Hey guys! another chapter, eh? :)
I hope you enjoy this one, because i certainly did.
Mrs. Lovett stays rooted on her spot as she waits for Ben- who is obviously looking for her- to approach them. She takes a glance at Mr. Harris, he seems to be ignoring the fact that the man who just threatened him is in there with them- or he has not noticed Ben yet? He is just casually eating his pie and smiling at the baker in between bites.
Mrs. Lovett knows that in any minute now, Ben will find her. She does not know what she will say to him. To be honest, she's still quite angry with him for not standing up for her yesterday when Lucy's enjoying harassing her. Yet, she knows deep in her heart that he cannot stick up for her- even if he wants to, because she's not the wife; the legal is the only one who has the right.
She hears someone clears their throat behind her. Before she can turn around, she sees Mr. Harris looks up; by the way his expression darkens, she already knows who it is. Slowly, she turns around and finds Ben hovering over her, with his hands folded in his chest. He is scowling at her- for whatever reason it may be, she doesn't know.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Barker?" she says, standing up and facing Ben with her hands on her hips.
Ben ignores her and walks past right her instead, making Mrs. Lovett confused. She follows him with her gaze; he goes to stand in front of Mr. Harris who seems to not mind the barber, at all.
"What are you doing here?" Benjamin asks through gritted teeth; his hands are balled in fist- ready to strike, and his jaw is clenched shut.
Mr. Harris looks at Ben with a smirk planted on his handsome face- irritating the barber even more. "I believe Mr… uh- Barker, is it? That it is none of your business if I've chosen to dine here or not."
Not happy with his answer, Ben lunges forward, grabbing Mr. Harris at the collar of his shirt. Their face only inches apart; the barber is breathing so hard, while David is his composed self. They stay like that, fortunately not attracting attention from the people around the shop. Ben only let the man go when he feels a pair of hands hugging him from behind, pulling him away.
He turns to look at the person behind him, and is surprised to see the furious face of Mrs. Lovett. She immediately lets go of him when his attention is on her. Crossing her arms and glaring at the barber, she asks coldly. "Mr. Barker, did you purposely come here to attack my customers? If so, then I suggest you leave. I can't have you scaring them away."
Then, the baker turns to Mr. Harris before Ben can answer her rhetorical question. Her expression instantly morphs into worry as she sees the badly beaten man. She goes directly to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, she asks in concern. "Are you hurt, Mr. Harris? Is there anything I can do for you?"
Mr. Harris smiles and boldly takes her hand that's on his shoulder, caressing the back of it with his thumb. "Thank you, Madame. I am quite alright."
Mrs. Lovett blushes; she can feel the blood running down her neck. She withdraws her hand and brushes her skirt, wiping off imaginary dusts. She tries to fight the smile creeping on her face, but fails to do so. Instead, she just bows her head down and hoping to hide it from Mr. Harris.
A tap on her shoulder makes her whip her head up. As she looks for the owner of the hand, she sees that it belongs to the barber. She scowls at him, slightly irritated at seeing him still there inside her shop. She wonders if he is just stubborn or that he does not get it that she wants him to leave.
"What?" she huffs in annoyance, and crosses her arms to her chest.
Ben's brows furrow in confusion. He knows that what he just did is wrong, but he is merely protecting her from that pervert. It's as if she has forgotten what that guy has done to her last night. Well, in her state, she must have forgotten. Did she forget what she said, too? He'll see.
"May I have a word with you?-" he looks at Mr. Harris- who seems to be listening to their conversation- and returns his gaze back to the baker. "-in private, please."
Mrs. Lovett contemplates for a second, and then nods in approval. She turns to Mr. Harris first before she leads Ben to the parlor, excusing herself and promising that she will catch up on him later.
"Lucy." The judge calls for Lucy, who is seated at his right hand, happily eating lunch with him. Apparently, they are already on a first name basis. He puts the fork and the knife down when Lucy turns her attention to him, dabbing his mouth with the red table cloth.
"Since you've done your work fast, and you have nothing to do anymore, I would like you to join me for a walk to the park. If it's alright with you." The Judge looks at Lucy void of any emotions, though his eyes betray his hopefulness that she will agree to go with him.
Luckily for Judge Turpin, Lucy will agree on anything that will divert her attention off of her husband. And, a walk to the park seems like an appealing distraction to her. Besides, it's been a long time now since she went there. She guesses that she will take up Richard's offer. Actually, his presence is enough distraction; he is a good company. He can make her laugh, he can. Lucy smiles and nods "Of course, I would."
"Well, then we will go once we are done eating." He smiles at her and continues to eat his food.
The judge is just too happy that Lucy accepts his invitation; he really does fancy her. He wishes to get to know her more in hopes that he will capture her heart. Though he knows that she is with husband, he also knows that once love strikes, people can be quite foolish.
"Well? Speak up, Mr. Barker." Mrs. Lovett snaps. Benjamin and she are both seated on the sofa, with a small distance between them. To the baker, she does not know if she likes their close proximity. She just made a promise to herself that she will forget him, but their current position is making it hard for her to do so.
Benjamin makes a move to touch Mrs. Lovett's hands, but as she notices this, she removes her hands away. This makes the barber's face falls; looking down with a feeling of sadness in his heart, he starts explaining himself.
"I'm sorry, Nellie. Yesterday- I just- I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry for putting you in that kind of situation." He pauses to take a large intake of breath, only to release it with a loud huff. "I- I don't know. I was shocked and- please understand, I am really sorry."
Mrs. Lovett wants to reach out to Ben, to tell him how it's alright- that she can handle herself. She wants to tell him how she will always forgive him every time he has done wrong; that she understands him because that's what you are supposed to do when you love someone. But, she cannot bring herself to do this. As much as she wants him to remain in her life, it will just not work out- even though their only relationship is friendship.
He has a wife who loves him dearly, and he loves her too. She cannot risk his perfect and happy marriage for the sake of her dreams- or fantasy. Because, to see him broken will kill her more than knowing that they will never be together. If she wants to forget him, she better start right now. She knows if she does not stop herself from falling even deeper for him, then in the end, she will only be heartbroken-more than she is, now.
"Mr. Barker, I do understand that you must side with your wife. You need not worry yourself over what happened yesterday. Also, you should not blame yourself for putting me in that kind of situation, because as you can see, I myself did allow you." Mrs. Lovett's response is thought of very carefully. She tells him a part of what she wants him to know- how she feels about the situation, without exposing her feelings for him.
Benjamin's eyes light up and a smile creep its way into his face. He launches himself to the baker- ready to thank her for being an understanding friend, but she stops him. "Please, Mr. Barker. If you ever want to be in good terms with your wife, then I suggest we stop this."
"Stop what?" Ben asks, scowling in confusion. He has a faint clue of what she is talking about, but he wants to make sure. Nellie will not wish for their friendship to end. She has been the one who got mad at him when he suggested that they avoid each other. Surely she is not requesting that, right?
"What I mean to say, Mr. Barker, is that- how do I put this? Let's just say, we pretend that we do not know each other- pretend that I do not exist. You'll be out of my life, and I in yours." She replies. She shrugs her shoulders as if what she is talking about is not a big deal, making Ben angry.
"You are telling me, Nellie, that you want to end our friendship? Is that it, huh?" Mr. Barker's eyes flashes in anger, he leans towards the baker- their faces almost touching- pointing a finger at her.
The baker's eyes widens at the barber's reaction. She really thinks that he will take this lightly, considering the fact that he, himself, also asked her to cut ties with him not so long ago. Now, he is reacting like this and she does not know what to do. but, she must stand her ground and make him understand.
"Yes, that's right. See here, Mr. Barker. I am just doing you a big favor by asking you this. If your wife finds out that you are still visiting me here, do you think she will be happy? Let me answer that for you- no, Mr. Barker, she will not be happy." Mrs. Lovett pauses, waiting for her words to sink in to Ben's mind. She just hopes that he will see reason and not make this hard for the both of them.
Then, she continues. "I will not allow myself to ruin your marriage. Especially, if there's still something I can do to save it. Your relationship with your wife, Mr. Barker, is more important than ours. In the future you will meet new people and become acquainted with them. Soon, you will forget about me. I am doing this for you, Mr. Barker- I am making this easy for you." She does not know how she still manages to say these to Ben. Every word that she says affects her- she believes- more than it does the barber.
"No, Nellie! You don't have a say on me and my wife's problem- nor does she have a say on who can I make friends with. I know what we've done is wrong- and it has greatly affected my relationship with Lucy. I cannot say that I am proud with what we did, but I just cannot allow our friendship to also deteriorate. Only I can solve this problem, and I will do that. But please, you cannot just suddenly pretend that you do not know me." Ben pleads to Mrs. Lovett. He cannot understand how she can ask him of this. He now wonders if she even treasures their friendship.
"Don't you care for me, Nellie? Is that how easy it is for you to just end this? Did you even value our friendship?" his voice is accusing. Instead of thinking rationally about the baker's proposal, he is just becoming angrier. He feels betrayed, to be honest. Nellie is his only true friend that he can confide with, yet she wants to leave him. She wants to leave him during the time when she needs him most, when he is facing a big problem.
Mrs. Lovett's fists are balled in fury, her piercing eyes is looking sharply at Ben. She is mustering all self-control just not to lash out on him. She cannot believe how foolish he can be. There's no point of her explaining to him the reason why it is important for them to avoid each other.
"How dare you ask me those questions!? I told you already- I am doing this for you! Can you not see that? I treasure our friendship more than anything, Ben. You are one of the few people who showed me kindness, and true friendship. It is hard for me also, but it must be done." A single tear escapes Mrs. Lovett's eyes, and she hastily wipes it off to hide it from Ben. But, it's too late, he has already noticed and he has his arms wrap around her shoulders now, as stubborn tears continues to fall from her eyes.
"Shh… Nellie. I don't want you stressing about my problems. How do you expect me to overcome this without you at my side? With Lucy being mad at me, I can only turn to you for support. So please, enough with this nonsense, alright?" Ben looks down at the tear stained face of Mrs. Lovett, smiling at her. He squeezes her to him and she just snuggles at his side. Ben sighs in relief as he takes this gesture as a sign of approval.
They stay like that for a few minutes, happy just to be in each other's side- like how they always used to be. After a while, Ben remembers that he still have some questions to ask the baker. So, he extricates her from him, holding her by the shoulders at arm's length.
"I forgot; I need to ask you a few questions." He says, piquing the baker's interest. She just nods at him in response.
He looks away from Mrs. Lovett; he is feeling uncomfortable on what he is about to ask her. But, he just needs to hear her explanation about it. "Well, last night… you said something to me. Do you remember?"
Mrs. Lovett's brows furrow in concentration as she tries to remember ever seeing Ben last night. She realizes that she will not gain any information from herself, seeing that she has drunk herself into stupor- causing her to forget of the things that has happened. "I don't remember, but you can remind me. What did I say? Was it bad?"
Ben just shakes his head, dismissing the topic. "It's nothing."
"Please tell me or it will kill me all day to know it." Mrs. Lovett pouts, and puts her best puppy eyes- he always falls for it, but not this time. Ben just shakes his head again, and instead asks another question.
"What about that man outside? Didn't you remember what he did to you?" his voice is stern when he says this; he sounds like a father scolding his child.
"He told me, Ben. But, to be honest, I didn't mind at all. I was just having fun. Besides, he is a good man and I do like him." answers the baker, a matter of factly.
Something stirs inside Ben, a feeling he cannot quite put a name on. He brushes it off quickly, thinking that maybe it is just protectiveness, for he does not trust the man and he does not want her for his best friend. It's just like when other men look at his wife and he gets angry, it's similar to that feeling.
He looks at Mrs. Lovett who is looking at him questioningly as he suddenly falls quiet. He just pulls her into him, without speaking a word; thankfully, she complies without questioning his action. He intends to stay like that for a while longer, making the man outside wait. He just hopes that the man will get impatient and leave by the time they walk out of the parlour.
Alright, did you see the hints that I placed? you know... the one's about Turpin's and Benjamin's feelings? ;)
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
tell me what you think!
Reviews are L.O.V.E. :)