Maze of Memories

Cha Cha Cha Changes

"What do you mean things took a turn in week four?" Joe exclaimed in mock anger. "More like things slowed down to a halt."

Dianne's jaw dropped as she turned to look at him, "They did not!"

"Oh yes they did, Dianne!" Joe replied, a grin spreading across his face. "Don't deny it - after that hug and flirty comment, I was riding high, but then at training you went ice cold."

Philip watched as she playfully rolled her eyes before turning her attention back toward him and Holly, "Don't listen to Joe. Let me tell you about week four from my perspective."

---

"Drum roll please, Joseph," Dianne giggled as she walked into the training room, throwing her bag down on the sofa in the corner, her eyes landing on Joe's lanky form that was currently sprawled on the floor, scrolling through his phone. His eyes looked up to meet hers and he grinned, sending her cheeks into their customary pink blush she seemed to be sporting anytime she was around him.

Without asking questions, he began to drum on the studio's floor before cocking his head and looking back toward her, "Why am I doing this?"

"Because this week we'll be dancing..." Dianne replied, drawing out her words, "The Cha Cha Cha!"

She smiled as she watched Joe's face drop, his drumming hands coming to a stop. His face had turned a shade paler than normal, and it took everything in her to not reach out and pull him into a comforting hug. She had felt something change inside of her over the weekend, after admitting to Oti - and to herself - that she wasn't in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she was pretty sure she hadn't been for a while. He had been a comforting presence in her life, especially with her family on the opposite side of the world, and she liked the affection and warmth he had provided. But distance had been the main adjective used to describe their relationship and affection and warmth weren't easy to get from hundreds of miles away. She knew they were both equally to blame - and knew that his lack of communication the last few weeks meant he was probably feeling the same way. Someone just had to finally make the call - and she decided on Sunday that it would be her.

Yet when she had called with the intention of ending things for good - she got his voicemail and no call back. She still hadn't heard from him Monday morning, so as she walked into the studio ready to start a new week of training, she was working even harder to resist the urges that kept showing up every time she was around her dance partner. Not only was it wrong to make a move on Joe for professional reasons - her contract and the producer's warnings echoing loudly in her ears - it also wouldn't be right to do anything that disrespected the man she was still technically in a relationship with. Plus - she didn't even really know what these feelings were...did she like Joe in a romantic way? Did he feel the same way? Or were they just really good at innocently flirting with each other, brought together by their many close training sessions?

"You've already dipped your toe into the Latin dances," Dianne explained calmly, willing herself to move away from the man who kept making her stomach flip flop. "The jive is technically Latin, and you smashed that dance."

"You don't have to shake your bum or shimmy in the jive!" Joe spluttered out, clearly still affected by the news.

"Are we still talking about your bum?" Dianne teased, instantly regretting the words as soon as they slipped out of her mouth.

Joe wiggled his eyebrows, rising off the ground to his feet, "Do you want to keep talking about it?"

Dianne blushed, turning away from him and trying to focus plugging her phone into the music player. "Enough chit chat, Joe. Let's get to work."