For A Moment - A Wonka AU

Chapter 2: The Wash House

On the other side of the city, a dejected Willy Wonka made his way back to Scrubitt and Bleacher. He kept a firm hold on his one remaining sovereign, making sure not to lose it. He wasn't exactly sad, but he wasn't happy either. Sure, the day didn't go as well as he had planned, but a little inconvenience wasn't enough to stop Willy Wonka from selling his beloved chocolates!

As he walked through the city, a slight bounce in his step, his mind whirred with ideas for new chocolates, but it also whirred about something else. That girl, Charlotte...who was she?

She seemed nice, maybe not very talkative, but Willy found himself intrigued. He wanted to learn more about this girl. She might even help him sell his chocolates!

His thoughts eventually came to a stop as he finally reached the old Wash House. He entered the building to find Bleacher sitting on a sofa near the window and Mrs. Scrubitt sipping a glass of gin by the counter.

"Evenin', Mr. Wonka," Mrs. Scrubitt greeted him. "How'd it go?"

"Not as well as I had hoped, I'm afraid," Willy said sadly.

"Oh dear..." She sighed and leapt up to her feet. "Well, I'm afraid we do have to settle up now."

"Ah, yes. Thankfully the room's taken care of, at least." Willy smiled and slid the sovereign over the counter. "Here we are- one sovereign, just as we agreed."

Mrs. Scrubitt's lips curled into a devious smirk. "For the room, yes. But I'm afraid you've incurred one or two...extras during your stay..."

"I have?" Willy raised an eyebrow and his mind searched for any ideas of what those extras could be.

She clicked her tongue and opened up her ledger to tally his bill. "Ah, yes, I'm afraid you have...that glass of gin you had when you arrived," she began.

"But you gave that to me!" Willy said in protest, his stomach twisting nervously at what was to come. "And- and I didn't even drink it!"

"And if I remember correctly," she went on, "you warmed yourself by the fire as well."

"He did..." Bleacher growled in confirmation. "And he used the stairs too..."

Willy looked back at the exit, but Bleacher was standing in front of the door, blocking it.

Mrs. Scrubitt's eyes practically lit up with delight. "Ooooh, then we've got your stair charge!" She scribbled at the ledger violently. "And that's per step too, I'm afraid, up and down. Now, tell me, Mr. Wonka, you didn't happen to use the minibar, did you?"

Willy raised an eyebrow. "There's a mini bar?"

"Minibar of soap," Bleacher explained.

"By the sink," Mrs. Scrubitt added helpfully.

Willy winced. "I might have...briefly?"

"Ooh-hoo!" Bleacher cackled.

"See, even Bleacher knows not to use the minibar, and he was raised in a ditch!" Mrs. Scrubitt said and Willy could swear he saw Bleacher blush. "Then we add in your mattress hire, linen lease, pillow penalty..." she started murmuring to herself and he could feel himself getting even more nervous with each word she said. "...and you're looking at...ten-thousand sovereigns."

"Ten-thousand sovereigns?!" Willy exclaimed. "I-I don't think you can do that, Ma'am-"

Mrs. Scrubitt flashed him a rotten smile. "All in the small print, deary."

"But I don't have ten-thousand sovereigns!" He could feel himself start to panic. "I only have one!"

"Then we have a little problem, Mr. Wonka," Bleacher hissed and violently grabbed Willy by the collar, causing him to flinch.

"You'll have to work it off in the Wash House." Mrs. Scrubitt smiled cheerfully. "At a sovereign per day!"

"A sovereign per day?!" he echoed in horror. "But that's-"

"Twenty seven years," she said.

"Four months," Bleacher added.

"And sixteen days!" she finished with a devious cackle.

Then, before he could protest any more, Bleacher picked Willy up and forced him down the laundry chute.

"Aaaagh!!" he screamed as he fell and landed in a laundry basket with a loud thump. He silently thanked the pile of laundry sacks below him that broke his fall. "I should've listened to that girl..." he muttered, thinking back to the girl he had met the night before, when he had first arrived at the city. "What was her name again...?"

"Noodle," a voice said and Willy peeked out of the laundry basket to find an older gentleman in a fine suit. He looked much out of place in the old rambles and shambles of the Wash House- like he had been plucked right out of an office and thrown there.

"You must be Mr. Wonka," he said, fixing his glasses. "I'm Abacus Crunch, Chartered Accountant- well, I was. Now, I, well..."

Then, a tall lady wearing soaked denim overalls and a smile on her face approached him and held out a hand to help him out of the laundry cart. "Abacus runs this place. And you'd best do what he says or else you'll have to answer to me. The name's Piper Benz, plumber by trade."

"A plumber and an accountant..." Willy murmured, adjusting his hat. He wiped his brow, which had begun to sweat. The air was hot and thick with the smell of soap.

"And I'm Larry Chucklesworth," came a voice from behind a large stack of towels. A man stepped out and greeted him. He had curly hair and big, obnoxious looking shoes. He spun his bowtie in greeting. "Local comedian."

Willy gave him a soft small in acknowledgement, careful not to let anyone know exactly how terrified he was. Of all the things he would have thought to happen during his first few days in the city, this was not one of them.

"And that there's Miss Lottie Bell," Piper nudged a small, shy-looking woman with glasses. The woman said nothing, only waving shyly in Willy's direction. "She doesn't talk much," Piper added.

"So, they got you all too?" Willy asked.

Abacus nodded. "I'm afraid so. We all found ourselves in need of a cheap place to stay one night and neglected to read the small print.

Willy paced around the room, frantically searching for a way out. "There's gotta be a way out of here..."

"You don't think we've tried?" Piper asked. "There's bars on the windows, and the only door is guarded by that dumb dog."

"And even if you did manage to somehow get out, that contract is watertight," Ababus added.

"If you're not here at roll call," Piper went on explaining when Willy finally gave up searching. "Mrs. Scrubitt will call the police and, once they bring you back, charge you a thousand sovereigns for the inconvenience."

Willy was about to say something, but was interrupted when Bleacher's dog, Tiddles, barked loudly, causing everyone to jump with fright.

"Come along, Mr. Wonka," Abacus said, nudging Willy in the arm. "I'll show you the ropes. You're in this area over here- on suds."

Willy followed him around and the others returned to their workstations, chanting the words 'scrub scrub' over and over again.

"Your job is to stir, Mr. Wonka." Abacus gestured toward a large, soapy vat in the corner of the section.

Willy sighed and reluctantly picked up a large paddle, beginning to stir the soapy liquid.

"I've already had enough of this..." he grumbled, but the workers were too busy scrubbing to hear him.

~

When night fell, the workers were ushered by Bleacher into their rooms for the night, the 'staff quarters', as they called them.

Willy sighed and went into his new room. It was a lot more rundown and raggedy than the one he had stayed in previously. It was definitely going to take some getting used to, he thought.

He put his suitcase down and hung his coat up on the back of a chair next to a small desk. He looked around for a moment or two, before pausing as he heard a small noise coming from the window...