The Perfect Couple (7 page)

Three weeks later

“Are you ready to do this?”

Cara nodded as Daniel squeezed her hand, looking up at the auditorium building nervously. After receiving their “ticket” to move on to the next level, they had waited another three weeks to finally come out to Los Angeles, where the entire competition would be filmed. In those three weeks, she and Daniel had worked hard on their routines for every genre of music, not quite sure what to expect once they got to California and started the competition.

Together they walked inside the auditorium building and handed their remaining paperwork to the waiting production team members. From there they were ushered into the auditorium and told to take a seat among the other competitors, who only filled up about five rows in the massive auditorium.

“Not many competitors, are there?” Daniel muttered as they took the last two seats on the fifth row.

“No, which means it will be tight competition with less people to kick off,” Cara replied, remembering her near disastrous audition. She had nearly messed it up for the both of them and that thought still haunted her at night.

It wasn’t long before the judges from their audition walked out on stage, the group breaking out into a smattering of applause.

“Welcome, contestants, to ‘America’s Best Dancer,’ couples edition,” the choreographer announced. “I am Marie and will be one of the judges for this competition. I will be critiquing your choices in routines and how well you work together. As you probably already know we will be nationally televised during a four-week period with five couples going home at the end of every week. Each couple will be given their challenge on day one, with two days to perfect it before all couples will dance. We will then pick our favorites and our least favorites. The least favorites will dance off in a genre of our choosing that you will not know ahead of time.” She then smiled as the group whispered around Cara. “This is to see how well you think on your feet as partners. If your partner does poorly, then you both go home.”

Cara swallowed hard and gripped Daniel’s hand, thinking of how she almost failed them both. There would be no second chances this time. She would have to compete at the same level as he did since she struggled in the audition or they both could be going home.

Marie continued, “I hope you chose your partners well. Your accommodations are with the hotel directly across from here. All of the practices and routines will happen right here on this very stage. All of you have signed disclosures preventing you from talking to anyone outside of this production. If you do, you will not only be sued for breach of contract, you will be asked to leave the competition immediately. Do you understand?”

The second judge stepped up and Cara recognized him as a premier name in the ballroom industry, appearing on numerous dance shows as a mentor to the dancers. “I am John. I will be critiquing your dancing styles as we go through the competition. Do not be late, do not be sick, and do not try to dance injured. If you do anything to embarrass this production or your fellow competitors you will be gone. We expect professionalism out of you all.”

The last judge stepped forward, a wry smile on his handsome face. “I’m Mike and I will be judging your music selections and the way your entire routine comes together. I expect excitement, fun, and something unique in your dancing. We have all seen what you can do, now blow us away with what we haven’t seen. Push yourself and your partner to the limits. That will get you in the finale.”

“Now,” Marie announced, clapping her hands. “This is your first test. Two days to practice and prepare, one day to consult with a judge then you perform. We will make the first week easy for you. Prepare a two-minute hip-hop routine. No other dancing types, no routines that you have already shown us. We don’t want transitions, we don’t want mainstream dance routines.  We want unique, got it? See you on Wednesday.”

A collective groan went through the crowd as the judges walked off stage and Cara turned to Daniel, an edge of panic in her voice. “Hip-hop? Really? Couldn’t they start with something just a little bit easier?”

“It will be fine, Cara,” Daniel grinned, though the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We got this. All we have to do is perfect your steps and we will be fine.”

His words didn’t make her feel any better as the production team moved them into a series of dance studios, divided by a partition to allow two couple contestants to share the same space without seeing what the other was doing. Cara set down her bag and placed her hands on her hips, surveying the area. To her, it looked like hell with mirrors. She was so tired of seeing a studio and though she had spent much of her life in one, the pressure of making it, not letting Daniel down, was making her start to loathe the space. “So, here we are.”

“Here we are,” Daniel echoed, placing his hands on her waist, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he saw her expression. “Don’t be so uptight about this, Cara. We know what to do and all of the practice we have put in will be to our advantage.”

“I just wish I had an ounce of your confidence,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her insides were churning something fierce at the thought of being eliminated before they really got started with the competition. Her livelihood depended on whether or not they could win this competition and she suspected her relationship with Daniel did as well. How would he be able to look at her if she was the reason they went home? How could she stay in New York with him and pull her own weight in terms of finances? Daniel pulled her close and Cara nestled against his chest, feeling the steady heartbeat under her cheek. There had been very little closeness between them the past few weeks as they had prepared for this, eating, sleeping, and breathing dancing until she thought she couldn’t take much more of it. Cara couldn’t help but revel in the fact that he was actually touching her, holding her again.

“Trust me, Cara,” he was saying, his hand rubbing circles in her lower back. “This isn’t the end of the world. We just have to take it one day at a time, okay? We can do this, I know we can do this.”

Cara nodded, some of the tension leaving her body as he continued to touch her. She could do this. They could do this.

***

“Ugh I hate this dance! I swear to God I never want to do any kind of hip-hop ever again!”

Cara giggled as she and Daniel packed up their gear, hearing the constant whining of the couple on the other side of the wall, the female apparently fed up with their progress. She could relate to her frustration. She was tired of going over and over the steps that she clearly didn’t enjoy doing, her frustration starting to show in her dance moves. It hadn’t helped that the camera crew had made a surprise appearance in the midst of their practice, urging them to continue on as if they weren’t there. Yeah right. Cara couldn’t imagine anyone not noticing the glaring light on the camera, or the way the cameraman made sure to pick up on every little word that she and Daniel had discussed. At least no swear words had escaped past her lips. Not that she hadn’t wanted to cuss a time or two.

“I wonder if the camera is on you now,” Daniel said quietly to Cara, causing Cara to giggle once more, some of the tension lessening. She and Daniel still got along fairly well after a frustrating practice unlike the couple behind the wall. It did seem like the couple was a bit drama prone to say the least and she would have hated to be partnered with either one of them.

Together Cara and Daniel walked out of the room and to the front of the auditorium, where they were told to gather promptly at six p.m. In fact, a gong sounded just as they were finishing up, clearly letting them know that the production intended to keep them on schedule as well. After a few instructions on what time to return in the morning, the couples were escorted across the street to the luxurious hotel that would be their home away from home for the remainder of their time on the show. To Cara it looked like heaven.

“Girls with me. Guys with him!” one of the production assistants yelled, motioning to one elevator. A collective groan went up as some of the couples realized they would be forced to split apart, including Cara. She had hoped that this could be a time for her and Daniel to reconnect, to spend some time together working on their relationship, but apparently that was not the case.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Daniel breathed in her ear, pressing a kiss on her cheek. “Remember the rules and don’t get yourself kicked out in the meantime, okay?”

“Ha-ha, same to you,” Cara smiled, giving him a quick squeeze. He winked and she was forced to climb into the elevator without him. This was going to be a long, long four weeks if they made it to the finale.

***

“So, how long have you been with your partner?”

Cara looked up from her dinner salad to see a blond girl plop in the seat next to her, a winning smile on her face. “Um, three months?”

“He’s such a hottie,” she said, looking across the room where Daniel was standing with a group of guys. “Are you like an item?”

“I, yes,” Cara said as the jealousy flared in the pit of her stomach. She could see the want on the woman’s face as she ogled Daniel shamelessly to the point where Cara wanted to push her out of the chair to keep her from staring. Ugh, jealousy was horrible. “We are.”

“Too bad,” the other woman sighed, reaching out her hand. “Hi, I’m Julie. I think we are roomies.” Cara remembered the girl now. When she had dropped off her stuff by the room, there had been a girl seated on the bed, rapidly discussing something on her phone. Cara had given the girl her privacy and retreated to the shower, but by the time she had emerged from the bathroom, the girl was gone.

“Cara,” she answered, shaking her hand lightly. “What about your partner?”

“Oh we are cousins,” she laughed. “How fortunate you have your boyfriend as your dance partner.”

Cara nodded as she looked at Daniel, wishing that she could completely say she was ecstatic to have Daniel as her partner. She was grateful of course, that he was willing to put his life on hold to help her out, but their relationship was suffering a bit as a result of their all-day practicing. She couldn’t remember the last time he had actually touched her that didn’t have to do with the competition or with dancing. Where were they going in their relationship?

“I believe your routine is strong, but Cara, you really need to work on your footwork. Daniel can’t carry you throughout the entire routine.”

Cara blew out a breath as she looked at Mike, their mentor judge who had come by every day to check on their progress. Cara and Daniel were in their assigned studio, working on their new routine, and she feared that she wouldn’t be able to learn to dance the routine perfectly in time. More specifically her dancing was what she had feared, just plain bad. She was the weakest link. “Yeah okay. I will work on it.”

Mike shook both Cara’s and Daniel’s hand and left the studio room, the camera crews with him. “Well, that just means we have to push you more,” Daniel remarked, his hands on his hips. “I think timing is your problem.”

“I think the idea of me having to do hip-hop when clearly I am a ballet dancer is the problem,” Cara forced out, leaning against the wall wearily. “Face it. They are going to eat us alive, Daniel. They know this isn’t my strong suit.”

“Then you have to show them otherwise,” Daniel said, throwing up his hands in the air. “I mean, come on, Cara. Get off the pity party and bust your ass like I have seen you do. Show them they are wrong.”

Cara bit her lip at Daniel’s harsh words, thinking that his words about her dancing were wrong. She had been trying, she had been busting her ass but her moves just weren’t as smooth as his were.

“You are letting them get into your head,” he continued, grabbing her shoulders, his eyes piercing into hers. “Shake it off and move on, Cara.” He then grinned, kissing the tip of her nose. “Come on. I know you can do this.”

Cara sighed and pulled out of his reach, running a hand over her face wearily. She was already struggling and the competition was just getting started. “Fine. Let’s do it again.”

“That’s my girl,” Daniel said as he moved to the MP3 player sitting on the speaker dock. “Let’s show them what we are made of.”

***

Cara bit her lip as she watched the couple on the stage currently, throwing down some moves that she could only wish that she could do. Today was the day of reckoning, the first competition where the teams had to be on point or would be in danger of being the least favorite and forced to do dance-offs in which the couples would have to go head-to-head with each other to stay. After their meeting with Mike, she had poured her heart and soul into the rest of the day, her bones aching from the brutal routine Daniel had run them through over and over again.

Still she did feel a bit better about their performance. Once she cleared her mind, the steps came easier, though not as perfect as Daniel’s. They had a chance at this.

“Ready?”

Cara looked at her partner with a weak smile, taking in his handsome, carefree face. “As I will ever be.”

“You’re gorgeous and I am proud of you,” he whispered, his hand snaking around her waist and pulling her close against him. “Whatever happens, Cara, remember that.”

Cara sighed inwardly as he let her go, thinking that she was so damn lucky he was her partner, and her boyfriend. Daniel was a really great guy and she couldn’t imagine anyone else she would want to go through this competition with. She also didn’t want to disappoint him so the pressure was just a tiny bit more on her part.

“Cara and Daniel, you’re up.”

Straightening her spine, Cara walked out on stage and took her place, giving the judges her best smile.

“Your two minutes start as soon as the music starts,” John the judge said, nodding to the person in charge of the music. “Good luck.”

Cara took a deep breath and moved to the beat, the entire routine running through her mind as she forced herself to smile with each step. They didn’t have to be flawless, but good enough to pass through to the next round. Daniel’s steps were sure and on point. Cara followed the music with Daniel’s voice coaching her in her head.

Before she knew it, the music had stopped and their two minutes were up. A rousing applause followed and Cara realized that there was a decent crowd out in the auditorium, something that she hadn’t paid attention to when she stepped out on stage. At least they weren’t booing them so that had to count for something.

“Great job, you two,” Marie said, a smile on her face. “Cara, I know you have struggled with the hip-hop, but I must say I see improvement in your steps.”

“Thanks,” Cara breathed, glad that they weren’t throwing them right out of the competition immediately.

“I agree,” Mike added, pointing at Cara. “I had my reservations about you this week but you have proved that you belong here. Great job.”

Cara gave him a winning smile as Daniel pulled her into a warm hug. “Great job, babe,” he whispered into her ear before letting her go.

“You two can go into the blue room and await your results,” John said.

Cara nearly skipped off the stage as they exited, laughing as Daniel swept her up in a big hug. “You were fantastic! You were amazing!”

“And I would be nothing without you,” she added as he framed her face with his hands. “Thank you for pushing me. I think we are okay.”

“I think we are moving on to week two,” he grinned, kissing her softly before pulling away much to Cara’s dismay. She wanted him to kiss her longer, to pull her into a dark corner somewhere and make her feel things. Cara had half hoped that not only would they work on this competition, they would also work on their relationship. Cara sighed and realized that Daniel was looking at her expectantly, his hand outstretched her way, and she blushed, wondering if he could guess what she was thinking about.

She took his hand and together they walked to the blue room, where a few of the other couples awaited their fate after performing. Cara clung to Daniel’s hand as they sat in the provided chairs, watching the door and waiting as more couples came in, the tension in the room palpable. Though they had gotten high marks, Cara wasn’t sure if they were in the good room or in the bad, as she had not seen the other competitors dance. It would have at least been nice to see what they were up against in this first match. She could just hope that they were good enough to move on.

After what seemed like forever, Mike appeared at the door, his facial expression giving nothing away to what their fate might be. “Congratulations. You are the highest-scoring teams. You have made it to another week.”

“We made it!” Daniel shouted, pulling her close. “We did it.”

Cara grinned and hugged him tightly, grateful tears in her eyes. They had done it. She had overcome her reservations about hip-hop and they had pushed through to the next round.

“I’m also here to deliver your next challenge,” Mike said above the cheers and congratulations. The room quieted then and Cara anxiously awaited what he was going to tell them. “Tomorrow you will spend some time in the city, enjoying the sights, but the next day, we expect you to begin working on the samba. We want it hot, we want it sensual bordering on the need to censor you from TV. The other couples who have made it out of their dance-offs will be joining you all shortly. Now there are only fifteen couples left. Make it count.”