"Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!"
               —3 Witches, Macbeth

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~

Three days later, we had our first rehearsal. The play, Evil In Your Eyes, was a romantic comedy set in the eighteenth century England. This period drama had to be executed with a lot of precision, since the people of England were still quite sensitive about it. And I had rightfully so, spent the last six months perfecting the script and each and every detail of the dialogues. The only problem in the whole deal was a man named Isaac Williams, and the only uncertain streak in this project.

This uncertainty made me anxious to the point where I would willingly offer to chop off all my hair so that I wouldn't have something to tug on whenever I get another one of those attacks. He was seriously fucking with the way I worked, constantly standing up to contradict me whenever I spoke, and was in general, being a major pain in the ass.

And I obviously didn't like it. It was torture, having to listen to all the bullshit he spewed so naturally and seriously, as if he was a newbie in the field. It was an even unpleasant situation when I had to go over all the rudimentary things over and over, while watching that satisfied smirk on his sharply cut face. I would have actually taken some time out to admire the beauty that his visage was, if only he wasn't such a fucking Devil behind that handsome facade.

As I reached the theater for the first time in six months, my stomach filled with a new kind of butterflies – the ones you get when you're extremely on edge. It was a normal phenomena for me whenever I entered the theater, but today, it was so intense that I could feel it's tingles all the way down to my ankles, making it hard for me to walk confidently. And God forbid what I would have to go through if anyone ever saw me walking like a weak, dependent girl.

However, a call on my phone succeeded in distracting me from my nerves. Quickly fishing out my phone from my bag, I saw it was from Aaliyah.

"Good morning babe! I heard today's your first rehearsal?" She chirped through the phone, making me roll my eyes.

It was fucking nine in the morning, on a cold spring day, and here she was, being all cheery and energized and enthusiastic. Typical Aaliyah.

"Why? Did you perhaps, hear about it from a certain someone?" I asked.

"Well, I had to drill some common sense and respect into the bastard, so I went over to his place and gave him a nice, thirty minutes long scolding. He really is a dumbass when it comes to women, you know?" She talked animatedly, while my chest swelled with pride and warmth. This woman had actually fought with her cousin for me.

God didn't give me a lot of company, but he certainly gave me the best one.

"So, what do you mean to say? Should I expect a change in his behavior today?" I asked casually, not wanting to believe that he would change in such a short time, but I was once again, proved wrong.

"Sweetie, if there's one weakness to Isaac Williams, it is me. We might be cousins, but he can even lay down his life for me. I know it's a tad bit exaggerated, but nevertheless, it's the truth."

"And yet, I was never aware of this so called great cousin of yours, when we have been best friends since I don't know when," I grumbled.

"And just whose fault is that? Why did you ignore me whenever I invited you to dinner with my extended family on holidays? Now, that's your punishment for being a bad friend right there," She chuckled.

"Nevermind. I won't regret missing those dinners now that I know what trouble I was going to get myself in. I really should thank my instincts for staying away."

"Oh God, you're insufferable. Anyway, now that you know he's going to be nice to you, you too will have to take care and not instigate him every chance you get, alright? It needs to end here, and you both need to be fair with each other." She reprimanded me, making me roll my eyes yet again.

"Okay mother, anything else? Now let me go, or else I'll be late."

"Bye girl! Go rock it!!" She laughed before hanging up the phone. Shaking my head at her, I put my phone back in the bag and made a beeline for the theater.

The conversation had definitely eased some of my nerves, and I was already feeling better. Maybe a little part of it was because I was told that my problem would be less intense today, so I was looking forward to that.

Opening the door to the hall, my eyes instantly spotted the one who had plagued my mind ever since I met him. He was seated in one of the chairs in the audience, hunched over a white piece of something which I assumed was his script. He had a crisp white shirt on, with sleeves folded till his elbows, making me scoff in disbelief.

Part of that disbelief was because he had come dressing to a rehearsal as if he was going to a meeting, and another part of it was because I was instantly drawn to his firm forearms and the veins popping out of his skin. There was no need to even explain how I could see all of that from such a huge distance, but everything I could see from that angle, was very, very appealing to my eye.

As my heels clicked on the steps when I climbed down towards the stage, everyone's attention was drawn towards me. Immediately, a river of hello's and good morning's greeted me, and I kept my polite stance by returning them all. When I finally reached the aisle where the root cause of all my problems was sitting, he looked up at me with a tender smile, knocking the wind out of me.

It was not only rare for him to smile, but also rare for someone like me to witness it. And hence, I was rendered a damn statue in front of him, as he slowly stood up from his seat, and sauntered towards me as a lion does, towards its prey.

His dark eyes sparked and twinkled dangerously as he swept his gaze over my form, taking in my outfit with an appreciative glance. At least, he viewed me as a sexy woman. But, why was that so relieving?

When he finally reached me at the end of the aisle, he held his hand out for me to take, and as I placed my hand in his, in a warm handshake, he spoke,

"Good morning Miss Lockewood. I hope to work well with you for a long, long time from now. Let the journey begin."

And as he finished it with a charming smile, I was in a huge trouble. His appreciative gaze, soft and mannered words, and that charming smile was a deadly combination. He had used it on me, and somewhere my mind was trying to cut through the haze that sruurounded it, trying to tell me animatedly that this is all a sham, but I was too blissfully unaware of it.

Maybe I chose to ignore it, because this was the first time I had been talked to in this way. This was the first time, a man had been so mannered with me. Even if it wasn't going to be real, I wanted to revel in it for a moment before my dark, cruel world calls me in it forever.

Because nevertheless, it was my first.

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~