My One and Only

Lunch

"So this is your shop?" Alex asks, looking around the small shop. "Yes, sorry it's a bit messy I couldn't have time to clean up everything" Nellie answers almost shamefully. "Oh no it's fine, besides the shop looks nice" he complimented, "you make meat pies, yes?"

Nellie nodded again, "hungry?"

"Famished," he replied. Nellie went out to the bake house and took out a meat pie from one of the trays,  she made sure it had no human meat in it as she now has the money for regular meat and has been using it.

Sweeney was alone with the proper gentleman who finally noticed his existence, "and who must you be?" Alex asked, though Sweeney only furrowed his eyebrows at him. 

"Alright, here we are" Nellie appears with a few meat pies and tea. She looks up and sees that Alex has seen Sweeney. "Oh, Alex, I like you to meet Sweeney Todd, 'e's my lover" she stated proudly walking up to the barber and hooking her arm around his.

"Lover? What happened to Albert?" Alex queried. "He died about 17 years ago, the poor bugger died in his sleep" she lied, her old lover died before Benjamin and his family came and what truly happened was that Nellie poisoned him. They may have been married but Albert didn't treat her well and for five years she's lived in torture until one day she manage to buy a bottle of rat poisoning from the apothecary and place it in his soup. The next day he was found dead.

"Oh I am terribly sorry for your loss" Alex sympathized but Nellie only shook her head, "no it's fine love, besides I'm much more happy now" she looks up at Sweeney and she smiles at him and her eyes sparkling, wanting him to know how much he made her happy. Sweeney didn't respond but his eyes showed adoration for her which made Nellie's heart skip a beat.

"Shall we eat?" Alex broke the tension between them. "Yes, of course, take a seat" Nellie ushered, feeling a little disappointed he had to ruin that small moment with her barber.

The three sat down eating their pies and drinking their tea, Alex and Nellie doing most of the talking while Sweeney sat in silence partially listening to them.

"Let's talk business, Eleanor" Alex suddenly grew serious, "I've already told you about the case of men disappearing and I've found the location". Nellie gulped while Sweeney lifted his head and was now paying full attention. "Unfortunately, the crime is in your street but we don't know the exact location. Hopefully I'll have a word with some people who walk here regularly but there was another reason why I wanted to talk with you". Nellie's heart began to race and her palms started to feel clammy, what will she say if he asks her if she's seen any men vanishing?

"Has there been any suspicions around here? Do you have any clue where you think those men can be?" Nellie gulped, she could feel the tension Sweeney was having, which he was sitting next to her, "um no not really, I've been busy so I haven't seen nothin' unusual" she stated calmly though her hands were shaking a little. Alex let out a sigh, "well like I said before, whoever is causing these crimes will be hang and their body will be nothing but ashes," Nellie bit her lip and looked off to the side, she could feel Sweeney holding her hand from under the table as a way to comfort her. What Alex said sounded like a threat and Nellie was terrified.

Silence filled the room, no one said a word for a few minutes until the pie shop door burst open with Toby running inside. His forehead was dripping in seat due to him running and it was a rare sunny day.

"Hi mum!" Toby greets Nellie once he's in the shop and sees his mother in a booth with  Sweeney and a man sitting across from them.