Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns any Twilight characters that may appear in this story.
A/N: The lovely and talented Ditte was my Danish Beta. She is just a blast! Seriously people, you need to meet this person!
I revised the chapter in May 2011 - nothing major, just punctuation and typing errors - and me getting a hold on the am/pm definitions…
~o~
Chapter 2.
BPOV
"So, still no change?" I ask the poor guy lying on the sofa.
"It's marginally better now, but it's only been a week since the day you took me to the doctor," he sighs.
Jasper's apartment is a mess. Pizza boxes and Chinese takeaway cartons everywhere. Books, magazines and DVDs show how he has been spending his recuperation so far.
Right now he's staring at a fixed point on the ceiling, his hands grabbing the back and the seat of the couch as if he would fall of if he let go. Must be especially bad now.
Poor Jasper. Only a little over ten days of crazy dizziness and still a long way to go, according to the doctor we consulted last week.
It was kind of scary to witness, though. The beginning of it. My band mate and good friend had gone from rock solid and athletic to tumbling over and falling down in a matter of a couple of days. According to Jasper the world just started to tilt and rock like a great boat sailing on a sea of very high, very slow waves.
Until the doctor reassured us it isn't serious, I was worrying about neurological diseases, brain tumors and other terrifying ailments. Jasper had to go through the usual head injury tests (I know them, being incurably clumsy and hitting my head at least once a year). After wriggling his toes, touching his nose, touching his thumb with his other digits (very easy for a great bass player like Jasper), getting his knees hammered on, he was reassured by the physician that it was nothing neurological.
As it turns out, my otherwise healthy friend had been utterly defeated by a common virus to the inner ear. Rendered completely useless for the time being. Poor Jasper moves and looks remarkably like a fall down drunk. His balance is completely off and he's following the walls or moving from furniture to furniture in order to get from the couch to the bathroom.
"I can almost sit up straight again without holding on to the chair," he scoffs.
The dizzy spell must be wearing down a little, because he's carefully getting himself to a more upright position on his couch.
Apparently there's no cure. No twisting of the head or antibiotics to take in order to make it go away ("No, that's for inner ear infection, not this virus!" Said the doctor to a disillusioned Jasper).
Jasper just has to wait it out. Taking walks, training the balance and 'calibrating the brain' for the new way, his sense of balance is working. Or not working right now as is really the case.
Which means: "No gigs for a month or longer still!" Jasper was almost sobbing at this point.
"So, can I get you anything before I head out?" I ask standing up from the recliner in Jaspers living room.
"No, I'm good. Thanks. Rose made enough sandwiches to feed an army earlier today. They're in the fridge." Having his twin sister living close by is proving to be helpful. Even if she is having trouble getting up the few stairs, seeing as she is so very, very pregnant now.
"I've got Luigi's on speed dial and they are givin' me a discount. Heh, small blessin's…" He starts to roll his eyes, but thinks better of it. Must be making the world turn a little too much.
"The delivery guy also learned to wait a while for me to answer the door. I had trouble getting' through the door to the hallway yesterday. Damn door frame kept jumpin' in front of me!" He gingerly rubs his forehead remembering. Looking carefully, I can see a red mark where he just rubbed.
I stifle a giggle. I really try not to laugh at the thought of Jasper getting sea sick in his terrestial home. If it wasn't so frustrating for him, it would be hysterically funny. Who am I kidding? It is hilarious! Jasper's laid back demeanor is not really as cool, when he has a slightly green complexion and is holding on for dear life to what ever sturdy furniture is within reach.
"Headin' out to the studio?" Jasper looks a little envious, even if my gig really isn't anything he would ever consider.
I nod "Yeah, I'm picking up Emmett on the way."
"How is workin' for a network of that size?" Maybe he isn't envious, maybe he's just bored.
"Oh, the band is its own little world within the show. Eleazar is really great. That's a lot of musicians he's got to keep in check. Emmett isn't making it easy for him either. He just has to do his Animal The Muppet impersonation at least once a day." Jasper laughs at my description of Emmett's usual shenanigans.
"But so far I'm really happy that Emmett talked me into this." It has only been five days, but I like the new experience of working in a big orchestra like that, doing covers of all kinds. The musicians in 'the Starlighters' are a diverse flock. Lead by Eleazar on keyboard and other instruments, we are more than fifteen people of all ages and origins. Both geographically and musically. All genres are represented. But it's fun and thrilling - as well as exhausting - having to rehearse and perform more than ten new songs every week.
Emmett got me the gig. With half of our band on leave - Jasper on behalf of falling down and Rosalie about to have her first baby - we both had the opportunity to do something else.
Our little band normally consists of Emmett on drums, Jasper on bass, Rosalie on lead guitar and supporting vocal and me as the lead singer and on supporting guitar.
Jasper's the natural leader of the band. He writes most of our songs and does the arrangements. He's a perfectionist in the recording studio, which is annoying but gets the job done and he's something of a sex symbol to the female fan base, even if he hasn't really caught on to that fact himself. He's tall, lean and very handsome in a young, blond Johnny Depp kind of way. When he isn't, you know, toppling over, he's quite graceful and charming. When we where kids, he was Emmett's best friend (well, still is) which meant he was my friend too, so now I can't see past the snotty kid he used to be. So, handsome or not - charming or not - Jasper is like a brother or another cousin to me. I love him, but I knew him when… So… Ick!
Jasper follows me to the door on wobbly legs, telling me to send his love and sandwich induced gratitude to his sister, when I pick up Emmett. Rose and Emmett have been married a little over two years now and are living in a nice house in Upper Suburbia. The band's debut album did okay and the second, which hit the market one month ago, is shaping up to do well too, even if we have been neglecting to promote it properly due to the circumstances. Only a couple of smaller concerts and performances on a few TV shows were possible with Rose's ever growing belly behind her guitar. She gave up on the jobs only four weeks ago.
That was when Emmett signed up for the season with the band of that dance show. When Jasper had to resign to his sick-couch for a while, we gave up on the last few promotion appearances and I was persuaded to join Emmett and the TV studio band.
Just as I'm about to leave, Jasper just has to ask. "Did you meet any of the stars yet? The linebacker? The model? The wrestler?"
"Well, I saw them all at dress rehearsals yesterday. But I haven't talked to any of them yet. You should definitely watch the show tonight! The actor, Edward Cullen, is wearing a lilac shirt with huge sleeves! Priceless!"
"Hey! Not fair! I liked him in 'Face Punch' and was really lookin' forward to that Buddy Holly movie, he's in next year!" Jasper pouts.
"I think you've been watching too many DVD's this week, Jasper," I note as I hug him goodbye. "Be good and call me if you need any help or a real meal this weekend. Okay?"
"Okay. Have fun and don't let the stars dazzle you none!" Jasper waves.
I bark a short laugh at the very idea. I happen to know for a fact, that Edward Cullen puts on his black sequined dance-slacks one leg at a time just like any other mortal.
Even if he is really, really, really, ridiculously good looking. With those 'Blue Steel' pouting lips and slightly frowning eyebrows, the carefully disheveled hair, the muscle-defined arms and the cuddly ass - albeit wrapped in black sequins.
No, even for all his deliciousness Bella Swan does not get star struck, dammit!
It's not that I believe him to be in a different league or in a higher sphere or what have you. No, it's more like, a man like that - what we see in the movies or the photo shoots - is someone not in the same dimension as me. More fictional than real.
So I just study his perfections from a distance, enjoying the opportunity to appreciate the view, but never even consider the possibility of any interaction with this person. I might as likely meet Mr. Darcy at Costco for all I know (he would be wearing a wet shirt, naturally)…
~o~
Watching Emmett fold his huge body into the passenger seat of my tiny Volkswagen is always a treat. You wouldn't think it was possible, but here he is! Drumming lightly on his knee, that is almost at my eye level, he's looking out through the windshield at the sun baked city's mid day traffic. Like I said; he's huge. But disarming in his appearance too with curly, brown hair and blue eyes. He gets these adorable dimples when he smiles - hugely, of course - and often.
"Nervous?" He asks, referring to tonight, which will be my first live show. It's the sixth show of this season, but I only just started. I have two solos and one duet with the other singer/rapper, Laurant. I also sing backup for the chorus of another song.
My favorite solo tonight is the Cindy Lauper hit 'Time after Time', which we perform for one of the rumbas. Actually it's one of my all time favorite pop songs, but I will not admit to it to anyone. I'm trying to look way cooler than someone who cries over an eighties pop ballad.
Actually, actually it's the very rumba, that said lilac-clad Edward Cullen is dancing to with his gorgeous, tall dance partner.
"Yeah, a little nervous, but more excited, you know?" I answer, thinking of the music.
"Hey Em, I watched the first shows! How do the producers react to your little extra 'comments' via the drums?" (Yes, I air quote. Like I said, I'm not really cool) I just know Emmett's been waiting for me to ask.
He sniggers (Yes, even huge Emmett can snigger. It's just a little bigger, the snigger). "They secretly love it, and they tell me that, when the judges aren't around." If you watch the show, you'll know what I'm referring to.
We had successful dress rehearsals yesterday, so when we arrive at the studio, there isn't more to do than final sound check, make up, hair and wardrobe.
The band members relax, tune instruments, lounge in the backstage area and eat from the caterer's table of sandwiches, fruit and pie. I warm up my vocal chords, singing softly while sitting in the hair stylist's chair being pampered into something a little more glamorous.
"Hey, I know that voice!" Says the woman in the chair next to me. "We have been dancing to a recording of you this entire week!"
It's the tall dancer. The gorgeous, professional dancer who partners with Edward Cullen. She's having her light brown, almost honey or caramel colored hair shaped into sexy, wavy curls, pinned away from her face, while tumbling artfully down her neck almost to her shoulder blades.
"If you mean the rehearsal CD we recorded on Tuesday, that would be me. Hi, I'm Bella." I study her features in the big mirror as I speak. She's not really pale or ivory like me, but not exactly tan either. Certainly not spray on tan anyway. She's a pleasant light honey-colored complexion. Eyebrows only slightly darker than her hair. She's already heavily made up for the show, but underneath it all is a natural, sensuous beauty, that I envy in all my own awkwardness. I think she's a little older than me - maybe in her early thirties?
Her fish net stocking clad legs seem endless as they are stretched out beneath her robe, her feet are in comfortable slippers, understandably. She's tall, maybe 5'8?
"I'm Kate!" She says. "I really like the way you sing our song in that recording. So simple and clean. With feeling, longing." She has an accent, but I can't place it.
"We kind of built the choreography around the lyrics being about longing and a little sadness. If you sing it that way again tonight, it will really make the whole thing come together, I think." She's looking straight at me with an open, earnest expression.
"Oh! I'll try to keep that in mind, then." I reply frowning a little, chastising myself for not asking the dancers how they would like the songs to be interpreted.
"You'll be fantastic! And our collected efforts will be the talk of the evening. You just wait and see." She gestures grandly and winks at me confidently.
~o~
I'm really enjoying myself during the show. Being able to just sing while not in the limelight is a nice change from promotional tours and concerts with the band. Emmett is in his element! He's found a way to amuse us all and be the class clown between the routines. When the judges are giving their comments, Emmett elaborates with 'badum tchhh' for the bad jokes or uses the bass drum portraying a pulse to go with comments about sensual movements or sexy outfits. A well timed 'ding' from the triangle is the best joke of the evening, but you probably had to be there. It cracks me up every time and the audience loves it!
The final act of the show, before the voting starts, are Kate and Edward - and me!
They walk - nay float - onto the dance floor as the first chords start building up for a slow rumba.
I close my eyes and focus on delivering the lyrics with simple honesty. Keeping it understated, letting each note linger a little, as if I can't let them go.
Lying in the bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new
Flash back to warm nights, almost left behind
A suitcase of memories, time after -
Sometimes you picture me, I'm walking to far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear what you've said
And you say, Go slow.
I fall behind
The second hand unwinds
At one point during these first lines, I open my eyes and see the couple turning, intertwining and moving with grace and a warm glow of passion. Focused on each other with expressions of love and longing like sweethearts saying goodbye to each other or reminiscing lost love with welcomed pain.
Bittersweet.
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
They separate but find each other's hands again, Edward lifting Kate into a beautiful spin.
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Kate falls backwards in slow motion into Edward's left arm, leaning back into his embrace.
Time after time
He moves his right hand caressing her cheek, down her neck, over her breast before grabbing her waist.
If you fall, I will catch you.
I will be waiting.
She hugs him and he lifts her into another spin, their embrace passionate.
Time after time.
He kneels and lays her gently to the floor.
Time after time.
He lifts her head by cupping her neck and kisses her throat.
Time after time…
My voice is now all but a whisper.
The music chimes out. The audience roars as the dancers stand back up - Edward pulling Kate up gracefully - and they hug before moving over to the judges' table for their critique.
The first judge, Esme, has to wait a few moments before talking as the applause is ongoing. Esme actually has to wipe under her eye before beginning.
"Edward! Honey!" She exclaims and clears her throat. "Before I go into the technical details let me say this: Great song choice! Absolutely perfect. You really delivered some emotion and told a story with this routine. Look at my arm! Goosebumps! Wow!" The applause reemerges.
I look at my own arm. Goosebumps. Check. Tearing eyes. Check. Funny feeling in chest. Check. Wow. That was - different. I mean, I've felt this way with the band at our own concerts, of course. Sometimes things just - click. And the sum of it all is more than just the parts combined. I really didn't expect to feel that way here, tonight.
"I see Kate has taken my advice from last week, letting you use those acting skills and get into character. I was captivated!" Esme praises on.
Captivated. Yeah… I sure forgot everything around me except them - well him! I mean, anyone who's seen any one of his movies know that he is handsome. Hot, really! But seeing him dance like this not twenty feet away! Not a pansy at all, lilac shirt or not. He is all man with those thick eyebrows, green eyes full of expressions that angular jaw (oh, the jaw!) and his tall, lean frame and wide shoulders. His full lips are stretched over a huge grin right now, taking in the judges' praise. I'm feeling all kinds of tingly. He is very charismatic, I muse. Well, huh!
Laurant elbows me in the ribs and I look up. There's a spotlight on me, the judges are beaming at me and Heidi is giving me the thumbs up. I realize that they've also commented my singing and the present applause is for me. The familiar heat of blushing washes over me but I try to ignore it, smile and take a little bow.
"Well, it certainly was an improvement from last week's disaster." the pompous judge, Aro, intrudes. Your lines are getting better, Edward, and your posture is on its way towards decent. Your footwork still needs a lot of work, your toes are still too outward bound…" Aro rants on while Emmett makes tumble-down sound effects on the drums. Heidi, the other female judge, shakes her head vigorously so she must be disagreeing with Aro. "No, no, no!" Heidi interrupts. "There were long moments where I had trouble seeing who is the pro and who is the beginner! Well done, Edward. And well done, Kate for teaching him and for that lovely choreography! One of the best of this season!" I chuckle with the rest of the audience. The judges are a colorful bunch.
The dancers turn to leave the floor lifted by another thunderous applause and some whoops and cat calls. For Edward, Kate or both, I'm not sure. Kate winks at me conspiratorially as if to say "I told you so!" If she wasn't so beautiful, confident, graceful, curvy, sexy and intimidating, I would really like her. Who am I kidding? I like her! She reminds me of Rose. Maybe a little more outgoing than Rose, but that is not a bad thing, really…
Edward just looks, well, relieved, grinning from ear to ear! I hadn't noticed he was nervous. He just seems so cocky all the time. Leaving the dance floor now he seems - adorably young. Huh!
They receive really good grading from the judges. Laurant whispers that they tied for the season record with Sam and Leah's quick step last week. Edward and Kate are in the lead tonight.
I try to collect myself quickly, because we're going to play end credits and I have to sing the theme. "Dancing with the staaaaars!" I try to croon to match Laurant.
We'll have a break for forty minutes before going back on air with the viewer voting results to see which couples get to dance for another week, and which couple doesn't.
Kate finds me in the break room. She grabs my upper arms in a victorious gesture and kisses both my cheeks with loud smacks. See what I mean by intimidating? Yeah…
"I knew it! I knew it would work!" She practically yells into my stunned face. "Am I a genius or what! Thank you, thankyouthankyou!" Then she starts to rub my cheeks, laughing to my complete bewilderment. Until I realize she probably left lilac lipstick there with the lipsmacking.
I make weak attempts at swatting her hands away, laughing myself and Emmett's roar of a laugh is booming right next to me.
"Rubbing shoulders with the stars, already, Swan? I'm impressed!"
"Hey, it's the funny drummer guy! I'm Kate! And you're right! I am the star of this show." She introduces herself, smirking, before I get a chance to do it. See what I mean by outgoing and confident? Yeah…
"I'm Emmett!" He looks delighted. Loving the tall, beautiful, intimidating women, Emmett is.
They shake hands, firmly it looks like.
"Sorry. Gotta run back to make up for touch ups! Can't seem to keep the lipstick on for more than a few minutes at a time." Kate remarks. I wonder why.
Watching her skip away, I can't stop replaying my inner video of how she moved on that dance floor. Maybe the dance training is what gives her so much confidence and presence when she moves. I'll talk to her about that if I get the chance. I'm longing to get rid of some of my awkwardness and clumsiness when I see someone like Kate.
Maybe I need to calibrate something, like Jasper…
~o~
Of course, Edward and Kate get enough votes to breeze through to the next round along with Sam and Leah. So I don't get to sing my favorite song again tonight. But I am thrilled for Kate's sake. She seems really passionate about dancing and this show.
The Dancing For Survival is performed by two couples; Irina and Felix up against Lauren and Tyler.
So I don't need to perform any more, as both songs are sung by Laurant. Lauren and Tyler are dancing a jive and I enjoy watching Emmett do his thang to the up beat number. Gotta love the oaf. The camera catches him too. I think Emmett is doing to this act, what I apparently did to the rumba. I'm so glad we at least still get to work together while the band is on hiatus.
In the end Lauren and Tyler's jive gets them through to the next show while Irina and Felix have to say goodbye. Felix sobs audibly and Irina looks like she just swallowed something very unpleasant.
Now only four couples remain. Another two regular shows and then the big finale. They all have to learn two new dances before next Friday. It must be grueling.
~o~
At the after the show party, Kate finds Emmett and me again. She's wearing a silk robe over the lilac sequins that pretend to be a whole dress but fail enticingly. Her feet are back in the slippers and I totally empathize her reasons as I am still wearing the obligatory to the band members heels.
We talk pleasantly over drinks for a while. Kate tells us that she's been on the show at two earlier seasons but this is the farthest she's gotten with a partner. Apparently you usually only get teamed up with footballers or basketball players when you are a tall woman like Kate. She is blissed out this time for getting a partner who can read sheet music. Hell, she would have settled for one with just a bit of rhythm. I am greatly entertained by her stories of trying to teach the cha cha to someone who couldn't clap to the beat if his life depended on it. "I'd had better chances dancing with a wall," she laughs.
"Well, probably, ''cause you walk like you have got your own choreographer'!" I sing, then giggle. I crack my self up after two spritzers.
"Well, I am 'some kind of superstar' like I told Emmett here." She strikes a pose.
"I would love to be able to move like you do!"
"Pffht! I can teach you that! Easy! Come to the dance studio next week, and I'll teach you to twist that firm little body of yours."
"You'd do that?" I ask, ignoring the compliment. I'm thrilled I don't have to ask.
"Sure! Having you in our corner already paid off. Let me return the favor a little!"
We're quiet a while, people watching in mutual silence. There's plenty to look at. Sam Uley, the wrestler is towering over everyone. He's part native American and awe-inspiring in size. Still he moves quite effortlessly on the dance floor and is the impersonation of calm contentedness. It shows in the way he's dancing. He is the essence of cool.
Lauren Mallory is another 'star' to be gazed upon. She's a has been supermodel with a one-film actress career. She's bleach blonde, visibly botoxed some places and surgically enhanced in others.
"What's she like?" I nudge Kate and indicate Lauren with a head jerk.
"She's uh - what's the word? - skinger…" Kate mumbles the last word to her self. "Um there's a great word in my language for her type, but I can't completely translate. I know there's a word in English but I can't remember. Ugh, annoying. It's because I'm tired. Skinger means high pitched, off pitch. Hurts the ears. Screechy? Is that a word?"
I chuckle "I think I know what you mean. So your accent? It's kind of British but - not. Where are you from?"
"Denmark. Lundgren is a Danish name." She pronounces the name very differently than the presenter on the show does. I don't think I can make noises like that.
"Is Kate a Danish name? Isn't it short for Catherine?"
"Well, usually it's short for Catherine or Katrine as it would be in Denmark, but my name is really Katinka. I just changed it when I moved here. Katinka Lundgren was just too much to ask of you poor Americans," she laughs heartily.
I'm tempted to ask her to say her name again. It sounds like the Swedish chef on the Muppets would say her name.
"How long have you lived here?" I ask instead.
"Umm, three.. No, four years now. And before that I lived one year in London."
"May I ask why you came to the States? For work?"
She smiles mildly. "No, there's plenty of work in Europe. I followed a guy here. My dance partner then." She waves dismissively. "But it lasted only a few months. He was useless. He moved back to England when we broke up. I, however, fell in love with the climate and the people! Who knew?" She beams at the collection of people in the studio. Celebrities, producers, technicians, musicians, stylists, designers, dancers, waiters and caterers. Some flock to be in love with!
"It was great to meet you, Bella! I have to go soon. Just after I make plans with Edward for next week. We'll be busy as never before. But you'll come? So we can make you move like a goddess! How about Tuesday? We've booked a gym not far from here. Give me your phone number and I'll text you the details."
"Um, yeah. Yes, of course!" I recite the numbers. She doesn't write them down. Says she can remember long enough until she finds her phone.
We part ways for the weekend but not before Kate remarks: "Speaking of accents: Edward does the best British accent! Spot. On! It's hilarious! And hot! Oh my!" and then she flitters off.
When she's gone from view I start looking for Emmett. He's wandered off during the somewhat girly conversation Kate and I had. I'm tired and slightly tipsy and I want Emmett to take me and my car home. He doesn't mind since he's chronically DD with the baby coming any day now.
Looking around I spot a tall man; the other tall man that is not Emmett (jeez I'm beginning to feel like a lilliputian in the land of the giants! (Which is called Brobdingnag - Why yes, I am a nerd and proud of it.)). Edward is in deep conversation with two people I don't know. One of them is another tall man (of course), his long, sandy hair tied back at the nape of his neck. The top of his head is only a few inches below Edward's copper streaked fray. Both men are leaning down, apparently mesmerized by the presumably elaborate tales coming from the third party of their gathering. It's a girl - no a tiny woman (thank god, a fellow lilliputian) - with short, spiky black hair. I'm no fashion authority, but what she's wearing looks expensive. Her story must be action packed because she is practically bouncing to enlarge her hand gestures.
Edward Cullen looks - well - amazing, but that's not surprising. I mean he's been in the top ten of People's 100 Most Beautiful People for two years in a row now. Same magazine and other tabloids have him pegged as a notorious playboy. Never seen with the same woman twice. Typical!
Listening to the little woman, he's wearing a smile that is different from what I've seen on the show or the movie screen. This smile is not flirtatious, mischievous or cocky. This smile - this expression - is friendly, open, happy… Adorable. Oh boy! I think I'm in trouble.
I make a deal with myself. I will not crush on movie star Edward Cullen, playboy, like a teenager. That would be the fastest way I can imagine to bitter and single.
To appreciate from afar is okay, but to fall in lust is not. No, I decide that the movie star is off limits. Thank God it will not be hard to keep him there. It's not as if we'll be in closer proximity of each other than before…
I'm pulled from my musings by my phone buzzing to signal the incoming of a text message. It's from a new number.
Told you I would remember your number. C u tuesday. 5 pm ok? - Kate.
Then the name and address of a gym.
A little metaphorical bell has been metaphorically ringing in the back of my mind since talking to Kate. She said "we" numerous times, didn't she? Did she mean herself and her dance partner? Her dance partner Edward Cullen? The off limits Edward Cullen? That I might meet in a secluded space?
I gulp.
~oOo~
A/N: The song is Time after Time by Cindy Lauper. I hear Bella's voice in my head as Eva Cassidy sings it. You can google it. Or you can check out the play list on my profile. There you'll find links to all the songs.
Bellas reference. "'Cause you move like you've got som kind of choreographer!":Superstar by Christine Milton. Link on my profile.
It was a big 00's hit in Europe, but the lyrics were different in the US. So Kate would get the joke, but Bella shouldn't know it from anywhere.
Thank you for reading, sweethearts.
Please review.