Her incessant, worried questions ran through the barber's mind as he stood in his shop, slowly stropping and polishing each razor before placing it back into its velvety cushion. He worked slowly, watching as his shadow lengthened and the day slowly faded away. Every moment or so he would pause, waiting for the door to fly open, waiting to hear the huffing voice of the pie-maker downstairs, coming up to bring him his supper like she had done every single day for the past two months.
She was late, which was extremely unusual for her. It wasn't as if he really cared, but he knew the women was one for not letting him do anything by himself, and her cheerful demeanor could sometimes lighten even Todd's cloudy mood.
He glanced out the window after an hour or so more, watching as the horizon lapped up the last of the sun's rays. The razor in his hand lifted, catching the last light to be shed on the world until morning. After that, it was clicked shut and snapped into it's place at his side, and the man was moving from the shop, his interest peaked by the lacking of Mrs. Lovett in his day.
As of reaching the bottom of the stairs, Todd noticed two things. One was that the curtains of the pie-shop were drawn. The other was that the sign on the door distinctly read 'closed'. He hadn't ever seen Mrs. Lovett close shop early. His hand rested on the doorknob, part of him hoping the door was locked, the other part knowing it wasn't and urging him to go in. The knob turned with little force, admitting him into the strangely dark pie shop.
There was a slightly scream, quickly muffled.
"Mr. Todd!" The young work boy, Toby, stood gaping at the man in fear. Todd resisted the urge to snarl at him, and instead waited for him to relate to him where Mrs. Lovett was.
"Mrs. Lovett had a dreadful spell today, sir," stuttered the boy, his brown eyes plastered to the stone floor. "Doctor 'ad to be called for, but 'e said it was only exhaustion and advised ▒er to relax and suggested she not work so 'ard."
Todd knew that none of that would ever happen. Mrs. Lovett wasn't one to stop working if there was work to be done. This he knew from experience. The barber was one to easily bore if he had little to do, and the few times he had asked Mrs. Lovett if she needed his help she would laugh and set him to some trivial task that only took a few seconds time.
"She'd probably' wanna talk to you, Mr. Todd, sir," Toby said, his voice barely a whisper. "Mabye she would listen to you and not work 'er self ta death."
The man snorted. He really doubted that, but he had little else to do and didn't want the boy to pester him, so he made his way down the hallway to a closed door. He rapped on it twice.
"C'mon," called the voice from the other side of the door. The lack of cheer in her tone rang in the barber's ears as his mind registered it as unusual and told his hand to push the door open, which he did.
"Oh, Mr. Todd!" She quickly sat up from where she had been lying on her bed. His eyebrows rose at the surprise evident in her eyes and on her face. "What are you doing 'ere, love?"
The woman made to stand, but trembled violently and sat back down with a sigh. She buried her face in her hands.
"Mabye I am getting too old for this," she remarked, trying to calm herself. "But business has been so good recently, and I've been so busy now that I've got both Toby and..." She trailed off, deciding it better not to add the barber's name in there. "Hopefully I'll be better in the morning."
Todd hadn't moved from his spot a step from the doorway, not sure what he wanted to do. He knew she most likely would not be better in the morning, and he had the faint idea that it was more then just work taking a toll on her. She didn't notice as he pushed the door closed quietly.
If something ever happened to Mrs. Lovett, there was no possible way he could go on. Not every pie-maker was willing to do what she did for him. Not every pie-maker would giggle at the fact that her customers were being turned into cannibals. He couldn't think of any woman besides Mrs. Lovett that would beat him down to rid his customers of their meat. He had caught her several times, covered in blood and the likes, and still having that overly bubbly grin on her face. He would probably never find another accomplice like the woman sitting in front of him.
The barber sat lightly on the bed beside her, the sudden weight on the bed dragging her attention from her thoughts to him. He had never purposefully gotten this close to her, and her pleasure was unhidden.
He wanted to wrinkle his nose, but he had to do this. It was the only thing he knew she wanted; the thing he knew would ensure her returning to her pie-making the next day.
Even though he was more then slightly disgusted by the idea, he knew he was going to do it, for his own sake and not for hers.
She caught on quickly to what he was going to do, but that didn't stop the question from rolling off her tongue.
"What are you doing, love?"
"Giving you what you want," sighed the barber, pulling off his coat and tossing it to one side. He caught the playful gleam in her eye and had the brief flickering thought that he might actually enjoy this.
"And what exactly do you think I want?" asked the pie-maker, cocking an eyebrow at him, stating a question she already knew the answer to. But she wanted to hear him say it.
His vest fell neatly on top of his coat and he pulled at his necktie, trying not to be annoyed with her any more then he already was. She inched towards him, her warm hand now resting on his knee. He breathed one word into her ear and she giggled, a smile spreading across his features. He felt the heat coming from her already, felt part of his cold chill burned away by the heat of her excitement.
Yes, he was definitely going to enjoy this.
He let her work down the buttons on his shirt, pulling off his gloves as he did so and adding them to the increasing pile of his clothing. She trembled again, passion and longing replacing the fatigue that had wracked her frame earlier. Gently, he pulled her closer, letting her lips touch his own, parting his lips to let her in. She kissed him viciously, and he fumbled with the tie at the back of her dress, trying desperately not to fall over with surprise by the sudden flooding of emotion flooding over him. They broke briefly as he pulled the dress over her head, allowing her to push him back into the bed and unbutton his trousers. Her fingers caressed his skin, their warm tips carving pathways along his chest.
Todd became lost in the moment, tired of pretending he was doing this only for her, tired of trying to keep it controlled. Soon the rest of their clothing was adorning the floor. His hand slipped behind her thigh, moving her leg up. She let out a muffled squeal as he thrusted, now knowing that this wasn't one of her nightly dreams and deciding that if it was, she never wanted it to end.
He felt her tears of joy on his skin, and his other hand cupped her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.
"Am I hurting you?" he questioned, not trying to dig through the mixed emotions he felt from her, all strong enough to knock a person back.
If he killed her now, doing this, then there really wasn't a point in the first place, and he would probably have to flee the country in fear of being charged of rape or something to that matter.
Relief flooded through him as she replied with a strong "No" after a few short moments where she pulled herself together, allowing them both to continue.
When Mrs. Lovett awoke the next morning, he was already gone. She shivered, cold pleasure ringing through her as she remembered the events of the night before. She sprung from the bed, completely forgetting that just the day before she had barely been able to stand, got dressed, an was in the shop making pies before Toby had even drug himself off the couch.
"You look much better, mum," he commented while rubbing his eye and sliding into a booth.
She smiled. "A good night can do wonders on a person."
The boy chuckled slightly, just glad that she was okay. Even though Mrs. Lovett spoke little the rest of the day, she seemed happier even then normal, and that was what mattered to him.