In Another World

Chapter 9

For the next few days following her and Joe's kiss (if you could even call it that!), Dianne was desperate to find a day and time that they were both available to sit down and talk about what it all meant. But with her rehearsals and his meetings, they just couldn't get the chance, and it was becoming frustrating for both of them!

Dianne had barely stopped thinking about Joe all weekend. And when she wasn't thinking about him, she was worrying about Neil, Katya, Zoe and Seann. At least dance rehearsals and choreographing her and Lee's next routine could distract her for a while, and she was pleased with her partner's efforts. But it didn't ease her anxiety about everything else, which didn't go unnoticed by her partner. 

The dancer seemed to be growing increasingly uneasy as the days passed, and the last thing Lee wanted to do was aggravate it. Unfortunately, the universe appeared to be conspiring against them, as Lee discovered on his way to their last training session before studio rehearsals. The press had set their sights on him and Dianne, deciding to blame their partnership for her and Anthony's breakup. Lee was irate when he read the articles, knowing that there was absolutely no truth to them, but fearing his partner's response.

As it turned out, Dianne was oblivious to the articles; caught up in everything else that was going on. Lee didn't know how to broach the subject – or if he even wanted to – and tried to focus on the dancing instead. However, Dianne noticed his discomfort quite quickly; especially when they were dancing close together, and his body language became tenser.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked.

Lee let out a breath, knowing that there was no point in lying to her, "Not really".

Dianne was worried, "What's wrong? Do you want to go over that section again?"

"No, it's not about the dance," Lee responded before cautiously asking, "Have you seen the articles about you?"

Dianne shook her head, "No, I haven't seen anything," she replied slowly, then attempted to relieve the tension by jokily asking, "What have I done this time?"

"It's about you and your ex," Lee replied hesitantly as he retrieved his phone for her, "And me".

Dianne looked puzzled, then scanned the article in front of her, "Where did they get that idea from?"

"You know what the press are like: once they get a whiff of 'the Strictly Curse', they're all over it like a rash," Lee responded grimly, "Especially after Seann and Katya".

Dianne shrugged, "Well, I'm glad I've taken attention away from them for a bit!" she remarked flippantly.

Lee shook his head, "This is bull," he sighed, "Didn't you guys break up ages ago? It had nothing to do with me".

Dianne nodded, "I know, but we have been spending a lot of time together".

"Training", Lee countered.

"Yeah, but the press can't see that," Dianne pointed out, then sighed, "What they can see is us posting a load of stuff online; not all dance related".

Lee mulled this over, "Yeah, I guess that would attract their attention".

Dianne returned his phone in order to grab her own, "Look, why don't I get Joe back here?" she suggested, "He might be able to give us some advice".

"Are you sure?" Lee asked apprehensively.

Dianne nodded as she found him near the top of the list of her recent contacts, "He knows his stuff".

As much as Lee wanted to trust Dianne, he couldn't help but doubt her judgement in this case. He didn't really understand how this was Joe's business, given that he barely knew either of them. However, the redhead seemed intent on bringing him in, so Lee figured that he just had to humour her; even if he didn't agree.