A/N: Yay, I got a chance to update today! Well...enjoy! And as always...I don't own Sweeney Todd, blah blah blah...
Oh yeah, and before I forget—the next chapter will have the romantic stuff I mentioned that I need help with. So you guys, if you know someone here on FanFiction who's good with all that romantic stuff, please tell me on the review (or message me) so that I can have them look it over. Or if you are one who has an eye for it, then that's even better! It's just that this is my first time writing something like this so I want somebody else's input first before I publish it. Thanks in advance.
X. Questions
"Have you always been this blind?"
She hated bringing up the conversation. She hated it. It was the fourth time this week, and it was increasing day by day. First, it was because of her sister's wedding, and now, Lucy's. The baker hated it. Could her mother not understand? She had no desire to be married—especially to the person she had been pertaining to each time the subject was discussed. What a silly notion it was! The barber clearly saw her as nothing more than a friend. How could she possibly think that he held a certain fondness for her? How foolish, the thought of it was. A foolish notion indeed!
"Have you always been this blind?"
She hated that question. She hated it. How could she be blind, when there was clearly nothing to see? How foolish, the notion was. How foolish!
"Have you always been this blind?" the young baker heard once more while she was cleaning in her shop.
Oh no, not her too! Of all people she expected to hear the question from, why did it have to be her?
"Benjamin is in-love with you, Nellie. I can tell," her friend told her as she watched her from one of the tables.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lucy. Benjamin, in-love with me? Please, dear. The world would have to be turned upside down before that can happen!" she replied with a laugh.
"How are you so sure that he doesn't?" queried the yellow-haired woman.
"And how are you so sure that he does?" the young baker returned.
"He cares about you greatly, Nellie."
"And he cares about you too. Come to think of it, he cares a great deal about everyone he knows. That's just the way he is."
"Yes, but with you he's different. Tell me Eleanor, what man brings you to the seaside every weekend and brings your favorite flowers to your door every morning and thinks of you only as a friend? Honestly, no man I know," her friend counters, which only makes the young baker sigh.
"He loves you, Nellie, there's no denying it," she repeated.
She remained silent and continued with her work, leaving the room silent without a sound, save the occasional noises that her utensils made. After a short moment, however, her friend spoke again.
"You love him too, don't you?"
There—that right there was the other question she hated being asked. She hated it. She hated it because she knew her friend was right. She was absolutely right. She was in-love with Benjamin Barker. Benjamin Barker, the barber from upstairs. Benjamin Barker, her tenant...her partner in crime...her best friend. Benjamin Barker. She was in-love with Benjamin Barker. The idea of her falling in-love with him, yes that was quite plausible...but him falling in-love with her?
Having known him for twelve years now, she knew exactly the type of women he fancied. He fancied women like Lucy Richards, and she was nothing like her—nothing. She was not delicate, she was tough; she was not quiet, she was chatty; she was not virtuous, she was mischievous. She was nothing like his ideal woman. She was nothing like Lucy.
Stopping her work, she turned her head to face her friend and gave her an answer.
"Don't be ridiculous, love."
She loved Benjamin Barker with her everything, but there was no way that the barber could fall in-love with her. No—there was absolutely no way.