The day before my public demonstration 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.

By the end of Thursday night Alan and I had pretty much got our demonstration routine sorted, although, of course, we would also need a final run through on the Saturday morning with the three other couples involved. Sarah, who had remained with us to watch, whilst Rob went to talk to his new partner, also expressed her approval.

‘See, Michelle, I knew you would be able to do it,’ she said.

‘Well, let us at least get through Saturday without any disaster before you start offering me any congratulations,’ I replied.

‘Unfortunately the Dance Studio is booked for tomorrow evening, but there’s a hall near to us where you two could practice together with a CD-player if you wish to do some more.’

‘What do you think, Alan?’ I asked

‘I think we’re probably good enough, but I’d be happy to come along for an hour or two after work if you wish. Maybe we could also try out one or two other dances as well?’

I suspected that he was right, but the idea of seeing how we got on together with other dances also had its attractions.

‘That sounds alright by me,’ I replied, smiling.

‘I’ll pick you up after work, tomorrow,’ he offered.

‘In that case it might be better if I went to my home tomorrow night to pick up a tracksuit as I don’t want to risk getting this costume dirty before Saturday,’ I suggested to Sarah who was standing with us.

‘No, don’t worry about that, Michelle, I’ll find you something else of mine to wear for tomorrow. I think you’re going to need as much practice as possible dressed as a girl before Saturday,’ she said.

Alan agreed with her and so I accepted their advice.

Thus the following morning, I turned up at work wearing a dress, tights and high heels, once again courtesy of Sarah. Rob had dropped the two of us off outside the office and proceeded to an appointment in Luton. Richard was already out of the office when we arrived.

‘So it is going to be Michelle again today,’ said Helen, smiling, as I went in.

‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ I replied.

‘Does that mean that you’ll definitely be dancing on Saturday?’ she asked.

‘It looks that way,’

‘Well, young lady, I must say that you do look good again this morning.

‘Thank you, Helen,’ I replied, pleased to receive such a compliment. ‘It’s mainly due to Sarah’s help. I wouldn’t have been able to manage my hair and makeup on my own.’

‘But you are only a beginner, it is only a question of practice,’ added Sarah, as she hobbled over to one of the desks.

‘By the way, Sarah, I’ve brought those nail tips for Michelle to wear, would you mind if I stuck them on for her?’

‘Go on then you two, do it in the back office, whilst Rob is away, but please hurry up otherwise he’ll only complain that we’ve been wasting time. I’ll hold the fort for you both in the meanwhile,’ said Sarah smiling.

Half an hour later I had a set of elegant glued on nail tips covered with a fresh layer of nail polish so that they were virtually indistinguishable from my originals.

‘Now that looks a lot better,’ said Helen.

I held out my fingers for Sarah to see.

‘Good, your hands will now look more elegant when you’re dancing tomorrow,’ she said. ‘It is important to get the details right.’

‘Maybe, but I just hope I’ll be able to operate the keyboard in the meanwhile,’ I replied, as I turned on my machine.

Friday morning turned out to be fairly busy at work and at one point I even found myself dealing with a couple of potential clients who wandered into the office, as both Helen and Sarah were occupied on the phones and the two guys were both out of the office. I was a little hesitant at first, conscious of how I was dressed and anxious that my stammer might suddenly return. However, once I realised that the elderly man and woman concerned were not treating me as if I were some kind of freak, I began to relax and adopt a more confident and business-like approach to dealing with their enquiries. I let the woman do the talking and she explained what they were looking for and I told them about several houses in their price range which we had on our books. I listened carefully to what they were looking for and provided them with the printed details of several of the most likely candidates. They promised to look through them and return after the weekend. All in all I found that I’d enjoyed the encounter, and it wasn’t until after they’d left that I realised that my two colleagues had finished their phone calls and had been watching my performance.

Richard returned shortly before one o’clock, followed by Rob soon afterwards, and so Sarah suggested that Helen and I should take our lunch break.

‘Shall we go next door again, Michelle?’ Helen asked.

‘That’s fine by me,’ I replied, pleased to discover that yesterday’s invitation wasn’t a one-off.

‘So what is with the dress today?’ asked Helen as we took our food to sit down. ‘You looked smart enough in that suit that you wore yesterday.’

‘It was Sarah’s suggestion, as I shall be going to dance practice straight after work.’

‘How did you find the new dancing partner?’

‘He’s good; in fact he’s very good indeed. I could almost wish that I could dance with him on a regular basis,’ I said, only half in jest.

‘In that case I’m sorry that I won’t be seeing you dance together tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Sarah has asked Richard to come along with his video camera and film the proceedings, so you still may get to see us dance.’

We then moved on to other topics.

‘I think that Sarah was quite impressed with the way you dealt with the Johnson couple earlier. You were friendly and persuasive and had them eating out of your hand. You even managed to interest them in looking at that property at Houghton Regis that no-one else seems to want.’

‘Persuading them to take away the details of a house is quite a long way from making a sale. However, I’ve been listening to the way that you and Sarah deal with clients recently and have done my best to learn from both of you,’ I replied.

It was nice though to receive a compliment about the way that I did my job and not just about the way I looked.

Nothing unusual happened during the course of Friday afternoon. I did notice though that Richard was gradually getting a little more used to dealing with me as Michelle rather than as Michael, and he was happy to chat during any quiet periods. I may have freaked him a little bit after we’d finished our mid-afternoon coffee, when, at Sarah’s suggestion, I refreshed my lipstick and mascara and dabbed some powder on to my nose whilst sitting at my desk. He didn’t say anything, but the look on his face was a picture. Helen noticed it as well and we exchanged glances and smiled at one another. However, he must have gotten over the shock as at the end of the afternoon he came over to wish me the best of luck for the next day. Helen also stayed behind for a little while after work.

‘Good luck, Michelle. I’ve only known you as a girl for a couple of days, but it has been good fun working with you, and I’ll look forward to seeing the video of you dancing when I come in next week.’

I smiled and thanked her.

Alan brought his partner with him, when he picked me up after work. I assumed that this was his way of demonstrating to both of us that he and I would be dance partners only and nothing else. In some respects this was a relief to me, as I was unsure of my own sexual orientation, especially when I was dressed as Michelle. I only knew that I tended to prefer the company of women in most social situations. Most of my teenage years had been spent in the company of people who enjoyed ballroom dancing which is one of the few areas of life where whether someone is gay or straight is not a particular issue.

Alan’s partner was called David who was a few years older than he was, probably in his early-thirties. He didn’t seem to feel particularly threatened by my presence: no doubt he was quite used to his partner dancing with attractive young women, although I doubted whether they had come across exactly the same situation before.

David had also been a ballroom dancer and so he was able to make several helpful comments as we went through our planned routine together.

‘So what do you think, Dave, will we be good enough tomorrow?’ asked Alan.

‘I should think so. I must say that I’m very impressed with you Michelle, given your background and all the circumstances that I’ve been told about.’

‘Ah, but I can only dance so well because I’ve such a good partner,’ I responded, smiling.

Alan seemed pleased by my comment, and Dave knew enough to realise that it was probably the truth and not mere flattery.

‘I’d better leave you now to go and prepare our evening meal,’ he said. ‘Will you be joining us Michelle?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I said, surprised to be asked.

‘I can give you a lift home afterwards, if you wish,’ said Alan.

‘All right, but I’d better ring Rob and Sarah to let them know what I’m doing, as I will be staying at their house tonight.’

‘In that case I’ll see you both at about eight fifteen,’ said David and left us.

I explained about the invitation to Sarah, who was quite happy with the change of plan, as it would save her from attempting to prepare a meal. Rob was also going to be out, going through the routine with his new partner, and so she was quite happy to have a ready-made dinner out of the freezer for once.

‘Ok then Michelle, we have just over an hour and a half to spare, how would you feel about trying one or two other dances, such as a Tango or a Quickstep?’ asked Alan.

‘I don’t mind having a go, but please don’t expect me to be as good as for the Waltz or the Foxtrot,’ I replied.

‘From what I’ve seen of your dancing so far you should be fine.’

For the next ninety minutes we embarked on a series of dances without particularly worrying too much about detailed techniques. It was just for the pleasure of being able to dance with one another. As a result we made remarkably few mistakes and I don’t think I remember a time when I have enjoyed ballroom dancing so much, so I was almost sorry when it was time to finish.

Next time: The 'big day' approaches

Thanks to Bronwen for editing and to everyone else for comments and kudos which are always appreciated. The next chapter will be published on 23 November. Louise