‘No,’ said Nick. ‘It’s more like they jump around. Oh God, you’re gonna think I’m a complete nutcase. They jump around on the page, like they’re dancing. When I was a kid, I used to think they were doing it to taunt me.’
‘And you can’t visually get them into an order that makes sense,’ said Kitty.
Nick’s eyes opened wide. ‘How did you know?’
Kitty shrugged. ‘I may be wrong, but it sounds very much to me like you have dyslexia. Have you never been tested?’
‘Dyslexic…’ muttered Nick to himself. He turned to face Kitty. ‘No, I’ve never been tested. I always assumed I was thick, and so did all the adults around me.’
‘Oh,’ said Kitty, bunching her hand into a fist and hitting it against her leg. Her chest swelled with sympathy. Having to live with this, to hide his supposed “thickness” from the world – a nightmare. ‘Sometimes our education system has a lot to answer for. My brother had the same experience when he first started school. Thankfully, when he was ten, he had a teacher who recognised the signs and got him the help he needed.’ She put a hand on his arm. ‘You’re not stupid, Nick. If anything, I suspect you’re quite the opposite. All you need is a bit of extra support.’
Nick stared at her as if she’d told him he was an alien from Mars. ‘You think I might have dyslexia? I’m not stupid?’
She smiled gently. ‘Not stupid at all. I’d be surprised if a professional assessment didn’t come to the same conclusion I have. Now, how about we go through these lines together?’
Chapter 45
‘Excellent, excellent,’ cried Solly.
Nick held out a hand to Kitty and climbed to his feet, having rehearsed their tragic end in the play.
‘I thought that was wonderful. Didn’t you, Jack?’ Solly agreed with him.
‘Yes,’ said Jack. ‘Pretty good. As co-director, however, there are a few tweaks I’d like to make.’ He peered over the top of his glasses. ‘The acting was of a certain quality, I agree. But, Solly, do you not feel their performance was lacking a certain… passion?’
‘Passion? They’re not about to climb into bed together, Jack. Romeo’s just killed himself, and Juliet’s about to do the same.’
‘Yes, yes,’ said Jack irritably. ‘What I mean is, it was a little… and no offence here, Kitty and Nick … it seemed a little wooden.’
‘Hm,’ said Solly, leaning back in his chair. ‘You’re right.’ He turned to Nick. ‘When you found Juliet dead on the slab, or supposedly dead on the slab, perhaps you could have appeared more … more devastated or traumatised, rather than simply upset.’
Nick bridled. ‘This is only a rehearsal,’ he said. ‘I can put more effort into the real thing.’
‘Nick,’ said Jack in a weary-director tone, ‘every rehearsal has to be the real thing. We should go over this scene again.’
‘Agreed,’ said Solly. ‘And if I was Romeo and I found Juliet sprawled on a slab and not moving, I would do a lot more than stand and stare at her or pick up her hand and hold it in mine. Don’t you agree, Jack?’
‘Quite.’ Jack nodded. ‘Romeo is a passionate young man, not some elderly fellow come to visit his long-suffering wife in hospital. We need to see passion, Nick.’
Nick’s shoulders slumped. There was no point in arguing with the two brothers. When they combined, they were a force of nature. ‘What precisely do you suggest I do, chaps? Do you want actual tears?’
‘Well,’ said Solly, ‘Jack’s right. You’re not visiting an elderly woman in hospital. You’re visiting a beautiful young woman who you loved passionately and have, as far as you’re concerned, tragically lost. If I were Romeo and I found Juliet in that state, I would smother her with kisses.’
‘Smother her with kisses?’ asked Nick, horrified. ‘You’d smother a dead body with kisses, would you, Solly?’
Solly waved his hand in the air. ‘Stop being facetious, Nicholas.’
‘Don’t call me Nicholas,’ said Nick. ‘You might be director, but don’t let it go to your head.’
‘He’s got a point, though,’ said Jack. ‘Kitty, you agree with us, don’t you?’
Nick turned to see Kitty, her cheeks flaming. ‘I’m not sure smothering me with kisses is very appropriate for a family show. Do you?’
‘I’m not talking about him ripping your clothes off,’ said Jack. ‘Surely though, he would initiate some sort of contact.’ Heshrugged. ‘If you can’t bear to kiss the poor girl on the lips, Nick, perhaps you could at least kiss her cheek, run a longing finger down across her face, smooth down her hair – anything to show a little intimacy. At the moment, your onstage chemistry is non-existent. You look like two strangers who’ve passed each other in the street, not two young lovers who’ve spent the past goodness knows how long in bed.’
Nick shook himself from imagining smoothing Kitty’s hair. ‘They haven’t spent the past however long in bed,’ said Nick. ‘Romeo’s been exiled.’
‘That’s not the point,’ said Solly. ‘You see what Jack’s getting at. Now, let’s run that scene again, and this time let’s inject a little more passion into the proceedings, shall we?’
