Umph. I tugged at the strings in my corset, pulling on them as hard as I could. I hated the bloody thing so much. Sweeney's incessant pacing rang in my ears and I got much more irritated than normal. Usually I would ignore the monotonous sound but this time it was bugging me past the limit. Then the flicker of a brilliant idea popped into my head. I could almost feel the light bulb floating above me.
"Oh Mr. T! I need some help with something. Could you be a doll and come assist me?" I called down. After a long silence I heard his bored reply.
"What do you need Mrs. Lovett?" he sighed.
"Well there's this stubborn body," I hinted.
"Is it really bad?" he asked. I peered down at myself.
"…no, s'not all that bad," I replied and waited.
"Is it messy? I don't like to deal with a mess you know," he stated. I brushed myself off.
"No, it's pretty clean actually," I sniffed my underarms and couldn't detect any stink.
"Well, do I have to lift it? Is it heavy? I couldn't do that, what with my knees." Sweeney was trying desperately to get out of helping me, it was rather obvious. I turned sideways in the mirror and stared at my stomach for a moment.
"No, it doesn't look heavy, to me anyways. It doesn't really matter anyway, you don't have to lift it unless you want to," I told him.
"Well then what do you need help with?" Sweeney demanded.
"I need help fastening it, I cannot get the laces tight enough and I need help," I shouted down.
"Why do you have to tie it up?" he asked. I thought for a moment.
"So it looks nice," what pathetic reasoning. There was a booming sigh from my living room and some grumblings about becoming a domestic housewife. I grinned and waited for him to come upstairs.
"Oh bloody hell Mrs. Lovett! You've never needed help before," he grumbled.
"I'm in my room love!" I told him.
"There's a body in you roo-" Sweeney opened and proceeded to slam the door closed again, "Why did you have me come in when you weren't even dressed yet Lovett!" he gasped. I pretended to be surprised by his reaction.
"I told you I needed help with my corset didn't I?" I replied innocently.
"You said you needed help with a body!" Sweeney sounded angry but I decided to keep pushing, what did I have to lose?
"Yes, my body, now get in here and help me tighten this," I commanded calmly. He slowly opened the door. I held the laces out behind me and waited for him to take them. Once Sweeney held them in his roughened hands I could feel them shaking nervously. Poor dear, probably hadn't seen a woman with so few clothes on since, well, I don't want to go there.
"How tight do you want it?" came the faint question.
"Just pull as hard as you can love," I replied. There was a pause.
"I don't think I should pull as hard as I can, I might hurt you," he whispered. I laughed.
"Look underneath the laces deary, the black and blue marks are bruises, That's how hard I want you to pull on them." Sweeney looked bewildered for a moment.
"You pull them so tight you get bruises? Mrs. Lovett, why would you hurt yourself?" he asked. I thought for a moment.
"That's what's expected from me as a woman, my mother taught me to pull them tight enough to crack ribs if it would make me look good," I shrugged. Sweeney looked shocked but began to gently tug on the strings. After awhile of getting nowhere I intervened.
"Mr. T."
"What?" he asked.
"You're not pulling hard enough love, I need it to be really tight," I told him gently. Sweeney sighed.
"Ok," the pulling got a bit stronger but still not nearly enough force embodied them.
"Harder love," I said again. And again he couldn't get the laces tight enough.
"Harder."
"Mrs. Lovett, I cant pull much harder, my hands are getting tired," he whimpered.
"You'll have to find a way," I stated curtly. A shocked umph escaped my lips as his foot thudded onto my back. The barber yanked on the strings, now I could feel the corset getting a bit tighter.
"Harder Sweeney, umph,"
"I'm mf, trying mf, to pull harder," he was breathing rather heavily at this point. I was trying to pull in my stomach to make it easier for him.
"Umph, Harder! Umph," I said a bit louder than what was intended.
"Good God Lovett, I'm trying!" he shouted back. We both gasped for air.
"Umph, ow, umph," I gasped.
"Is it done?" Sweeney begged.
"Almost, umph, love," my forehead was getting sticky with sweat. One long sharp tug forcing all of the air out of my lungs.
"Ah, ah, Oh Mr. Todd!" Finally the corset was tight enough I sighed in relief, as did Sweeney.
"Thank you love, that feels good," I told him. At this point I was a mess but Toby had some school thing he needed help with so I pulled on a dress and quickly went downstairs. My eyes sought out my beloved child to find him sitting at the table, looking rather on edge.
"What's wrong love?" I asked still out of breath. The boy looked rather frightened as he peered at my clothing.
"What exactly were you and Mr. Todd doing up there?"