In Another World

Chapter 19

With the remaining couples having four days to learn two dances, Joe wasn't surprised to not hear anything from Zoe or Dianne for most of the semi-final week. Zoe in particular was already prone to panicking when she only had one routine to learn, so Joe could only imagine how she was coping this week! 

Although he wasn't getting regular updates from the two women in his life, Joe was keeping in touch with Alfie and Johannes to find out how Zoe and Dianne respectively were getting on. Unsurprisingly, both were quite stressed – even outside of the training room – though Zoe was faring worse of the two. To say that the young woman was tired would be the biggest understatement of the year! Zoe couldn't remember the last time she had felt as exhausted – physically and mentally – as she had done over the last few days. But Neil was a great support and a fantastic teacher; Zoe had never felt so lucky to be partnered with him. He took everything in his stride and never seemed fazed by it: not even teaching two dances whilst trying to deal with the press hounding him on what felt like a daily basis! Despite her exhaustion, Zoe wasn't going to complain; she knew what she had let herself in for when she signed the contract to be on the show. And, even if they didn't make it through to the Final, she didn't regret it one bit!

After the tenth run-through of their Viennese Waltz, Neil went to switch off the music, "Okay..." he began as brightly as he could manage in spite of his fatigue, "Let's have a snack break, then we can go back over our Argentine Tango, is that alright?"

Zoe nodded wearily, "By snack break, do you mean 'nap time'?"

Neil scoffed, "Nice try," he remarked before glancing at his phone, "But not yet, we'll have a nap at the next interval; before we go back to the Viennese Waltz".

"Fine", Zoe sighed as she slid to the floor.

Neil looked back up at his partner and noticed that she was lying on the ground with her head resting on her bag, and her eyes were closed, "Hang on, are you napping already?!"

"No, I'm just trying to get rid of the dizziness," Zoe murmured as she laid still, "And resting my eyes".

Neil sniggered, "Well, you're not gonna want to drift off just yet".

Zoe opened one eye, "Why not?"

As though on cue, there was a knock on the door of the studio, and Zoe sat up in confusion. The door opened slightly, and a floppy head of sandy hair peeped around the room.

"Um, excuse me..." a goofy voice began mock-anxiously, "Is this the studio of the semi-finalists?"

Zoe could recognise that voice and hair anywhere, and jumped up, "Joe!" she exclaimed excitedly as she rushed over to hug him, "Hey, I haven't seen you in ages; not since..." she trailed off awkwardly as she remembered the articles from their night out together.

Neil cleared his throat, "Yeah, let's not talk about that!"

Joe scoffed, and Zoe pulled away, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I'd love to say that I'm just being a thoughtful brother checking up on you," Joe began, "But it was kinda down to Alfie".

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"I spoke to him the other day, and he told me that you guys might be struggling," Joe explained, "So, I thought I'd come and surprise you; especially since I won't be there on Saturday to cheer you on in person".

Zoe squeezed his arm, "Aw, thank you!" she replied, "My boyfriend's a good influence, isn't he?"

"Well, don't tell him that!" Joe hissed jokily.

Zoe chuckled, then mulled this over, "Although, you came up with that idea yourself," she mused, "So, I guess you are 'a thoughtful brother', really".