Perfect Strangers

Foxtrot Week

The past few weeks had been full of ups and downs for Team Fiovanni. Their Viennese Waltz had gone pretty well and in the end, they had been top of the leaderboard alongside Ashley. In the following week - movie week - they had probably created an iconic moment with their Quickstep that had put them straight to the top of the leaderboard. 

But then Rumba week came. 

Faye had struggled with the Rumba all week. She struggled to remember the choreography, had made countless mistakes and was so angry with herself each day that she truly began hating the Rumba. Giovanni wasn't the biggest fan of the Rumba either and sadly, it showed. In the liveshow, they made clear mistakes that the judges pointed out and nearly caused Giovanni to start an argument with Shirley. Their score hadn't been the best either - it had been the same score they'd gotten in the first liveshow so not a bad score but... they landed in the middle of the leaderboard. And then the hate on social media started.

In the interval, Faye read through the comments, getting more sad with each word. People saying how happy they are that 'the ringer messed up' or mocking her for not managing the choreography perfectly. Others wondered, in a mocking manner, how a 'dancer' can mess up such an easy dance. Faye was about to write back that this dance had been far from easy but knew that this would cause even more backlash. She knew they had to focus on the upcoming dances now... if they would get through. 

Gladly, they hadn't been eliminated although Tess and Claudia had decided to let them wait a fair while. Straight after the show, Faye went partying with some of the other contestants. She hadn't seen Giovanni when being at the bar but didn't care, instead she'd been dancing with all sorts of cast mates, at some point they'd been singing Steps songs as karaoke. It had been early in the morning when Kate - who seemed like being about the only one who didn't get drunk - told everyone to go home and rest before rehearsals would start again. 

The upcoming dance was a Foxtrot - much to Giovanni's delight. A Foxtrot usually worked out well or him and his partners and the song was brilliant as well... he looked forward to choreographing it, already having an image for the staging in mind too. 

But then Faye called him the morning of the first day back at rehearsals, saying she caught the flu. She sounded truly unwell. "Sorry Gio" she says with a barely audible voice, "I'm- I've got a fever and am pretty dizzy. I've been throwing up a few times as well. If I feel better in the afternoon, we can..." she stopped for a while and it almost sounded like she dropped her phone, making Giovanni worried, but then she continued to speak, "If I'm better this afternoon we can rehearse for a bit okay?"

"No Faye, relax today. Can I get you anything? I'll come over, yeah?" he asks but his dance partner had already ended the call.

Giovanni sighs before packing his stuff again. It definitely wasn't what they needed now, last week already had been enough of a mess but they couldn't change it now. What matters now was that Faye was well again soon - he felt sorry for her because she already had been so upset after the Rumba and thanks to Aljaž he also knew that Faye had been rather tipsy at the aftershow party. He wrote a quick message to the camera team, letting them know that Faye was unwell and wouldn't come to rehearsals today, meaning the camera crew didn't need to come to the studio today. After that, he drove to the shops to get some supplies; buying soup to make, tea, and a cereal bar. He knew his dance partner likely wasn't in the mood for food but he knew she was crazy about these cereal bars. He planned to buy flowers, then realised how it'd come across, so he bought a keychain with a ballerina on it instead. He knew Faye hadn't got a car and therefore the only key she had was the house keys but maybe it'd put a smile on her face.

He drove back to the hotel, walking through the hallway to Faye's room and hesitating before he knocked, hoping she wouldn't be rude or anything. But as she opened the door, Giovanni truly felt sorry for her. His dance partner looked slightly more pale than usually, she obviously had no makeup on and had a tired, faked smile.  "Oh hi..." she whispers. "Sorry I'm not ready for rehearsals yet."