Wow, really need to edit some junk.

"Alright, everyone, quiet, quiet. We're trying to get this play ran through. We're just doing a read through tonight, but you still need to show emotion. This is important, yes?" Dov clapped his hands as he spoke to get everyone's attention. Rita had already gravitated to some Italian girls who were nice to her so far, and Theo was explaining some Americanism to a few Italian men. They sat in their seats in the audience while Dov stood on the stage. Well, he called it a stage and audience, but since they weren't practicing in the actual theater, the stage was the middle of the room, and the audience was in front of whoever happened to be onstage at the time. They were practicing in some club meeting house, and the florecent lights did nothing for anyone's complexion. Although anything anyone had to say without seeming to judge them) they said nothing to Dov. He seeomed above all that peripheral junk, and highly focused. When he spoke, Rita felt terribly uncouth and crass. His accent and expressions made everything he said seem holy. Theo laughed at her for this viewpoint.
"He's just a regular guy. He's probably an actor. Don't make such a big fuss about him," he'd said. But Rita couldn't help being intrigued by his unruffled calm and organization skills. He somehow managed to pull 30 plus people together with only his voice.
"This cannot be right!" he exclaimed from the stage. "I am the director. You are the actors. You should be on stage. Get up here, all you in the first scene, and I will sit. We will try to time this baby, and see how things go." A few of the younger actors shuffled, but no one else moved.
"What? Ah, yes, I've forgotten the scripts! You don't know who you are!" He laughed, and reached into his briefcase. "Some of you know who you are, of course. The people in the choir are to stay for the first part, to see how things are going to run, then they're to go to the other room," he pointed to a door, "and practice with the music director." He clapped his hands again. "All right, all in scene one." Theo tapped Rita on the shoulder.
"What?" she whispered. He pointed to his script, to the name written along the top. In neat but elegant handwriting was written the word "Romeo." Rita's eyes widened and her eyebrows went up as she looked at his part. She glanced at Theo, who seemed to think it a great joke.
"Funny, eh?" he said quietly before running on stage.
You know what this means, don't you? This means you're going to have to kiss him. You have to kiss Theo. Theo who probably doesn't even like you that way. He said you were a good friend. He said he would stick with you. But he never, ever, never ever never said that he would like to kiss you. You're the only one who feels that way, Rita. She looked at her script carefuly, trying to get her mind off of Theo's part.

"Ms. Malone!" Someone was standng next to her, but since she'd successfully managed to keep her mind off Theo she hadn't looked up. She could dimly hear people laughing, but the blush that crept up her face seemed to have caused a ringing in her ears.
"You can call me Rita," she heard herself say.
"Rita." She looked up, and Dov was looking down at her. "It's time for you to enter." She had figured as much, so her blush only grew slightly redder when he said that. He took her arm, and walked her to the stage. "At least you were studying your lines, yes?"
She smiled at him, grateful that he wasn't trying to humiliate her as many teachers at school had done when she'd zoned out. She was so easy to pick on, partially because of her blush.
The scene she had nearly missed was the party scene, where Juliet and Romeo meet for the first time. Only in this version, the Capulets and Montegues were not warring households; Romeo worked for Juliet's father, who was secretly a Mafia leader. As a front, he owned a restaraunt, the one where Romeo worked as a waiter. Romeo's father was a policeman. They meet for the first time at the Christmas banquet, and fall in love.
Rita read through her lines, sitting on the cold stage floor, without really thinking about them. She still read them with feeling, but she didn't put herself into the lines. She looked at Dov occasionally, but could tell nothing through his serious appearence. He pulled at one dark eyebrow and his lips were compressed. He closed his eyes occasionaly, probably envisioning the blocking to be done the next practice. She already felt a cameraderie with her fellow stagemates, but she didn't know if that was wishful thinking or actuality. She watched behind the scenes features on DVDs at home and had always envied the way all the actors were comrades. She wanted a friendship like that, easy joking fun, sweat, hard work, but no strings attatched. They weren't people who would call you up at two AM saying that their husband had left them and could you help. They were the type of people you only saw for the practices, who you got to know well, but not too well. Rita wanted that balance almost as much as she wanted to act well. She shifted her weight, and felt the cold grey specked linoleum seep through her pants in a new place. Theo was saying his line. His deep voice sounded far away, and Rita thought that maybe she needed some sleep. She was really out of it, and she was pretty sure Theo noticed. He'd already shot her a few worried looks. After rehearsal, when they were wrapping up and Dov was noting a few comments he had on their performances, Theo scooted up to her. "You okay?" He put a hand on her shoulder."Yeah," she shrugged him off. "I'm fine. I'm trying to hear Dov. Shush."He backed off with a look of faux indignation, but was still worried, judging by how he continued to watch Rita. She finally ignored him and could concentrate on what the director was saying.
As she was leaving the grey room, and Theo noticed the moose head hanging on the wall, Dov pulled her aside."Rita," He looked right into her eyes as he spoke, and Rita looked away uncomfortably. She wasn't used to such directness. "Are you all right? You seemed a little...""Tired?" Rita supplied. "Yeah, I guess I was. I'll probably sleep in tomorrow- Oh, I forgot I'm going to see Michelangelo's David, so sleeping in is out. Anyway, I'm fine.""That's not what I was going to say, but that's probably part of it. You should get a lot of sleep. And bring a purfumed handkerchiff with you to the museum. It gets pretty smelly in there." They both laughed. "I was going to say that you seemed a little distressed. Are you having problems with any of your friends or family?" He looked pointedly at Theo."Oh, well, kind of. A friend of mine, one of the girls I was traveling with, got upset because I tried out for this, and to make a long story short, left to go home early in a huff. But I'm not really upset about that. No biggie." She shifted her weight to one leg, and crossed her arms over her blue tank top. The pose may have worked but for her bottom lip trembling. She hoped that Dov didn't think he knew her well enough to comment. She would have felt strange, and the director would have lost some of his heavenly glow in her eyes. Theo might think that good, but Rita wanted to keep him as perfect as possible.He smiled. Probably noticed the lip, she thought ruefully. He didn't mention it, but said, "I just wanted to make sure you were fine. You seemed a little distant.""I'll do better next week." She straightened. "I wasn't horrible, was I? I'm so so sorry! I'll do better, I just..." He didn't interupt her, but he obviously had something to say, so Rita trailed off."You did fine, I could just tell because I'm a director. It's my responsibility to look over my flock, yes?" She nodded."I have to go, Mr..." She realized she didn't know his last name, and was hopelessly thinking of something to say."Dov. Call me Dov, please. I'm not so much older than you, so there's no need to be formal.""Thank you, Dov. I'll see you on Thursday, then." She waved, and joined Theo in the hall."What did he want?" he asked curiously."Just seeing if I was okay. You'd think there was a prize for asking, or something. I'm absoluetly fine." She pulled her hair tie out and re did it."Okay then. Just being friendly, you know." He cracked his knuckles. She opened the car door, and climbed in. It was a sign of her distractedness that she let him drive. He had embraced the Italian style completely.
"Why don't you take her hand, Romeo? Juliet, you need to be a little more flighty. People need to see that this is puppy love, yes? Continue from line 13." Dov waved a hand at Rita and Theo as he spoke, and they nodded."Oh, Romeo-" she started. "Stop!" Rita turned wearily. "Yes, Dov?""I said flighty, not deep emotion. Have you read the original?" Rita nodded. "Forget it. This is not exactly the same. This is America! Girls don't fall in love at 13! They still think boys are icky, yes?""They'd like you to think that," Rita said, which caused titers from the younger members of the cast."Really? I never knew. And I thought little Rosa next door really hated me when I was 11. Start with that line, again please, Juliet?""Oh, Romeo, you are so smooth!" Rita said, batting her eyelashes and swooning. Dov clapped."Very good. Keep going.""We must be married at once," Theo said in a deep voice. "I can't wait another moment without you, Juliet!""Oh, my love, what will my father say?" Rita quavered."Your father?""My father!""I don't care about your father. We must go!""But you threw his best hitman in jail! He'll never accept you. You'll have to leave the country!" Rita collapsed in his arms with a small shriek. "I can never leave you, my love!""Nor I, you! But I must. You will have my heart, Juliet, and I'll come to get you as soon as I can." He left Rita to her helpless sobs."Very good!" Dov exclaimed, standing up. "But we need to work on that blocking a little. Romeo, would you really just push Juliet aside like that? No, you need to hold her, then lower her to the ground." The Italian used his hands a lot when he spoke. Despite this extra help, Theo looked confused. "Here, I'll show you." He took Rita's arm. "Do you mind doing that scene again?"Rita shook her head. "Oh, Romeo, you're so smooth!" She fawned over Dov, whose eyes crinkled with surpressed laugher. He held back, and delivered something close to Theo's lines without cracking a smile. When she threw herself into his arms, he held her for a moment, and it threw her back to the days when she was little, and put her head against her father's chest to hear the rumble of his voice when he spoke. It was much like the rumble she heard now, but she was carefully peeled away, and left alone, where she collapsed on the floor into sobs. She stood back up immedietly, and almost laughed as all traces of crying disappeared from her face."Do you see?" Dov said, a little breathless. "Do it just like that. No do that scene again. Great job, Juliet. You're really having fun with it."Rita smiled, and became Juliet.
"Nico-ole, I'm ho-ome!" Rita shouted into the hotel room. Nicole's head popped up from the chair."Hello. How did rehearsals go?" She was holding a book, but Nicole's cheeks were pink, and her clothes were rumpled."Did you just get in? They went great!" Rita beamed."Oh, yeah. Gaetano took me out. He and Theo are coming over tonight to play some board games and eat pizza. Plus he wants to give you a test to see if you've been studying your Italian.""Yeah, yeah," Rita muttered. She hadn't really been studying. She'd been too busy trying to see every sight there was in Florence. She was trying to convince Nicole that they had the money to take a trip to Rome, but Nicole wasn't biting."Also, I found a great apartment, and I think we should go look at it today. It's only a few blocks away, and we can afford it. We can't live in a hotel forever, you know.""Why not?" Rita grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini bar and unscrewed the cap. "That kid Eloise lived in the Plaza." She chugged some water."But her mother was paying. Something I don't think your mother will do, despite she and the adorable terror share a name. So let's go see this place. I've already been there, but I want your opinion. Theo can come, too, but he's not living there.""I know. He's sleeping anyway. That acting sure does take a toll on a person." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and took another drink. "Man, this water really does make me feel healthier. I feel one hundred percent better here than any other place I've ever lived.""All the more reason to look at the place. Let's roll out."
"Oh, Nicole! It's right out of a storybook! It's amazing!" Nicole was positively glowing."Not only that," she said, looking at the red brick house with as much pride she'd show if she'd built it. "Not only that it's affordable."Rita fingered the green ivy growing up the wall, and felt it's cool, smooth surface in comparison to the rough textured brick. She looked at the little garden filled with all types of wildflowers that Rita couldn't label; she'd never had a garden at home. The house was perched on a hill top, and you could see for miles around. It was 10 minutes out of Florence, and surrounded by countryside. Best of all, one of the many sunflower fields that Rita loved was clearly visible from the green front porch. They knocked on the deep red door, and a little Italian woman opened the door."Hello, ladies! Welcome! Come inside!" she said with a heavy accent. She was old and wrinkled, but wore a huge smile. Rita smiled back, and entered, followed by Nicole."Thank you," they said as their eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. The inside of the house was filled with color. Brilliant yellows, purples, greens, blues and reds splashed the walls, and though there was little furniture, it was all unique. The couch was bright yellow and the legs and arms looked like solid slabs of polished but old wood. The coffee table was a green box, and the kitchen table was painted blue. It was small inside, but not too crowded. The woman bustled around, and motioned toward the yellow couch with busy hands."I'm Camila. I own house. I am renting it." She struggled with her English a little, until Nicole rattled something off to her in Italian. The woman's eyes widened, and she repied. Rita could understand most of what they were saying, but was at a loss to supply anymore conversation. Nicole was in take charge mode, now. Rita leaned back, and listened."Let's take a look at the upstairs," Nicole finally suggested to Rita, who nodded eagerly and led the way. The second floor of the house was just as brilliant as the lower floor. The walls were mostly olive green and cherry red."There are two bedrooms and one bath," Camila said in Italian. Rita curiously pushed open one of the doors. Inside it was sunshine yellow, and the bed, chair and desk were all a crisp shade of blue. She spared only a moment's thought for the decor, however. She was more captivated by the view. The sunlight streamed in through the open window, and she saw the sunflower field. The yellow walls seemed to become an extention of the field. Rita could also see the red roofs of Florence off in the distance. She went to the window, inhaling the breeze and feeling it brush against her face and ruffle the coarse blue curtains beside her."We'll take it," Nicole murmered to Camila, who's wrinkled face burst into a grin."Oh, graze, bella. Graze!"
Nicole was dreamy the whole ride back home. Rita looked at her curiously a few times, waiting for her to say what she was thinking about, but word never came. Rita was rather dreamy herself. They were actually renting a house! That was another step! Tomorrow I'll see about living here legally, she thought happily, and looked in the rearview mirror. She leaned across Nicole and patted the glove compartment."Safe and sound, I hope." She waited for an answer, but none came for a while."I'm sure it is," Nicole said. "The dashboard doesn't usually eat contracts, as far as I know. I've never owned a smart car, though, so they might be fueled off of the things. I have no idea." She fingered the glove compartment's lock. "You wouldn't mind if I started working at the hotel, would you?""Of course not! That's fine. Why are you asking me?""I just wanted to make sure that was fine. Gaetano offered me a job, and I think we could use the money. Speaking of which, we need to buy bikes. They're much more practical than cars, and we can't afford to rent anymore."Rita nodded reluctantly. She didn't really want to give up the luxury of driving, but Nicole was right. Renting for this long was expensive. "Okay, bike shopping is offically on the list. We only need one, right?""Uh, not if we both want to go to the same place at the same time. I think two would work a lot better. And I think you need to get some part time job. You might be able to work at the hotel, too. You aren't getting any money until the show's out, so we need some ready cash.""Sure, hotel," Rita said. "But I don't have to stop with the play, right?"Nicole stared at her. "Of course not! Where did you get that.""Nowhere. Never mind. Hey, look! Corn for sale! Let's get some!" Rita stopped the car sharply, and turned into the little stand. She opened the door and rushed out, hair flying in the breeze. She quickly purchased several bags of the yellow sweet corn, charming the young man at the counter without even knowing it. She spoke in halting Italian, and he tried to speak back to her."Hello," she said in Italian. "How much, please?" "Quanti costa, prego?" She pushed her hair out of her face, and smiled.The dark skinned man, he was probably in his mid 20s, held up five fingers."Five euros?" she asked. He nodded, then touched his cheek. "What?" she said in English, unsure of his meaning."Baciami." He patted his cheek again, and gave her a rougish look, one eye brow up, lips pooched."Um, just a minute. Aspetta." She made a time out sign with her hands, and ran to the car. Nicole rolled down the windows. "Nicole," Rita asked distractedly. "What does baciami mean?""Who told you that," Nicloe said, eyes narrowed.Rita pointed. "That guy over there. He said five euros, and Baciami. He pointed to his cheek." Nicole opened the door quickly, hitting Rita's shins. "Ouch! Jeez, Nicole! Be careful!" Nicole was ignoring her. She approached the man and began to speak very quickly and very sternly in Italian. The man did not look embarrassed, only gesured for the money, which Nicole gave, and handed over the corn. Rita had by then taken refuge in the car, and was cowering in the passenger's seat when Nicole entered. "The nerve," Nicole stormed, strapping her seatbelt on with a little more force than was actually needed. "I have never seen such... Such audacity in my life." She shook her head quickly, and Rita caught a glimpse of a tightly clenched jaw and eyes sparkling with anger."What did it mean, Nicole," Rita asked, screwing herself up to ask. "I didn't do anything wrong, did I?""No," Nicole fumed. "You didn't do anything but be your usual charming and beautiful self. It meant kiss me."Rita laughed. "Why was that so bad, Nicole? Just a kiss on the cheek-""He probably would not have stopped there, Rita. He was a scoundrel. A nogoodink. He was unfit for human consumption. Think of something mean and there you go. I can't believe he had the nerve. Wait until Gaetano hears about this. He'll be astounded." Rita setled back into her seat, content in the knowledge that there was someone reliable looking out for her.
The house looked different already, even though all the furniture was still there. Some of the minor personal touches were there, but Nicole and Rita were already making it their home. A few pictures were hanging on the walls, and Rita had been installed into the sunflower room. Nicole had said it was too bright for her, anyway."It's a very pretty place," Gaetano said, putting a hand over his eyes and looking up at the exterior of the house. "I wish I lived here. Almost. I like my own apartment. It will be even nicer with a roommate. Especially a crazy American roommate like my cousin, Theo." He clapped Theo on the back. Theo punched him lightly on the shoulder."Yeah, good times. Good times." The phone rang. "Hey!" he yelled. "Someone get that!" Rita ran into the house from the garden, where she had been lovingly fingering leaves and flowers. She rushed into the purple kitchen taking long strides and snatched the phone."Ciao, this is Rita," she was slightly out of breath."Hello, Rita? This is your mother.""Mama! I miss you. How did you get this number? We just moved in yesterday, and I haven't called you about it yet. I really miss you and Daddy.""No enough, apparently, to come back to us. We just talked to Peggie, who told us this outlandish tale about your moving to Italy plan. Is it true?" Eloise's voice was crackly, but Rita could still tell the tone was sharp. It probably was a bit like the lemon grass she was chewing on, except more harsh. She sighed, picturing her mother's pursed lips, her elegantly plucked eyebrows arched."Yes, mama. I'd like to stay here. That's why I'm renting this house. How did you get the number, by the way.""The hotel gave it to me. Is it also true that you are acting again?" Eloise's voice was yet harsher."Yes. That is also true." Rita's tone was weary but firm. She fingered the phone cord and bit her lip."You've gone against our wishes in that, also, then. It it also a fact that you are romantically involved with that boy?" Eloise spoke the words "that boy" with the utmost distain."No. That is not a fact." No matter how much I wish it were, Rita thought to herself, but did not say. Eloise exhaled deeply."Thank the good Lord you have not sunken that low. I want you to come home right away, Rita Marie. You don't need to be away from us any longer. I can tell we're going to have to detox you as it is.""No. I'm staying here, Mother. I have a job, two, actually, I have friends and I have a house. I'm not coming back. I am not a child, and I do not want to go back home, where I will be coddled and treated like I have no mind.""I never said you have no mind, Rita. You have too much of a mind of your own, and I have always said so. If you don't need to come home to your family, then you don't need our money any longer. And you don't need to bother about calling us. We don't need you anymore, since you are so grown up. I'm disappointed to hear that Peggie was right in her appraisal of you.""What appraisal?" The phone clicked, and a dial tone sounded. "Great. I didn't want them to completely drop me. I don't need the money, but the support would be nice." She trudged out the door."Who was it?" Nicole asked, breaking into Theo's story about an Italian girl he knew. These stories bothered Rita a little. He had, by any other girl's standards, gone out with her several times, and yet he flirted with other girls constantly. He wasn't greasy, or anything like that, it just didn't seem to mean anything to him. It did mean something to Rita. She wished for a moment that Theo could be a little more like Dov. Dov always said exactly what he meant. She shook her head. I am not in love with Dov, I'm in love with Theo, and I'll just have to deal with his problems. At least he's not jealous. Jealous is worse. "Hello? Earth to Rita? Who called?" Theo said loudly, flapping a hand in her face."It was Mama. We can count her monetary and any other kind of support out of out budget. Peggie told her that I'm planning on staying, so she's angry. I don't know about Daddy. He didn't talk to me. He's probably amused. He usually is. Mama's just so uptight about me. Anyway, she's told me in no uncertain terms that she wants nothing to do with me anymore." She folded her arms. Everyone else looked stunned."Are you serious?" Theo asked, head thrust forward like a chicken about to have his head chopped off."No, I just made it all up," Rita said sarcastically."Whew," Nicole said, missing the irony in Rita's voice. "I actually fell for that. Don't scare me like that, Rita!" She laughed. Gaetano leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She dropped her cup. "You mean you weren't kidding? You were kidding? I mean, the first time you weren't kidding and the second time you were?"Rita nodded. "I wasn't and was kidding."Gaetano looked solumn. "A family is a big thing to lose, Rita. I'm very sorry.""I'm not, exactly. I feel almost free. I was worrying about what they would say for so long, I'm almost glad it's over, even if they did the worst.""We'll adopt you," Nicole said with feeling, and hugged Rita tightly. Rita sank into her embrace, and Theo joined in. After a little hesitation, Gaetano joined in."Are you sure you don't just want to go home, Rita?" Theo said into her ear."Of course I'm sure!" Rita said, pulling away."Yeah, of course!" Nicole repeated, hands on hips. "Do you think she'd rent a house if she wasn't sure?"Theo put his hands up in front of his torso, guarding himself from further attack. "Okay, okay, I was just asking. It never hurts to be careful.""Except if you're driving, apparently," Rita said."Hey, driving is different. You don't need to be half as careful as you do when you're living.""You won't be living for much longer if you keep driving the way you do now," Gaetano said, laughing."No more making fun of me about my driving. Let's get this garden and yard work taken care of. Stop slacking off, you all!" Theo picked up a manual lawn mower and tossed Gaetano a rake. "Rake something up, you wacko.""Yahoo," Rita added, and remembered Rita with a pang of regret. She picked up a spade and turned to the garden. The soil was so soft she hardly needed her tool. Camila had taken good care of the house and garden, although the yard looked a little mangy. She had explained that she was far too old to run around with the old push mower and it was too expensive to buy a gas one, so she had just let the grass grow. Theo ran past, grass flying out behind him, yelling. He whizzed by again a few seconds later, running pell mell and grunting."I have to get the thing going really fast to make it do anything!" He yelled the next time he went by. Sweat dripped from his forehead. Rita laughed, and pulled out another clump of grass. The soft earth felt moist and plesant between her fingers, reminding her of younger days, when she'd made mud pies and threw them at the mean neighbor boys. She tossed one at Nicole now, who was working beside her. Nicole squealed, and tossed one back. Pretty soon they were rolling around in the grass, gettting dirtier than little kids. They tussled for a while, until the heat made them want to stop. They went back to pulling weeds, much to the amusment of Gaetano, who was "raking something" a feet yards away. Within a few minutes they were tusseling in the grass again. Getano laughed, and leaned on his rake."You two are nothing more than little girls!" he said. "You had me fooled." Rita stuck her tongue out at him, and went back to weeding. She wuold ask Nicole, who'd had many gardens as a child, what the different flowers were. Hollyhocks, bluebells, and herbs danced through her mind."What's this?" she asked, pointing to a yellow flower with a black center."Black eyed susans," Nicole replied. "I can't believe you don't know any of this. I thought all little kids grew flowers!" She rubbed her face and left behind a smuge of dirt."Not me. Mama thought I'd get too dirty and unladylike." She brushed the dirt off her dress as she spoke. "I guess it makes sense, but I kind of missed out on simple country folk pleasures, you know? Too busy playing with my Lighty Brights and Water Babies, I guess. What's this?""Lamb's ear. That used to be my favorite, when I was little. It's not pretty, but feel it." She rubbed her fingers across it and smiled. Rita felt it, and was surprised that it was so soft. It felt like velvet kind of. Or some soft fabric, at any rate."I like it," she said, and pulled a leaf off the plant to stroke against her face. She smelled it. It tickled her nose, but the only thing she smelled strongly was damp soil and worms. She put the leaf in her pocket and went back to work. Theo ran past again. The grass strewn behind him looked more like it had benn ripped out of the ground than actually cut. Still, Rita considered. That is a lot better than using those shears to cut all the grass. By the time we would finish, the grass would be all grown up again where we had started.