Illusions That Confine Us
Chapter One
"I'm back from the beach, dear." Mrs. Lovett announced when she entered the cottage through the front door.
As usual he gave no reply as she placed her bucket of shells on top of the kitchen table.
After seeing the couple at the beach she shed all but one tear and went home, trying not to think about it as much as possible, after all, things could change, right?
That evening had turned out to be one of the rare occasions that Mr. Todd agreed to dine with Mrs. Lovett in their kitchen.
As they ate in silence Mrs. Lovett kept resisting the urge to ask him why, or why they didn't just- She couldn't even explain it to herself, she knew the answer. She knew why. He was still in love with Lucy, this was barely even a real marriage, and most importantly, he didn't love her.
She felt as if she was being suffocated by this silence… she had to say something, start conversation, anything.
"Love?" Mrs. Lovett said as she looked up from the table.
He swallowed before grumbling, "What?"
"Why don't we…" Mrs. Lovett stuttered, "How 'bout we…" Mrs. Lovett was lost for words, all she wanted to do was suggest that they do something together, but she couldn't form the right words, or idea for that matter.
He started to grow annoyed and forced himself to look at her, meeting her with dark eyes, "What?"
"Why don't we go for a nice walk?" Mrs. Lovett suggested, ignoring her other idea.
"Hmmph." He mumbled.
"I take that as a no then?" Mrs. Lovett replied sadly, looking back down at her plate.
Secretly feeling guilty, he rolled his eyes before shaking his head and sighing, "I suppose a short walk won't kill me."
Mrs. Lovett's face suddenly lit up and she smiled, "Oh, do ya really mean it?"
He did nothing but nod his head in response as she immediately started cleaning up dinner.
"Oh I won't be long love, it's an absolutely beautiful evenin' with all the stars out and such…" She rambled on as she worked around him, scraping out and storing some of their leftovers.
When the two finally made their way down to the beach Mrs. Lovett's eyes were shining with happiness as she clung to his arm.
They were walking down the shore as she rested her head on his shoulder and smiled, before frowning when she realized that she was only trying to convince herself that he loved her and that they were a happily married couple. She knew it wasn't true and that there was no 'happily' about it.
"Mista T?" Mrs. Lovett asked, not even trying to get away with calling him by his first name.
"Yes?" He replied in annoyance. They were already having a, well he decided to just call it what it was -
A moon-lit walk along the beach.
"Ain't this nice now?" She began sighing in false contentment as they continued walking, "Jus' you an' me?"
"Whatever you say, Mrs. Lovett." Mr. Todd answered grimly.
She tried not to wince whenever he referred to her as 'Mrs. Lovett', so trying to edge him onto calling her by her first name she suggested, "Ya know, ya could call me Nellie if ya wanted to dear."
"I don't find that necessary, Mrs. Lovett."
And after that, no other words were spoken until they got back to the house.
Before they turned on their usual separate ways Mrs. Lovett turned to Mr. Todd and hesitantly took his hand, pulling up to kiss his cheek.
He did nothing but stare down at her awkwardly.
"Why don't… Why don't ya sleep in me room tonight love?" Mrs. Lovett asked, although in the back of her mind she knew very well that this conversation was not likely to end her way.
He continued to look at her before quirking an eye-brow, "What? My room is perfectly fine, goodnight." He turned to proceed down the hall.
Mrs. Lovett bit her lip before stopping him when he reached the door way, "What I mean is, why don't you sleep in bed, with me."
He paused. He knew what she was getting at.
"I am not going to sleep with you, Mrs. Lovett." He replied coldly.
"But… We're already married! What 'arm will it do?" She bit her lip, it suddenly occurred to her that she had just blurted out the wrong words.
"What harm will it do? You're lucky I even agreed to marry you!" He yelled at her, staring right into the core of her eyes.
They stared at each other for a long while until his words made their way in and out of her ears and she felt the need to cry right then and there. She turned in a huff and left to her room, not making a sound.
That night Mrs. Lovett lied in her bed fighting the urge to just lose herself in her emotions when she heard her door creak open.
She sat up, hoping to find that Sweeney Todd had changed his mind but frowned when she saw that nothing was there.
Must be the wind, she thought before lying back down.
Meanwhile Sweeney Todd stood behind her door, contemplating whether to go in and apologize or not. He didn't want to, but at the same time he did. He felt bad, yes, but she knew very well that he only married her to change their identity.
He sighed, why did he even care to think about it, anyway?