“The Stage and the Sinner”

(Veeresh & Poornima)

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🎭 Setting: University Theatre — Late Evening Rehearsal

The hall was dim. The others had left hours ago.

Only Veeresh and Poornima stayed back — not to rehearse, but because their professor had rewritten the next act of Romeo & Juliet to add more realism. The next scene? The lovers in Juliet’s chamber — a scene heavy with intimacy, longing, and forbidden touch.

Poornima sat on the stage edge, clutching the new script.

Poornima: “This is too much… I’m not doing this. We can fake it. The audience doesn’t need—”

Veeresh (cutting her off, voice low): “We’ve faked a lot already. Don’t you want to feel something real… just once?”

She looked at him sharply.

Poornima: “Don’t try your twisted mind games on me.”

He smirked, stepping closer.

Veeresh: “Oh no, Juliet. This is not a game anymore.”

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🌑 Backstage – Dim Lights, Heavy Air

They moved behind the curtains to run lines — but the tension wasn’t just scripted anymore. The air thickened. Their breathing slowed.

Poornima read:

> “Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.

It was the nightingale, and not the lark…”

She paused, voice trembling.

Veeresh replied softly:

> “I must be gone and live, or stay and die.”

Their faces were close now. Too close.

The line blurred.

Suddenly, Veeresh’s hand cupped her cheek, gently — like she was something rare. His lips found hers in a deep, sensual kiss — full of restrained fire and hunger. She froze at first… then gave in.

Their scripts fell to the floor.

Her hands tangled in his shirt.

The kiss deepened — slow, exploring, and dangerous. It wasn’t romantic.

It was electric. Forbidden. Raw.

When they pulled apart, breathless, her lips parted in disbelief.

Poornima: “What… what are we doing?”

Veeresh’s eyes burned into hers.

Veeresh: “My Juliet just kissed her rival Romeo.”

Poornima: “This doesn’t mean anything.”

Veeresh (smirking): “Then why do you look like you want it to?”

She looked away — cheeks flushed, heart thudding.

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📜 The New Scene

The rewritten play now included an intimate bedroom scene — closeness, a touch of vulnerability, the laying of emotional armor.

Veeresh was ready.

But Poornima? She was spiraling.

Was it just chemistry? Desire? Or something she was afraid to name?

That night, she didn’t sleep.

She replayed every word.

Every stolen breath.

Every second her body betrayed her mind.

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🎭 Final Line Rehearsed That Night:

> Juliet: “I have no joy of this contract tonight.

It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden…”

But her eyes told a different story.

And so did Veeresh’s hand… still warm on her waist.