Chapter 4

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"Here we go, my child, here are ya chambers, welcome to ya home for the next two months!" Medda pushed open a grand oak door on the very top floor of the building, and Winnie could barely believe her eyes.
A huge, lavish bed, three times the size of Winnie's own bed back home, dominated the centre of the enormous room, draped in heavy, crimson curtains. The velvety sheets absorbed the warm glow of the dozens of candles illuminating the room, calling out for her with promise of rest. An entire wall was dedicated to hold a never ending wardrobe, crammed full with stunning dresses, as well as some of the intricate costumes Medda used in her plays. It shamed Winnie's luggage, as if she had been carrying around a trunk of rags. All the furniture simply oozed with elegance, each ornament telling stories from the exotic country it came from. A luxurious en suit branched off the room, evolving into the most grand bathroom Winnie had ever had the privilege to step into.

"Will it suffice?" Medda grinned, enjoying Winnie's curiosity and bewilderment greatly.
"Oh, aunt Medda, it's gorgeous! I can't believe it's just the spare room, it surely doesn't get used as much as it should do! Wow!" Winnie couldn't contain her excitement, "do people often stay in here?"
"Not really, the last person to stay in here was, let me think...... Crutchie actually! Yeh, I remember now, just after he had his leg almost squished. It's amazing that no marks were left. Poor, poor child couldn't walk for weeks, had to stay in here, considering the doctors said he wouldn't heal in that lousy boarding house they got down the road. He was in so much pain, poor fella, mind you, he still can't walk today anyway without his crutch, bless him."
Winnie tried her best to hold in her laughter. She knew Jesse couldn't feel pain what so ever, yet that wouldn't stop him living the life of luxury for a few weeks. She almost giggled out loud as she imagined him spread out across the bed in 'pain' while the other newsies looked after him, not knowing that he was perfectly fine. Bet he enjoyed it while it lasted...

"Well, my child, I'll leave you to settle down for the night, sweet dreams darlin!" And with that, aunt Medda practically danced out the room.
"What time am I meant to be down for breakfast?" Winnie called, just before she shut the door "I'm usually expected downstairs at seven."
"Goodness, what ever is ya mother thinking? Child, in this household, ya could sleep till noon and I wouldn't bat an eyelid. Enjoy a nice lie in for once, and come down when ya ready. Seven o'clock my ass!"

Winnie didn't think she could love her aunt any more, but her adoration for her energetic character just kept growing! She couldn't stop beaming as she got ready for bed and wrapped herself in the silk dressing gown her aunt had left for her. She hummed to herself in the mirror as she began to dismantle the hideous hair style her mother had been forcing her to wear since her 15th birthday, and ran a comb through her locks. This summer, she vowed to relax on her hair, and avoid the tight, uncomfortable buns her mother forced upon her.

Just as she was about to slip into bed, she remembered that she had told Jesse to meet her. Before she could forget, she opened her window a crack, and placed her hair brush on the ledge so he knew which room she was staying in. However, before she closed the window, Winnie took a few minutes to admire the view of new York, absorbing the sparkling lights glowing from each building, accompanied by the stars in the shy, diamonds sprinkled into a deep pool of oil. As her eyes began to adjust, she focused on the roof top opposite her window across the street, and noticed two boys deep in conversation upon it. Just as she thought she was too far out of earshot to hear their conversation, she recognised a melody carried across from the top of the tower and instantly put a name to the voice - Jack. Winnie remembered him singing those exact lyrics before hand in the theatre, as he entertained himself with an image of Santa Fe, "clean and green and pretty".
Winnie desperately tried to see who the other boy was with him, curious to see if it was Jesse. Suddenly, a second voice appeared, and she instantly recognised it to be that of her childhood friend. Their voices blended together beautifully as they imagined a life in Santa Fe, even though Winnie was sure that Jesse had already been there in the past, but she didn't want to be the one to break this to jack. Then, two voices became one.

Watch me stand watch me run!

Across the street upon the roof top, as Jesse belted out the final two notes, he noticed Winnie staring at him from her window, and his face changed to a look of shock, as he had meant to go and visit her earlier on, before jack had convinced him to go up to his penthouse for 'just a second'. He felt terrible for leaving her waiting, and frowned to himself. Misunderstanding his friends reaction, Jack instantly thought that Jesse felt miserable over his crutch, rather than leaving Winnie waiting, and tried to comfort his friend, promising to one day get to Santa Fe. Jesse smiled, before quickly excusing himself so he could try to reach Winnie as quickly as possible to explain himself, leaving his friend confused.

AN- Okay, I know that they sang this one morning, before the strike, and this story is set very shortly after the strike, but I just thought it fit. Idk I just just started writing and it started playing on my phone so I just went with it. Hope this didn't cause confusion. I'm new to this, enjoy anyway :) x

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