First Encounter (A Perri Kiely story)

Chapter 8

It was the day before the Christmas special. Perri was grateful it wasn't a live show, he was already having nightmares about falling spectacularly live on air. He had just finished a panto matinee and was on his way from Southend to Bovingdon. Somewhere around the M25 he found himself daydreaming about the conversation he had with Ash the other day. Why did he think there was something between him and V? She had a boyfriend, a huge one at that. He did not fancy getting on the wrong side of Rory from the look of him. He had thought his ice skating partner gorgeous when she surprised him at one of the Born Ready shows back in September, but when he discovered she was seeing someone he pushed the disappointment and those thoughts so far out of his mind they orbited space. And he admitted to himself that all those hard practice sessions were much easier without feelings getting in the way. Panic gripped him suddenly. Was Laura single? How could he find out? Did he want to? He pulled out his phone, opened Instagram and looked at her profile again. He had memorised every photo. There didn't seem to be a significant other on her grid. His thumb hovered over the follow button, but he did not tap it. The downside of being famous is that everyone analyses your every move. He didn't want to frighten her off by having a legion of fans message her asking how she knows him well enough for him to follow her. He opened one of her video posts, she was a gymnast and could tumble perfectly. He smiled as he thought of the Tiktok videos he could make with her.

As the car pulled up outside the studios, he reluctantly clicked his phone off and put it away. He got out of the car and thanked his driver. He headed straight for his room and opened the door. He could smell pastry and sure enough, two large Pain Au Chocolats were in a paper bag on his desk. They were still warm. He smiled, feeling all warm too... Vanessa. He tucked into one as he kicked off his trainers and pulled out his skates. He finished the last bite of the first pastry and washed his hands in his sink and put on his skates. He would keep the second one for later to replenish the thousands of calories he was about to burn.

Vanessa had just finished a vlog entry when she spotted Perri entering the rinkside. She flicked her camera back on and skated towards him. "Here he is, ready for practice." She announced. Perri smiled weakly at the camera, he always seemed a bit shy when she was filming. She turned off the camera and put it down. He'd had enough of being filmed she guessed as all week he had been doing piece to cameras and interviews. "Are you ok Pel?" she asked. He smiled, she knew he liked it when she called him that. It had been a while before she stopped being really formal with him.

"yeah, I'm good, just a bit nervous," he admitted. "Thank you for the pastries" he added.

"You're welcome! Let's practice again, it will make you feel better, we'll do your Christmas intro and then we'll have a go at your week 1 routine ok?" She told him, it was less of a question and more of an instruction. She grabbed both his hands and pulled him on to the ice. She looked down at her hands as his much larger ones swallowed them. She would never tire of that image. "Ready?" He nodded and skated off into the starting position. Vanessa nodded at the sound man who started up their music, Wish you a Merry Christmas, and Perri smoothly skated towards her, twirling into a wide circle, she mirrored him and the circle got smaller until they met and he picked her up in a double rotational lift, setting her back down gently, enabling her to spin on the spot and finishing with both arms in the air towards the audience.

"That was PERFECT I don't know why you're nervous" she beamed. She had never had such a talented celebrity in the three years she worked in the competition. She was looking forward to some days off during the show if he picks up her choreography that quickly.

"Are you sure?" he asked frowning. "I think I look a bit silly when I spin" he whined. Vanessa looked over to the chairs and saw he had a small audience of his own, some of the production crew, mostly all women, had sat down to watch.

"What do you think?" Vanessa shouted to them.

They all cheered and clapped. Perri looked up to smile at them and nearly slipped over.

"Whoops! Don't do that tomorrow!" she laughed. She noticed he was bright red. "Relax, you're NOT gonna do that tomorrow!" she tapped his chest lightly, 'where did that fright come from?' she wondered.

She managed to get through some of her week 1 routine, but his wobble had clearly given him a shock, he could barely focus, and kept looking back at the now empty chairs where the women had sat. 'He performs in front of thousands of people at his shows so it can't be stage fright surely?' She thought.

Perri needed a break, he skated over to the side of the rink and held his stomach like it was in danger of exploding out of his body. Laura has just watched him skate. He straightened his glasses with a shaky hand and took a couple of deep breaths. It was weird seeing her laugh with her colleagues he was used to her being shy and reserved. He liked that she was outgoing, remembering that he had made her laugh a few times. He looked around the rink in case she was still there, but the place was empty bar a few engineers working on their equipment. He looked back at Vanessa who was skating up and down watching him. She looked worried, he mentally kicked himself for not being able to hold it together when he saw Laura. What if she's in the audience tomorrow? He shook his head clear of any more panic inducing thoughts and returned to Vanessa on the ice.

"Let's go again." He commanded, picking her up by her waist and skating to the back centre of the rink. He set her down on the rubber kerb and stepped up to stand next to her. Vanessa turned to protest at being picked up like she was a shopping bag but saw the steely look of determination on Perri's face and decided he needed this. She indicated to the soundman in the booth to play track 1 and they went through the entire routine without a single mistake.