Clara's POV
We walked about 15 minutes down the road to a small restaurant on the corner of 5th and 48th. 'Jacobi's Deli'.
"Well, 'ere we are", Cutchie hobbled inside, sitting us down at a table near the entrance, leaning his crutch against the side of the table.
The place was nice. It held about 25 tables, though most were empty due to it being just before the lunch rush. The place was flooded with natural sunlight, filling the place with warmth, though it did have rather nice lighting about many of the tables. The grey painted walls didn't perfectly match the hardwood flooring but either way it somehow managed to look sophisticated nonetheless.
Within seconds of us sitting down an older man walked out of the kitchen.
"Ah Crutchie", he welcomes us with a thick italian accent, "where are the other Newsies?'.
Crutchie laughed, "probably still out selling theys papes".
"Well, should I get you your water?", the man asked Crutchie.
"Actually Mr Jacobi, I'm thinkin' two lemonades, special occasion", he subtly gestured at me.
"Ah I see, coming right up". Mr Jacobi walked away, leaving us alone once again. Crutchie looked over the table at me with a lopsided grin. Compared to yesterday, he had cleaned up; the dirt was washed off his face and his hair had lightened slightly, as if it had been washed. His eyes were still an unmistakable shade of blue that were constantly filled with hope. Despite his height, he was quite muscular, filling out his grey shirt entirely so you could see his form. He was good looking, I'll give him that.
"Clara, why did ya actually come 'ere' with me?", he asked me, taking me away from...not checking him out.
"Like I said, youse my favourite Newsie", I chuckled.
"Ya just haven't said a word since we got 'ere", he smiled weakly, as if he regretted coming.
"Oh I was -", I paused, choosing my words carefully, "distracted by something, sorry, I do want to be here! Promise".
As Crutchie opened his mouth to reply Mr Jacobi came back with two lemonades. Good timing.
"That'll be 3 cents", he said, placing the drinks down on our table. Crutchie handed him a few pennies from his pocket and smiled.
Once Jacobi had walked away Crutchie's eyes lit up, as if he had just remembered something. "Hey, the travellin' fair is in town today, we should go after this".
"Oh, we are so goin' after this", I laugh, sipping on my drink.
Crutchie returned to his perfect lopsided grin. "Anyway, I think youse given me a bruise when you punched me earl-".
"Crutchie, ya didn't tell me ya got a date with 'er!?".
I watched Crutchie go pale as a tall, brown haired boy walked into the restaurant.
"Clara, dis is my best friend, Jack Kelly".