Disclaimer: I don't own Sweeney Todd, nor will I ever.
Oddity of Business
Mrs. Lovett, standing behind her flour covered counter riddled with pie filling—which really wasn't what one would think of finding in a pie—, dead, alive and smashed cockroaches, cooking utensils, and small pieces of dough, placed her chin in her palm and stared dreamily out the window. The people of Fleet Street didn't so much as spare her meat pie emporium a glance as they passed by, keeping away at all costs as if her shop was indeed the sole source of the plague that still lingered around the corners of the great Industrial City.
She heaved a heavy sigh, a large cockroach scurrying pass her and plunging itself into her concoction that was supposed to be the filling of her pies. Her pies were certainly the worst ever baked in the history of London and were avoided by everyone and everything.
And she supposed they had good reason. Her ingredients were no fresher and edible then the rotting vegetables the grocer from across the street dropped by accident and forgot all about.
Of course her meat pies had once long ago being highly praised and sought out to be enjoyed. But that was a long time ago. And as she allowed her mind wander and gave her thoughts and memories to resurface, she stolidly recalled one incident in her history as a baker that resulted in her businesses downfall.
It had happened four years ago during late spring of 1844, a year later when her husband Albert had finally succumbed to the gout. Business had gradually wound down after his death, but it withstood against the hard times.
Mrs. Lovett could see herself again as the memory swept through her mind, and she frowned. She had been younger then, more vivid and happy, a smile always on her face and joy always touching her large brown eyes. She couldn't recall smiling like that now.
Shaking her head, she cleared the thought away and examined the reason why things had gone wrong for her.
She remembered that afternoon she was busily preparing for the evening rush. There always was a rush, and she was thankful for it. An hour or so later she had everything ready and the only thing wanted was her clientele which came soon after she had everything ready.
The evening proceeded as normal without any excitement, but near the later part of the evening was when it happened. Even now Mrs. Lovett could not know how it happened, but she had reason to believe it was sabotage. Her rival? Mrs. Mooney was who she thought it had been done by.
A man in his mid-thirties and a regular who dined in her establishment was the one who gave the alarm. He jumped up from his seat and cried, "There's a rat's tail in my meat pie!" As if by magic other pie-consumers found various parts of a dead rat in their pies.
They all threatened to revolt then and there and have her hanged, or in the very lease, have her shop closed. But they did something worst then that. They left and never returned, leaving her to her own cunning for survival, each vowing never to return to her shop for a pie ever again. What liars they were! Because we all know they did return with the intention of eating a delicious pie.
From there it had been nothing but a struggle to maintain herself and her little shop. She tried renting the old room upstairs that had once been occupied by a handsome barber and his pretty little wife and their beautiful baby girl. Like everything else, they left and left her alone.
Mrs. Lovett sighed and resumed working the dough with her rolling pin. She had been doing this for some time when she thought she heard the little bell on her shop open and announce the arrival of some brave soul who was hungry enough to eat one of her pies.
She looked up and saw it was no fancy of hers. It really was a man.
"A customer!" She cried in excitement.
And there through the door of her shop came the man from her past that would revive emotions in her that had lain dormant for too long; a man who would bring back her smiles and be the object of all her love and affection. And also he would be the cause of neglect, heart break and betrayal. But she would love him all the same as she had for the past fifteen years.
He once went by the name Benjamin Barker, but in a while longer he would announce himself as Sweeney Todd. It was all the same to her really. So long as he was back and she had a chance of getting him to love her as she did him.