How do I tell the talent-show organiser my tap-dance preview was just jangling keys?
Funny'Can you do the full routine on Saturday?' Nora asked. 'I've put you down for three minutes.'
During talent-show planning, I had shuffled across the tiled room while shaking the keys in my coat pocket. The rhythm sounded vaguely deliberate. Nora said she hadn't known I tap-danced. I bowed and said, 'Exclusive preview.'
I meant it as a joke. She heard a performance offer. The provisional running order now says 'Alex: tap dance', between a poem and a guitar duet. I have no routine and have never taken a tap class.
Nora has plenty to organise and says three minutes is hardly anything. To me, three minutes of keys in a pocket sounds like a very long lost-property announcement. How do I correct this promptly without making her feel foolish for believing a preview I presented with an actual bow?