A/N: Hey guys. I'm trying out a new idea for this story. It essentially follows the same storyline of the last story but with a different celebrity, professional, and a few slightly different twists and turns. I hope you guys like it! Review! Please and thank you Vote for Zendaya and Val on DWTS and Derek and Kellie
Chapter 1
From the outside looking in, my life would seem pretty perfect. I had been in several movies, been a host on several shows and a few award shows, and began writing a novel. But my world came crashing down when I caught my boyfriend, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lowe, cheating on me when I walked in on him. I was devastated. For weeks on end I holed up in my little apartment only getting up for the bare necessities. Thankfully, I had taken a month and a half vacation from all work related items and or activities.
When I got the call asking if I wanted to be on Dancing with the Stars, I was surprised. But I quickly agreed because a) I idolized the show b) I needed something to occupy myself and get me out of the rut I was in. when I told everyone, they all thought it came at the right time. When I told my best friend, she told me not to get involved with anybody, especially my partner. I swatted her arm in response, saying that I would never, especially since a lot of the professionals are in relationships. Some have kids.
I woke up much earlier than I was hoping. I was too anxious to figure out who my partner would be to sleep. I had to be at the studio by 9:45. I still had a little less than four hours on my hands. I showered and blew out my hair meticulously. Unfortunately, it only took a little more than a half an hour. Even after I agonized over my hair, makeup, and outfit choice, I still had a whole hour to kill. I decided that I was going to take a power nap so I would have a little extra energy.
Before I knew it, my alarm on my iPhone was blaring. I hopped up from the oh-so-comfortable couch and made my way to the parking lot. I drove to the ABC studios in less than ten minutes. I was the epitome of a nervous wreck. I walked hastily into the lobby and stopped in front of the receptionist's desk. "Name please?" the blonde woman behind the desk asked. "Aria Grey," I barely managed to say as the nerves hit me full force. "Your partner is waiting for you third door down the hall to your right," the receptionist said flippantly. I smiled at her warmly and thanked her. You just have to kill those kinds of people with kindness.
I tried to compose myself during my short walk down the long hallway with some success. I took a deep breath and stepped in the room. I walked into a spacious dance studio with doors to the left and another. For a few moments, my eyes could not focus on anything in particular. That's when I saw him. Our eyes locked, and I was met with brooding green eyes. My eyes slowly swept the figure, taking the figure in piece by piece. Suddenly, I had an epiphany. Holy shit, its Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Omg…..omg…omg…breathe, Aria, breathe. Don't make an ass out of yourself. C'mon it's just a guy…..NO it's not, its VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY the Russian sex god…..dammit, Aria breathe, I thought to myself, warring in my head. Val chuckled.
I looked up and his eyes were smiling slightly and his lips were pursed in amusement. "H-h-h-hi, I'm Aria, Aria Grey," I stammered out of nervousness, my cheeks burning. I was sure he had to of seen it, even through the makeup. "A pretty name for a beautiful girl," Val said. I was stunned for two completely separate reasons. 1) He called me beautiful*cue swoon* 2) His voice. His voice was just plain sexy. He definitely had the New York accent with a Russian accent flawlessly intertwined. "I'm Valentin Chmerkovskiy, but you can call me Val," he said. His voice sent shivers down my spine. As I was about to put my hand out for a hand shake, Val opened his arms for an embrace. I wasn't about to complain. I closed the distance between us and embraced him. I was expecting just a little back pat kind of a hug. Val did a full on bear hug, holding me tightly against his chest. A shock ran through my entire body. I looked quickly up at him to see if he felt it too. He was unreadable. I could feel his abs through the thin, cotton v-neck he was wearing. He looked good in blue. Really good. He even smelled good. I was intoxicating. There was no name for the scent. If his scent could be bottled and Calvin Klein's name was slapped on it, that cologne would sell like hotcakes.
"So how old are you?" Val asked in his silky accent, his eyes focused on my face, trying to gauge how old I was. "Nineteen," I said reluctantly, feeling like I was like a child compared to everybody else. Something in Val's eyes changed, but I couldn't read him. "How old are you?" I asked, unable to recall his age from memory. "It's not important," he deadpanned. I didn't push the age thing any further. It seemed like a touchy subject.
"So, I have the envelope here that will tell us what dance we will have to dance for the premiere. Would you do the honors?" he asked, his mood lightening, as he handed me the gold envelope. "Drum roll please," I announced dramatically, looking towards Val. He began drumming on his thighs. "We are doing the paso doble," I announced, turning the shimmery card with the dance printed on it towards him. "Not too bad. It's good you're an actress. This dance has a hell of a lot of angst in it," he said. "Ohhh, I won't need to act, Valentin," I cooed, lightly tapping his chin. He seemed taken aback for a moment.
He recovered quickly. "So we have three weeks until the premiere. We only need the last week to learn the paso. These first two weeks, I'm going to go over the basics of ballroom dancing and go over the basic steps for most of the dances.
I'm assuming I'm not going to have to teach you how to walk/dance in heels. I'm sure you're used to much higher heels," he says, looking pointedly down at my feet. "I think I've got that skill down," I say, laughing. "Checking that off the list, we need to work on posture. Posture is everything. Not having the correct posture will throw off the entire dance, no matter how amazing the choreography and the rest of the technique might be. And Len is a real stickler on posture. I'd hate to lose points from our score just because we had an amazing dance, but poor posture," Val rambled, his Russian accent slightly heavier due to the speed at which he talked.
For about half an hour Val stood me in front of one of the massive mirrors in the studio. He stood behind me. Using his muscled arms, Val manipulated my wingspan to demonstrate the proper posture. Even with Val supporting most of my arms, they were still getting tired. "No slouching," Val said while gripping my shoulders and forcing them into the proper position. The pulse of electricity never lessened in the slightest every time our skin came in contact with each other. I tried to show no outward signs of feeling the electricity. Once again, his face was unreadable. It was extremely frustrating. I was having difficulty getting the steps down and maintaining the proper posture. I tried to hide my frustration.
"What are you thinking?" Val asked, unintentionally inches away from my face. His heady scent enveloped me. "I-uh-I was trying to figure out how you're not screaming at me right now. You seem so calm," I said, shaking my head. "What are you thinking?" I questioned him, turning the question right back on him. "How impressed I am by you that you haven't given up or complained once," he said, smiling at me.
"How about, for all your hard work, I take you to lunch?" he asked, craning his neck slightly to the right. "Sounds good to me," I say. Val reaches his arm out to help me off the floor. What a gentleman, I thought.