Illusions That Confine Us
Chapter Three
Being the stubborn man that he was, he turned back to his room and didn't even think about apologizing.
The next morning at breakfast the two didn't speak as usual, last night was just another conversation left untouched. They wouldn't mention it, every time they had another one of their arguments it was almost always swept under the rug as if forgotten, when each knew that it was most likely to turn up in conversation again.
He felt her eyes watch him over the rim of her tea cup as he stared down at his eggs.
"Something the matter dear?" She asked, not expecting a reply.
Mr. Todd simply grumbled something before getting up and leaving to his room.
She knew what the matter was, she knew very well what was wrong with him. He was married to a woman that he didn't love and the woman that he loved was dead.
Mrs. Lovett sighed, putting down her teacup and setting it on its saucer.
"Can't run away from ya problems forever love!" Mrs. Lovett shouted in frustration before kicking the door.
She may have seemed angry on the outside but on the inside she was grieving. Why couldn't he just love her… or at least pretend to, that would be less painful because to know that he at least cared enough to pretend.
But she didn't want to live this lie.
Meanwhile in the backroom the broody man known as Sweeney Todd stared angrily out at the sea.
He remembered all but three things about Lucy. One, she had yellow hair. Two, she had eyes as blue and as deep as the sea. And four, he loved her, oh how he had loved her. He sighed, loved.
It then occurred to him that he was in love with nothing but her memory. The memory of her golden waves of hair, the memory of her glistening eyes… He thrived on his memories, his thoughts, and his melancholy remembrance of her. It was now he wondered, could you be in love with a memory?
Later on that day Mrs. Lovett was outside sweeping the steps to the door when she heard a rustling in the bushes.
Curiously, she turned around, thinking it to be some sort of a rodent.
She walked over and poked the bush with her broom before she saw a scruffy orange tail poke out of it. Mrs. Lovett got down on her knees and moved the bushes smiling when she realized it was only a cat.
"Well 'ello there." Mrs. Lovett greeted with surprise, it had been a while since she'd last seen a cat… Desperate times did call for desperate measures after all, good thing those pussy cats were quick.
The cat looked up at her with yellow eyes and meowed.
Mustn't 'ave rabies… She thought before she cautiously picked it up and carried it into the house
She grinned as soon as it immediately started purring, "So kitty, wot brings ya up 'ere?"
Mrs. Lovett frowned when she saw how skinny it was, not to mention how incredibly dirty it was.
"'ow bout a bath, eh love?" Mrs. Lovett offered as she went out into the washroom, she was pleased to find that the cat followed her and gave her no trouble as she washed it, getting rid of all of the dirt and sand that was embedded into it's fir.
After washing it she found that 'it' happened to be a boy, and that he had long dark orange and light orange fur.
"Well kitty, seems to me that you're gonna need a name…" Mrs. Lovett said as she watched the cat drink down the saucer of milk she put out on the table for him. "Ya know you remind me a lot of this ol' friend my dear Albert once 'ad. A skinny ol' thing 'e was, 'is name was, well…" Suddenly her face lit up with a thought, "Alfred. That's wot 'is name was, say 'ow 'bout we call ya Alfred, eh?"
The cat merely purred in response.
A week went by and still things were the same between Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett, although Mr. Todd saw less of his wife being that she was always out with that bloody cat. She treated it like it was her own little baby of some sort. Not that he minded the extra silence he got when she was busy with the thing, or 'Alfie' as she continuously claimed his name was.
One afternoon, however, things didn't go very well when he went into the kitchen.
He walked in silently, as usual, and watched as she sat at the table, petting Alfred as his sand papery tongue worked on licking up every last drop of milk in the saucer she had set on the table in front of him.
He found it kind of odd how she rambled on and on about the strangest of things to the cat as if it were another person. Sweeney supposed she was lonely or maybe she was just bored, either way he was in need of some gin.
"Afternoon Mrs. Lovett." Mr. Todd said as he walked up behind her.
Mrs. Lovett jumped, causing the milk in the saucer to spill which startled Alfred and made him run out of the house.
"Mista T! Bloody 'ell! What do ya think you're doin' sneakin' up on me like that?" Mrs. Lovett exclaimed as she tried so desperately to soak up the milk from the table with her apron.
He mumbled something as he walked out the door, stubbornly sitting on the bench outside, too annoyed to even remember the gin.
"Ya made 'im run away…" Mrs. Lovett sighed as she cleaned up the rest of the mess.
A few hours past and Alfred still didn't show up, and soon Mrs. Lovett stopped worrying about the cat and thought back to earlier. Perhaps she did overreact. But could she really blame herself?
She really had nothing to care for and the one man that she did actually love was too suborn to even think about loving her back. The same thing was with Albert, Mrs. Lovett cared a great deal about her deceased husband… But over the years she over fed him and he ended up dying shortly after his poor leg came up with gout.
Glancing outside to see if Alfred came back Mrs. Lovett sighed sadly when she saw that the cat was still gone somewhere and that Sweeney Todd was still sitting in the same place he was hours ago.
Mrs. Lovett turned and went to the door, closing it silently behind her before going over and sitting next to her brooding husband.
"I didn't mean to overreact, earlier I mean." Mrs. Lovett began as she felt the warm sea air brush against her face.
"I know." He replied simply, keeping his gaze away from hers.
Mrs. Lovett nodded before thinking about the events of the previous week, "An' about last week, what I said to you, or asked you more like. I jus' been alone all this time an' it was a lot to ask, I guess what I'm trying to say is, is that I'm sorry love."
She took his hands into hers and parted her lips slightly when she saw she had gotten his attention and that he was finally turned on his side to face her on the bench.
She noticed that he said nothing and that he was just staring at her, as if surprised that she had brought it up.
Mrs. Lovett's eyes immediately fell to his lips, they too were parted, she wondered how they would feel against her own. She remembered how at the church, it was just her, him, and the priest. The look on his face was hurtful as soon as the priest announced that he may now kiss the bride. All she got was a lousy kiss on the cheek, then again that was good enough for her.
Soon she found herself grasping his hands tighter with her own, surprised that he hadn't shaken her away from him yet when she lent up to brush her lips lightly against his.
He didn't move, so hesitantly she smiled faintly at him before kissing him lightly on the lips. She was about to pull awkwardly away until she felt him kiss her back.
And there it was, their first kiss as husband and wife.
It was a moment of pure bliss in Mrs. Lovett's mind until she felt him pull away. Her eyes fluttered open to see his hands had moved from her grasp and that his eyes were looking everywhere but at her.
What have I done? He thought to himself, shaking his head and turning to go away from her, leaving her sitting there in awe.
My, my, my, whatever are we going to do about them?
& Wowie, wow wow. Thank you all so much for your support on this story :D It's realll nice.
Plus MidnaLovesLinktotheendoftime gets a gold star for realizing that the kitty name was for the story =^-^= Good job luvvy ;) Oh and thank you lilNellBell for the kitty name.
Don't be afraid to make any suggestions for this, it's your story too ya know :)