“My friends, please…” Yiftach tried to disengage them ever so slightly. “Love, who is the woman sitting in that chair over there,” he pointed at her with an evil look, “do you know her?”
The look in their eyes was bitter and fearful. “Yes,” Romeo replied.
“Could you please tell the court under what circumstances you met her?”
The two lovers looked at one another and Juliet’s eyes confirmed that it would be better if Romeo related the sad story. “Both of us are from Italy, we live in Verona. Have you ever been there?”
Yiftach was surprised and looked at Romeo disdainfully. “Not yet…”
“Highly recommended, it’s a very beautiful city. Full of charm and unbelievably romantic.”
“Romeo, try to stick to the point, okay?” Yiftach was decisive and focused. This was not the time for small talk. “So, both of you are from Verona. Good. What happened then?”
“We are also the offspring of two families that have had a bitter and longstanding feud.”
“And what are the names of the two families?”
“Montague and Capulet. You see… it all began with a grand party that was planned by the Capulets for all their friends. Naturally, we, the Montagues, were not invited to the ball. But I’m not one to give up easily, I was determined to attend the Capulets’ party.”
“Why? What was so important about attending a party to which you weren’t invited?”
“Does it really matter?” Romeo insisted.
“You can tell them, my love, it’s a long-forgotten historical truth,” Juliet calmed him.
“Okay… I decided to sneak into the party incognito because I wanted to see Rosalyn, a girl that I loved—or, to be more exact, that I thought I loved—until I met the sublime Juliet, and knew what true love is.” He gazed at Juliet with rapture and caressed her face.
“Romeo, stay focused!” Yiftach said. “You decide to sneak into the Capulet family’s party. Then what happened?”
“Meanwhile,” Juliet continued the story, “we were all busy with last-minute preparations for the ball. I was with my mother and my maid, getting ready in my room. As usual, Mother didn’t miss this opportunity to explain to me again and again that I’ve ‘come of age,’ that I am at the right stage in my life to settle down, I am ripe for marriage, starting a family and all that.”
“And did your mother have someone specific in mind?”
“But of course, my parents wanted me to marry a young man named Paris.”
“A jerk, a nerd, a nobody,” Romeo added.
“Actually, he was a handsome, sought-after bachelor,” Juliet continued, smiling at him, “and I might have seriously considered him as a serious option, had the events of that evening not occurred.” She was silent for a moment and swallowed some phlegm that got stuck in her throat. “It was a night I will remember all my life—and all my death.” They gazed at each other with longing.
“Don’t start again, you two! What happened that night?”
“When the ball began,” Romeo continued, I sneaked into the room together with my cousin Benvolio, both of us were wearing masks. At first, everything went as planned, but rather quickly I was noticed by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt Capulet. It’s a good thing his father stopped him before the party turned into a circus. You see, he didn’t want to ruin the party.”
“What happened then?”
“Then it happened—Juliet and I saw one another and it was love at first sight.” He glanced over at Love with fury. “It was intoxicating, powerful and most unusual. I remember how we slipped out, leaving the commotion at the ball behind.” Romeo halted his storytelling, trying to place his memories in order. “But I refused to leave. You see, Attorney Posner, a powerful, magnetic force drew me there and didn’t relent. In the middle of the night, I jumped over the garden wall in the back of Juliet’s home and climbed up one of the trees like a curious animal. I looked through her window and then a moment was born which, today, seems to be for me the first and only one in my life. Juliet, who didn’t know I was secretly watching her, appeared at the window and expressed her love for me…”
“I still find it hard to believe that you were there, hiding like athief in the night, and heard everything. I made such a fool of myself…” she said, as her cheeks turned bright red.
“Attorney Posner,” Romeo said, “Imagine, try to imagine that scene where I am standing beneath the window of my beloved, of my forbidden love.”
“I’m familiar with that scene,” Yiftach explained in a kindly tone, “actually, all of us are.”
Romeo looked at his love and continued his story. “While Juliet was standing by her window, she also expressed her deep frustration that we are both descendants of two families who have harbored a longstanding and harsh feud. Keep in mind that at this point, she didn’t know that I was hiding and watching her, seeing everything, until I could no longer control my feelings…”
Judge Kedem wiped away a tear of excitement. “Where can you find men like that today?” she whispered to Sabat, who smiled affectedly but immediately turned serious when he realized that this insight might damage his perceived masculinity.
“What did you do then?” Yiftach asked Romeo.
