Sway with Me

Chapter Thirty: This Year's Love

“Two things were revealed this week, Isabelle’s midriff and your talent… I am telling you that is the way to start a semi-final, if you can do your next dance to that stand you will be going through tonight,” Boris said as he smiled at Cristiano and Isabelle.

The couple had just completed their opening dance of the semi-final and had received a stand ovation.

Cristiano grinned as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, he had spent the week working hard on the Charleston and while it hadn’t been easy; he had put his everything into it.

Pilar chuckled and nodded her head before she dismissed the couple, Cristiano laced his fingers with his girlfriend’s as they left the dance floor and headed off to the lounge; they still had another dance to do later on in the show and Cristiano knew that it was going to be a long night.

There were only five members left on the show and two would be dropped in a double eviction that night before the top three progressed to the final.

Cristiano hoped that he would do well enough to make it to that stage, he had worked hard and he knew that because of Isabelle, he had become a new person.

The red head hugged Cristiano as soon as they stepped into the lounge, she was so proud of him and she couldn't bring herself to care about what sort of results they got now.

“Nine,”

“Ten,”

“Ten,”

“Ten,”

were announced as the scores were revealed, making Cristiano sigh in relief; he knew that scoring well with the judges now would be good for when they danced later on.

The couple waited until the next couple took to the floor before they headed back to the dressing rooms so that they could change and prepared for their second dance; Cristiano swallowed as he thought about what would happen if he didn’t get through to the next stage.

***

Stepping onto the dance floor, Isabelle took a deep breath as she realised that things were starting to heat up; she knew that they had to do well here if they wanted to make it to the next round.

The couple were dancing a Viennese Waltz to This Year's Love by David Gray and standing side by side as they waited for the band to start; they both took a deep breath as the music started to play.

Cristiano took Isabelle’s hand as the piano started playing before the two of them took a step forward and looked at each other with a smile on their faces.

Spreading their free arms out, Isabelle and Cristiano carefully glided through the steps of their routine as they spun around and swamped sides.

Isabelle twirled around in front of Cristiano as they slipped into an easy hold, the footballer dipped her slightly as the singer started singing the song.

They turned several times before they started to glide about the dance floor, Isabelle had worked on what Cristiano knew about the Slow Waltz to help him with this one; she had known his strength with that dance and had worked on his weaknesses for this one.

The two of them covered the dance floor completely as they waltzed around the floor; Cristiano stayed in hold perfectly as they danced knowing that he had to make this count.

They moved towards the middle of the dance floor, Isabelle balanced gracefully on one foot as Cristiano held her balanced perfectly.

Before they moved back into a neat starting position as the song paused for a moment, people clapped as Cristiano’s fingers stayed laced with Isabelle as they waited to start back up again.

The singer started singing again making the couple move back into hold, Cristiano dipped Isabelle slightly again before they moved around the dance floor in a similar way as they had done before.

Cristiano twirled Isabelle one final time before they gracefully bowed to one another as the song came to an end; the audience clapped and cheered for the couple as they hugged knowing that they could do the best that they could do.

“You are wasted on the football field Cristiano… you are such a talent guy, that was exquisite. It was confident, it was effortless, it was beautifully played out,” Aída said as she smiled at the couple, Cristiano wrapped his arm around his girlfriend as they stood before the judges.

He knew that whatever happened he had tried his best and he hoped that he could make it through to the next round.

“The footballer and the show-girl, the romance unfolding in every each step, it was perfectly played out and it had class and it had romance, it had style, I’m telling you… you are dancing royalty,” Santi said as he smiled at the couple; he could see that they were the perfect couple and that they had done so well to make it this far in the competition.

Isabelle smiled as she felt Cristiano hold her close, she knew that he had worked hard for this and she knew how competitive her boyfriend was and she knew that it worked for this competition.

“It was a slightly odd Viennese Waltz for me, it was despondent, it was melancholy… but I thought that it was an interesting take on it. This was gorgeous to watch,” Víctor said as he nodded at the couple, Cristiano and Isabelle smiled knowing that they were warming him up.

“It was all beautifully executed, lovely natural turns and lovely sways, beautiful sway of the body, take him to the final,” Boris said making the couple grin at one another.

Isabelle nodded at the head judge knowing that they had done so well, a few weeks ago the footballer hadn’t been able to dance and now he was taking the ballroom by storm.

Pilar nodded her head as she smiled at the couple before she sent them up to the lounge, she was surprised that someone like Cristiano had made it that far; she had always assumed that he would go out of the competition in the first few rounds.

Stepping into the lounge, Isabelle hugged Cristiano as a smile formed on her face; she was proud of him no matter what had happened that night.

“Nine,”

“Ten,”

“Ten,”

“Ten,”

were announced as the scores were revealed, making Isabelle sigh in relief slightly; they had scored thirty-nine on both of their dances making them one of the highest scores of the night.

***

“The couples in no particular going through to the final are…” Pilar said as she looked over the gathered couples, she smiled knowing how nervous that they all must be; the tense music filled the room and the lights were dimmed so to build tension.

“Daniel Garcia and Rosa López,” Pilar announced as the couple were lit up in light, they squealed excitedly as they hugged before the tense music started again; Cristiano took a deep breath as he felt Isabelle tense next to him.

“Iveta Lukosiute and Manuel Bandera,” Pilar said as she announced the next couple through to the next stage of the competition; there was one place left and three couples waiting to see who would go through next.

“The final couple through to next week’s final is… Isabelle Swanson and Cristiano Ronaldo,” Pilar said as she looked at the couple; Cristiano wrapped his arms around the red head and hugged her, he couldn’t believe that they had made it through to the grand finals.

###

Author's Note:

Check out the Viennese Waltz that inspired the chapter.