Esteemed Malevolence

III: A Burden

The entire day Mrs Lovett had purposely avoided going anywhere near the barbershop upstairs. Ever since she'd had her emotions toyed with again by the barber (not to mention since she'd violated the truce between them both), she'd been too mortified with herself for getting in such a shy state. So she hadn't visited him since.

'You were not t'pester 'im!' she scolded herself, flipping her sign to 'Open' in time for the evening rush. There was already a gathering of customers outside which surprised her seeing as she thought she'd probably steered most trade away due to her weary episode that morning. 'Look at ya! Still shakin'! Get y'self together, 'ow can you serve people like 'is?!'

Into the first hour of the rush she managed to compose herself, even clear her mind for a while when she found herself focusing on the customers and their problems. 

Usually the customers had every day problems that Eleanor found trivial and dull, but their nattering would distract her from her own barber-filled, blood-fuelled burdens. She'd managed to keep her cool, relaxing into the rush. That was... until her memories of the morning returned.

" 'Nother ale 'ere dearie!" a scarcely dressed blonde woman yelled from one of the crowded tables on the patio outside. Mrs Lovett rolled her eyes at the way the woman held herself so suggestively, clearly her shout had attracted the stare of the majority of male customers. 

'Bloody attention seeker.' the baker thought, smearing a welcoming smile on her mouth as she brought the pitcher of ale towards the woman's table. 'Look at 'em all lookin' at 'er... What I'd give fer Mr T t'look at me like 'at...' 

She couldn't deny she was exceptionally jealous of this woman, even if said woman was caked in pink rouge and smudged kohl, and looked like what Mrs Lovett would call a complete "tart".

" 'ere y'are loves!" Mrs Lovett exclaimed, dumping the canteen of alcohol down onto the table, she couldn't put up being around such a raucous table much longer - especially with all the sickening flirtation going on. It usually didn't bother her, in fact it would amuse her to see some of the ugliest customers trying to gain the attention of those who just weren't interested, all thanks to them being intoxicated of course. But that night, she couldn't stand it. 

She weaved through tables without bumping into anyone - which was impressive seeing as she was gazing at the floor below her feet at the time. She headed back into her shop, wheezing out in relief that at least in there it was quiet. 

"Do 'ope I'm not turnin' into Mr T..." she muttered to herself, wondering why she preferred the silence instead of the joyful chatter outside.

Eleanor let out another deep breath, lock of auburn hair being blown up into the air as she did so. Her hair was still in its messy fashion, although more strands had become disentangled as the day had gone on. She placed a now gloved hand flat over her forehead, eyes closing. It was another spell of embarrassment coming over her, she'd held it back for the rush so far, but she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to keep up the happy act. Mr T would be clearly already bothered by her from the disturbance earlier, and her not doing her job properly was certainly not going to aid his mood. 

She felt like she was missing something too - had she forgotten something? 

She straightened herself up, opening her eyes as she dusted down imaginary creases on the front of her skirts with her hands. Her gaze landed on the tray of fresh pies left on the counter, and she headed towards it, realising that she'd only got half a tray left. By now, she'd normally have gone through two or three trays, but she'd managed to cope with the one. Maybe there was less people than she'd thought, and her previous episode had indeed affected business.