us circling around on the ice for a minute and a half with two lifts. No one’s going to be interested in that, especially not if we’re dancing to the Maltese Falcon.”
She ignored me.
“What about the costumes?” Ty asked, skating to my side and skidding to a stop (rather artfully, I noticed).
“Just a pinstriped suit for you and a white dress for her.”
“Sequins?” Ty asked.
“Not many,” Imelda said quickly.
He gave me a pained look.
Ugh. It was like she was ignoring everything we wanted to do. “You do realize we almost went home last night? This,” I shook the printed out routine at her, “is going to ensure that we go home. It’s boring!”
“I’m trying to keep in mind his capabilities and give the audience something appealing,” Imelda said easily, and then she went back to her chair.
I wadded up the paper in disgust. She wouldn’t come onto the ice with us. She had zero enthusiasm for her job. She made decisions without consulting us, and they were bad ones. “You know what? You’re fired.”
Her head popped up at that. “You can’t fire me.”
“Sure I can.” I pointed at the door. “You’re fired. Get out.”
“The network appointed me,” she said with a frown. “You don’t get to decide.”
The cameraman zoomed in on my face. I didn’t care that they were filming. She was doing nothing but dragging us down. “The Maltese Falcon is boring. You didn’t ask us if we wanted to dance to that, you just picked it. You’re ignoring our requests for the routine. You’re putting sequins on the costumes even though we’ve asked you not to—repeatedly. At this point, if we follow your routine, we’re going home. At least if we do our own routine, we’ll stand a chance. So if the network doesn’t kick us out, we might have a shot in hell of staying. Like I said. You’re fired.”
Imelda huffed. “There’re two of you on this team. I’m staying.”
Ty skated to my side. “I agree with my partner. I think you need to go.”
I gave Imelda a blissful smile. “Problem solved.”
She stared at both of us, and then pointed her phone in my direction. “I’m calling the network.”
“Call,” I bluffed, skating away. “Either you walk out, or we do. Let’s see which one they put on the show next week.” And I skated away, just because I could. It wasn’t like she’d follow me onto the ice, anyhow.
By the time I turned around again, she was gone, and Ty was there on the ice, arms crossed, giving me an impressed look.
I skated a circle around him, thinking. “You mad?”
He laughed. “Hell no. I was just thinking you have balls of steel sometimes.”
I gave him a flirty look. “Don’t fuck with me when I’m on the ice. That’s my home territory.”
“No kidding,” he drawled, his look appraising. “I like it. So…what now?”
I thought for a moment, skating in circles around him. “This is different than regular figure skating competitions. We’re pretty much fucked with the judging panel no matter what we do.” Okay, so maybe that wasn’t that different than some skating competitions. “We need the audience on our side. Which means we have to impress them. Dazzle them.”
“Oh god. Dazzle. With sequins?”
I gave him a look. “Give me more credit than that?”
He chuckled. “Fine, fine. So tell me what you’re thinking.”
I continued to skate circles, thinking, my hands clasped behind my back. “We need to shock them somehow. This week’s theme is cinematic. Movie stuff. We just need to find the perfect movie that fits in with who we are….” An idea dawned on me, and I snapped my fingers. Oh my god, it was perfect.
It was perfect if Ty went for it.
I skated toward him and put my hands on his shoulders, looking up at him. “Do you trust me?”
“As much as I can trust anyone in this chickenshit outfit,” he said with a grin. “And as long as you don’t dress me as one of the Village People, I’m fine.”
“Nope,” I
She ignored me.
“What about the costumes?” Ty asked, skating to my side and skidding to a stop (rather artfully, I noticed).
“Just a pinstriped suit for you and a white dress for her.”
“Sequins?” Ty asked.
“Not many,” Imelda said quickly.
He gave me a pained look.
Ugh. It was like she was ignoring everything we wanted to do. “You do realize we almost went home last night? This,” I shook the printed out routine at her, “is going to ensure that we go home. It’s boring!”
“I’m trying to keep in mind his capabilities and give the audience something appealing,” Imelda said easily, and then she went back to her chair.
I wadded up the paper in disgust. She wouldn’t come onto the ice with us. She had zero enthusiasm for her job. She made decisions without consulting us, and they were bad ones. “You know what? You’re fired.”
Her head popped up at that. “You can’t fire me.”
“Sure I can.” I pointed at the door. “You’re fired. Get out.”
“The network appointed me,” she said with a frown. “You don’t get to decide.”
The cameraman zoomed in on my face. I didn’t care that they were filming. She was doing nothing but dragging us down. “The Maltese Falcon is boring. You didn’t ask us if we wanted to dance to that, you just picked it. You’re ignoring our requests for the routine. You’re putting sequins on the costumes even though we’ve asked you not to—repeatedly. At this point, if we follow your routine, we’re going home. At least if we do our own routine, we’ll stand a chance. So if the network doesn’t kick us out, we might have a shot in hell of staying. Like I said. You’re fired.”
Imelda huffed. “There’re two of you on this team. I’m staying.”
Ty skated to my side. “I agree with my partner. I think you need to go.”
I gave Imelda a blissful smile. “Problem solved.”
She stared at both of us, and then pointed her phone in my direction. “I’m calling the network.”
“Call,” I bluffed, skating away. “Either you walk out, or we do. Let’s see which one they put on the show next week.” And I skated away, just because I could. It wasn’t like she’d follow me onto the ice, anyhow.
By the time I turned around again, she was gone, and Ty was there on the ice, arms crossed, giving me an impressed look.
I skated a circle around him, thinking. “You mad?”
He laughed. “Hell no. I was just thinking you have balls of steel sometimes.”
I gave him a flirty look. “Don’t fuck with me when I’m on the ice. That’s my home territory.”
“No kidding,” he drawled, his look appraising. “I like it. So…what now?”
I thought for a moment, skating in circles around him. “This is different than regular figure skating competitions. We’re pretty much fucked with the judging panel no matter what we do.” Okay, so maybe that wasn’t that different than some skating competitions. “We need the audience on our side. Which means we have to impress them. Dazzle them.”
“Oh god. Dazzle. With sequins?”
I gave him a look. “Give me more credit than that?”
He chuckled. “Fine, fine. So tell me what you’re thinking.”
I continued to skate circles, thinking, my hands clasped behind my back. “We need to shock them somehow. This week’s theme is cinematic. Movie stuff. We just need to find the perfect movie that fits in with who we are….” An idea dawned on me, and I snapped my fingers. Oh my god, it was perfect.
It was perfect if Ty went for it.
I skated toward him and put my hands on his shoulders, looking up at him. “Do you trust me?”
“As much as I can trust anyone in this chickenshit outfit,” he said with a grin. “And as long as you don’t dress me as one of the Village People, I’m fine.”
“Nope,” I
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