Chapter 5
Joanne woke up, feeling for Darcey. Her hand touched cold duvet and sleepily, Joanne frowned.
"Darcey?" She whispered into the darkness.
There came no reply.
She leant over to turn the light over and much to her surprise, saw no trace of the ballerina.
She had gone.
Wide awake now, the blonde frantically searched for a note, pale fingers scrabbling under the duvet, thinking it might have fallen.
But she found nothing.
Her phone pinged loudly.
Joanne sighed, checking the screen.
5 missed calls from Kevin
3 missed calls from Karen
10 missed calls from Ore
But nothing from Darcey.
And then Joanne glanced at the digital clock at the top of her phone.
12.30 PM
'Fuck!' She swore inwardly, pulling on a t-shirt and leggings, tugging a brush through her hair.
It was the week of the finals and she was sleeping in?! What the hell was she thinking?
Joanne all but ran out of the door, slamming it behind her, running to the training room.
She threw open the training room door.
"I'm so so sorry Ore!" She gasped, cheeks red from the cold December morning.
"It's alright Jo," her partner replied.
"I have no idea what happened!" Joanne lied.
It wasn't an absolute lie, Joanne convinced herself, she had no idea where the time had gone.
Or, for that matter, Darcey Bussell.
As Joanne set down her bags, she joined Ore in rehearsing their dance that they had chosen the night before.
"Hey have you heard about Darcey?" Ore asked.
Joanne's ears pricked, "no" she began cautiously, "anything happened?"
"Apparently she's gone home to see her husband and kids. We'll be lucky if she makes it back in time for the show."
Joanne felt a sick feeling rise in her stomach. "Oh." She whispered.
"You okay, Jo?" Ore questioned, a concerned look crossing his face.
"No, don't worry, I'm fine," Joanne murmured.
Ore frowned, but she tried to ignore it, choosing instead to smile more enthusiastically than she felt.
'Why would Darcey go home to her husband?' She asked herself, trying to stop tears surfacing. 'Did I really mean nothing to her?'
Saturday evening
"Joanne what is going on?" Kevin finally asked as he watched his sister pace up and down the changing rooms. She was never so agitated and Kevin could see she was clearly upset.
"Nothing!" Joanne almost shouted. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to gain control.
"I'm sorry", she whispered.
"Hey Jo, it's okay," her brother said gently, "I just want to know why you're so upset, I care about you."
"I know Kev, sorry."
A few of the costume makers were staring at Joanne and Kevin with worried expressions plastered over their faces.
There was a knock on the door, and everyone's head turned.
"Everyone ready?" A familiar voice called.
Darcey's brown eyes found Joanne's and a look of concern crossed her face. "Jo, are you alright?" She asked.
Before she even knew what she was doing, the blonde had marched up to the ballerina.
"Do you think I'm alright?"
"I'm sorry, Joanne, what do you mean?" Darcey was trying to feign innocence, her heart was thumping wildly. She knew this would hurt Joanne but she couldn't do anything about it. She had a husband and kids, for gods sake! Going home to see her family had made her realise she couldn't throw everything she had away for a stupid crush. That's all it was, Darcey convinced herself. Just a crush. Nothing more.
"Don't you pretend like nothing happened!" Joanne raised her voice, her inner anger pouring out, emotions overtaking her.
"Perhaps this isn't the best conversation to have here," Darcey began, before she was cut off by the younger woman. "You know what? I really don't care! I don't know who the hell you think you are but you're definitely not the person I thought you were!"
There was a brief silence.
Joanne was breathing heavily, nostrils flaring, her fists clenched.
"I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." Darcey said cooly, a lot calmer and less bothered than she felt.
"Well then," Joanne said quietly, lowering her voice so only the older woman opposite her could hear, "for all it's worth, I'm now lost to you."
"Sorry guys," Darcey said, as breezily as she could, "we're on in less than five minutes."
Then she left the dressing room as fast a she could, taking care not to slam the door.
She was torn between finding Joanne and giving her space. She suspected either one was the wrong option. She didn't have time, Darcey argued, to seek out Joanne, the show was due to start very soon.
"You ready darling?" Craig asked, sweeping towards her.
"Yeah baby, I'm ready!" Bruno squealed excitedly, walking behind the younger man.
Craig rolled his eyes.
"I'm ready," Bruno paused, winking Craig, "for anything."
"Oh god," Craig muttered, quickening his pace.
Darcey couldn't help but laugh. She had noticed that Bruno seemed to be sticking a lot closer to his fellow judge than usual. She wondered if something was 'going on' but she daren't ask.
"Five, four, three, two, one, zero!"
Darcey followed Craig and stepped out onto the stage.
The bright lights hit her face and music blared in her ears.
They were live.