Before I can analyze it too much, I pull my hand from his, putting myself back in Beatrice’s shoes. “It’s a man’s office, but not yours.”
“I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?” He clears his throat as I look down at my script. “Alright, let’s stop there for a minute.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Why didn’t we pick a scene fromthe beginning of the play when Benedick and Beatrice hated each other? Or why couldn’t my scene partner have just shown up for class?
He crosses upstage of me. “I need more emotion from you, Miss Black. Make me believe you want this man, that you love him. And that only he can help you with your…problem.”
“These two are infuriating. Even when they’re confessing their love for each other, they still bicker back and forth,” a guy in the back of the room laughs, and my cheeks pinken.
Professor A-hole nods at the guy. “You’re not wrong.” He turns, looking me directly in the eye.
“What do you want in this scene? What is Beatrice’s motivation?”
I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I squirm under his scrutiny while he paces in front of me. “She wants Benedick to kill Claudio for ruining her cousin Hero’s name, for leaving her at the altar. For breaking her heart.”
“But she doesn’t really want him to kill Claudio, does she?”
“No, she’s just angry and protective of Hero. She wants vengeance. And maybe she’s testing Benedick’s love for her?”
“Is that a question?”
“No, sir.” His head whips to mine, and I can’t decipher the look on his face. He swallows thickly and I track the way his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “Before I can believe a word you speak, you need to fully understand this character and live that on stage. Continue, Miss Black.”
“As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not; I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin.”
He takes a step in front of me, crowding my space. “By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me!”
“Do not swear and eat it.” My words come out sharper than I intend.
His features soften as he looks down at me. “I will swear byit that you love me, and I will make him eat it that says I love not you.”
“Will you not eat your word?”
“With no sauce that can be devised to it.” He cups my cheek. “I protest I love thee.”
The air leaves my lungs at his touch. “Why then, God forgive me.” My words are a whisper.
“Louder. You won’t be mic’d,” he chastises before continuing. “What offense, sweet Beatrice?”
“You have stayed me in a happy hour. I was about to protest I loved you.”
He smiles down at me, swiping his thumb across my cheek. My heart skips a beat, and I can feel my face heat. “And do it with all thy heart.”
“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.”
“Come, bid me do anything for thee.” He’s looking at me so intensely. His eyes flick to my lips. It almost looks like he wants to kiss me.
He’s just acting. We’re just acting.
“Kill Claudio,” I say weakly.
Instantly he drops his hand, crossing his arms across his chest. “I don’t believe you, Miss Black. Make me believe you. Make me feel it here.” He points to his chest. “Make me question if you’re just acting.”
“Kill Claudio,” I repeat louder. Frustrated. Embarrassed.
“No!” he shouts. I rear back, startled by his outburst. “You’re not giving me enough; that’s the worst thing you can do as an actor. I can always pull you back if you go too far, too over-the-top, but I can’t make you give more to the scene.”
“I don’t know what you want me to do. I’m not an actor. Sure, I’ve been in plays before, but this isn’t what I want to do with my life. I just have to take this class for my major,” I snap.
