Why was he here? Why was he voluntarily going to put himself through physical pain and public humiliation? He was a writer for goodness sake, he didn't need the money. He didn't need the recognition. This was all Matthew's fault, he was the one who signed him up for this. Perhaps he could turn back, he could tell them that he never knew that he'd been signed up and that it was all his room mate's idea of a practical joke. No, he hated lying to people like that and he was pretty sure that the company would be less than impressed if he pulled out at this late stage. Nope, he was just going to have to bite the bullet and get on with it. Hopefully he'd be unpopular and be freed quickly but who knew. He supposed he could fake an injury but the again if he was caught at the pub on a Saturday night fit and healthy he'd be in for it. Nope, that was it, he couldn't turn the car around now and he couldn't go back. He couldn't slink back into the warm cocoon of his duvet and sleep the day away. This was going to be his life for a while now. 7am starts and sleepy drives through London. He needed a Starbucks... And fast.
He drove a little further, there was a Starbucks 5 minutes from his destination and he was definitely in need of some caffeine. Pulling into the car park and walking through the door the heat of the coffee shop hit him and he smiled at the delicious smell of freshly ground coffee. Yes, just what he needed on a cold morning. He looked around him, the only other people awake at this time were balding jobaholics and young professionals trying to fit in every extra hour they could to scrape enough money together to pay the rent. Safe to say he didn't miss those days. He smiled politely at the lady behind the counter and ordered himself a Caramel Macchiato with a little extra milk, stirred twice and covered in a dusting of cocoa powder to kick-start his day.
He headed out of the door with his coffee and sat in his car with his newspaper for a few minutes, wondering if he'd have much time for such trivial relaxation over the coming weeks and months. He sipped on his Caramel Macchiato for a little while before he decided he couldn't hold it off any longer and turned the keys in the ignition. The car roared to life and he pulled out of the Starbucks car park.
Sybil sat on the floor with her eyes closed and pressed play again. The room filled with music and she swayed slightly from side to side, visualising the moves in her head. It wasn't long before she was up and about darting gracefully around the room in time to the music. She had worked on this dance for so long and she finally wanted to be able to perform it with her partner. She smiled happily as she pranced around the room until the end of the song. When the song had finished she turned to the window and sighed. She wanted someone better this year. She wanted to have a chance in the competition this year. Maybe this year was her time, every other year she'd been lumped with the guy who had two left feet or someone so old she could barely do the most simple of steps in fear of throwing his hip out. She shook her head and groaned, she'd get another useless partner she could tell. Someone who was probably 104 years old, decaying and moved with a zimmer frame. Why did she put herself through this? She could be doing something that reaped so many more rewards than being knocked out before the competition had even started.
She sighed before turning back to the room before her. Pushing the play button, she broke into song and danced along to the next track.
"Okay Tom, so you understand the whole procedure, I assume you've watched the show before?" asked the woman with a clipboard who was in charge of making sure people like him knew what they were doing and where they should be.
Tom looked sheepish, "I'm embarrassed to say I haven't, it was my room mate who signed me up for this actually!"
The woman smiled kindly, "Well it's all really quite simple. You will be working for 6 weeks before the live shows, so you can learn the ins and outs, then we parade you off to the public!" she chuckled, "Today is the start of those 6 weeks and I'm not going to lie to you, it isn't going to be easy." Tom nodded, he knew that when Matthew had told him he'd be on the show.
"Now" she said smiling, "Are you ready to meet your partner?"
This was the moment Tom had been dreading. He followed the woman down the corridor wondering what his partner would be like. She was probably going to be some pretentious, stuck up little cow who thought she could boss him around. One of those girls that thinks she's way prettier than she actually is. These were his final thoughts when the woman pushed the door open to the studio room and he saw his partner. It took all the power he could muster to stop his jaw dropping and his eyes popping out of his head. He had been so wrong. She was a goddess, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Startling blue eyes like sapphires and the most gorgeous brown curls. She had luscious curves and Tom knew right then that his heart had been claimed by this temptress. All of a sudden six weeks cooped up in a dance studio with one person didn't seem so bad.
The woman smiled and walked over, "Hello it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Sybil Crawley. Welcome to Strictly Come Dancing!"
Just a short one to start you all off! I'm not sure if this story will be very good but all reviews are welcome. For our American friends reading this, if you are not sure what Strictly Come Dancing is it is the same as Dancing with the stars. A programme where celebrities compete against each other with a professional dance partner performing ballroom and latin dances. Anyway, hopefully I'll update soon.