The Playground : Collection of Short Stories

Rosaline

Written for 'writing prompt' #30 by ChickLit

Word count: 1252

***

"Count Paris will be arriving soon, Rosaline. Is Juliet ready yet?" Uncle Capulet asked me. I shook my head, to which my uncle frowned and went away. I quickly went inside Juliet's room, where I found her sulking.

"Why don't you just meet him once? You can refuse him later." I tried to make her understand. She gave me a knowing look. We both knew that her desire would have little impact on the final decision.

I hugged her from behind and said, "You are too young to even think about marriage. I do not know what uncle is up to. On the other hand, I have heard the Count is a sight for sore eyes, and is wealthy enough to keep you happy for the rest of your life."

"What about love? Isn't that important in a marriage?"

I sighed. Juliet was an intelligent woman, but she could be really innocent at times. Uncle and Aunt Capulet were not the best examples of an ideal married couple for her. Uncle was too powerful, whereas Aunt was a meek woman who had only one purpose in her life - to be a devoted wife. Uncle Capulet was not particularly fond of me. He called me 'headstrong' and a 'bad influence' for all the women in Capulet family. To his dismay, and my father's, I had already crossed the prime age for marriage due to my stubbornness, which was probably the reason why none of them were forcing me to get a suitor.

Juliet, unfortunately, was not so lucky.

***

It was Uncle's idea to have a masquerade ball to honour Juliet and Count Paris. My cousin Tybalt had asked me for the first dance. I had decided to dress in a lush gold gown with floral prints, and matched it mask with it too. Even then, compared to the other guests, I looked quiet simple since I had decided to not indulge in a character. Tybalt was dressed as the devil, much against my Aunt's wishes. Juliet, on the other hand, looked beautiful as an angel. She stood beside the Count who was dressed extravagantly. He was animatedly talking to her, but she barely noticed him and was more interested in looking at the decor.

I was approached by an older gentleman as the first dance ended. However, I politely refused him and made my way towards Juliet. When I reached her, I took her hand and asked the Count whether we could be excused for a moment. Before he could answer, I dragged her away and took her to the nearest balcony.

"I needed this." Juliet chuckled as she leaned on the railing.

"Just say no to him."

"Did you not say I should give him a chance."

"I did, but that was before I saw how miserable you looked in his company."

She looked at the sky and sighed. I could understand what she was going through. I had been in a similar situation few years ago, when my father was adamant about getting me married to a viscount and a dear friend of the Prince. I had, however, refused. He was nothing but an arrogant man who only talked about how wealthy he was. That was the last time my father made any arrangements for my marriage. He had given up since then.

I was glad he did, but at the same time it ruined my relationship with him. That was the reason why I spent more time in Verona with my cousin.

I took Juliet's hand in mine, which caused her to look at me. There were tears in her eyes. I patted her back and said, "Marry someone with whom you fall in love at first sight. Wealth is not permanent - it comes and goes depending on a person's fortune. However, love is eternal. Do not compromise on it."

I then left her at the balcony and went back to dance some more. A young man, dressed as a hunter approached me, and I gladly accepted his offer. I had also removed my mask and so did few of the guests. As soon as the dance ended, I went to get some refreshments. That was when my eyes met his.

Romeo Montague.

As soon as he saw me, he smiled widely. On the other hand, my frown deepened. It was a known fact that Romeo was infatuated with me. I guess somewhere in my mind, the fact that our families were involved in blood feud always stopped me from seeing him as a lover too, other than the fact that he was incredibly immature. I must say he was handsome, but his personality resembled that of a child.

When I saw him approaching me, I quickly turned around in order to escape. It was hard as a lot of guests were blocking my way, but I somehow made my way to the balcony where I had left Juliet. I wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't there. She must have gone back to the Count.

"There you are, my lady!" I heard a deep voice speak behind me. I closed my eyes and hoped that whatever Romeo had to say, he say quickly and leave.

It wasn't Romeo, though, but Benvolio.

"Why are you here? You know what will happen if Uncle finds out!" I said to him.

"You worry too much, my lady. It is a masquerade, after all."

I shook my head in dismay and said, "You and Romeo should leave at this moment, or I will notify my uncle about your presence."

He came close to me and said, "He loves you more than life itself. Can you not consider it for once? Why are you so hardhearted?"

"Are you telling me that I should love him regardless of how I feel otherwise? Are you forcing me to love him?"

He did not say anything. When I saw his sullen expression I said, "I do not love him. I never did. I had made it very clear by my conduct but it looks like the message has not been received by him. What should I do?"

"Why do you not tell this to him yourself? It would end his misery for good."

I did not want to be seen talking to a Montague for the fear of being caught by someone in the family, but I also knew that this had to be done. I had to finish this for once and for all.

Benvolio led me to where Romeo was. I was little nervous about confronting him. I had not met him in person since last two summers, even though I had been regularly visiting my cousin. I took a deep breath in order to calm myself and continued to follow him closely, when, all of a sudden, he stopped. This caused me to bump against his back. In annoyance, I asked him why he did that, to which he said nothing but simply pointed his finger right ahead of him.

It was Romeo, and he was staring lovingly at Juliet. That wasn't worst part, for Juliet, too, seemed to be quite enamoured with him. I looked at Benvolio, who looked at me in confusion, before we both went on to look at the new love story that was blooming right before our eyes.

"I guess I am not needed anymore." I said to him. He struggled to reply me, but ended up shrugging instead.

Romeo and Juliet, together? This was not going to end well.