A/n: Sorry guys! It's been like a week, I've just been really, really busy. Wanna know what my schedule was last week and this? Okay, well, last week, Tuesday, all day jazz band tour to the elementary schools. Thursday, class trip to Baltimore, this Monday, show choir auditions, Tuesday and Wednesday, State History Day Competition (don't bother asking, my group didn't even make runoffs). So now's the only time I've gotten to finish this.
You know what I just realized? My title's wrong. It should be In the Arms of A Killer. I fixed it though. That's embarrassing.
Chapter Four
Three days. Three days was all it took for the rumor mill to catch wind of their marriage and turn it into a scandalous fiasco. No one could truly understand why a pretty, young girl like Lindsey Lovett had married a man more than twice her age. Some said her mother had left her with a large amount of debt and the barber agreed to pay it if she married him. And they went downhill from there. The most popular rumor? She was pregnant. Lindsey and Sweeney both knew that she was not and wouldn't be for a very long time. Along with dispelling the rumors, they'd agreed she was too young and they couldn't handle a baby now. Nor did Lindsey have any desire to be pregnant. She was glad that Mr. Todd was being so sensitive to dispelling these rumors.
As promised, Mr. Livingston returned to the shop within the week. As soon as he walked in, Lindsey handed him the marriage certificate. "Well…I suppose my work here is done then." He handed her the certificate. "Good day Miss Lovett, ah, I mean Mrs. Todd."
As soon as he left Lindsey started laughing. She just couldn't get used to being Mrs. Todd. She looked at the paper. If you squinted hard enough, her name looked somewhat like Lindsey Antoinette Lovett. But Mr. Todd's looked like he'd just scribbled on the paper. He probably had. She just couldn't figure the man out. Nor could she get used to the glances she got on the street, or the way customer's gazes would linger on her stomach to see if it was enlarged at all. When she didn't have to be in the front of the shop, with all the windows, she went back into the parlor and read. She was so tired lately that many times she would have to read a page six times before she understood it. She never knew how much work really went into a pie shop. This was where she found herself now, trying to read, but really falling asleep. It was Sunday, so she didn't have to work.
Sweeney Todd, on the other hand, stayed in his shop regardless of the day of the week. He didn't like being in contact with the people that were spreading rumors about his wife. He intended to stay in the shop all day. He did feel a little guilty about leaving Lindsey by herself, but he didn't want to leave his shop. That was until he saw three girls, about Lindsey's age, enter the pie shop. He decided he'd better see what they wanted.
He managed to enter the shop undetected. The three girls were whispering. One said, "I don't see her!"
"Don't see who?" he asked.
The trio jumped and turned around. Two of the girls (twins maybe? It looked that way) started giggling. One rolled her eyes and said, "We were looking for Lindsey Lovett. Is she here?"
Sweeney looked them over a moment, surprised they'd called her Lindsey Lovett and not Lindsey Todd. "Yes. I'll go get her." As he left the room, he heard one of the girls (probably one of the giggling ones) ask, "Was that him? I think that was him."
Lindsey looked up from the chair she was sitting in (almost asleep). "Lindsey, three of the silliest girls I have ever seen in my life are standing in our shop. Why?"
Lindsey groaned. "Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. I should've known they'd be by. I'd better go see what they want." Lindsey went into the shop. Sure enough it was Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brady.
They all began shrieking "Lindsey!" and started hugging her.
"We haven't seen you in months!" Anne said excitedly.
"Yes!" Charlotte agreed. "Oh! We're sorry about your mother."
"Yes! Very sorry," Emily added.
Charlotte turned to face her twin. "Incredibly sorry!"
Emily turned to face Charlotte. "Dreadfully sorry!!"
"Ladies please!" Lindsey said, getting a word in for the first time since the girls had entered the shop. "Thank you, all three of you."
Anne rolled her eyes at her two younger sisters. Anne Brady was seventeen, Lindsey's age, while the twins were fifteen and…well…silly little nits actually. "How've you been since her passing Lindsey?"
Lindsey smiled weakly. "I've been better. Mr. Todd's really been helping me cope."
The three sisters exchanged glances and upon catching Lindsey's bewildered expression, Charlotte said, "I know! Why don't we all go for a walk in the park?" The other sisters immediately agreed.
"Alright," Lindsey agreed, only slightly reluctant. "I'll just let Mr. T know where I'm going okay?"
"Um…okay," Emily said, looking rather uncomfortable.
Lindsey walked back into the parlor where Mr. Todd had not left. "You're afraid of my friends aren't you?"
He shot her a look. "Those girls are really your friends?"
Lindsey shifted. "Charlotte and Emily giggle a lot but their hearts are in the right place. And I think you would like Anne…she's pretty level-headed. A lot like me."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Did you need something then?"
"Oh! Right. I'm just going out for a walk in the park with them. You don't mind do you?"
He shook his head. "Go. Just get them out of our shop. And don't bring them back."
"I'll try," she said with a smile. "They follow people around sometimes."
So the girls went out on their walk, chatting like the old friends they were. Finally, a few girls who could keep up with Lindsey's (as Mr. Todd put it) insufferable amount of talking.
Now, reader, there is one thing you must know. You must know that Dahlia Brady (the three girls' mother) was a terrible gossip. If she even caught wind of something that sounded gossip-worthy, soon the whole town would know. In fact, Dahlia Brady was probably the reason everyone learned of Lindsey's marriage to Sweeney Todd so quickly. Or so Lindsey thought. But she would learn that she was quite mistaken. She would learn that no one actually knew she'd married.
The four girls stopped and sat on a bench by a pond in the park. "So ladies," Lindsey said, "Why did you come by today?"
The three looked at each other, each begging another to speak. Finally, Charlotte said, "Oh, we just wanted to check up on you. Make sure you're doing alright."
"And why do you keep doing that?" Lindsey asked.
"Doing what?" the three Brady sisters asked innocently.
"Looking at each other as if you don't know what to say. There is something else going on here."
"Of course there isn't," Anne said soothingly, glaring at her younger sisters. "We just wanted to see you. Can't a friend come and see another friend once in a while?"
Lindsey smiled, not completely content with the girl's answer. After a long pause, Emily said, "So…you're living with that barber are you?"
Anne groaned and kicked her sister in the shin. Lindsey jumped up. "I knew it! I knew it, I just knew it! Your mother sent you, didn't she?"
They all began saying things such as no, of course not, but Lindsey silenced them with a glare. Charlotte took a deep breath. "Okay, she did." Lindsey groaned loudly. "But she doesn't mean any harm Lindsey, really! She just wants to make sure you're okay!"
"I mean really," Emily continued for her twin, "You should hear the things people say about you Lindsey! Living with a man more than twice your age!"
"We just hate to hear those things about our friend, we want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into! It's a bit scandalous, don't you think?" Anne finished.
Lindsey glared at her so called "friends". "I didn't think there was anything scandalous about a woman living with her husband!"
All three girls gasped and their facial expressions immediately changed. "So you've married him!" Emily exclaimed. "Oh well that's a different matter completely! Nothing scandalous about that!"
"Thank the Heavens Lindsey, you were giving us quite the fright," Charlotte said.
"How long have you been married?" Anne asked.
"Only three days," Lindsey said coldly.
"And why weren't we invited to this little affair?"
Lindsey paused. "No one was. It was a private ceremony, just me, Mr. Todd, and the minister."
"Why?" Emily asked, earning her another kick from Anne.
"Why what?"
"Why'd you marry him?" Charlotte asked, earning herself a kick.
"There has to be some sort of reason? Is this a question you usually asked newlyweds? WHY they married? I guess you just can't marry for love can you?"
"Do you love him?" Anne asked knowingly.
Lindsey fell silent. Did she love him? She had some sort of feelings for him, that was to be certain. But love? Maybe she would come to love him eventually, but at this point she was merely fond of him. But she couldn't tell the sisters that. "Yes. Yes I do."
"Well…I s'pose there's really nothing to worry about then. See girls? I told you our Lindsey was respectable," Anne said.
"Of course! Never doubted you for a moment," Charlotte lied.
"Not even a minute," Emily said, once again competing with her sister.
"Not even a second!" Charlotte yelled back.
"A millisecond!" Emily yelled at her.
Lindsey laughed. "Good to see you two haven't changed. Still competitive as ever."
"You have no idea," Anne said. "You should see them at home, they're ten times worse."
"Well one thing's certain," Emily said. "We'll have to be properly acquainted with this barber of yours."
"Oh yes!" Charlotte agreed. "I know! How about tomorrow we all get together for some tea! Our mother can come to!"
Lindsey began to disagree, knowing Mr. Todd would not be happy with this idea, but Emily held up a hand. "Ah, ah, ah," she said. "We just have to meet the man who has stolen our Lindsey's heart."
"Girls we really should go," Anne said, noticing Lindsey's uncomfortable expression. "You two go ahead, I'll be with you in a minute."
"We'll be over by three tomorrow Lindsey!" Emily said.
"Yes! By three!" Charlotte agreed, not about to let her twin get the last word.
As soon as the twins were out of earshot, Anne said, "Look, I'm really sorry about all this Lindsey. My mother didn't really send me. She sent the twins. I just had to come along, just to put rest to all the rumors. I mean you should hear how my mother talks about you! Like mother like daughter, she said."
"What about my mother?" Lindsey exclaimed. "What does your mother say about her?"
Anne shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I suppose there was no real reason for your mother to ever tell you this story. As my mother put it, Albert Lovett was a rather large man. And he didn't leave the house often. So no one really saw him. Everyone claimed your mother was only saying she was married, because she was pregnant. She was known as the town harlot from then on out, until he died and they had the funeral. Only then did everyone know she was married. And this is the same thing! Everyone thinks you're a harlot, when really it's just a misunderstanding. I'm sorry Lindsey. I'll make sure my mother knows you've married, that way everyone will know."
"Thank you Anne. I suppose since you live on the other side of town, the whole story didn't reach you yet. Everyone on my side of town thinks we've married because I'm pregnant. And I'm not! We both agreed I couldn't be."
"I understand." Anne hugged her friend. "I'll try and keep mother and the twins under control tomorrow."
The two girls went their separate ways. When Lindsey found her way back to the shop, she collapsed in one of the parlor chairs, suddenly exhausted. "Finally back are you?" a voice asked.
Lindsey jumped. "You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that. Yes, I'm back."
"What did those ridiculous girls want?"
"Well…just to see how I'm doing, and to invite themselves over for tea tomorrow with their mother," she said, not wanting to tell him the truth.
"What?" he exclaimed. "They're coming tomorrow?"
"I'm sorry! I just couldn't stop them! They're absolutely ridiculous and there's no way to tell them no. You'll just have to be civil, especially around their mother."
"What time are they coming?"
"Three, it should be enough time for me to make this place presentable."
Sweeney sighed. "I suppose this really isn't your fault. I'm going upstairs, I'm going to need sleep for tomorrow if I have to put up with those girls. Goodnight Lindsey"
"Goodnight," she said, and just as he was about to leave the room, she added, "Mr. T?"
He turned. "What?"
"I love you. You know that, right?" She bit her lip nervously, not knowing how he'd respond to this.
"Of course," he said, and left the room.
"Even if you don't love me," she whispered.
A/n: yay another chapter done! I'll upload a new one to MVR too, to keep my Sweenett fans happy. Reviewing takes two seconds and makes me very happy. So please review!!