Need

Chapter 40

Sweeney Todd commanded the two older apprentices to come with him to help moving the barber chair and most of the wood of the old stand at the marketplace back to his room above Mrs. Lovett's shop. Arnie was talking to the baker and although Sweeney tried not to, he did notice the soft smile on his landlady's lips now that she had taken a second young orphan under her wings. Temporarily, at least. Mr. Todd felt quite guilty for just ordering her to look after the boy for a while, but it was the only way to keep Arnie safe from his terrorizing peers. And as long as the boy was there, Sweeney wouldn't be confronted with most of the woman's seemingly endless attention.
Not wanting to take away the joy she seemed to find in this boy's presence and deciding that it was better for the time being if the child stayed with her anyway, he decided not to say anything and just leave the pie shop without even saying a word of goodbye. He feared that if he would come face to face with the baker, he would once again lose control over his own actions. It terrified him that even if he explicitly forbade himself to long for his landlady, he had found himself kissing her with passion once again.
Forcing himself not to think of this anymore, he walked back to the marketplace where he, upon arriving there a few minutes later, ordered the two boys who had come with him to help him taking the wooden stand apart while he tried to hide the disgust he felt for them now that he knew how they treated weaker persons.
When more than an hour later there was left nothing of the stand except for the barber chair and a lot of wooden planks, the two boys carried everything to his old barber shop. Sweeney himself stayed behind, wondering how he could best get rid of those two bullies and what to do with all his customers who weren't aware of the fact that he had moved his shop.
Last time Arnie had been there to tell a curious customer that they were moving the barber shop back to Fleet Street, but he was sure that Mrs. Lovett wouldn't allow the boy to continue doing this work in the cold winter air all day. However, Sweeney realized, he didn't have a problem having the two older boys doing that unpleasant task and as his landlady didn't know about them, she couldn't object against it either.
Now that he had decided about this, the barber and the two older boys spent the few hours that followed carrying everything what Mr. Todd would need in his new tonsorial parlor back to his room in Fleet Street.
As this was done, the three of them were exhausted; it wasn't an easy task to carry many heavy objects through the crowded streets after all. But when all the materials were finally in the right place, Sweeney continued working after he had dismissed the boys for the time being.
It was odd for him to return to that particular room for the second time in half a year, but this time it felt so much better than before. Although still painful to really think about, the news of the loss of his wife was something he had started to deal with by now and unlike last time, he knew now that there was a reason to live for him, even after he killed the Judge and the Beadle.
As he was staring off into space, both thinking about the best approach of his new barber shop and the part that Mrs. Lovett could play in his life without causing him to lose control, there was a sudden knock on the door.
“Yes?” he automatically said, forgetting that this person might be Mrs. Lovett.
However, as the door was opened it was immediately clear that his landlady wasn't the one who was visiting him. Instead he saw his youngest apprentice standing on the threshold.
“Mrs. Lovett asked me to give you this sir,” he said while he handed Sweeney a large cup of something that looked like soup.
When the boy mentioned the woman's name, Sweeney subconsciously shivered. He even felt the urge to shout at the boy for mentioning the baker and thus reminding him of her even if he managed not to think of her for a few minutes. But, the barber realized, the boy couldn't help it after all and at least Mrs. Lovett was clever enough not to bring him his food himself like she used to do. Even when he and the woman did nothing but have a normal conversation, he had wanted to surrender once more to the happiness that he experienced when he was so close to her.
“Thank you,” he muttered to the boy.
As Arnie left the room, Mr. Todd went back to work. He had all the materials he needed; now he had to transform them into a professional looking tonsorial parlor. With the tools that he found in a storage room of Mrs. Lovett’s, the barber started his task.
A few hours later, the barber chair was looking as if it had come directly from a store and by creating a new wall in his room with the wood of his old barber stand at the market, he now had not only a neat-looking barber shop, but his own small bedroom as well. Both the rooms were decorated with flowers and curtains that Mr. Todd had received from Mrs. Lovett. Via Arnie of course; the boy was proving to be an excellent help in his communication with his landlady. Sweeney preferred to see the woman herself of course, but he knew very well that he found himself totally distracted by just being in the same room with her, let alone talking to her. If he kept making mistakes at crucial times because of the absent-mindedness that his landlady caused, he would never get his vengeance on Turpin and Bamford.
The young boy was getting probably sick and tired of bringing messages like “Tell Mr. Todd that his dinner will be ready soon” or “Ask Mrs. Lovett where I can find a hammer” every moment that he wasn't helping in the baker's pie shop, but it was not as if he had an actual choice of his own in the matter.
When the work was finally done and Mr. Todd had made plans for the great re-opening of his tonsorial parlor, he placed the pillow and the freshly washed blankets that Mrs. Lovett had given him (once again, via Arnie) on the bed, that he had manufactured himself from the remains of the wood of the newly made wall.
The barber had decided that he would reopen his shop the next day. Until that moment, there was nothing he could do against the Judge and there weren'tany other plans to be made. For once, he could just let this thoughts wonder where he wanted them to go. Instead of pacing around and brooding about what the next few days would bring, he laid down in his self-made bed and surrendered himself to dreams about Mrs. Lovett.