First Encounter (A Perri Kiely story)

Chapter 11

The time between the Christmas Special and Week 1 of Dancing on Ice was a blur. Somewhere in there was Christmas, New Year, Radio shows, Panto performances and ice dance rehearsals. Perri had increased in confidence a little more since he received great judges' comments and lots of praise from his fellow contestants after the Special show. He even agreed with Vanessa that he looked good when he watched it back. But he had also read the tabloid reports of the show fans accusing him of having an unfair advantage. He felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. If he was too good, it was unfair, if he was rubbish, he would be ridiculed.

At least panto season had ended, he had no time to even talk to Laura let alone take her out again and she had gone back to her family home for the holidays. He had slid into her DMs on Christmas Eve and their back and forth messaging hadn't stopped but it was snatched at night just before he went to sleep or when he woke up in the morning. But he was desperate to see her again.

Vanessa still hadn't admitted she was having relationship problems with Rory. Everyone assumed they were lovey dovey she just didn't correct them. She thought maybe Perri might change if he knew she was soon to be single. Maybe she would change how she saw Perri if she admitted that to herself. She remembered Jordan telling her that Perri had been asked out at the pantomime stage door by over 150 women during their show run. She had many questions about that like, why did he count them? Did Perri say yes to anyone? Why on earth was such a gorgeous guy single anyway?

She watched him now in the rink joking with Maura and Joe and wondered how someone hadn't snapped him up and locked him away. He wasn't her normal type, she had always dated classically handsome men with chiseled jaws and Abercrombie and Fitch clothes. But Perri's street style suited his cheeky personality. She noticed that just because he wears track pants and trainers doesn't mean his clothes are bargain basement. She googled his Balenciaga trainers and nearly choked when she saw the price tag.

One of the floor managers called for her and Perri to go to wardrobe ahead of their dress rehearsals. They dressed separately and Vanessa took a lot longer because her hair and make up required more effort. She was wearing a formal suit, a female version of a tail suit. She wasn't over the moon about not wearing one of her usual girly sparkly dresses but she trusted the design department. She headed out to the empty training rink, it was a lot noisier than usual, because there seemed to be quite a crowd in the audience section. Perri skated in and the volume in the rink seemed to increase.

She thought he looked stunning. His suit made him seem even taller than usual and the cut of the jacket showed off his lean figure perfectly from his muscular chest to his long, long legs. She had never seen him smartly dressed and she loved it. It looked like all the staff had come out to watch them practice. She really hoped that Perri didn't get another bout of stage fright this time.

Rehearsals done, and Perri didn't wobble but Vanessa was just as worried. He was very quiet all of a sudden. She tried to catch his eyes but he used his height to look right over her head and avoid eye contact altogether. He disappeared shortly after that, leaving her wondering what she had done.

Perri felt sick with nerves again, just like he did before every Diversity show. He hated the feeling of dread that overcame him in the hours before a public performance. He headed to his room without talking to anyone. He closed his door and felt relief when he heard the click of the lock. He washed his hands, added some more soap and washed them again. He checked his lucky socks, even though he had put them on a little while ago. He looked at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath. He called his mum and asked her to wish him luck, then he called his dad who didn't need to be asked he just came right out and said it then told him to come out and meet them, they were in the studio audience. He paced a little bit in his room which seemed to be shrinking. He grabbed his keys and left the room. He found his Diversity family who were taking their seats in the front row, he spudded every single one and hugged his parents. Starr complained that his fist hit her hand too hard. He barely touched her, he just needed to complete this ritual. Ash knew this and had waited until he was spudded before he made his way to the judges area, he shouted out over his shoulder.

"Pel V will be looking for you."

"I'm going" he said in a clipped tone. The rest of the group knew to leave him be and just watched as he removed his skate guards got on to the ice and made his way to the training rink.

Vanessa seemed to spend an awful lot of time worrying about someone who she knew was an excellent beginner skater. She couldn't shake the feeling that although he knew the routine inside out, maybe he would suddenly forget some steps, why else would he go awol, and be weird. She really missed his sunny personality. She went over the routine in her head to mentally prepare for any improvisations she would have to make. She was an expert at covering up celebrity mistakes and no one ever knew the routine had gone badly wrong. She then pulled out her phone and started vlogging to occupy herself, the training rink was full of celebrities and their pro partners. Putting on her best smile, Vanessa greeted some pro skaters, she talked about everyone warming up, she talked about her costume and how she was getting last minute adjustments to it. Then it just came out.

"I've no idea where Perri is..." she couldn't hide her worry completely, but she tried. She then spotted him heading towards her slowly and gripping the rail. It didn't put her mind at ease at all. No time to figure out what was wrong with him, the show was starting.

When it was their turn to get into position, she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, he returned the squeeze, she winced a bit as his grip was a bit too hard, but she wasn't going to let him know that and add to whatever was going on in his mind seconds before their performance. She heard Holly announce their names, the rink went dark and the drums deafened her ears then the jaunty orchestral music started up. They jumped in perfect unison and smashed out the routine, he plucked her off the ice easier than he ever had in rehearsals, his smile was dazzling as he balanced her on his knee and grinned at her. They twirled at exactly the same time, they danced separately as if they were veteran pair skaters. Perri finished off with a superb back handspring. The audience were on their feet as they roared their approval. The judged loved it too, and they were top of the leader board with 27.5 points What a score for week 1. Vanessa had no idea what his issue was but it certainly disappeared when it counted. She jumped up forcing him to catch her and wrapped her arms around him laughing. "That was brilliant Perri!"

"Really?" he said grinning. Something caught his eye and he promptly dropped Vanessa back on to the ice.