Page 73 of In Harmony

“Come, go with me. I will go seek the king. This is the very ecstasy of love.” He gave me a slight shake. “What, have you given him any hard words of late?”

I stared at him, my eyes wide and unblinking, my mind translating the question.

What did you do to him to make him act that way?

My words emerged on a whisper. “No, my good lord. But as you did command.”

Polonius held me for half a second more. When he let go, it was Martin’s face breaking into a jubilant smile. “You got it,” he said and pulled me in for a hug. “You’re a natural, Willow. Raw talent. I’m so grateful you found my theater.”

“Thanks,” I managed. “Can I use the restroom?”

I didn’t wait for an answer, but hurried out of the theater to the ladies’ room in the lobby, where I splashed cold water on my face a half-dozen times.

“You’re okay,” I told the girl in the mirror. “You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay.”

When rehearsal ended, I surveyed the remaining actors, wondering who I could ask for a ride home. I decided I could be a big girl and call an Uber. I booked the ride, then went outside into the chilly air. The days were getting warmer now, but the nights still held a little bite of winter.

“Hey.”

I looked around and saw Isaac leaning against the wall, one foot flat agains

t the bricks, a cigarette tucked between his lips. Hulking and battered in his black leather jacket, he’d look dark and dangerous to everyone. But not to me.

“Hey,” I said. “Thanks for helping out tonight.”

He looked away for a moment, his jaw hard, then back to me. “You were scared.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear, shrugged. “You were intense. Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?”

“So it was all an act.”

“They don’t call it acting for nothing.”

He snorted smoke out of his nose. “I didn’t like scaring you like that.”

“Why?”

“It felt real.”

I crossed my arms. “You think we don’t feel the same when we watch you? In Oedipus I was scared you’d actually gouged your damn eyes out.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” I tilted my chin up in mock arrogance and flipped a lock of hair over my shoulder. “And maybe I’m just that good.”

He nodded, not smiling at the joke. “I know you are but…”

“But what?”

He thought for a minute, took a drag off his smoke. “When I get really into a scene, it’s because I’m connecting to some real emotion or memory within it.”

“I’m familiar with Method acting, yes,” I said, clinging to snark to keep the conversation from where Isaac was taking it.

He glanced at me, then looked away. “I don’t want to get all up in your business, but tonight when I got close to you, when I grabbed you…” He ground his teeth. “The fear I saw in your eyes…”

And then it came again, Isaac’s hand out to me, strong and sure, offering to be there while I crossed the great black chasm.

“I drew it out, but I didn’t put it there to begin with,” he asked. “Did I?”