A/N: hello. Just a short note to tell you that this story came out of nowhere and I have no idea where I am going with this so please be patient. Thank you, remember to read and review!
The Last Time
I have always loved Benjamin Barker. From the moment I saw him with his slick black hair, those dark mysterious eyes and that smooth voice. Although I may have been eight the first time I saw him I was head over heels in love. My father Jack didn't like the Barkers; he always thought they were a bunch foolish family with their barber shop Benjamin's dad owed above the pie shop. My mother Marie loved the family especially their son, I always thought she wanted Benjamin to swap with me.
The first time I saw him when they moved in upstairs with their son. I was helping mum out with the pies when the family came in and introduced themselves to us.
"You must be Mrs. Andrews?" a man in his late 30's said to my mum. He smiled politely and held out his hand. I looked from one to the other.
"Yes, sir," my mum replied cautiously.
"I'm Mr. Barker, Benjamin Barker," he smiled.
"Oh, yes dearer, the family that is movin' upstairs," she smiled. A short woman behind him gave a small smile and introduced herself as Mary Barker. The boy who was hiding behind his mother gave a small smile.
"May I introduce my son, Benjamin Barker junior," he said, pulling the boy from behind his wife. He smiled and his eyes landed on me. I froze under his stare and looked into his eyes.
"Oh, silly me," my mum laughed nervously. "This is my daughter Eleanor," she said, putting her hand on my small shoulder.
"Nellie," I corrected her, quickly.
"Nellie," Benjamin repeated to me. I only stared at him and grinned.
"Well we should get movin' upstairs, c'mon love, son," he said and put his hand on both of their shoulders. I kept my eyes on Ben and he stared back at me. I waved at him and he mouthed something like 'see you soon.'
The next couple of days I didn't hear a word from any of the family. Mum wouldn't let me go up the stairs to see them because she thought they wanted privacy. I obeyed her and always stayed in the shop. One night when I was helping mum in the kitchen a man around 30ish walked through the door with a sly smile on his face. He looked like he was a respected man around London. I smiled at him; he didn't even look at me.
"Where can I find Mr. Andrews around?" he asked. I was about to answer when father came from the back looking terrified of the man. I only noticed a short fat man behind with a walking stick who had a sly grin on his face.
"Judge Turpin," he said, smiling solemnly. My mother stared at my father.
"I'm sorry 'ave we met?" my mum said politely, wiping the flour from her dress, and went around to shake his hand.
"I'm Marie Andrews." He shook her hand reluctantly.
"Yes, Mr. Andrews has mentioned you and…" he looked straight at me. "You must be Eleanor," he said to me.
"It's Nellie, sir," I corrected him and my father gave me a glare.
"Yes, sure it is," he replied bluntly. He turned back to my father and smiled.
"May I take your husband away from you for just a moment?" he asked, politely.
"Sure, sir," my mum replied and went back to work. I watched Judge Turpin and the other man take one arm each of my dad and walk out the door. I kept wondering what was going on.
"Nellie!" my mum yelled suddenly. I turned to see her looking angry at me. "'elp your poor mother in the kitchen," she ordered. I nodded and helped her.
When my father came back his eyes were blood shot and he looked worse than before he came from the back room.
"Marie, love," he said without acknowledging me.
"Father wot is wrong?" I asked, hurriedly. He walked straight past me and went straight to my mother. He held her hands tightly.
"Jack, wot's wrong?" my mother asked.
"I need to speak to yer," he whispered to her.
"Yes, dear," she replied in a whisper, and she turned to me. "Nellie dear put the close sign up an' start cleaning the tables outside please," she ordered me.
"But mother –"
"Now!" she said firmly. I didn't argue any further and did what I was told. I could hear yelling and screaming from outside. Tears tumbled down my cheek as I washed the tables outside wondering what my father had done to get Judge Turpin to visit us and upset both of my parents. I sat down on one of the tables because I could no longer wipe down the tables while I could hear my parents arguing. I crossed my arms and cried. I could feel my hot tears stream down my face. Then suddenly I could hear footsteps. I sat up and looked to see Benjamin Barker junior coming down the stairs. He looked concern and smiled at me. I quickly wiped my tears away and went on with my cleaning.
"Nellie?" he said softly. "Are you all right?" he asked, he came down the steps and walked towards me. I didn't answer him and kept cleaning. He was trying to look into my eyes but I avoided his stare.
"Go away," I said to angrily.
"No, I won't. Not until you tell me what is wrong," he snapped at me. That's when I looked up into his eyes and saw the look in his eyes of concern. I sat down again and he sat across from me. He touched my hand and squeezed it.
"Please Nellie, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded softly.
"My parents are fightin'," I whispered to him.
"Oh," he answered,
looking slightly embarrassed. "My parents do that a lot."
"You're parents don't seem that way," I replied in amazement.
"Yeah, but that is only the surface," he responded heavily. "Do you know what started it?" he asked softly.
"Yeah it was –"
"Aren't you two a bit too young to be hanging around alone at night time?" a man asked suddenly. I jumped in fright and Ben stood up. I recognized the man with the walking stick. He was coming towards us in the dim light.
"We might be," Ben answered for both of us. I couldn't speak he frightened me so suddenly.
"I'm the Beadle, where are your parents," he asked, glancing from Ben to me. I didn't answer again and Ben explained to him that our parents were just inside the two shops. He looked at them and turned back to us. "Judge Turpin wouldn't like to see two children go missing in the middle of night, wouldn't he?"
"No, sir," Ben answered for both of us. Beadle grinned and landed his eyes on me.
"You must be the daughter of Mr. Andrews?" he asked me. I swallowed so I could answer but I still scared of the creepy old stick man.
"Yes, she is," Ben answered for me.
"She can answer herself, boy," he snapped at Ben and pointed his walking stick at him into his chest.
"Yes, sir," I finally answered, nervously. The Beadle grinned at me again.
"Wouldn't want his pretty little daughter to go missing in the middle of the night," he had the same sly smile on his face when he came with Judge Turpin to talk with my father. He stepped towards me but Ben put himself in front of me. I didn't know what to do.
"We'll be going now, sir," he told him and took my hand and guided me towards my mother's pie shop. He closed the door and looked outside again. The Beadle was staring at us through the window. Then Judge Turpin came out of nowhere and both of them walked away.
"He must have been waitin' for him," Ben murmured to me. I nodded silently. The yelling stopped and I heard a door slam. I heard some footsteps and saw my mother coming from the back. Her eyes were red and puffy.
"Mum, wot's wrong?" I asked her, worriedly. She didn't answer but looked at Ben with her eyes wide.
"Oh, Ben, wot are doing down here this late at night?" she asked him.
"Ma'am I saw your daughter looking sad and I came down to comfort her," he explained, looking very worried at her reaction.
"Oh," she smiled weakly. "C'mon love, off ta bed," she said to me.
"Goodnight," I whispered to Ben. He only smiled and went off upstairs.
A/N: Thanks for reading. What did you think? Let me know please.
There will be more to come!