floor and then stick to it.‘

Over the next hour or so we tried several different musical styles: house, garage, elektro, hard core giving each one a few minutes practice. They all had their own distinctive style and beat but none of them was inherently complicated.

‘I’ll never be able to remember all of these by tomorrow night,’ I commented.

‘Don’t worry, just start to move your body to the sound of the music and you will get further ideas for appropriate hand or leg movements from the other dancers on the floor or from your partner.’

I followed her lead.

‘See, Michelle, with just a half an hour of practice you are already as good as the majority of dancers. You really do have a good sense of rhythm.’

‘This is fun,’ I said. ‘I really could get to enjoy this.’

Next time: Girly preparations II:
Shopping and the arrival of our escorts

Thanks to Bronwen for editing and to everyone else for comments and kudos which are always appreciated. Louise