Chocolate Heart (Wonka And Noodle) #1

Chapter 4

Who had called the police? Wonka had no way of knowing, being forced to leave the Galleries Gourmet, heading towards a worn bench that was near the large place, where he sat down to rest for a moment

"What did I do wrong, mother?" the young man sighed, taking off his hat

Someone seemed to approach him, but he remained crestfallen

"Mr. Wonka" said Noodle, in a low tone "How did you do that?"

Wonka giggled "I told you to call me Willy" he slowly raised his head "I made my chocolates with the finest ingredients I found on my travels"

"I've never seen anything like that... it was amazing!" the girl exclaimed with a smile

"...Thank you, Noodle" Wonka couldn't help but imitate her smile "But I wasn't so lucky this time..."

"How... how will you pay the extra charges?" she questioned

"Oh, don't insist on that! There are no extra charges" the young man exclaimed "They would have told me"

"That's not how it works, Willy..." Noodle walked away

"...Hey! Don't be mad, Noodle!" he got up from his seat but didn't follow her, for the moment he had to take care of paying for his room

When the evening began to fall, Wonka arrived back at Bleacher and Scrubbit's. He entered and shoved his hand in his pocket, taking out the sovereign, while Mrs. Scrubbit was behind the front desk, putting a few books away on the shelf, but once she heard Wonka walk in, she looked at him

"Evening, kid, how'd it go?" the woman asked, stepping off the ladder

"Not as well as I hope" Willy sighed

"Oh shame, well I'm afraid I'd have to close up now" she leaned against the front desk as Wonka placed the sovereign

"A sovereign, yes?" he questioned, without avoiding thinking about what the girl had told him

"For the room yes... but, you haven't paid for the extra during your stay at our residence" Mrs. Scrubbit smiled and looked towards him

The young man narrowed his eyes "Have I...?" Wonka asked

"Yes you have" the woman pulled out the contract he signed last night "There's that glass of gin you had upon your arrival, and if I remember it correctly, you did warm up your feet by the fire"

Bleacher arrived, closing up the doors "Yes, indeed, Mrs. Scrubbit" he said "He used the stairs to get to his room"

"Oh, yes, there is a stair charge, up and down... now, kid... did you happen to use te mini bar?" Mrs. Scrubbit asked

"...There's a mini bar?" Wonka questioned

"Yes, mini bar of soap, by the sink" she smiled

"I might have... briefly" young Willy replied a bit unsure

"Well, there's your mattress, sheets and pillow... so your total is... ten thousands sovereigns"

"...You've got to be kidding me" Wonka said in disbelief "I don't have ten thousands sovereigns"

"We're gonna have a problem" Bleacher said, making the young man turn to him and slightly back up from the front desk

"You gotta work down at the laundry, won't ya?" Mrs. Scrubbit slowly moved away from the counter "One sovereign, a day" she crossed her arms "Twenty-seven years, four months and sixteen days"

Bleacher sent Wonka down where the laundry was, where he landed in a giant basket

He popped his head out and saw a few other people around, working

"Oh, you must be the new one" a man spoke, sitting up from his seat at a table "I'm Abacus Crunch, I am a accountant, at least I was, now..."

"Now he runs the place, I'm Piper Benz, plumber" said a woman, helping Wonka out of the clothing basket

"This is Lottie Bell, she doesn't talk much" Abacus introduced the second young woman, who sat by a table, folding up a few sheets

"And I'm Larry Chucklesworth! Comedian!" other man introduced himself

Wonka looked at all of them with his eyes slightly narrowed "They got you too... didn't they?" he asked

Abacus sighed "I'm afraid so, we each found ourselves in need of a cheap place to stay and did not read the small print"

"One moment of stupidity followed by endless regrets..." Piper said

"Sounds like my third marriage!" Larry tried to joke "I'm sorry, I do that a lot" he apologized quickly

"He does" Abacus crossed his arms

"A lot" Piper added

Wonka looked around "Why didn't I listen to her?" he murmured "There's gotta be some way out of here..."

"You don't think we tried? There are bard on the windows and a dog at the door" Piper explained

"And even if you managed to escape, that contract is watertight" Abacus sighed

"If you're not here for a roll call, Mrs. Scrubbit will call the police, bring you right back and change you a thousand more for the inconvenience" Piper said

"Alright everybody, go back to work, come with me, kid!" Abacus walked away, Wonk immediately following after him

Abacus took him to the boiler room where they would wash everything

"First, you pick up the apparel and you stick it in the barrel"

"Scrub, scrub"

"Then you take it into the mangle and you turn the giant hangle"

"Scrub, scrub"

"Then it's hung up really high until it's nearby dry"

"Scrub, scrub"

"But when we sing this song, the day don't seem so long"

"Scrub, scrub"

"It's still long tho..." Larry said tiredly as they all carried the baskets of sheets into another room, beginning to iron them by one till they were clean of any creases

"Gotta press out all the creases from the dresses and chimises"

"Rub, rub"

"Gotta fold 'em like they told us or they'll scold us and withhold our-"

"Grub, grub"

"We all signed the dotted line so we're gotta do our time"

"Scrub, scrub"

They all lined up in front of Mrs. Scrubbit and Bleacher, who were staring at them "And if you don't agree..." the woman said "See clause 5, Section 7A, Paragraph 22, Part D, which says..."

"Scrub, scrub" the other says all in a chorus as they finally parted and began to head to their rooms