One Foot in Front of the Other

Part 23

{Joe}
"Morning," smiling, I roll over to face Dianne.
"Morning." She replies, and leans in to kiss me quickly before swinging her legs off the side of the bed.
"Di not yet," I say as I grab her wrist in an attempt to keep her in bed. At this she smiles and rolls her eyes,
"Training, Joe," She sighs. Suddenly I sit bolt upright,
"Today?!" But she's already halfway downstairs, no doubt tired of me forgetting about training yet again. After scrolling through my phone for a few minutes I decide that I probably should get up, seeing as Di won't be happy if I start this training season being late. Once I've managed to drag myself out of bed I head to the bathroom and shower quickly, then throw some joggers and a top on before heading downstairs. Di's laying on the sofa engrossed in her phone,
"How am I ready before you?" She looks up and grins at me,
"You're not, you still have to eat."
"But you need to shower." I retort,
"I know." She replies, before bouncing up the stairs and sarcastically blowing me a kiss at the top. Shaking my head at her I turn into the kitchen, resisting the urge to follow her.

{Dianne}
Joe thinks he's going to be on time. I know he's not going to be. Showering quickly I pull some leggings and a top on and stuff everything I need into my bag, then head downstairs. Joe doesn't notice me; he's concentrating on something on the other side of the room, so I sneak into the kitchen to grab some snacks and drinks for the day. After throwing them in my bag and making sure I have everything I need, I'm finally ready. Checking my phone I see we have 10 minutes until we should technically leave. To be honest, I'm quite proud of myself for being ready this early, I'm always on time for anything dance related, obviously, but I'm never usually ready this early. Typically Joe is very late, or he was for last year's training, nearly every session if I remember rightly. Right now he's living up to this expectation. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt and hoping that I'm not being stupid for thinking he might actually be ready soon, I head back upstairs.

When I look at social media I instantly see articles from the press, talking about how it's going to be awkward for the rest of the cast because of us. 'Us' being me and Joe. Initially I brush it off and actually laugh out loud, it's that ridiculous, but a small, irrational part of me started to worry. What if the rest of the cast do feel like that? As soon as the thought enters my head panic courses through the veins. Steadying my breathing and clearing me head I allow myself to laugh at the ridiculousness yet again. If you don't laugh then you'll cry, I always say. That's certainly the case now. But I know that I can't have that stressing me out as well as the dancing, so I push any doubts that have formed to the back of my mind, making a mental note to ask one of the girls at some point.

Mini-meltdown over, I bounce down the stairs to see that Joe hasn't moved a muscle. I'm slightly irritated, although I'm not sure what else I was expecting.
"Joe are you ready?" He looks up at me and gives me a lopsided smile,
"No, why, are you?"
"Yes, I have been for, like, 10 minutes!!" When the words leave my mouth I cringe. They came out slightly harsher than I meant for them to, so I carry on to soften the impact of them,
"Joe please hurry up, you're going to make us late to training just like last time." After hearing me say this he looks up and starts walking towards me before pulling me close. His fingers trace my jaw and his thumb runs over my cheeks, heat radiating from every point on my face that he touches. Silently, he reaches down and, cupping my chin in his hand, kisses me lightly. This time he's the one to break away, and he's smirking yet again.
"Well why change the habit of a lifetime."

~~~

"Joe what are you doing?!" After the 5th attempt at the Charleston I've nearly had enough. How on earth has he forgotten how to dance already? Sighing, I walk over to my phone to restart the music, seeing a message pop up as I do.

Pro rehearsals in 10.

Okay, that leaves time for, what, two more run throughs? Not enough, I'm sure most of the other couples are doing way better than this at this stage. Yes, it's our first day back at training, but we've been at it for hours now, and I know that Joe can do better, which is why it's so annoying. When I turn round I see him going over the steps, which makes me smile a little. Even if he's not great today at least he's putting the effort in.
"Ready?" I ask. He looks up, clearly relieved at my sudden change in tone. As I press play I run over to my place and we begin to dance. It's looking good. Dare I say it? It's looking really good. It's moments like this, when people I teach dance like this that remind me of why I'm in this career. It just makes it even more special that it's Joe. Finally, we run and grab the hay bale, sitting on it just as the music finishes. I think I'm panting more than he is, which is slightly worrying. Joe sneaks a nervous glance at me,
"How was it?" Not able to contain it any longer I throw my arms around him,
"That was AMAZING!! It's the best we've done it all day, maybe ever!!" He laughs at my enthusiasm. It's true though, that is the best we've done it all day. As I go over to restart the music I feel hands around my waist and he lifts me up,
"Wrong move for the wrong dance Joe." I joke as he puts me down.
"This isn't a joke." He says innocently as he leans down to kiss me. Somehow my heart rate increases even more, I feel like it's practically beating out of my chest. We're centimetres away now, eyes locked on each other, he leans in and...
"Di are yo-..." neither of us had heard the door click open. Joe rolls his eyes at Kevin's timing. Think quick Di... Joe reacts before I can and clicks in front of my face,
"Ha, you blinked I win!!" He exclaims whilst winking at me.
"Hey that's not fair you cheated!! Didn't he cheat Kev?" I say looking pointedly at Kevin,
"Uh, yeah..." he looks slightly uncomfortable, and I can't blame him to be honest, this isn't the first and, let's be real, probably won't be the last time that someone walks in on me and Joe like this. Rehearsals need to be kept professional, I tell myself, even if you are dancing with your boyfriend. Then again, it's even more true because of that; there's a reason we aren't doing any 'romantic' dances for the tour.