Jealous Much
In this chapter Sweeney will be going to on his first dinner date with Luisa, how will this make our dear baker feel though? Threatened, maybe pretty jealous? Yeah, try all of the above. As mentioned in chapter 1, reviews will be loved. And if wanted, reviewers will get free cyber hugs.
Sweeney sat in Mrs. Lovett's pie shop the next afternoon, swishing the clear gin in his glass. Nellie Lovett, the baker and his partner in crime, did nothing but stare at the demon barber. He had been acting strangely all morning, not at all like himself. When she had went up to his shop earlier that morning to give him his breakfast he was in his chair like normal, but instead of looking tense as he usually did, he actually looked quite relaxed. And when he had come down for his gin, he also came down with a clean tray. He had actually eaten the eggs, bacon, toast a juice she had given him. This was a very strange thing considering that he never ate what she gave him, or he ate very little. She decided to try talking to the barber. "Um, Mr. Todd, is everything alright love? I just mean that you never eat anything I give you, you're acting so, different."
Sweeney looked up from his drink and nodded. "I supposed you'll find out at some point, I might as well tell you now my pet. Last night, when you went to fix your hair after that pie fell on your head, I decided to come down and help out in your absence. And well, there was this woman and her nine year old daughter, Luisa and Joan. And well…"
Nellie's expression turned from one of curiosity to one of worry, but Sweeney did not notice this. "You like 'er Mr. T, or at least 'ave a fondness?"
Sweeney nodded and for the first time she had known him as Sweeney, he smiled. She gasped and looked away to attempt to hide her surprise and sadness. It was too late though, he saw small tears start to well in her eyes. "Mrs. Lovett, what's wrong? If you have a problem with me…"
The baker shook her head quickly. "No, of course not Mr. T. You should be 'appy, especially considering all that you've been through." She put her small gloved hand on top of his large one. "Don't you worry 'bout me Mr. Todd, I'm just fine." She got up from her seat across from the barber, stood beside him and bent down to loosely wrap her arms around his neck. Surprisingly to both of them he didn't push her away, in fact he responded by wrapping his arms around her waist. She quickly pulled away at that point, worried that having him hold her like this while he was starting to grow feelings again for a woman that wasn't her, would only upset her more than she already was. "Now you should be getting ready dearie, you don't want to keep 'er waiting later do ye now?" Sweeney got up quickly and left to return to his shop. As soon as she heard his door slam shut Mrs. Lovett made her way into her bedroom slowly, in complete disbelief of what had just happened. After spending so many months moping around about Lucy and Johanna, and he was finally moving on, with a woman he'd just met! She flopped stomach down on her bed, soaking her pillow with her tears, not giving a care about how wet it was getting. She swore she could cry a river with how the barber was making her feel right now. Was she so terrible that he'd choose a woman whom he'd just met over a woman who'd taken care of and loved him for more than just the few months he had been back in London? She didn't want to think about him right now though; she especially didn't want to think of the stranger who was taking her Mr. Todd away from her. She only wanted to think about how horrible she felt and how torn to pieces her heart seemed to be, it was a morbid thought to believe that nothing could fix the heart that Sweeney was breaking into small pieces, but at the moment that's all that she could think about.
A few hours later Sweeney came downstairs in a nice outfit and his leather jacket. It wasn't exactly a suit, but it was nicer than his normal clothing. Mrs. Lovett looked up when she saw Sweeney and her jaw dropped, he looked more handsome than he ever had before. Suddenly she felt her hands start to clam up and her mouth went dry, she didn't know what to say to him. He looked so beautiful, and the thing that upset her was that it wasn't for her as she had always dreamt. "So Mrs. Lovett, how do I look pet?"
She walked up to him slowly and looked at him head to toe; he was even more beautiful up close. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and for him to hold onto her as he had that afternoon, only closer and more lovingly. She wanted to tell him how much she'd loved him all of these years, to beg that he not leave her to go on a date with another woman because she loved him too much to let him go. She knew that she wouldn't do it though, she would do a lot to make herself happy, but she wouldn't risk the happiness of the only man she'd ever loved to make herself happier. So she simply nodded, took one of his hands in both of hers and said, "you look wonderful love." He thanked her and before she had the chance to even say good-bye he was out the door and getting a carriage to pick up Luisa. Mrs. Lovett stared at the carriage until it turned the corner with the barber sitting inside. She put her back against the door and slowly slid down to the floor. She could just see it now, even though she was jumping ahead way too quickly. Luisa looked just like Lucy and Joan just like Johanna. Sweeney had instantly gotten attracted to her looks, but soon things would get better for him but only worse for Nellie. He would get to know Luisa better until she would heat up his cold heart again like Lucy had kept his heart warm all of those years ago, and little Joan would become like a second Johanna to him. Her eyes became blurry with the far future thought of the two of them getting married and Mrs. Lovett would be nowhere to be seen. Even if she was lucky enough for Sweeney to invite her and her adopted son Toby to his second wedding, she wouldn't be able to bear going and seeing him marry yet another woman who wasn't herself. She knew it was cruel to want Mr. Todd all to herself, but that's the type of woman she was. Once she saw an opportunity she had to grab for it and hold on as tight as she could, otherwise she feared that she would surly lose it forever. There had been so many opportunities since Sweeney had come to London, but either Sweeney hadn't seen these opportunities as she had hoped, or she hadn't grabbed onto them tightly enough. She knew she was way ahead of herself, already imaging the barber marrying this woman he had just met the previous night, but she couldn't help it. She could feel the tears coming so she quickly picked herself up from the floor and hastily walked into her bedroom. She knew that if Toby heard or saw her crying then he would ask her what was wrong out of worry, bless his sweet little heart. She didn't feel like lying to him right now by telling him the usual "just tired is all," or some other false truth to make him feel better. She just wanted to cry and to do that she needed to be completely alone.
Apparently Mrs. Lovett had cried herself to sleep because before she knew it her eyes opened at the sound of nearby woman's joyful laughter. She got out of bed and peered out the window of her bedroom, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. She could make out Sweeney's figure and who she could only imagine to be Luisa beside him. Nellie's suspicions were correct; she did look just like Lucy. Same yellow hair, same healthy skin (not dark, but also not ghostly pale as her own), she couldn't see the woman's eyes but she could only assume they were a bright blue as Lucy's had been. She felt sad and slightly betrayed by Mr. Todd (though nothing ever happened between them that could show this was truly betrayal) for seeming so happy with another woman. She crossed her arms, blinked away her forthcoming tears and gulped heavily as she watched the barber talk and laugh with this 'new Lucy.' She wanted to go outside and pull the barber away from her. She wanted to go out there and act like she needed his help with something important, but she had to face the true facts. 1) Sweeney Todd would never agree to help her with anything, no matter how small, unless it would benefit him as well. 2) If he did buy it, she wouldn't be able to come up with something important enough she needed 'help' with in fast enough time before he got suspicious. 3) He looked happier now than he ever had since he had returned to London and she didn't really want to ruin that for him. No matter how much it was ruining her.
She broke away from her thoughts and put all of her focus on the couple again, clutching onto the fabric of her dress in the space where her heart was located when she saw Luisa hug her Mr. T, and he happily hugged her back. Maybe it wasn't a kiss but it felt as important to the baker, then again no one really kissed on the first date, even Mrs. Lovett knew that it wasn't a proper thing for a lady to do. Still she wanted to be in Luisa's shoes at the moment, hugging the barber in a way that clearly showed more than acquaintanceship or mere friendliness. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she'd loved him all of these years, but at this moment she didn't know if she ever would. So she simply left her room to take a peek on Toby who lay sloppily asleep in his bed, in the bedroom for him that they had worked on together, before she made her way into her pie shop to quickly pour a small glass of gin. She had to make it appear as if she simply couldn't sleep and instead was relaxing with a small glass of alcohol to help her out a bit. Sweeney came through the door soon after, not suspecting a thing.