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It was twelve midnight; Ben lays awake beside his slumbering wife. Darkness surrounds him- only the glow of the moon and the stars lights their bedroom. The only sounds that he can hear were the songs that the drunkards across the street were singing and nothing else.
He was tossing and turning- finding a comfortable position in which he can sleep but it never comes. He's been like that for hours. His mind was very active- buzzing with random unintelligible thoughts. Finally deciding that he would take a walk to tire himself- hoping that when he gets back, sleep would welcome him- he slowly gets up from their bed, careful not to wake his wife.
Reaching the front door successfully, he creeps downstairs avoiding the steps which make loud noises. He reaches the bottom when a gust of wind hits him making him shiver. He was thankful for bringing his jacket- a while ago he decides on not bringing it because it's not that cold inside their house; he assumes that it was the same outside. He was preparing to leave when he notices that someone was sitting in front of his neighbor's pie shop. He ambles towards the person but stops two feet away when he realizes that it was the baker.
It looks like Mrs. Lovett was having the same trouble as him- unable to sleep. She seems to be in deep thought because when he sits beside her on the bench that she was sitting at she does not move nor acknowledges his presence. He notices that she was shivering but she doesn't seem to mind. Being a gentleman that he was- he takes off his jacket and wraps it around Mrs. Lovett. That's when she notices him- she does not utter any sound but her mouth was form in 'O' and her eyebrows was shot upwards.
He smiles at her then asks "What are you doing here outside, Mrs. Lovett?"
She also could not sleep; it was that time of the night where she just lays still in her bed and thinks of everything- from her past to her future. But, as time goes by she feels suffocated inside her chamber- memories from the past that she wishes to forget and fears from what the future has in store for her; they were all in her head. So she decides to head outside and clear her mind.
She looks at him for a second then turns away- she smiles "I can't sleep." she simply answers.
He gives out an audible sigh and focuses his gaze up in the sky. "You know Mrs. Lovett… I want to travel to different places."
She just looks at him- urging him to continue on what he was saying. "That's my dream- explore the world." He looks at her "If I hadn't met Lucy, maybe I would be cruising now."
Her brows furrows "you- you're saying that?"
He chuckles as he shakes his head "No, of course not. It is my choice to stay and marry Lucy- I never once regretted my decision. I am happy- I love my wife and she loves me back, there's nothing more that I could ask for."
His eyes were filled with adoration as he mentions his wife. It was true that he did not pursue his dream just to be with Lucy. The first time he saw her he immediately fell in love with her- it was love at first sight. He said to himself that he will win her heart and if that did not happen then he's going to leave. Fortunately, Lucy felt the same way for him. Nothing can replace her in his eyes- she will always be number one in his heart, no matter what happens.
He continues "how about you Mrs. Lovett?"
She crosses her legs over her thighs and cocks her head to the side- thinking "My dream?" she asks more than to herself than him.
"I dreamed of living by the sea…" she sighs, her expression turning sad.
"With the man that I love…" she glances at him "… and with our children."
"Sorry." He suddenly says as he takes her hand and gives it a light squeeze.
"What for?" she asks in confusion.
"For losing Albert." He answers. He cannot imagine what the baker's going through. She must be so lonely and depressed now that Albert passed away. He does not know the feeling of losing someone you really loved but he thinks that he'd probably die if Lucy was to be taken away from him. He can only admire Mrs. Lovett's strength- it seems like she's not affected but he knows deep inside that she's truly hurt.
"Me and Albert- we're just friends…" he raises one eyebrow questioningly.
Mrs. Lovett hurriedly defends herself "No, what I mean to say is… I never really see him as husband. You see, it was a fix marriage. My parents forced me to marry him for their own benefit. He likes me, yes, but I don't like him. I don't know… I just…" she sighs and rubs her forehead.
Ben notices the tears trickling down Mrs. Lovett's cheeks. He wraps his arms around her and lays her head in his chest. He murmurs words of comfort to her ears as he caresses her auburn curls.
She continues on with her story "I was not happy with him and he knows this. Then this man… I- I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. He was perfect in every way. It was surreal- he's just-"
She was cut off with her story when Ben asks her multiple questions "who's this man? Did he know how you feel about him? Did he feel the same way too?" curiosity was clear in his voice.
Mrs. Lovett pulls out from Ben's embrace and sits up straight. She hastily wipes the tears off her face.
"No. he was married… married to this very beautiful woman. I am nothing compare to her." she answers, full of contempt.
"Shh… don't say that Mrs. Lovett…" He puts a finger to her lips "…You. Are. Beautiful." He utters every single word to her to make her believe that he was telling the truth; as he says this he tucks a stray of her hair behind her ears making her shudder from his touch.
"Thank you." She barely whispers.
He just smiles at her then pulls her again into a hug which she gladly returns. They pull away and smile at each other.
"You know, Albert found out that I love this man… he got really jealous and well, he beat me." He pulls her to his side holding her close to him.
"I tried to fight but he's much stronger. When he was done… he just left me lying on the floor- bleeding."
Benjamin can feel the anger bubbling up inside him. He can see Albert beating Mrs. Lovett while she tries to stop him. He cannot believe that Albert would do that. When he was alive he was always kind to him and Lucy. Also, he never once hears or sees the Lovetts fight; when he sees them they seem normal and happy. 'Maybe they are just good at hiding things'.
"He shouldn't have done that." He says. His grip on her arms was tightening that it was starting to hurt the baker.
She can see that he's angry and does not have a clue that he was gripping her arm so hard. He was scowling- staring at the road ahead. She gently takes his other hand that was on his lap then gives it a tight squeeze "Calm down, dear. No need to be angry- it's over and done. Besides, I deserved it."
He whips her head around to face her; his face was dark- eyes blazing with fury. He puts his hand on her shoulder then he shakes her lightly. "No women ever deserved to be treated like that."
His breath was coming out fast. She was stunned by him. Her eyes were wide as she looks at him with something akin to fear. Upon getting back to his senses and seeing the scared look of Mrs. Lovett, he composes himself and looks away from her in shame.
"Sorry." He says, still not looking at her.
She smiles as she realizes that she just witnessed the overprotective side of Benjamin Barker. She does not know that he was going to react like that- if she does then she wouldn't have tell him the story. Nevertheless, she was happy that at least he shows concern- not to Lucy but to her.
She takes his chin and makes him face her. "No need to be sorry… I understand."
She suddenly stands up and brushes invisible dust off her skirt- a habit of hers. "Well, Mr. Barker-"
He cuts her off "Please, Mrs. Lovett, Call me Ben." He says as he also stands up from the bench that they were sitting on.
"Okay, but, you would have to call me Nellie if you want me to call you Ben." She sticks her tongue out to him.
"Deal" he walks with her- stopping in front of the bake shop's door.
Mrs. Lovett opens the door and enters. Before she closes it she faces Ben who was still standing in front of her door smiling at her.
"Good Night… Ben." She winks then grins at him.
He chuckles "Good Night, Nellie." He presses a kiss on her cheek then climbs upstairs without glancing back.
She closes the door and leans her forehead on it while still holding the knob. She touches her cheek where he kisses her- she can still feel his soft lips. She squeals in happiness then runs to her bedroom.
Both of them sleep with the biggest smiles on their faces.
He can feel someone kissing him. He slowly opens his eyes and immediately he sees the loving face of his beautiful wife.
"Good Morning, Benny!" she says to him as she notices that he was now awake. She was lying on top of him.
"Benny? I have a feeling that you want something." He teases her as he traces small circles on her back. Benny- it was the name that she usually calls him whenever she wants or needs something from him. He was curious as to what his wife could possibly want from him early in the morning.
"Yes, well, can I- go out?" she flutters her long lashes out to him.
He frowns then ceases tracing small circles on her back "where are you going?"
Lucy rolls to the side of the bed. She stares at the ceiling while Ben was hovering over her "Meeting a friend."
He pecks her lips then stands up heading towards the bathroom "Alright, but, be careful."
"Okay, bye. I'll be back by lunch." She shouts to him- already making her way out.
Ben finishes taking a bath. He starts doing his daily routines: fixing the bottle of colognes, mixing lather, sharpening, cleaning, and shining his razors. After these were done he decides to have breakfast first. Since Lucy was not there to eat with him, he guesses he should go downstairs and asks Nellie if she would like to join him for breakfast.
He enters Mrs. Lovett's shop but she was not there; though he can smell something good wafting through the air. He thinks that maybe she was in the kitchen. He sits on the table nearest to the counter- it was three feet away from the counter and was situated in the middle of the shop.
After a few minutes with no sign of the baker, he becomes impatient so he decides to call her.
"Nellie!" he shouts from where he was sitting.
He hears footsteps coming from- where he believes the kitchen was and sees Mrs. Lovett coming out of it.
"Mr. Barker, do you need anything?" she asks as she wipes her hands on her apron.
"First of all, it's Ben. I would just like to ask you if you want to join me for breakfast. Lucy left and… well… I don't want to eat alone. So, would you join me?" he hopes she'd say yes.
"Sure. I'm guessing you haven't cooked any food yet, no?" she asks, grinning at him.
"Well, no. I just woke up and…" he replies sheepishly.
"Good. I cooked a lot today. Just sit there while I prepare the food." She goes back to kitchen and minutes later she was back with a tray of food in her hands.
"Here you go." She sets the tray on the table. Their food consists of toasts, eggs, meat, and soup.
Ben eyes the sets of food in front of him- he grabs the toasts first, then started munching on it- Mrs. Lovett eats the soup first.
In the middle of eating their breakfast, Mrs. Lovett suddenly speaks.
"You know, I still love him- even though he's married."
He swallows the food that he was chewing then he looks at her in the eyes "Don't worry, Nellie. Show me his wife and we'll send her to bedlam."
She swats his arm playfully "You bastard! I was being serious."
They both laugh.
Breakfast passes by quickly with some story-telling, teasing and little chuckles and giggles over here and there.
Lucy arrives at the house of her friend. It was a very big house- in fact it was a mansion. It looks eerie on the outside. It was guarded by two lion statues that eyes' seems to follow you whenever you go. The very large mahogany door stands as a barricade that separates the world from inside to outside. The door seems to say that 'once you go in, there's no getting out'.
Lucy hesitates before knocking on the door. She was very nervous- she's not sure if she should do it. She can hear footsteps getting closer and closer- her heart beating so fast- louder and louder- she considers turning around and leaving. The door opens.
"Ah! Mrs. Barker, you're back."
I don't know what Lucy's up to -.-
what am I to do with Lucy? I think you all now where she is... she's being stubborn!
haha... it looks like you guys are just excited as me to see the Lone Ranger :")
good day! :)
Leave me a review, please? :)