𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 -- 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐜

𝐨.𝐢

𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨 :: 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞

"Alright, let's sit you down and get some initial thoughts before you go in and meet your partner."

Thea Jorgson nodded as the camera man (she's pretty sure his name is Dan) pointed to the intense set up of lights and cameras.

"It's a little intimidating compared to what you see on the show," she admitted with an uneasy chuckle, but nevertheless took a seat. Thea rolled her shoulders a couple of times and sighed. "Alright, I'm ready."

Dan nodded. "In three, two..." he pointed at her, signaling her to begin.

"My name is Thea Jorgson, I'm a motivational speaker. I've written a handful of books and led conferences for some big brand names like Nike, Amazon, Microsoft, and Disney. When I got asked to join Dancing With the Stars, I was shocked, but absolutely jumped at the chance."

Dan grinned and shut off the camera. "Good, that was good. Keep the microphone on and we'll take you to your partner."

Thea trailed behind Dan like a lost puppy. There were so many practice rooms and they all looked identical.

Finally, he came to a stop outside room number thirteen. "I'm going to go in first to get your entrance. Once I'm inside, count to ten, and then come in, got it?"

Once Thea nodded in response, he went inside, careful not to let Thea see who was standing on the other side of the door.

9... 10... she thought, and slowly opened the practice room door.

When she saw pro Sasha Farber on the other side of the door, a gleeful scream left her mouth.

"No way!" she exclaimed. "Am I in the right room?"

Sasha had a huge grin on his face. "I certainly hope so."

They met in the middle of the room and hugged each other in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Thea," Thea said, her grin never once slipping.

"I know, I've read some of your books," Sasha replied. "I'm Sasha."

"I know," Thea mimicked. "Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have screamed as loud as I did."

Sasha laughed. "Fair point. Okay, what kind of dance experience do you have?"

"I danced for several years as a kid. I took ballet and jazz classes. So it's some, but certainly not ballroom dancing."

Sasha waved that away. "That's still really good though, you're already a couple steps ahead compared to some of the other dancers. You ready to hear what our first dance is?" Thea nodded fervently. "We are doing the Quickstep to "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves."

So that's why they asked her for her favorite feel-good song.

Thea did a little fist pump that made Sasha smile.

"Now, it's a difficult dance to start with, but I have no doubt that you can do it," Sasha said.

They began learning steps shortly after. Sasha taught Thea the basic steps, picking up speed every time they did it. The two got along easy. Much laughter filled the room, and Thea knew almost instantly that they were going to be great partners.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.