AGAINST THE RULES

Chapter 10

Flashback to 2019
Acting Workshop for Couples

"You like women," Angela says matter-of-factly as she toys with her unlit cigarette. She begins to pace the air conditioned studio.

"You like boobs," she says sexily. "A little bit of butt," she says with a laugh.

Bright blushes and looks away. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Win trying to say something but is too taken aback to form any words.

Angela laughs, twenty years as an acting director made her know just exactly what needs to be said to get the right emotion from any actor. "No need to be shy!," she says. "It's normal. And that's exactly what you want to channel for your scenes. The audience needs to feel the want, the attraction."

"But neither of us have boobs?", Win says. He tries to sound like he's joking but his confusion was very apparent.

"Great observation," Angela says. "You may think gender is a big obstacle to acting believably in love. But it's not. I'll prove it." She looks at Win and gives him a sly smile. " Let me ask you, who was your first crush?"

Win turns scarlet.

Angela turns to Bright. "Care to save Win?"

Bright scratches his head. "I was in Grade 5. She was in high school. I think her name was Toon."

Angela nods. "Good. Now, what about Toon did you like? What about her did you find the cutest? Take your time to answer. Try to really remember."

Bright closes his eyes for a brief moment.
"I liked how she laughed. She was quiet and reserved most of the time but when she laughed it was loud. I liked how surprising it was and how it showed her dimples. I also liked how she said my name, she made it sound very sweet."

"We have a romantic!" Angela teased.

Bright tries to look unaffected.

"But that's exactly how a crush is right? It's the little details that makes us feel shy, that make us blush, that make us daydream about them. It's not their butt and their boobs," Angela says. "It's not their genitals."

Both men blush this time. Angela doesn't seem to care.

"Okay, so how do we apply this knowledge to acting? Sit down on the floor. Alright. Now, face each other. Good."

Bright faces Win. Win gives Bright a friendly smile. Bright just awkwardly nods his head in return.

Angela switches the lights in the room from a fluorescent white to a warm, more intimate yellow. She turns on her Bluetooth speaker and a soft instrumental song plays.

"Now, I want you to look for something attractive about the person in front of you. Do you like how smooth the skin is? Is the nose cute? Would you find those ears adorable if they were on a girl?"

Bright does as he is told. He's been acting for so many years now and he knew to take these exercises seriously.

He looks at Win, his eyes taking in the cutting cheekbones, the angular jaw, the strong shoulders and the long neck. There was no doubt that Win was handsome - but they were both actors and that was normal in this business. Everyone was good looking.

Angela continues talking. "The next time you need to play a scene where you are pretending to be in love, I want you to remember the things you found most attractive about the person in front of you and just think of that. Think of how attractive that one thing is.

Would you like to touch a dimple that deep? Would you like to kiss a mouth that full? Would you like to run your fingers through skin that soft? Forget who that body part belongs to and just think of the body part itself."

Angela was in full on teacher mode, the mood in the room intense and serious- but for some reason, Win begins to laugh. He throws his head back, neck stretching backwards. His lip break out into a huge U, displaying small teeth that looked like pearls. His eyes disappeared and his hair shook. It was as if a hundred butterflies were trying to escape his body.

He falls on the floor doubled up in laughter. He tries to stop it. He holds his breath and purses his lips but he ends up laughing harder.

Angela looks at him, not quite knowing how to move forward. This was definitely a first.

Bright is staring at Win, wondering what the hell was so hilarious but Win's laugh ate away at his train of thought. Bright can feel his nose twitch. He swallows to stop himself but it is useless. Soon, Bright was laughing too. He laughed until he was gasping for air, until his tummy hurt.

Angela shakes her head, confused but amused as she looked at the two men. "Let's take a break," she says, finally lighting her cigarette. She sashays to the smoking area.

It takes a couple of minutes before the two men run out of giggles. They were sprawled on the floor, catching their breath.

"I am so sorry," wheezes Win. "I have no idea what came over me." He is still grinning from ear to ear.

Bright realized at that moment that the exercise worked despite Win's interruption.

It was that smile. It's all Bright needed to remember to make his heart do a little dance.

He looks at Win's smile again and he feels his lips fighting the urge to smile back. He feels like cracking a joke or slipping on a banana peel, just to keep Win laughing.

'I am such a good actor,' he tells himself. 'Joaquin Phoenix better watch out.'