The Second Chance Shoe Shop (9 page)

Riley looked first at Sadie, and then at Dan, and then beamed. ‘This is great!’ she cried as the door opened again and three more girls came in, this time wearing rave gear.

As the chorus started up, the dancers moved around the room using every inch of the floor. Riley and Ash began to clap. Sadie held out Esther’s hands and she clapped too.

Finally, the door opened for one last time and Serena was led in by a male dancer. He was slightly older than the rest of the group, dark-skinned with tight brown curls. He wore a tuxedo and held on to Serena’s hand as she sashayed across the room in the highest of heels.

As the record came to an end, the couple came up close to Riley, Dan, Sadie and Esther. Serena twirled like a ballerina and then came to a stop in the male dancer’s arms. She arched backwards and threw out her arm. In her hand there was a card. She thrust it at them.

It said ‘#BestShoeForward’.

The music stopped and the dancers caught their breath. There was a moment of stunned silence before they all started clapping.

‘That was fantastic!’ said Riley, clapping too. ‘It was – beyond words.’

‘Yes, wow!’ agreed Dan. ‘I’m not often speechless but that was
amazing
!’ He frowned then. ‘Which part do we have to do?’

‘Just the bit at the end that I did with Anthony,’ Serena replied. ‘You’ll all be partnered up with an experienced dancer.’

‘Once we’ve finished, we could hand out flyers about the competition,’ suggested Ash.

‘Yes,’ agreed Dan. ‘We could even have a separate word on each card. I do like Best Shoe Forward, though.’

‘I can’t believe you wound me up about all those songs!’ Riley narrowed her eyes at Serena. ‘You knew all the time that you would use “Happy”, didn’t you?’

‘Yes, sorry.’ Serena nodded. ‘I couldn’t help but tease you.’

Riley smiled. ‘This is going to be amazing!’

‘Good, I’m glad you like it.’ Serena clicked her fingers. ‘Because this is where the hard work begins.’

‘Isn’t that a line from
Fame
?’ Dan whispered to Riley, who hushed him with a mock-glare.

‘We’ll never learn that in a week,’ said Sadie.

‘Of course you will,’ Serena encouraged. ‘You’re going to learn it now and then it’s practice, practice, practice!’

‘Are you sure?’ said Riley.

‘I’m absolutely certain.’ Serena waved over three boys and a girl. ‘These are your partners. So, in the words of the late David Bowie − bless him – let’s dance!’

A
fter the rehearsal
, Cooper had picked them up and they all went back to Sadie’s house. It was 7:30 p.m. As they had gone straight from the shop to the dance studio, there had been no time to eat, so Cooper and Ash had now gone to collect a takeaway.

Riley was getting anxious now. At everyone’s insistence, Ethan had been invited along too. Although he’d briefly met Sadie and Dan, Riley had been pleased when Ash had wanted to meet him too. Yet, when Sadie invited him to her house, Riley knew the pressure it would put on him – and on them. He would be under scrutiny, even if only in a playful way. She prayed her friends wouldn’t grill him too much.

Although Riley had known Ethan for less than a month, everything had seemed to slot into place for the two of them. It felt like she’d known him forever, yet at the same time as if they had only just met. The familiar stomach flip caused by excitement and apprehension took Riley by surprise whenever she thought about the next time she would see him. And when she got home, she sat wanting to remember every minute of each date, like she’d done many times as a teenager.

Although it was making her nervous, shouldn’t she take a chance? She thought back to when she had met Nicholas. It was hard to get that kind of feeling when meeting someone no more than two nights a week. The relationship and the butterflies didn’t tend to build up as quickly.

And, if it weren’t for Ethan, there probably wouldn’t be a flash mob. If he hadn’t offered to film it for them, Riley would most likely have given up. He’d even got the backing of the newspaper now. Kim was going to go big around the secrecy of it all, dropping hints on the paper’s Twitter feed on Saturday.
Hedworth News
’s Twitter feed had over 20,000 followers! Riley had thrown her arms around Ethan’s neck when he’d told her, so grateful for his support. He could have thought it was a mad idea and therefore not want to join in. But he hadn’t – only time would tell if he’d made the right decision or not.

Riley checked her watch and saw that he’d be arriving in less than ten minutes, so she grabbed her bag and dashed upstairs. Sadie had said she could take a shower. She’d have to be quick, and just freshen up her make-up, but at least she could wash away the sweat she could feel on her skin and change her clothes.

‘I can’t believe how much I’m aching,’ said Dan when she rejoined him in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, rubbing the bottom of his back. ‘I’m going to be good for nothing in the morning.’

‘You’re aching?’ Riley prodded him in the shoulder as she walked past him towards Sadie. ‘You didn’t have to do as much as us girls. And you certainly weren’t flung like a whipping top across the floor. I swear I haven’t stopped spinning yet. So I think you can count yourself lucky.’

‘
And
you get double practice time as there are two of us in the shop,’ Sadie joined in as she took plates out from the cupboard. ‘You should have the routine nailed in no time, while we,’ she pointed at Riley, ‘have no chance.’

‘We’ll get there,’ said Riley. ‘Even if we have to practise night and day. I’m determined to stay on my feet and not make a fool of myself.’

‘I got a special part, didn’t I, Mummy?’ said Esther, reaching her arms up to Sadie.

‘You certainly did, madam.’ Sadie picked her up and began to waltz around the kitchen with her.

Esther burst into fits of giggles as the doorbell rang. She shimmied down Sadie’s legs, shrieking, ‘I’ll go!’

But Sadie pulled her back. ‘Let Riley go,’ she said.

‘I want to see Cooper!’ Esther protested, trying to wriggle from her grip.

‘It might not be Cooper, and you’re in your jim-jams.’

‘I’ll go,’ said Dan. ‘Save you blushing when I bring Ethan in.’

Riley grinned, already feeling her skin hotting up. Ash and Cooper had texted to say they were minutes away, and she suddenly felt nervous about introducing Ethan. After being unable to share Nicholas with them, the last time they had met one of her dates had been when she’d first introduced them to Tom. When they had split up, the dynamics of the group had changed a little, as Ross and Tom had got on really well. The same had happened when Sarah and Dan had gone their separate ways. But no one had thought for a minute, back then, that Ross wouldn’t be around now.

Dan brought Ethan into the kitchen. ‘Here she is, all fresh and lovely. Whereas I stink like a kipper after all that hard work.’

Riley walked over and greeted Ethan with a kiss.

‘Don’t take any notice,’ she told him, holding onto his hand. ‘He hasn’t stopped moaning since we finished.’

‘Thank goodness the flash mob is next weekend, then,’ Ethan sympathised, grinning.

‘Are you talking about the big dance-off?’ said Cooper, appearing in the doorway, Ash behind him.

Esther ran into his arms. ‘Cooper!’ she cried. ‘Do you have any chips?’

‘I do.’ He picked her up. ‘You can have . . . five.’

‘Five? I want more than that,’ she giggled.

‘You’re not having many,’ said Sadie, taking her from Cooper. ‘And then it’s off to bed for you. It’s way too late for you to be up.’

Stomach awash with nerves again, Riley introduced Ethan to Cooper and Ash. She needn’t have worried. They did indeed welcome him into their fold as she had hoped.

‘Ash has been telling me all about the dance,’ said Cooper. ‘I think they should show us, don’t you?’ He looked at Ethan, who nodded.

‘You must be joking,’ Riley cried.

‘I’m up for it.’

Dan pulled her into his arms and they began to dance around the kitchen. Three seconds in, they were all feet and laughing at Ethan’s expression.

‘Is that it?’ he asked, incredulously.

‘We’re not showing anyone all of it until the day,’ said Riley.

‘Is it worth watching?’ Cooper looked as doubtful as Ethan.

‘You’ll just have to come and watch us.’ Ash prodded him hard in his arm.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t miss that for the world,’ Cooper said, as he held up the greasy brown paper bag he was carrying. ‘I don’t suppose any of you want this, now that your bodies are your temples?’

E
veryone decided
to leave quite quickly after the food had been eaten. It was plain to see that Riley and Ethan wanted to spend time alone, so Cooper offered to give Ash a lift home and then come back. Sadie wasn’t quite sure why, but she was glad of it.

By 9:00 p.m., the dishes had been done and the house was her own again except for Cooper, who was making a coffee before he left.

Sadie went through to the hall. Even though Esther had been put to bed over an hour ago, she could still hear her in her room. She beckoned Cooper to the bottom of the stairs.

‘Listen,’ she whispered, grabbing his arm.

Esther was singing ‘Happy’, clapping her hands. She had some of the words and some of the tune but not exactly in the right order.

They tried not to laugh in case she heard them.

‘She’s so cute,’ whispered Cooper.

‘She won’t be when I can’t get her up in the morning,’ Sadie whispered back. ‘Esther?’ she shouted up the stairs. ‘Bed, young lady.’

They heard her run across the room in a fit of giggles.

Sadie smiled at Cooper. Without warning, she felt tears well in her eyes, and found she couldn’t do anything to stop them falling.

‘Hey.’ Cooper drew her into his embrace.

‘I miss sharing things like this with Ross,’ she sobbed. ‘He would have found that so funny.’

‘He would have tried to dance with her, too,’ Cooper soothed, rubbing her back. ‘I can’t do that. I definitely have two left feet.’

‘I miss him so much, but sometimes I can’t even remember the sound of his voice. I can’t remember his laugh. I go to sleep and ache for him to be by my side in my bed. I get up thinking of him, I go to bed thinking of him. He’s been gone ten months now. I wish I didn’t feel so lonely. ‘

‘Grief is a thing you get over in your own time. There are no rules to say how long it takes. You’ll go through different stages before you accept it.’

‘Is that why I still feel guilty?’ She pulled away from him.

‘What do you mean?’

They moved back to sit in the living room. Sadie wondered whether to tell him to leave. She couldn’t burden him with her feelings. But she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out.

‘I was terrible to him before he died,’ she admitted. ‘All I did was shout and get angry all the time. Why did I want to inflict such pain on him? He was the one who was suffering. Okay, I was suffering too, but I had no right to take it out on him. He couldn’t do anything. He was lying there, just waiting to die.’ She looked up through more tears. ‘And now I’m left with this pain. I have to hide my grief from Esther, and I have to hide my feelings when I’m at work. I try to hold it all in but sometimes I can’t. Everywhere I go, I see happy couples. I see people in love. It’s so unfair. Sometimes I want to run out onto the High Street and scream at everyone.’

‘It’s a natural reaction,’ said Cooper softly. He reached for her hand but she pulled it away.

‘Why can’t I get over losing him? I
have
to get over that before I can move on with my life. And now that the shop might close, what am I going to do without Riley and Dan, to get me through the days? I― I can’t do this on my own.’

‘You don’t have to,’ said Cooper. ‘You have us to help you.’

‘It’s not enough.’

A silence fell upon the room. Sadie hoped she hadn’t offended him with her outburst.

‘Ross wanted me to live my life without him,’ she tried again to explain. ‘He wanted me to go on and do everything we’d done before, but with someone else. He wanted me to be loved again.’ She looked at Cooper. ‘I told him I didn’t think I could do that, and he got angry with me for a while, and then he calmed down.’

‘He loved you so much,’ said Cooper.

Sadie nodded. ‘I feel desperately lonely without him, yet I also feel that I’m being selfish if I show that. I have Esther to think about. I shouldn’t be feeling sorry for myself. But I― I can’t do this without him.’

Again, Cooper drew her into his arms and let her cry until her tears had dried up. It was so good to have his arms around her. She felt a physical jolt as she realised it was what she missed: being loved by someone, held by someone, belonging to someone. She missed being part of a couple.

Afterwards, she pulled away slightly, embarrassed by her outburst.

‘Sorry about that.’ Sadie reached for a tissue. ‘Sometimes I just can’t keep it all in.’

‘I’ve told you, anytime.’ Cooper stared at her. ‘Don’t forget that. I do worry about you.’

A thought struck her, causing her to gasp. ‘You don’t think you’re a substitute for Ross, do you?’

‘Of course not.’ Cooper shook his head. ‘I really wish I could fall in love with you and marry you and make you and Esther happy, but I can’t do that. It would be like sleeping with my sister.’

‘Eww.’ Sadie wrinkled her nose. ‘That’s gross.’

‘I can still make you smile.’ Cooper kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘And I can look after you just the same.’

‘Mummy, are you all right?’ Esther’s head popped round the door frame.

‘Sure I am.’ Sadie wiped at her eyes, as she beckoned her over. She pulled her daughter onto her lap and held her close. ‘I thought you were asleep.’

‘I’m too excited.’

‘But everyone knows a good dancer needs her beauty sleep,’ Cooper told her. After a moment, he took Esther’s hand. ‘Come on, I’ll tuck you in.’

As they left the room, Sadie held back tears once more. Thank goodness she had supportive friends around her. She really was lucky.

Once Cooper had gone, she would write in her journal, then maybe log on to Grieve Together. If Tanya was around she might be able to have a quick chat. Tanya would understand.

And then she might be able to get a grip, even if just for Esther’s sake.