Learning Curve | Joanne

Mission Impossible

"Hey, bru. Have you thought about what you're going to buy Dianne?"

Joe looked up from his dinner, staring at his roommate. "For what?"

Byron shook his head. "It's Christmas in, like, less than two weeks."

Joe put down his fork and ran a hand through his hair. "I've got some ideas, but I'm a bit stuck. We've not talked about budget or anything. Or if we're even doing presents or whatever."

"You've got to get her something. You should probably start thinking."

Joe sighed, picking up his plate and sliding it into the dishwasher. "I'll go and have a look now. Night, mate."

"Goodnight. Sleep well."

Joe padded up the stairs towards his bedroom. Flopping down on his bed, he opened his laptop and began searching. He had no idea what to even look for. Christmas gifts for girlfriends? That seemed a wide category. What to buy your Australian dance partner who you're now dating? Too niche. He needed a middle ground.

Pulling out the 'ideas' notepad he kept next to his bed, Joe thought carefully about the things Dianne liked. Definitely wine. Designer trainers. Coffee. She loved silly little games and things, too. And she was weirdly obsessed with pictures of Joe as a baby.

All of the ideas were decent, but they didn't scream 'girlfriend.' He leaned back on his pillow, sighing heavily. When Dianne had finished her first series of strictly- bowing out at week three- her dance partner had got her a Tiffany necklace. He needed to find something that said 'thanks for all the dancing', 'Merry Christmas' and 'I really, reallylike you.'

No pressure.

///

"Zoe, I need girl help."

Zoe grinned as she answered her brother's FaceTime call. "What's up?" She loved that Joe was trying so hard with Dianne. She could tell instantly how much he liked her, and the fact that the feeling was mutual was pretty obvious. Joe wasn't experienced in relationships, and he was making such a huge effort to make Dianne feel special. It was lovely.

"I'm really stuck with what to get Di for Christmas. I've been looking online and stuff but, to be honest, I'm completely overwhelmed. I've never had to buy presents for a girlfriend before. Obviously I've bought presents for girls, like you and Britt and stuff, but... this is different."

Zoe sat back. This was her area of expertise. "Right, so you could do one of two things I reckon. Either fill a stocking with loads of cute, jokey things and random stuff she likes. Or get her one or two nice presents. What do you think she'd prefer?"

"I have no idea. Why is this so hard?" Joe groaned. "What do you and Alfie do?"

"Well, we don't usually do presents to each other anymore. And, when we do, it's passive aggressive stuff. Like I got him a guide on how to stack a dishwasher last year. He got me extra strength bath cleaner because of all the bath bombs I use. That sort of thing." Zoe paused for a moment to think. "We were younger than you, obviously, when we first got together. We definitely made more of an effort. I don't know, Joe. Why don't you just ask?"

Joe pouted. "Because I want it to be a surprise."

Zoe smiled at her brother. "Right. Well, don't ask her what she wants. But maybe set a budget for one another. The last thing you want is to go all out if she's got you something small, or the other way around. You'd feel awful if you got her, like, a daft little gift and she turns up with a designer watch or whatever."

"Fair enough."

///

The following day, Joe turned up to rehearsal still feeling confused. He knew he needed to talk to Dianne about it, but it was the final week of the show and she was in full dance-teacher mode. Stress levels were getting higher and higher; Joe wasn't sure that postponing their rehearsal to chat about Christmas was going to be a good thing for their relationship. Or for the competition.