Waiting

Even though he didn't require the baker to do something and he didn't need to tell her something important, Sweeney Todd found himself pacing in Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. The woman had left hours ago without telling him where she was going and even though it was past midnight now, she hadn't returned yet.

He wasn't sure which bothered him more: the fact that she had disappeared without informing him or that he was actually concerned about her. Without her and her practicability he would be nowhere and he knew that very well. There was another reason that he didn't like not knowing where she was, but he suppressed this – it was already bad enough to admit to himself that he would be indeed rather helpless without her.

When he heard a key being inserted in the lock of the door to the pie shop, he spun around and stood near the entrance the moment that Mrs. Lovett entered the room.

"Mr. T!" she cried, smiling widely in spite of the thunderous expression on his face.

Not satisfied by her reaction, he stepped closer to her, wanting her to know that he was annoyed and angry with her because of her disappearance earlier that day.

"Where were you?" he demanded, wondering why she looked so bloody cheerful, even more so than usual.

"I visited an old friend," she said, and by the slight tug of the right corner of her lip he could tell that she gave him a useless answer on purpose.

She was unimpressed however by the scowl that darkened his face, even though he knew very well that any other person would be intimidated if not terrified because of it.

Instead, she just walked past him without even looking at him as she headed for the parlor. This too was strange; usually she never ignored him, no matter what he tried to avoid it.

"Why?" he asked, grasping her arm before the insufferable woman could get away from him.

"I don't believe I need to tell you why or when I go out and meet people," was all she said, trying to remove her arm from his iron grip. In spite of his behavior, which was even more unpleasant than he usually acted towards her, the woman was still smiling. Even the demon barber himself realized that this was strange.

"Are you drunk?"

The question caught both of them off guard, as if they both couldn't believe that he had actually showed such a particular interest of her current situation.

"No," she said, after a moment of hesitation.

"Then why do you act like this?"

"I'm just happy," she simply replied. "I had a very pleasant evening and I don't want it to be ruined. So if you'd excuse me..."

"That friend of yours, is that a man or a woman?"

The idea that she had been elsewhere to amuse herself was for some reason bad enough already, but if there was a man who made her so happy, it would be even worse than he thought. He didn't know why exactly, but he really didn't like the idea of her spending so much time with a man who obviously had a huge influence on her.

"It isn't a man but even if it were, I don't see why it's any of your concern."

Mr. Todd didn't know either, but still, he couldn't help but wonder why she looked so much more genuinely cheerful now that she hadn't been home for quite a few hours.

Only then the barber realized that he was still holding her arm. He let go quickly, the shock that he had lowered himself to physically limiting her freedom in her own home overwhelming his unexplainable curiosity for a moment.

"Mr. T," she asked quietly, suddenly aware of his unusual behavior, "are you alright?"

"Yes," he muttered, wishing now that the woman could leave him alone so he could forget about her and her contended smile as quickly as possible. Only when he had ruined her good mood already, it was clear to him that he shouldn't have done so and should've left her alone in the first place.

As if sensing his thoughts, she gently guided him into her parlor and made him sit down on a couch. Not wanting and even not having the will to do otherwise, he just allowed her to do so.

"I didn't know you even noticed that I was gone," she said quietly. "If I would've known, I would've told you – I wouldn't have left at all. It's just that I didn't think you'd actually care whether I was here or not, as long as my work in the bakehouse was done."

"Don't be ridiculous," he found himself mumbling, "it's your right to amuse yourself elsewhere."

"I won't leave anymore without telling you," she said, resting her hand on his arm for a moment; the gesture was strangely calming. "I certainly would enjoy just being here with you. But I know that you prefer to be alone."

Until not too long ago, he wouldn't even bother to say that was totally right, but now he wasn't so certain about it anymore, didn't know for sure whether he truly preferred solitude over her company.

Perhaps it would be pleasant after all to spend more time with the woman who he shared a house with, who was the only one who knew his secrets. She wouldn't be able to make him feel as well as she seemed to be feeling now herself, but it might be a good thing to get to know her a little better.

She looked at him with eyes that seemed to look straight into his soul, as if she already knew what his answer was even before he had said it. As her hand lingered on his arm even when their gazes were locked, the barber realized that actually getting to know Mrs. Lovett wouldn't be a bad thing at all.