Page 21 of The Diamond's Absolutely Delicious Downfall
Juliet’s voice floated throughout the theater.
It was the first time since she’d been a child that she stood on the boards, looked out at the empty seats, and spoke. It felt like coming home. It felt like heaven. She did not do Hamlet’s soliloquy.
No. This time she spoke Juliet’s lines.
Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo…
But this time she said, “Wherefore art thou, Tobias?”
She felt like an utter a fool, and yet it felt right. Whispering his name here. Why did he have to be an American? Why did he have to be untitled?
Well, she thought to herself, of course he had to be something completely unexpected! That was the only sort of man she could ever give her heart to, and oh, she had given him her heart.
It was why she could not choose anyone to marry, not anyone but him.
“Bravo!” a voice called from the audience, accompanied by a firm clap.
She jolted at the sound of that voice. A voice she’d know anywhere.
“You found me,” she breathed.
“It wasn’t very hard. Your family told me where to go.”
She laughed. “Of course they did.”
“You look at home,” he said softly.
“That’s what I was thinking too,” she confessed. She glanced about at the stage rigging, the boxes, and the empty seats. “I think I was always meant to be here. I don’t know why I ever left.”
He took another step forward. “Because you told yourself some lies about what you needed to do. It’s what we all do.”
She winced. “I told myself lies about you too. I told myself I could never have you because you’re an American, because you don’t have a title.”
He strode down the aisle, heading for her, undaunted. “Yes, you did. And now?”
“And now,” she said firmly, willing him towards her, “that’s the only reason I can have you.”
“What?” he demanded, climbing up the stairs at the side of the stage. “Please explain that.”
“It’s because you’re an American and you’re not titled. That’s exactly why I wanted you all this time,” she breathed. “I have been holding on tight to some idea when all I really needed to do was let go.”
He crossed to her and pulled her into his arms. “Then let go, Juliet. Let go.”
She gazed up into his dark eyes. Eyes that made her feel loved and seen, and more herself than she’d ever been. “But what if I fall? What if it all breaks apart?”
“Then I will be there for you,” he whispered, slipping his fingers into the curls at the nape of her neck. “I will hold you in my arms. I’ll make certain you don’t crash to the ground, and if anything breaks apart, we will pick up the pieces together.”
“Together,” she murmured, studying his lips, savoring the feel of him against her. “Is it possible?”
“From the moment I saw you, I have thought the world of you. I saw the passion in you, the fire, and my heart broke to see you hiding all of it, but I see it again now. It’s there. It’s ready.”
“Ready for you,” she replied.
“Then let us not hold back. Let us choose a life together.”
“Let us go to America!” she declared.
His eyes flared, and he balked. “Your family will kill me if I take you away from them.”
“That sounds very Shakespearean,” she said with a laugh.
“A tragedy,” he lamented.
“But all they want is my happiness,” she countered. “So they will let you live. There shall be no tragedies here.”
He stroked his fingers along her cheek. “How do you know?”
She shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“How do you know if we’re in a comedy or a tragedy?” he whispered, serious for a moment.
She lifted her hand and pressed it over his heart. “Don’t you know?”
“I don’t.”
She licked her lips and tilted her head back. “The way you know if you’re in a comedy or not? A comedy always ends with a wedding.”
Tobias beamed down at her, pulling her even closer. “And is it going to end in a wedding?”
“Oh yes,” she breathed. “Ours.”