Esteemed Malevolence

XXXI: Reliance

"What's takin' the lad so long?" Mr Todd complained, eyes slitting through the veil of Mrs Lovett's net curtains in order to survey the murky blackness outside. The barber was clearly growing suspicious - he'd expected to find Anthony Hope setting foot on Fleet Street again as soon as he'd begun spying through the dusty glass of Mrs Lovett's Emporium. Inevitably, he'd been stood motionless, merely staring upon nothing but mocking shadows... for quite some time now.

"Oh don't worry 'bout 'im, Mr T." Eleanor answered from somewhere behind him - it was likely that she was behind the counter - with a voice that was far too cheery for Mr Todd's liking. "I'm sure 'e'll 'ave just got 'eld up somewhere, is all."

He inhaled sharply with annoyance, swivelling around to set his dark eyes on her. She quietly crept out from the counter, looking rather unimpressed with how much offence he'd apparently taken from her words - she was only trying to calm him down, for god's sakes! Why couldn't he see that? What had made him feel so insulted?

"Held up?! Held up how?! He was supposed to be here an 'our ago, Mrs Lovett." the barber spat, storming after her, knowing that as soon as she'd turned away, she was clearly headed towards the bake-house. After all, it was getting to that time of night where they had to shift a good lot of bodies before Mr Todd decided on adding a few more unfortunate whelps into the floury mix.

"Well there's no need t'be so concerned now, is there? 'S likely there's a perfectly understandable explanation for 'im bein' late. You need to stop frettin', dear. Ya no use to anybody if ya doin' 'at." she replied in a strict tone whilst moving forwards, though every one of her vowels was coated in calm reassurance.

In truth, Mrs Lovett couldn't have given less of a damn about Anthony Hope. Johanna Barker's welfare didn't directly affect her, and therefore, she found the matter of the two lovers eloping almost trivial. She envied the girl, of course. She'd have given anything for Mr Todd to whisper in her ear and flee the city with her by his side, or in his arms...

Like that was ever going to happen.

She knew the barber's thought patterns were horrifically skewed, meaning every concern he had probably seemed ten times worse.

Of course, he hadn't thought about Johanna being well-off and free of her miserable life just because he'd kill her pig of a guardian...

Of course, his brain attempted to keep one step ahead... he shouldn't have, it seemed he was forever juggling schemes, mood swings and misunderstood feelings all at once. He never gave himself time to consider his options.

Of course... he trusted Anthony Hope, and felt he owed the boy for his valiant efforts aboard the ship to London.

Anthony's loyalty apparently counted more than Mrs Lovett's did.

Then again, Mr Todd wouldn't have been stood before her if the lad hadn't pulled him from the water...

In Eleanor's opinion, she'd done considerably more for him. She longed for such trust between them both, or at least, longed for one that he didn't verbally withhold from her. She wanted to see the certainty in his gaze, to see that flicker which let her know just how much he was relying on her...

She knew.

She just wanted him to stop burying his iron-clad chest of trust - she yearned for him to unleash it from his eyes, his mouth, his entire physical being...

Eleanor Lovett felt like she was much more important than a pining sailor.

She began to wonder if he'd noticed her wearing a glum expression, because he huffed out in annoyance and ordered her to wait so that he could catch up to her.