Chapter 2

He inclined his head a fraction in greeting and returned to his fixated glare at the walls. Clara could tell he was a lot more unapproachable and independent than the rest of them.

'Which line of dance did you do before?' Jack inquired further.

'Contemporary and lyrical type of dances, mostly ballet though.'

He chuckled briefly. 'Brilliant. I've always wanted to become a ballerina.'

'You'd suit the tutu.' John commented coldly again, a Scottish accent she hadn't noticed earlier now blatant.

'Are you sure you've signed up to the right gig? We do every type of dance except ballet.' Rory laughed.

'My instructor told me to try something new, I've already done every type of ballet dance in the industry.' She said confidently. Rory seemed impressed, which boosted her esteem a little bit with all these new people. She was sure she would eventually fit in and gain them all as friends.

'Right,' Donna clapped her hands together, 'we're going to do our partnered dances again, start practising for the show. And you, Mr Disco,' she advanced toward John, who groaned. 'Are going to keep up with the judging. You can start dancing again next week, now we've found you a partner,' she smiled at Clara, who was quite literally shocked. She hadn't known she would be partnering up with anyone, much less for a show. She mostly did solo pieces, and out of everyone there it was just her luck to be paired up with the grouchiest of the lot.

'Can't I just start to work? I'm the one doing the most dances.'

'And you're also the best, so you need to take a break.'

John's mouth twitched almost to a smile. He seemed to think he was, too.

'Fine.'

He immediately strode out of the room, and she watched his retreating figure with a fascinated intrigue.

Donna finally turned to her, after ordering everyone else to different studios.

'Right, Clara. I'm afraid you won't be able to start properly dancing until next week, when John is done with his casting. You can have a wander round, watch some of our coupled dances, they won't mind. Leaving is fine for lunch or you can eat in the lounging area, whatever you call it. You don't have to come back in for the rest of the week if you don't want to, but it gives you good time to become familiar with this place and it's people. Have you done many partnered dances?'

'A few, a couple of years ago now. I've mostly done solo work, in stage ballet productions like Swan Lake and Nutcracker. But I'm actually very new to these dances.'

'Well, that's fine. Hopefully you'll learn a lot in the next four months running up to the show. You're the first permanent dancer to join this group in a while. Most people just audition for our big shows, where we need extra dancers, which is what John is judging for now. We mostly just do small performances, just the 12 of us. Now you're here John finally has someone to dance with! You've both gone solo for a while, so it will be interesting to see what you'll do together.'

'Aren't you a dancer then?' Clara asked, suddenly realising her arrival had taken them up to an odd thirteen.

'Well, I used to be, but I'm just the instructor here. Had a major back injury a few years ago, and while it damaged my chances of dancing again I couldn't give it up, so I became the director instead.' She explained.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, no, no, it was a long time ago now. I mean, not that long ago. I'm not old. I don't look it, do I?'

'No, of course not.'

'Ah good. John likes to scare me by saying I'm getting almost as grey as him.' She laughed. 'Well, I'm looking forward to having you on the team, Clara,' she gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, 'I'm sure you could educate us in return with lyrical and ballet dances.'

She grinned again at her, still very friendly and left Clara by herself. She examined the room, a small table and a scatter of chairs, a rack of old costumes and a small desk with paperwork she assumed was Donna's. She watched a few dancers, Jack and Ashildr mostly, working on a Charleston. Clara was very happy watching them, picking up a few techniques she hadn't explored and generally enjoying the enthusiasm and charisma they gave to the dance. She ended up back at the stage, which had called to her from the very beginning and was far too enticing to resist. She opened the door to find John sitting in the middle row, slumped down in his seat and looking bored out of his mind. As she drew closer it became apparent that he was actually asleep, his head nearly touching the papers he had in front of him. She leant over his shoulder to peer at them, a list of names, some with crosses through them and some left blank. Clara knew this was the auditions for the extra dancers. She decided to leave him there peacefully, when his head suddenly lolled back to expose his long neck, revealing the stubble under his chin that lead down to his Adam's apple. His lips were pressed closed and his body gave the impression he wasn't even breathing. Clara hastened her exit, backing out of the row, which apparently was the best time for him to wake up with a growl. His head fell forward, reaching down to his chest until it snapped back and his eyes were wide open. His eyebrows furrowed and his angry expression only increased to irritated.

'What are you doing?' He accused, rather sharply.

Clara was shocked at his aggressiveness. She hadn't come across someone like him for a very long time.

'Uh, nothing. Wandering around.'

'Well, don't wander too far.' He said, his head falling promptly in his hands. He kneaded his head in exasperation.

'I hate this. I've got so many people to write off and watch again.'

'What are you doing?' She persisted. Of course she knew but for some reason she felt the need to keep talking to him, whether rude or not.

'Selecting dancers for our production. It's rather tiring work.'

'I can see that.'

He suddenly looked up at her, his intense gaze making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She had no idea how they were going to dance together.

'Why have you suddenly upped your sticks here with no experience in this type of dancing?'

'Because I've only worked on ballet, and my instructor told me to do something different.' She repeated again.

'Why?' He questioned. His face was such that it appeared to be looking for an answer but couldn't find one.

'Because I'm good at ballet.'

'You mean that you were the best. Everyone had to rise to your competition.'

He had it spot on, and yet she felt modest about it. Nodding, his mouth twitched upward to form a sort of smile.

'No need to be bashful about it,' he told her, noticing her silence, 'I've had that too.'

'Are you really the best in this place?'

'I like to think so. Donna only admits it when she wants me to do something. Have you seriously never learned a tango or a salsa, at least?'

She shook her head, watching him laugh at her response.

'This will be interesting.' He concluded. He chuckled again. 'I'm gonna gave my work cut out this year.' And with that his head banged against the table and he made no other signs of life or noise.

Clara turned and walked out, leaving him alone. While she was a little insulted at his sarcasm and disregard of her previous experiences he seemed like he could teach her well. Time would only tell.