The noise was deafening in the arena, but Derek swore he could still hear the cheers of his family from the benches. Certainly, when he looked across at them they were smiling and he waved his stick in the air in greeting, enjoying the adulation in a way he hadn't ever before.
He had thought he had lost this; the ability to perform on the ice. He had thought this dream was over. It was a relief to find that it wasn't.
The slide (no pun intended) in his on-ice performance had initially started when Casey walked away from his bed that first time, but he had managed to control the deterioration – because he thought that she still cared about him and was doing it for both of them. Even when Casey let him marry Chloe, he still managed to keep it together on the ice; determination keeping him going.
But when Casey had left him a second time because of his "freak" comment, and he thought she was gone for good…that had been hard to come back from.
The improvement had begun as soon as he realised there was a possibility of her coming back to him. In that first game, he had tasted relief.
Now, faced with a future where she was not only going to be present, but also his more than willing partner…his performance soared in line with his ego.
After spending Saturday night with Casey, he returned home and persuaded the coach to let him join the practice sessions full-time. His subsequent on-ice performance had been so stellar that the coach had lost no time in confirming his place on the team.
"Whatever it is, Venturi, keep doing it." The older man insisted.
"I fully intend to." Derek replied with a smirk, almost wishing that Casey could hear the comment for the roll of eyes he knew she would wear.
After the mid-week game, the girl concerned called him as he was on his way from the locker room to the press call, letting him know she had been watching the game in her hotel.
"Wow Derek!" She started. "I don't think you've ever played like that before. I'm impressed."
"Yeah well. Different people have different pre-game rituals which improve their performance. Evidently, mine is incest."
"Ha ha. You're such a wit."
Derek smirked as he punched a door open and walked towards the stairs. "Sorry was that you acknowledging my talents?"
"The only talent you have Derek is for falling on your feet."
"You know, sweetheart, I'm sure you were appreciative of some of my other talents on Saturday." His voice had dropped to a murmur, but Casey heard every word.
"Okay. I'll admit it." She sighed. "We're very…compatible."
"I can remember a time when you would die rather than admit that."
"That was a different sort of compatible, Derek. Teenaged Casey was…"
"…a prude." He completed.
"Well I'm not a prude now."
"No. You aren't. I didn't know you knew some of the words you gasped on Saturday."
"I've been around hockey players too long Derek."
"Oh?" He frowned. "What other hockey players have been leading you astray?"
"Only the ones you know about."
"That's half of Canada. Just exactly how experienced are you?"
"Only you, Idiot. You know that."
"Do I?"
"Derek, don't you think it's a little hypocritical to question my sexual history in view of your own? How many women have you had sex with?"
"Less than you think and I've only made love to one."
"Yes well, making love and sex are synonymous in my book. And the answer, for me at least, is one."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"Caveman."
"Are we back to this branding your ass, crap, Case?" He smiled. "I think you'd look good with DV on your butt."
"Only if you put 'Casey Woz ere' on yours."
"Tempting. Might be difficult to explain in the showers after my game is though."
"I'm sure you'd cope."
Derek reached the conference room which had been set aside for the post-game interviews.
"I gotta go. I love you."
"I love you too, D. Well done tonight. I was very proud of you."
"Thanks. I'll see you Saturday."
"I'll be the one in the Venturi jacket." Casey said, but Derek didn't take it in.
"Wife versus Sister – Heat exclusive.
The people around the Venturi love triangle bare all.
Casey McDonald by her exes.
Chloe Venturi by her first husband.
How do the two important women in Derek Venturi's life measure up?"
As much as Nora hated the concept of tabloid magazines, she almost felt compelled to purchase a copy so that she could tell what the leeches were saying about her daughter…and which of Casey's ex-boyfriends they had coerced into dishing.
Instead, on point of principle, she stood in the magazine section of Wal-mart and flicked.
By the time she reached home, she was seething.
"Just who the hell do these journalists think they are?" She questioned George as soon as she burst through the front door.
George looked up from his papers, laid out on the table.
"Have you been reading the gossip mags again? You know Casey warned you not to."
"George, this is my daughter they are writing this stuff about." Nora objected.
"Yes. A daughter who doesn't seem at all phased by it at all."
"How could that…that…female do this to her? She's turned Casey into a sordid tabloid story."
George snorted. "You know why she did it. It's because Derek chose Casey over her. She feels scorned."
"That's ridiculous. You don't ruin someone's life because your husband fell in love with them."
Her own husband sighed. "Nora. I hate to say this, but speaking from the sharp end of family law…that's exactly what people do. The issue here is that Chloe has more clout and can ruin Casey more publicly. Derek was an idiot to get involved with her."
"With Casey?"
"No. With Chloe."
"So Derek…does this mean the old charmed Venturi is back?" The interviewer asked Derek as the camera zoomed in for a close up.
"Let's hope so, eh?"
"What do you put your new form down to?"
Derek shrugged and smirked. "The love and support of all my family. Good home-cooked meals...a bit of an emotional closet-clearing." He turned to the camera and laughed. "Releasing a few skeletons! Oh! And the right kind of exercise."
The interviewer chuckled. "What no… "love of a good woman"?"
Derek grinned. "I said the right kind of exercise."
He winked…and walked away.
Casey rolled her eyes at the television screen, but there was a definite smile on her lips.
The door to the communal area opened, and Trevor entered. He caught Casey's eye and jerked his head towards the door. Seeing that the television interview with Derek was over, Casey stood and followed him to the door. Once outside, she turned to Trevor and Harriet who had appeared beside him.
"Catching up on your Derek-fix?" Trevor teased.
"Just seeing what he was saying about me."
Harriet chuckled. "Oh? It didn't seem to me that he mentioned you at all…or was I missing something?"
Casey said nothing but all three of them laughed.
"It was all about you, wasn't it?" Harriet exclaimed. "Everything?" Her eyes narrowed. "So what did he mean about exercise?"
Derek's girlfriend widened her eyes in an exaggerated fashion.
"I couldn't possibly say."
"Well there's no way you've been doing the dirty. You've been holed up here for weeks."
Trevor shook his head at Harriet's naivety. He looked about him and satisfied they were alone, whispered. "Casey McDonald…have you been sneaking Derek Venturi into your room?"
Casey pushed away from the wall and started to walk to their rehearsal room, looking back over her shoulder as she did so.
"No comment." She beamed at their startled faces.
"I heard a rumour…" Luan started, on Friday morning. "…that Chloe is wearing a white cat suit tomorrow."
Trevor smiled. "Casey's wearing satin hot pants."
"Did someone change the theme for this week to the seventies while I wasn't looking?" Luan complained. Harriet laughed.
"No. Definitely not the seventies. If it's any consolation, Casey's wearing an evening dress for her song."
"Tell me it's something that I don't have to wear ear plugs for. Chloe's singing Toni Braxton."
Harriet looked at her in horror. "Please tell me that it's not "Un-break my heart"."
Luan smiled. "I wish I could."
"Urgh! She definitely doesn't have the voice for it."
"For what?" Casey asked, coming into the room, coffee cup in hand.
"Chloe's singing "Un-break my heart.""
"I used to like that one…till George started singing it every time Mom got a twinge when she was pregnant with Robbie." She glanced at their un-comprehending faces. "Braxton-Hicks is the technical term for the false contractions women sometimes get in late pregnancy." She explained. "Unfortunately, my step-father got a little too involved in the birth of his last child. He became a walking encyclopaedia of child birth and useless facts. He also developed a "sense of humour"." She said the latter with air quotes. "He thought it was amusing to sing Toni Braxton and believe me…he definitely doesn't have the voice for it."
"So what are you singing?" Luan asked.
"Luan. Have I told you a song in advance yet?" Casey asked with a smile.
"No."
"Well then." She smirked. "You'll just have to wait like everyone else."
"Aw. Spoilsport. And here was me about to tell you that I'll pick Derek up so that he doesn't have to park in that dodgy lot again this week."
Casey laughed. "In that case, you can hang around for the rehearsal and I'll give you his cell phone number so that you can let him know. Just…whatever you do, don't tell him what dance and song numbers I've chosen."
"Why?"
"He wants a surprise." Casey replied with a shrug.
Trevor snorted. "And a surprise he is definitely going to get."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the penultimate round of "Stars with Hearts"! And have we got a show in store for you. We are down to just four contestants and tonight we will choose the three stars who will go through to the live final next week. This week, we have the exciting theme of Music of Black Origin, which I'm sure gave everyone a great range to choose from. Looking back stage I've seen some amazing costumes and heard some interesting warm ups.
In a change to the normal routine, this week we will start with the song section and finish with the dance section. So without further ado, let's see what our stars have been up to this week."
The presenter turned dramatically to the large screen behind him where the videotaped summary of the past week's rehearsals was to be shown.
The video would give little away. Both Chloe and Casey's teams had learnt early on to practice moves without music or to work on other exercises when they were being observed. Today's video included the dress-fittings as well, although whilst Chloe was shown being fitted for her cat suit, Casey had been fortunate to be trying on her evening dress when the cameras intruded on her.
Some of the stars and their teams waited backstage for the video to finish, fidgeting nervously. Casey was surprisingly relaxed. She leaned up against the wall in her long elegant evening gown, its high side splits revealing shapely legs and it's custom-fit clinging expertly to her curves.
"You look stunning." A voice said softly in her ear. "Do I get to take that off you later?"
Casey pulled a face and turned to regard her partner. "No. I've got a different outfit for later. You wanted a surprise, remember?"
Derek cocked an eyebrow, glanced around and pulled her behind a piece of stage flat.
"How about I maul you in it now?" He suggested.
"Oh coz that would look fantastic when I go on." She said sarcastically. "Instead of seductive I'd look ravaged."
Derek kissed her carefully. "I'll be gentle."
Casey kissed him back. "I won't." She said softly, and their eyes smiled at each other.
But then she straightened and pushed him away.
"I'd rather not make the front cover of Hello with a picture of us making out backstage. Let's save that for later. Have you still got your key?"
"Yup."
"I'll see you upstairs then." Casey said in dismissal and started to move away.
"Where are you going?" He asked quietly.
"To surprise you." She said, grinning.
Chloe went first with her rendition of "Un-break my heart". She was wearing some sort of designer rag dress and she had left her hair un-brushed and wore no make-up. The strange thing was that whilst on Casey the look had worked, because everyone was so used to seeing Chloe look perfect the contrast was not only dramatic but also rather hideous. Casey had been perfectly imperfect, Chloe looked…wrong. And it wasn't only her appearance. Harriet appeared at Casey's elbow halfway through the song.
"I told you she couldn't sing this." Harriet murmured in Casey's ear.
"She sounds okay to me." Casey admitted. "Not great, but…okay."
Harriet chuckled softly. "Yeah. It's amazing what auto-tuning can do for an average singer."
"Auto-what?"
"Auto-tuning. It's a process whereby they take the raw sound passing through her mike and use a computer to adjust the pitch and correct mistakes before the processed sound is passed to the speakers."
"While she's singing?" Casey asked in astonishment.
Harriet nodded. "Normally it's used in the recording studios but it can be used for live performances too."
"Have you ever used it on my voice?" Casey had to know if they had "helped" her along."
"You don't need it hun." Harriet said. "You can sing."
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
The audience clapped and cheered Chloe's performance, and then it was Casey's turn.
She made her way onto the stage, her glittering shoes poking out from the long black dress as she walked towards the bar stool centre-stage. A spotlight shone on a group of musicians off to one side, and the deep seductive sound of a slapped bass began to play.
"Never been no fragile flower…" Casey sang, the blues guitar punctuating the end of her first phrase like a comma. "…I've always got too much to say."
Glancing toward the wings, Casey caught Derek's eye. He was smirking at her words.
"Never had much luck with romance. I guess it's always been that way.
But I've been seriously thinking about slipping on the velvet gloves.
Give me a sign, let's not waste anymore time, Coz what we got here is true love…yea!"
Casey clicked her fingers as she sang, enjoying the blues rhythm. Rehearsals this week had been great fun – both for the singing and the dancing. Harriet had brought the blues band in a couple of days early and they had jammed for a while. Casey had decided she would have to stay in touch with the group after this was over and make arrangements to have a session with them again.
"When I wake up every morning, you're the first thing on my mind. This is a permanent condition, of the most serious kind…" She carried on singing and Derek's eyes never left hers.
"That didn't surprise me." Derek murmured as she passed him on her way off stage. Casey raised an eyebrow. "The best is yet to come." She said…and winked.
AN: There's a big scandal over here at the moment on our X-Factor where they have revealed they use auto-tuning. The public are not impressed. Apparently, it's been around for twenty years.
Casey's song is "True Love" by Pat Benetar. (It's on you tube.)