My One and Only

Decisions and sacrifices

Morning came in a slow pace, the sun not showing yet and the air still slightly chilly. Sweeney woke up with a horrible migraine knowing that he drank a little too much.

He slouched on his chair and turned his head to the window where he gazed out waiting for the day to become bright, though also knowing that the sun won't appear due to the clouds. It might be another rainy day.

His mind suddenly drifted off to the baker downstairs, a heavy weight forming in his chest now that the guilt was crashing down on him. The memory forming in his head of the words he called her, the way he spoke to her. Of course he felt awful and he hates that he's realizing now he should have never yelled at her.

She was right. Commoners walk around Fleet Street all the time and perhaps a few have noticed the judge come to my shop, he told himself, reality hitting him of how much of an idiot he was and shouldn't have reacted when Nellie told the half lie to the lawyer.

I called her a whore... the pain in his chest becoming more intense knowing he called her something she's sensitive about. I'm so stupid, he was angry at himself more than anything. He repeatedly kept asking himself what he had done and wishes he could take it back but obviously couldn't.

He sat in his chair for a while contemplating of what he should do until he finally made the decision to apologize to his baker, but he struggled on getting out of his chair, his body strangely not allowing him to move, not to mention his head pounding when he tried standing up. But he refused to give up and practically forced his body to stand up which led him to feel dizzy and his head hurting more making him groan.

He tried shaking off the dizziness and the pain, and he found himself staring at the mirror where he looked like a mess. His hair was more wild than usual and his shirt was rather wrinkled and there were gin stains on his vest, not to mention how droopy and tired his eyes looked.

God I'm hung over... He thought but didn't let it stop him to see Nellie, she could be crying her eyes out thinking he hates her guts and she probably hasn't slept at all last night so he made a beeline to the door and walked down the wooden stairs and into the back door where he entered inside the pie shop.

His eyes were met with a sorrow looking Nellie who had puffy red eyes and a long face as she sat on one of the booths and a cup of tea next to her. I fucked up... he said to himself and approached the baker slowly.

It didn't take long for Nellie to notice there was someone approaching her, she heard the back door open but didn't bother to look up knowing who it was but wasn't in the mood to talk too. She was in so much pain and sorrow right now and she wasn't in the mood for another lecture from the barber, what happened last night had her feeling worried and she struggled to fall asleep.

"Nellie..." she heard him say in a soft and apologetic voice. She wanted to cry, Alex couldn't be serious on wanting to kill him, right? And if he did the only solution to keep the barber alive would be to become the man's whore even though she really didn't want too. But she thought long and hard about her decision and she has made her choice, knowing fully well Sweeney won't be happy.

"Im so sorry. You were right and I shouldn't have accused you of false claims, please forgive me" Sweeney said and Nellie stood up from the booth and approached him taking a deep breath.

"You are forgiven" she muttered, "but we have a bigger problem".

Sweeney quirked his eyebrow in confusion. What problem could there be that was big?

Nellie inhaled and then exhaled, she avoided the barber's gaze. Afraid to see his expression change to anger but she had to tell him, she couldn't keep secrets from him.