Disclaimer: just look at every other chapter in the book!
THANKS TO… alchemistic, linalove, VintageMassMurderer, MireiLovett1846, MidnaLovesLinktotheendoftime, Reader, Count Vladimir Dracul, and everyone else that has read it!
That evening, Joy was outside placing flowers on each table when she noticed an old beggar woman screaming in a sing-song voice for money. She ran inside, grabbed a few of her coins and quickly ran back out the door. She ran up to the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman turned around quickly and stared at her.
"Johanna?" she asked, "No, you look too much like me to be Johanna, you can't be Johanna." The lady said quietly. "I know, you're just a figure of my imagination, just a thing from the past, a thing to remind me of my wrongs." Her voice began to grow louder, "Get out of here, you old ghost!" she yelled, "Out! Shoo!"
Joy held out her hand with the money in it.
"No, I don't take money from ghosts. Out! Move along! Go haunt someone else! And don't give me any of your dam money, spirit!" The woman kept shooing Joy off with her hands. Joy ran off and gave the money to Toby. "Give these to the beggar lady over there." She signed.
"Yes mum!"
She watched as he ran off in pursuit of the woman, and then she headed up the steps to find Sweeney and invite him down to dinner.
"Mr. Todd?" Joy mouthed; she stepped into his room carefully, fearing the worst of his moods. She looked around the room and saw no sign of him, not a glint of a razorblade, nothing.
"Sweeney?" she mouthed his name again. She tapped quietly on the wall, but did not find Mr. T. She turned to leave, but heard her name.
"Joy." She heard Mr. Todd whisper, "My Joy, my Lucy, Lucy." He said, "My Joy." He came up behind her and his arms snaked around her waist. No Joy, he did not say your name! He only said that Lucy was his joy. She thought, heart beginning to beat faster. She could tell he was drunk, so there really was no way of knowing just exactly what he was saying.
"My Joy, My Lucy!" Sweeney whispered into her ear. She was so confused. He began to kiss her neck, her face, and her shoulders. Joy stood, reveling in the moment, hardly daring to breathe. She knew, though, that his kisses were not for her, but for Lucy, his long-dead wife.
That's when she realized it, the beggar lady in the square! She looked very much like the woman in the picture! She had to be Lucy, had to be! As much as I would like for this to continue, I know it's not for me. She thought. She turned around, slowly, so as not to upset him and put her delicate, pale hand on his chest.
"Sweeney," she mouthed, "Sweeney please look at me." She tenderly put her fingers under his chin and lifted his face so he could see her clearly.
"Lucy's alive." She mouthed. Mr. Todd still had his arms wrapped around her.
"I know." He said, kissing her forehead. She pushed him away, "No, Mr. T! You cannot do this! Lucy's alive!" But he would not listen to her,
"I can see that." He said, and then he leaned in and tugged at her lip playfully with his own. She kept trying to push him away, but her attempts were in vain. He was too strong. And when he kissed her, tenderly, passionately, her soft lips to his, she began to melt in his arms. Now, not only was he kissing her, but she was kissing him back. His hand began to climb up her leg, her soft skin tingling under his touch. Her breath became nervous and scattered; she knew she should stop then and there, but –oh! Her heart had wings! Beautiful, elegant wings! She sighed with passion and contentment, and kissed him again, more seductively than the first kiss. At that moment, right in the midst of their kiss, Mrs. Nellie Lovett came in with one of Mr. Todd's clean shirts.
"Oh!" she said. She dropped the shirt on the floor and hastily ran out the door, forgetting to close it. Joy suddenly realized what she was doing and pushed him away. She ran out the door, slamming it behind her and leaving a very out of breath, very bewildered Mr. Todd.