Romeo and Juliet

Act IV

Prologue:

Ms. Susanna M. Lelanic shifted her weight uncomfortably as she sank into her plush new arm chair, mentally adding it to her list of things she would need to consult her manager about after the show. The smooth black leather seemed to open up and and swallow her as she again settled too far down in the seat, making it exceedingly difficult for her to maintain her impeccable posture. Something which, Susanna knew, must be maintained at all costs. Image was everything in this line of business, it was all for the viewers, as was her million dollar smile and painted red lip. She was a woman with one purpose and that was boosting the ratings, and she didn't care how. With one final shift she straightened her spine, ignoring the soft popping of her joints, and angled her crossed legs slightly forward toward the far left corner of the studio's back wall. Tilting her head and letting her soft, newly dyed, curls swing down to pleasantly frame her face, Susanna flashed her pearly whites just as the lights flashed.

"And we're on in three, two, -"

"Good Morning Italy, we are coming to you today live from our studio in Verona and it is shaping up to be quite a beautiful day." Another smile. "I am your host, Susanna M. Lelanic, and today I want to bring to your attention unhealthy and obsessive teen relationships. With us today is a special American guest who is the author of the worldwide bestselling Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer. She is quite the expert on unhealthy and obsessive teen relationships, if I may say so myself. I am a huge fan of your books, though I find Bella's utter dependance on her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen to be most worrisome."

"Why thank you, and yes, you might say that. Relationships such as the ones in my books, which result in near death experiences and/or vampirism are undoubtedly unhealthy." Stephanie remarked dryly. A wave of laughter ripple through the audience and the cameraman deftly panned around to catch a couple fleeting smiles before focusing back on the women sitting in front of a cardboard backdrop of a castle silhouetted by the rising sun. Good, Susanna mentally praised the brown haired woman sitting across from her. She can give back as good as she gets, perfect for publicity. Though Susanna knew it would not be needed for today's show. No, today's show would blow that American knock off Dr. Phil out of the water and it was all thanks to a couple old men in white lab coats and the thirteen year old girl sitting on the coach, seemingly dwarfed next to Stephanie's larger frame.

"Also with us today is the one and only Juliet Capulet from Shakespeare's infamous Romeo and Juliet. This is a once in a life time chance and we are overjoyed to have you with us to share your own experiences with...uh, relationships." Susanna paused, but then continued along the scripted monologue easily, as she switched the conversation seamlessly over to today's star. "Thanks to some vigorous research by the Paranormal Investigations Corp. we have the unique chance of having her here with us today."

Susanna turned to face Juliet and was graced with a slight smile, though Juliet's eyes did not meet her's, but rather darted around the room.

"I am happy to be here, back in Verona. Thank you." She said. Polite, perhaps overly so, and a little shy. She must still be adjusting, Susanna could only imagine what it must feel like to... She reached down into her purse, which was slumped against the side of her chair, and pulled out a hard cover copy of the book version of Romeo and Juliet. She made sure the camera got a clear shot of the title and cover art before placing it atop her silver clipboard, stuffed to the brim with notes scrawled out in chicken scratch about previous guests on the show. She recorded everything, every minute muscle twitch, every nervous eye flicker. Most of it was junk, but it wasn't because Susanna was not capable of aptly diagnosing a patient. Heck, she easily had twice the credentials of any of the family shrinks half the sorry saps in the building probably cried to once a week, and then some. It was because the truth never sold, she had to twist it ever so slightly into something that fit the public's fantasies. But she would never lie, no, she would never do that, Susanna thought. She still had some pride as a psychologist. Didn't she?

"Now, Juliet, the length you went to in order to be with your Romeo, do you ever regret it? Knowing how the story ends, do you ever want to rewrite it?" No pun intended. Juliet lifted her head and looked resolutely out into an audience filled with people who had likely scrambled for days to get tickets just to see her.

"No, I would not have done it any other way. The plan was really my only option, I would have still gone threw with it. Though if I would... "rewrite it", as you say, I would've had it work. If only it had worked." She trailed off, the last part a barley audible whisper, too faint to be caught by the camera or the microphone that hung suspended on a rod above their heads.

"You really wouldn't have done anything differently? Don't you realize the effect your death had on your family?" Susanna pressed. She opened the book on her lap and flipped to a dog eared page that read "Act IV Scene v" in the upper right hand corner. Then she began to read in practiced meter, letting the odd words roll off her tongue. "'Death is my son-in-law; death is my heir. My daughter he hath wedded. I will die and leave him all. Life, living, all is death's.' (IV.v.44-46) This is said by Lord Capulet, your father, in Act IV scene v lines 44-46." There was a pause before Susanna continued, seeing that Juliet did not respond but rather sat in quite repose, eyes cast down studiously examining her shoes. "I believe that your father is saying that his life means nothing" She stressed the word. "without you. Was your desire to be with Romeo so strong that you could not have spared your father some semblance of the desolation he felt?" Maybe she was pushing it too much, letting it get too personal, but Susanna couldn't help it.

"I believe in the choice I made." Juliet replied simply. It sure didn't seem like it in the book, Susanna thought. What with her whole soliloquy of fears and what not. What if I really die? What if I go mad? That kind of thing. The Simulator must be off. Though it was an interesting angle to pursue, so Susanna switched tactics.

"Stephanie," The brunette acknowledged her name with a nod and Susanna continued. "I must ask you, as our relationship specialist for the day, have you ever read Romeo and Juliet? Her voice rising in pitch slightly as she dropped the question, hoping to get the dynamics of today's show rolling.

"Of Course." Came a cheery reply, the woman had not missed a beat. Picking up the conversation as if she had been a part of it the entire time. Which she hadn't of course, for Susanna had just been running her mouth ineffectively the entire show so far. But this was just the beginning. "Who hasn't? In my books I reference it numerous times."

"Then you are familiar with Juliet's fears before taking the potion given to her by Friar Lawrence?" Susanna inquired.

"Yes, actually. In ninth grade my English teacher assigned us a project in which we had to draw them out. It was my first time using Prismacolor markers, and though I'm no artist it was a wonderful experience."

"So, judging by the fears Juliet has and how many things could have gone wrong with Romeo and Juliet's plan to run away together, do you feel like their relationship is a healthy one?"

"Definitely not, it is like with my characters Bella and Edward, I believe it is okay to love someone enough to want to, if given the opportunity, die in their place but a line needs to be drawn and that is at not being able to live without someone. If you are so dependent on a person that if they were to ever walk away you would rather die than move on, that is a sure red flag signaling an unhealthy and obsessive relationship right there." Stephanie finished with a resolute nod of the head, which came across as almost comical.

"Oh, a very interesting point. Where do we draw the line? Our two star-crossed lovers probably could have used some, especially in the end- but don't worry I won't way anymore."

"That's right," Stephanie interjected cheerfully "you don't want to spoil it for our viewers who have yet to be educated in the classics." As she finished she gave Susanna a conspiratorial wink.

"Now, Juliet, aside from your father's reaction to your death and your list of fears, there are a couple of other things I wanted to ask you about, one of which is in regards to your attitude towards Paris..." Susanna's voice trailed off as she again turned her attention to the book and flicked back threw the pages, scanning rapidly to locate the dog eared ones. Her silver wedding ring glinting in the strong studio lights trained directly on the stage.

"I was nothing if not polite to him." Juliet said and Susanna thought she caught a fleeting glimpse of indignation flicker in the young girl's eyes as she spoke. She must have acclimated and that meant she was going to hopefully be more vocal. That was a relief, because even the famed Juliet Capulet was not enough to boost ratings if she just sat there. People have had the technology to simulate that for years, but a "real" Juliet who interacted, talked, and argued. That was something new, something exciting and it was exactly what they needed.

"Or so it seems, ahh found it." Susanna smiled triumphantly and holding up the book, clasped tightly in one hand, she again began to read. "Paris greets you with 'Happily met, my lady and my wife!' to which Juliet says 'That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.'" (IV.i.18-19)

"I find nothing wrong with that comment." Her brow furrowed.

"Seems to me that you are rather rudely saying that your are not his wife and maybe even going as far as to insinuate that you don't want to be? And the conversation goes on like this for a full page. Another example is in line 23 when Paris asks 'Come you to make confession to this father?' and you reply with 'To answer that I must confess to you.' (IV.i.23-24) don't know, what does that sound like to you Stephanie?" Susanna asked, peering over the top of the book, eyes wide.

"It seems to me like she's telling him to bugger off." Stephanie stifled a chuckle, eyes gleaming as she re hooked her ankles and sat slightly more forward on the coach cushion.

"Also there is the time when Paris says 'Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it.' and our Juliet says 'It may be so, for it is not my own.'" (IV.i.33-34)

"I wonder who's it is?" Stephanie sung, talking a childish amusement in the whole affair. Schadenfreude was it? Happiness at the expense of others.

"Why Romeo of course!" Looking out into the multitude of people seated behind the camera, Susanna could tell the audience was deriving almost as much enjoyment out of this as she was.

"Where are you getting these ideas?" Juliet questioned, a faint flush beginning to creep up her cheeks, though whether from embarrassment or anger it was too soon for Susanna to tell.

"I am merely interrupting subtext, nothing outrageous. In fact it is practically what I do for a living." she murmured. "Should I continue? For example, backing up a bit to where you say 'I will confess to you that I love him.' (IV.i.26) I'm assuming the "him" you are referring to is none other than Romeo?" The girl's slight frame seemed to shimmer and blur for a second, causing Susanna to frown. That couldn't be good. Was The Simulator really broken?

"No! Stop making assumptions! You know nothing!" Juliet seethed, actually propelling herself up and off the coach, fists clenching. Now that was definitely out of character, nothing like how the real Juliet was supposed to react. Or at least she thought, fictional characters were so fickle. Susanna sighed and glanced out toward her manager who had just hurried across the room and rapidly mouthed the words "calm atmosphere", all the while skillfully staying out of the camera's shot. Calm the atmosphere? Was that code for "we are experiencing some unexpected power surges from The Simulator because you ticked her off, so go fix it now"? It seemed most likely.

In the long run it didn't matter, whatever Susanna might have done it would have been too little far too late. The lights began to stutter on and off until from the far corner of the room a loud mechanical popping sound was heard, Susanna thought she saw sparks as well. And then it went dark. At least until the whirling of the back up generators was heard, but when the lights flicked back on Juliet was gone. It wasn't all that surprising considering how difficult it had been for The Simulator to create her projection in the first place, add a power surge to that and it was no wonder. It probably had something to do with the fact that not only was she a fictional character, but a dead fictional character, she didn't even exist in the book anymore.

The Simulator was an advanced machine that used a 4D projector and a personality replication software that the Paranormal Investigations Corp. had come up with after years of study. It had made headlines for weeks, Make Your Favorite Fictional Character Come to Life!Who wouldn't want that? Today's show was it's test run and today's topic was chosen to calculate how much emotional stress it could handle while creating a projection, apparently not much. Susanna frowned slightly at the spot were Juliet had disappeared from, this was bad for her image. She turned one final time towards the camera and pulled out a brilliant smile before beginning to talk slowly and comfortingly to the frenzied audience in front of her.

"My apologies everyone but it seems that Juliet has left us for the day. Up next is a quick word from our sponsors, but please stay tuned for the weather and traffic at ten."

"Cut!" The director said waving to the cameraman. "Nice wrap Suzzie. I guess we are done for the day. Everyone is free to leave," He raised his voice so that all could hear. "I'm gonna go call tech. and see if we can't fix this thing." The director jabbed his thumb over to The Simulator before bruskly walking off towards the back exit, which lead to the offices, most likely to get a phone.

Susanna watched the people file out of the studio. Maybe she had been a tad callous, Susanna admitted, fluffing her curls. She would just never understand Juliet's decisions. Casting one last look quietly over to where Juliet's projection had sat she slowly stood, sighed, brushed the wrinkles from her skirt, and started walking to the main exit, her heals making rhythmic clicks as she went.

As Susanna M. Lelanic passed The Simulator, it let out a hiss that sounded eerily like "O' Romeo!". Maybe Juliet's ghost was more real than she had thought.

A/N: Personally I feel that shows such as Dr. Phil are snide and purposely set up to put the people on them down for the entertainment of the viewers. So I purposely modeled my story after this prejudice of mine, therefor it is extremely exaggerated and highly unrealistic. My apologies for any offense this may have cause.

-Rachel Larson

Explanations:

The Guest/Specialist (Stephanie Meyer): I chose her because I remember my mother commenting on how scary it was that Bella couldn't live without Edward and I feel it is the same with Juliet and Romeo. Also Stephanie is a supposed, I have never met her so I am not sure, Romeo and Juliet fan and mentions as well as quotes the book a couple of times.

First quote: I used a quote describing Capulet's grief at loosing his daughter because at that point in the story Susanna is attempting to guilt trip Juliet into admitting she should have acted differently through her father.

Quotes 2-5: These quotes are all used for their subtext, which Susanna and Stephanie use to "make fun off" Juliet.