-Pretty Women-

- A customer! -

Chapter 1 - A Customer!

        Y/N dusted her hands on her apron, the flour disappearing and forming dust around the already particularly dusty café. Business had been moving rather slowly, their café had been visited by Beadle Bamford several times for 'health complications', but somehow, they had remained open. Even Ms.Lovett knew of the stink and grime hiding behind every nook and crannie, the roaches crawling into the pies, and the flies in the ale. The 'worst pies in London' was what she called it.

          Sometimes Y/N wondered what her life would be like if she didn't have Ms.Lovett, she wouldn't have a home, or a decent job, but surely there could be more sanitary circumstances in which she could live. Suddenly, the young lady was grabbed from her train of thought by the sound of a ringing bell, indicating someone had entered. She turned around to face her customer, and saw the dark curly-haired man standing opposite the counter. "Did you come for a pie sir? Ms.Lovett is out at the market currently, but I'm sure I can assist you" she greeted with a smile, clasping her hands together and leaning on the flour-filled counter. The man looked dazed, confused, he seemed as if his mind was in a different place than the woman in front of him, or anyone in London for that matter. He just sat down, not speaking, not making eye-contact, sort of like a ghost. Y/N grabbed a pie and poured some ale into a pint glass, setting it down on the man's table.

              "You're our first customer today, you know? Times is hard these days, sir".
"You have a room over this shop, eh?" asked the man, making Y/N nod in response, his voice sounded strange, it was a deep English accent with a twist of something Y/N just couldn't grasp. He then continued, "times is so hard why don't you rent it out?". This was a logical question, but the two had tried. Nobody in London would go near that place even if they were held at gunpoint and forced to. The woman shook her head, coming to sit across from the man, "nobody will go near it, some say it's haunted" she explained, and the man raised his eyebrows, "haunted?" he repeated, and Y/N nodded. "Ms.Lovett did tell me of something happening up there, about a barber, I believe" she paused, trying to think of his name, "Benjamin..I think, Benjamin Barker?".

             The man shuddered as she mentioned this, "may I rent it out, if it's alright with your employer, of course" he asked, finishing the last of his ale and internally vomiting as he looked at the pie he had barely touched. "I'm sure it would be fine, sir. Ms.Lovett will be back any moment, I'm Y/N, by the way. And I don't believe I caught your name?" There was something strange about the man, his glazed eyes looked pain-stricken, as if he'd just been crying for hours. "Todd, Sweeney Todd" he answered with a small, seemingly cold-hearted smile, in a somewhat attempt to be friendly. "Well it's lovely to meet you, Mr.Todd! Ms.Lovett is taking a rather long time, but she should be back, would you care to see the room?" Sweeney nodded and the pair got up and headed to the stairs round the back of the shop. When they reached the top, Y/N got a key from the small pocket attached to her skirt and unlocked the door, making a bell ring just above them and the door creak loudly as it opened into the shop. Sweeney stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the view he had over a place he knew so many years ago. "Come in, sir" Y/N gestured with a small smile, making him look at her with a monotone face of innocence, "there's nothing to be afraid of".

               Soon enough, Mrs.Lovett returned, and the pair heard her shout on the girl from below. "You wait here, Mr.Todd, I'll just help my employer unpack her shopping and she'll be right with you to discuss rent and things of such matter" Y/N stood up and headed downstairs, coming in through the back of the shop. "There you are, love, what were you doin' up there?" Ms.Lovett asked, taking off her small ragged coat and hanging it on a rack just beside the front door. "A man came in, ma'am, he's thinking of renting the place just above, Mr.Barker's old parlour. I told him you'd go discuss with him if you'd prefer me to unload the shopping" the younger woman explained, taking a bag and beginning to put the ingredients neatly on shelves. "Oh, I shall go see him" she started, watching Y/N with a smile, "you're such a help, dear, I don't know what me poor self would do without you".
               Sweeney was looking into the broken mirror when Ms.Lovett came bustling through the door, fixing her hair. "You wanted to see about renting this place out, I imagine sir?" She asked, a little less well-mannered than the other girl, but friendly none the less. "Yes" he answered, walking over and shaking hands with the woman in front of him, "I heard your worker say people believe it's haunted? Why would some imagine such a strange thing?" Ms.Lovett sat on the trunk just beside the door, fixing her posture entirely, most likely to impress the rather attractive man in front of her. "Years ago, something happened up here, something not very nice" she started to explain, "there was a barber and his wife, and he was beautiful" she then started to sing, making the man listen closely, strangely attentive. "A proper artist with a knife, but they transported him for life, and he was beautiful".

Meanwhile, Y/N was downstairs, sipping a small cup of ale as she stared out the window to the busy streets of London. She had put away the shopping, dusted the counter and really tidied the place up, making it look fairly decent. There was a lot of talking from upstairs, every now and then she'd hear the noise of heavy boots pacing across the creaking floorboards. Ms.Lovett soon returned, smiling as her cheeks turned a bright red, going behind the counter and continuing to roll out pies. "Mr.Todd's going to start rent next month, he's opening up Mr.Barker's parlour again. He's a lovely man, really".

Sweeney held his razor firmly in his hand, standing up and looking across the big square window shining a wide amount of light into the shop, he held the blade out, smirking proudly. "At last, my arm is complete again".