Waiting for the weekend 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 23 Thursday and Friday

Having now accepted to myself that I would be going clubbing with Richard on Saturday night, I was anxious to get the next couple of days at work over with as soon as possible. My weekend would begin when I went home with Helen on Friday evening and I was looking forward to the two of us spending the following day together getting ourselves ready to go out.

Both Rob and Richard were out of the office for the whole day on Thursday and Helen had a number of appointments to show clients round houses during the morning. Thus only Sarah and I were in the office and we were both kept fairly busy. I now had my own desk diary, and so having first checked that Helen was likely to be in the office the following morning, I arranged for me to show another couple around a number of our properties in Luton before I came in to the office. I also asked Sarah whether I might therefore take the office pool car home with me after work so that I’d be able to meet them and then drive them on a second address. She agreed, which was also useful as it would also be available to me when I met Alan for a practice session at the Dance Studio that evening. Thus when he rang during the morning to confirm the arrangements I told him that I had no need for a lift.

‘That’s fine then, Michelle, I’ll see you there. By the way there are two dates to mark in your diary - 15th November and 13th December. We are going to be giving a couple of demonstrations and master classes in Bristol.’

‘So you didn’t frighten them off with the fees, after all,’ I commented.

‘Apparently not; we will each receive two hundred and fifty pounds for each session, plus our reasonable expenses.’

‘Wow!’ I said, a little surprised that they’d agreed to such a sum.

He was about to go into more detail but I noticed the Johnsons, currently my favourite clients, coming through the door.

‘Can I call you back later, Alan, things are a little hectic here at present?’ I said.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you this evening.’

‘We didn’t want to interrupt you dear,’ said Mrs Johnson as I put down the phone and gave them both a broad smile.

‘No problem, it was just my dance partner, I’m sure he can wait. Now what can I do for you both?’

There turned out to be no great problem regarding the Johnsons, just a couple of questions prior to the exchange of contracts that I was easily able to answer. In fact all seemed to be going well with their house purchase and we seemed likely to earn our fee and also perhaps other commissions to sell houses for the same vendors.

Things did quieten down a little after 11.00am so I used the opportunity to make Sarah and myself a mug of coffee.

‘I do like your nails, Michelle,’ she said as I handed it to her. ’They look very smart.’

‘Thanks, but do you think they may be a little too bright for work?’ I replied inspecting them.

I had been regularly wearing nail varnish but usually with fairly subdued colours as I was conscious of Sarah’s previous guidance as to what was appropriate dress for work.

‘No, of course not, that colour looks good on you. You shouldn’t be afraid of wearing strong colours if they suit you.’

‘Thanks. Actually I’m planning to wear a dress of this colour for one of the next demonstration dances. It belongs to Mum but you never saw it when you came round to our place. She had forgotten that it needed to be repaired, but she has done so now.’

‘What do you think?’ I asked as I showed her a picture that Mum had taken of me the previous night, on my mobile phone.

‘Wow, Michelle, you look so lovely. You really will be the ‘Queen of the Dance’ at the coming demonstration,’ she commented, wistfully.

I coloured slightly and thanked her. Her comment struck me as she had been the acknowledged local ‘Queen of the Dance’ for some time past. Perhaps she was beginning to realise that she would have to give way to a younger woman? I had always admired Sarah as a dancer and liked her as my boss. It was sad that it seemed to be me who had taken her place, and also in such circumstances.

‘Sarah, it now looks as if Alan and I are going to be earning some extra money from giving dance demonstrations in a week or two. I think I should therefore pay you the cost of the breast forms that I’m wearing.’

‘No that’s alright; I’ve already discussed it with Rob. When we get the bill from Joan we will treat it as a legitimate business expense – after all they are necessary for you to fulfil your new role at work.’

‘You might have a difficult time explaining why this should be so to a tax inspector,’ I replied laughing.

‘In that case I hope we are never called on to do so,’ she replied.

At that point the office phone rang and so we both resumed our normal work.

Helen came in to work after lunch and announced that she’d also succeeded in negotiating a sale, which put us all in a good mood.

‘I can see you’ve already started embracing life as Michelle, I do like your flashy nails,’ she said during a quiet moment. ‘I am sure Richard will approve when he sees them.’

I coloured a little and attempted to change the subject.

‘Mum did them for me,’ I replied.

‘So have you told her about the coming weekend?’

‘Mostly, and she guessed the rest.’

‘How did she react?’

‘Remarkably well, in the circumstances. She appeared to take the news quite calmly and just told me to take care.’

‘So are you now willing to acknowledge your femininity and enjoy a girly weekend with me?’

‘I guess so!’ I replied, examining my nails and smiling.

‘Good! Bring an overnight case into work with you tomorrow, and we’ll go home together after work.’

‘Alright, but I still don’t know what I’m going to wear on Saturday night.’

‘I’ve had an idea, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow evening, and if it doesn’t work out we will still be able to go into Luton on Saturday morning to find your something.’

My evening practice session with Alan went pretty well and we ran through my plans for the American Smooth Tango, and had one further go at the tap routine in the Charleston, during which we added a few more steps for Alan as he had been practising hard. This was going to be our last opportunity to deal with any major issues before the next demonstration as, for various reasons, we were both going to be occupied over the coming weekend and for several days during the coming week. After this session we would only have a brief opportunity to go through both dances the following Tuesday. However, by the end of the evening we were happy with the way things had gone.

‘Are we going to need a dress rehearsal?’ Alan asked.

‘I don’t think that we’ll have the time,’ I replied. ‘I assume that you will be wearing my father’s suit for both the dances.’

‘Yes. I’ve seen the dress you will be wearing for the Charleston. Have you decided what to wear for the Tango yet?’

‘Yes, I’m going to be wearing another of Mum’s dresses.’

I showed him the picture of me.

‘What do you think?’

‘Wow, that really looks great. Exactly right for a tango.’

Alan also told me the details that he’d agreed about our forthcoming demonstration sessions in Bristol. In spite of my being a little bit miffed about the assumption of my not being capable of discussing business matters, I was actually quite happy to leave such negotiations to him. After all, he was always willing to leave the details of the dance content to me.

‘The two sessions will use the same music and choreography that we have already worked out for our solo demonstrations of the Foxtrot and the Quickstep so they shouldn’t create a lot of additional work for us although we may need a practice session beforehand. After each demonstration we have been asked to conduct a one hour master class for some of their members. You will coach the ladies and I will do so for the gents.’

‘That sounds alright to me,’ I replied knowing that I have conducted several such classes in the past.

‘In some respects is a pity you’re only available until the end of the year as I suspect they may have been interested in a few more sessions early next year,’ he continued.

I shrugged my shoulders, but didn’t say anything in reply, not wishing to think about the New Year.

‘I’ve already mentioned the fee. In addition there will be one hundred pounds per session to cover our expenses. I think that fifty of that should cover the cost of David’s petrol if he drives us. The remainder can be yours to cover the cost of any hairdos and makeup, you need.’

‘Thank you. So far people have been very generous, but if we are going to earn some money from our efforts then it is only right for me to pay the correct fees. It is surprising how much makeup costs and I may also need to have my hair extensions renewed by that time and I can’t keep expecting Joan to do them for nothing.’

Friday turned out to be an excellent day for me at work. During the course of the morning I negotiated my second ever house sale, although I hadn’t particularly expected to do so. The couple I was showing round had obviously been looking for some time and knew what was available and at what price. They had been just checking up on a few points before making an offer. By the time I had finished showing them round I was surprised that they made a very sensible offer directly to me, which I knew the vendors would be willing to accept. I telephoned Sarah in the office, who was delighted. She promised to contact the vendors and have an answer by the time we all got back to the office. An hour later their offer had been accepted and I began to fill in the necessary paperwork.

‘Congratulations Michelle, that’s our fifth house sale this week, and there are a number of promising enquiries; things are definitely improving.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I wasn’t really expecting a decision straight away. I suppose I was just lucky.’

‘Two house sales in as many weeks, that is more than I was able to achieve when I started,’ commented Helen.

‘Thanks, but the second one was just good luck.’

‘By the way have you brought your stuff for the weekend in to work?’

‘Yes, I borrowed a weekend case from Mum. I’ve packed a nightdress, some makeup and a change of clothes for tomorrow, but I’ve still no idea as to what I’m going to be wearing on Saturday night.

‘Don’t worry, everything is in hand,’ she replied.

Richard arrived back in the office at about four thirty. It was the first occasion I’d had a chance to talk to him about anything other than work matters since he had asked me out.

‘I understand from Helen that I’m now going to be picking you up from her house on Saturday night, Michelle,’ said Rich to me as we were all packing up to leave on Friday afternoon.

‘Yes please, but I could do with a lift back to my own home afterwards, if you don’t mind,’ I replied.

(After all I had no wish to play gooseberry between Helen and her Joe, if things worked out well between them during the course of the evening.)

‘Yes of course, I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.’

He looked as if he meant it.

‘Me too,’ I replied, smiling.

Helen looked on as if she was satisfied that her plans were coming to fruition.

Next time: My Saturday with Helen

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