DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the newsies except for Spunks Gerberre,
ooo, big surprise there. The newsies unfortunately belong to the all-great,
all-powerful DISNEY! So don't sue me, huh? Oh, Robert, Loraine, Matthew,
and Ebony are mines too. So there!
A Brand New Start
Spot made his way through the train that would take him to Pennsylvania enthusiastically. Last night, he had had a dream about Spunks, in which he was still going out with her. In which all past events had been forgiven and forgotten; in which she still loved him dearly. The mere thought that the last fact in his dream could actually be true in reality set him in high hopes. When he arrived in Pennsylvania, he intended to spend every effort in search of Spunks; he would even stay longer if he had to. All he knew was that he would not leave the state without the girl he loved. He looked down at his ticket to see where exactly he was supposed to sit. When he arrived at his assigned section, he smirked upon seeing Ebony in the window seat next to his.
"Heya," he greeted happily. "At least we'se didn't get paired up wid one of those borin nuns, huh?"
The girl groaned. "I would have much rather sat with one of those 'boring' nuns. At least I would have had a more intellectual conversation with them than any cleverness in an exchange of words with you might bring."
Spot arched an eyebrow. "Ouch, that hoit! Ya know, I don't know what youse got against me." He threw a sack of his belongings into a space above his seat and then sat down next to the girl. "If youse gave me a chance, ya might see that I'se actually a pretty nice guy." He only received a roll of the eyes in reply. I'se can tell this is gonna be a long ride, he thought to himself.
* * * * *
Loraine could not stop giggling when she reached Spunks in the cafeteria. "Do you know what the latest gossip entails these days?"
"No," Spunks replied simply. "Enlighten me."
"Word has it that you and Robert are officially a couple!"
Spunks' eyes went wide. "What?!" It was true to say that she and Robert had become close friends the past few weeks, but saying they were going out was a complete overstatement. That was not to say she had no desire of being his girlfriend, but if she hated anything with a passion, it was rumors, let alone the spread of them. It was rumors that had given her a rough start with Spot because she did not know whether to believe them or not.
"Yes! You did not tell me that you two were an item. Goodness, I thought you still hated the guy the way you used to talk about him!" Loraine had already taken a seat next to Spunks and was fishing inside her paper brown bag for the sandwich her mother had prepared her earlier that morning.
"Loraine, we are not going out! I do not know who is spreading such stories about but you can be certain that when I find out, that person will be most unhappy." She slammed her chemistry book shut and groaned. This bit of news totally ruined her day now. She wondered how Robert had reacted to it. Her musing was solved when she saw him enter the cafeteria then with a smug look on his face. "Of course he would not mind," she grumbled. She watched as he walked over to her and sat right beside her with a smile. She also noticed that many students in the cafeteria were now casting glances towards them, watching to see what the supposed couple would do next.
Robert grabbed Spunks' chemistry book and skimmed through the pages to keep from looking at her directly in the eyes. "Still having trouble with this nonsense, sweety?"
"I am not your sweety, Robert," she said flatly.
"Oh, come on, Mack. I did not start the rumors. I guess it was just obvious after a while. I mean, we are always together, what did you expect?"
Spunks glared at him. "Obvious? What are you talking about? We are not a couple, so how could anything be obvious?" Robert leaned forward then and kissed her hard and long amidst the whistling and hollers. When they broke the kiss, Spunks was startled, but a wide smile spread across her face. If she liked Robert and he liked her in return, why shouldn't they go out?
But what about Spot? Spunks asked herself mentally. Goodness, what about him!? You act as if he is going to come back for you or if you intend on coming back to him. You have to move on, Gerberre. You have to come to realize that maybe Spot and you were not meant to be together after all.
* * * * *
Spot yawned as he sat in the last pew of the church his mother's missionary group was having a ceremony in. His stomach growled but he tried to ignore it, knowing the banquet part of this ceremony would not begin until the bishop was through delivering his sermon. Though he tried to listen to the preaching, his mind kept returning to Spunks.
It had been six months since last he saw her. She probably had grown some in height and probably had a cleaner look about her, now being in the presence of rich folk constantly. He remembered the fun times he had spent with her. How she had been so feisty when first they met and how he had convinced Jack to let him take her to Brooklyn for a few lessons in mannerism. Spot chuckled to himself when he recalled how Spunks could not even use a slingshot properly. She meant everything to him. After that night they shared, it had taken months of silence and then long days of fighting before they had been an official couple. Then even those happy days had come to an end.
Spot frowned. He and Spunks were constantly defeating the odds against them. But it was okay for him. After all, what was love without a few rough edges now and then? It had to be a passion worth fighting for; that you were willing to make sacrifices for. Spunks would have made the sacrifice of refusing her father's request for her to move to Pennsylvania with him had not Spot's ex-fiancé come into the picture. What was Spot willing to sacrifice? He thought about that for the remainder of the time the bishop was preaching.
* * * * *
Spunks was decorating her house with balloons when she felt two hands from behind rest upon her waist. She spun around slowly to see Robert smiling down at her. After sharing a brief kiss, she pulled away and continued her task.
"Why all the glamour? Is it not merely a missionary group coming in?" Robert looked all about the girl's house in awe. One would think the Gerberre's were hosting a wedding reception.
"I like decorating," Spunks laughed. "I even volunteered to help decorate the gym for the homecoming dance next month."
"Ah, and speaking of that, would you honor me by being my date that night?"
Spunks smiled warmly at him and gave him another kiss. "I would not dream of going with anyone else!" When she was finished with hanging the balloons, she went on with making sure there were enough servings at the huge dining table that had been set up the night before by the caterers.
"You are so precise," Robert teased. "So, you said this church group is from New York?"
A sudden sadness filled Spunks' eyes. "Yes."
"Oh! I am dreadfully sorry. I completely forgot that you used to live there with, uhm....Spot." He stepped up to her to give her a hug but as she took part in the embrace, she could only picture the Brooklyn leader in her mind. His soft blondish hair and those sparkling blue eyes. His signature smirk and the feel of his body up against hers. She shook the thoughts out of her head. No point in daydreaming about someone I will never see again. She went back to her party preparations indifferently.
* * * * *
Spot lingered about in the banquet hall of the church hosts and tried to hear in on the different conversations around him. What attracted him most were the businessmen. If he recalled correctly, Mr. Gerberre was a lawyer. A certain man in what seemed to be a newly purchased suit caught Spot's attention. The Brooklyn leader came up to the man at some point and started a conversation.
"Youse into politics er sumthin?"
"Uhm, yes. I follow up with them, but my greater interest lies within the field of medicine. I am a doctor, you know."
Spot nodded his head uncaring. "Youse follow up with law too?"
"Of course. After all, therein lies justice. As a matter if fact, I was following the murder trial of the Coover brothers the other day. I was much surprised to learn that...."
"Ya familiar with a lawyer named Gerberre?"
The man looked at Spot with a curious expression on his face. "Of course. Raymond Gerberre is one of the major giants in the field of law. He covered the Coover trial I was just speaking of earlier; prosecuted them of course. I have had the pleasure of meeting him once on occasion."
Spot smirked, finally able to relate with the man. "Yea, I met him too. He's me goil's father." He received a confused expression. "Anyways, do ya knows where he lives. I'se been needin tah pay him a visit fer a while now."
"Didn't you just say that he was the father of your female friend?"
"Well, we'se kinda lost touch."
The man eyed Spot skeptically. "Just a mile north of here on Dean Street. 2814 Dean Street." Spot thanked the man and hurried off of church grounds to check out the house. He didn't think it would be this easy finding Spunks; but then again, he wasn't counting on Mr. Gerberre being so well known. A half hour later, he came to Dean Street finally. Looking to his left, he saw the address 2800 in gold letters on the mailbox of a Victorian house. Next in line was 2804. Spot narrowed his eyes; if they went up at intervals of four, 2814 would not be one of the addresses. 2808. 2812. 2816. He stopped dead in his tracks. 2814 did not exist!
"That joik!" Spot snatched a small rock from the ground upon which he stood and hurled it in the air to shatter the window of a dilapidated house. When residents of other houses started to look out the windows at him, he shoved his hands in his pocket and grumpily made his way back to the church where his mother would be waiting for him.
* * * * *
Spunks looked at herself in the long oblong mirror of her room. She was wearing a blue sleeveless dress of velvet that dropped to her ankles and her layered black hair was curled. She wasn't wearing any makeup save for the gloss on her lips and a bit of glitter on her eyelids. She pressed the wrinkles out of her dress with her palms and headed out of her room. Her father's house was packed with church people but soon enough she found Robert and ran up to him to give him a hug.
"Hi hunny," she said before kissing him hard.
Robert grinned. "Why hello yourself, sweety. You seem to be enjoying the party so far. There are so many people here."
"I know! But isn't it great? At least we know it is for a good cause." She looked to her right and saw her dad talking to a few people. Taking Robert's hand in her own, she walked over to him and smiled. "Hi daddy."
Mr. Gerberre turned around to see his daughter. "Oh dearest! There is a group of people I want you to meet in the study room. They are the missionaries from New York, about twenty individuals in total."
"Oh sure, daddy." Mr. Gerberre excused himself from the man he was talking to and then led his daughter and Robert to a large room on the other side of the grand hallway. Spunks entered the room laughing and she smiled warmly as her father introduced her to each guest. A woman and young man caught her attention but their backs were facing her. The young man was wearing a black newsie hat made of velvet in which every single strand of his hair was tucked neatly and the black suit he wore fit him perfectly. The woman was in nun attire but was not wearing the standard headdress. Both she and the youth were admiring a painting on the wall when Mr. Gerberre came up behind them.
"This is Patricia and her son...uhm, I didn't quite get his name yet." The woman turned around and laughed lightly. "Patrick, turn your attention to our host." Her son did just that and he, Spunks, and Mr. Gerberre were left astounded.
"Spot!" Spunks inhaled a quick breath and backed away a step.
"Spunks!" It only cued Spot to take a step forward with wide eyes.
"Spot?" The Brooklyn leader was the last person Mr. Gerberre expected to see at this missionary banquet, and remembering how sad his daughter had looked the day she left with him to Pennsylvania, he wasn't about to let Spot just parade into their house unwelcome.
"Mr. Gerberre!" Spot laughed. This was too good to be true! Of all people to host the program his mother's church had started, it was Mr. Gerberre.
"Spot?" Robert stepped out from behind Spunks and approached the young man he had heard so much about.
"Who the hell is youse?" All formal greetings had then disappeared when Spot noticed Robert was holding Spunks' hand.
"I am Mack's boyfriend, and if I remember correctly, you only succeeded in hurting her terribly so it would probably be in your best interest to leave before I make you regret ever coming her."
Spot smirked and looked the boy up and down. "If there's anyone heah who should be leavin, it'd be youse. Ya obviously haven't hoid of me. Ya see, I like tah fix the people I hate so that they's can't walk. And considerin the fact that youse is all over me goil, I think I'se gonna take this account into drastic measures." He raised his clenched fist and struck Robert in the eye an instant later. Soon enough, a full blown fight broke out between the two boys until eventually they had to be held back; it took four men to restrain Spot.
Spunks was on the verge of tears. Tears that both represented her pain and showed her confusion. She had no idea what to do or say. "Spot," her voice came out as a soft whisper, barely audible. "I am not your girl anymore. Remember we moved on? I obtained a new life and I met new people. Now we are two different individuals; too different to ever get back together again. I think it would be best if you just leave."
The Brooklyn leader looked at her incredously. "Youse crazy? I aint gonna let ya go this time, Spunks. Ya mean everything tah me. When ya left, the whole sky came crashin down on me head. I love ya! I'se sorry you were hoit. But ya gotta remember I was hoit too. Give us another chance."
"Things do not work like that! You can not come in here after so many months and demand that I give you another chance!" She came closer to him and her face grew stern.
"I'se aint demandin, I'se beggin youse! Ya want me tah get on me knees? Is that it? Look, I'se gettin on me knees." and he actually did kneel down, "Spunks, I love youse more than life itself. Can ya honestly look me straight in the eye and say youse don't feel the same way about me?"
By now, a crowd had gathered around the two youths, everyone wearing astounded looks on their faces, looking from the desperate Spot to the girl he was trying so hard to win back. Spunks was oblivious to them though. This whole matter was between her and Spot alone. She looked at the Brooklyn leader sadly. Here he was professing his undying love for her; it was all she could ever ask for and all that she had endlessly prayed for. Yet now, things were quite different. She lived with her father in a glamorous house and enjoyed the easy life. She was receiving an education at one of the finest schools in Pennsylvania and she even had a new boyfriend whose company she very much liked. And to give that all up for Spot, to deny her social status and return to the filthy streets of New York just to be reunited with him out of love all seemed like a potential folly. She was speechless again. Spot was waiting for her reply, to honestly say 'I don't love you' in his face and mean every word. But she would not say it. Instead, she turned on her heels and ran out of the room with her face in her hands.
A Brand New Start
Spot made his way through the train that would take him to Pennsylvania enthusiastically. Last night, he had had a dream about Spunks, in which he was still going out with her. In which all past events had been forgiven and forgotten; in which she still loved him dearly. The mere thought that the last fact in his dream could actually be true in reality set him in high hopes. When he arrived in Pennsylvania, he intended to spend every effort in search of Spunks; he would even stay longer if he had to. All he knew was that he would not leave the state without the girl he loved. He looked down at his ticket to see where exactly he was supposed to sit. When he arrived at his assigned section, he smirked upon seeing Ebony in the window seat next to his.
"Heya," he greeted happily. "At least we'se didn't get paired up wid one of those borin nuns, huh?"
The girl groaned. "I would have much rather sat with one of those 'boring' nuns. At least I would have had a more intellectual conversation with them than any cleverness in an exchange of words with you might bring."
Spot arched an eyebrow. "Ouch, that hoit! Ya know, I don't know what youse got against me." He threw a sack of his belongings into a space above his seat and then sat down next to the girl. "If youse gave me a chance, ya might see that I'se actually a pretty nice guy." He only received a roll of the eyes in reply. I'se can tell this is gonna be a long ride, he thought to himself.
* * * * *
Loraine could not stop giggling when she reached Spunks in the cafeteria. "Do you know what the latest gossip entails these days?"
"No," Spunks replied simply. "Enlighten me."
"Word has it that you and Robert are officially a couple!"
Spunks' eyes went wide. "What?!" It was true to say that she and Robert had become close friends the past few weeks, but saying they were going out was a complete overstatement. That was not to say she had no desire of being his girlfriend, but if she hated anything with a passion, it was rumors, let alone the spread of them. It was rumors that had given her a rough start with Spot because she did not know whether to believe them or not.
"Yes! You did not tell me that you two were an item. Goodness, I thought you still hated the guy the way you used to talk about him!" Loraine had already taken a seat next to Spunks and was fishing inside her paper brown bag for the sandwich her mother had prepared her earlier that morning.
"Loraine, we are not going out! I do not know who is spreading such stories about but you can be certain that when I find out, that person will be most unhappy." She slammed her chemistry book shut and groaned. This bit of news totally ruined her day now. She wondered how Robert had reacted to it. Her musing was solved when she saw him enter the cafeteria then with a smug look on his face. "Of course he would not mind," she grumbled. She watched as he walked over to her and sat right beside her with a smile. She also noticed that many students in the cafeteria were now casting glances towards them, watching to see what the supposed couple would do next.
Robert grabbed Spunks' chemistry book and skimmed through the pages to keep from looking at her directly in the eyes. "Still having trouble with this nonsense, sweety?"
"I am not your sweety, Robert," she said flatly.
"Oh, come on, Mack. I did not start the rumors. I guess it was just obvious after a while. I mean, we are always together, what did you expect?"
Spunks glared at him. "Obvious? What are you talking about? We are not a couple, so how could anything be obvious?" Robert leaned forward then and kissed her hard and long amidst the whistling and hollers. When they broke the kiss, Spunks was startled, but a wide smile spread across her face. If she liked Robert and he liked her in return, why shouldn't they go out?
But what about Spot? Spunks asked herself mentally. Goodness, what about him!? You act as if he is going to come back for you or if you intend on coming back to him. You have to move on, Gerberre. You have to come to realize that maybe Spot and you were not meant to be together after all.
* * * * *
Spot yawned as he sat in the last pew of the church his mother's missionary group was having a ceremony in. His stomach growled but he tried to ignore it, knowing the banquet part of this ceremony would not begin until the bishop was through delivering his sermon. Though he tried to listen to the preaching, his mind kept returning to Spunks.
It had been six months since last he saw her. She probably had grown some in height and probably had a cleaner look about her, now being in the presence of rich folk constantly. He remembered the fun times he had spent with her. How she had been so feisty when first they met and how he had convinced Jack to let him take her to Brooklyn for a few lessons in mannerism. Spot chuckled to himself when he recalled how Spunks could not even use a slingshot properly. She meant everything to him. After that night they shared, it had taken months of silence and then long days of fighting before they had been an official couple. Then even those happy days had come to an end.
Spot frowned. He and Spunks were constantly defeating the odds against them. But it was okay for him. After all, what was love without a few rough edges now and then? It had to be a passion worth fighting for; that you were willing to make sacrifices for. Spunks would have made the sacrifice of refusing her father's request for her to move to Pennsylvania with him had not Spot's ex-fiancé come into the picture. What was Spot willing to sacrifice? He thought about that for the remainder of the time the bishop was preaching.
* * * * *
Spunks was decorating her house with balloons when she felt two hands from behind rest upon her waist. She spun around slowly to see Robert smiling down at her. After sharing a brief kiss, she pulled away and continued her task.
"Why all the glamour? Is it not merely a missionary group coming in?" Robert looked all about the girl's house in awe. One would think the Gerberre's were hosting a wedding reception.
"I like decorating," Spunks laughed. "I even volunteered to help decorate the gym for the homecoming dance next month."
"Ah, and speaking of that, would you honor me by being my date that night?"
Spunks smiled warmly at him and gave him another kiss. "I would not dream of going with anyone else!" When she was finished with hanging the balloons, she went on with making sure there were enough servings at the huge dining table that had been set up the night before by the caterers.
"You are so precise," Robert teased. "So, you said this church group is from New York?"
A sudden sadness filled Spunks' eyes. "Yes."
"Oh! I am dreadfully sorry. I completely forgot that you used to live there with, uhm....Spot." He stepped up to her to give her a hug but as she took part in the embrace, she could only picture the Brooklyn leader in her mind. His soft blondish hair and those sparkling blue eyes. His signature smirk and the feel of his body up against hers. She shook the thoughts out of her head. No point in daydreaming about someone I will never see again. She went back to her party preparations indifferently.
* * * * *
Spot lingered about in the banquet hall of the church hosts and tried to hear in on the different conversations around him. What attracted him most were the businessmen. If he recalled correctly, Mr. Gerberre was a lawyer. A certain man in what seemed to be a newly purchased suit caught Spot's attention. The Brooklyn leader came up to the man at some point and started a conversation.
"Youse into politics er sumthin?"
"Uhm, yes. I follow up with them, but my greater interest lies within the field of medicine. I am a doctor, you know."
Spot nodded his head uncaring. "Youse follow up with law too?"
"Of course. After all, therein lies justice. As a matter if fact, I was following the murder trial of the Coover brothers the other day. I was much surprised to learn that...."
"Ya familiar with a lawyer named Gerberre?"
The man looked at Spot with a curious expression on his face. "Of course. Raymond Gerberre is one of the major giants in the field of law. He covered the Coover trial I was just speaking of earlier; prosecuted them of course. I have had the pleasure of meeting him once on occasion."
Spot smirked, finally able to relate with the man. "Yea, I met him too. He's me goil's father." He received a confused expression. "Anyways, do ya knows where he lives. I'se been needin tah pay him a visit fer a while now."
"Didn't you just say that he was the father of your female friend?"
"Well, we'se kinda lost touch."
The man eyed Spot skeptically. "Just a mile north of here on Dean Street. 2814 Dean Street." Spot thanked the man and hurried off of church grounds to check out the house. He didn't think it would be this easy finding Spunks; but then again, he wasn't counting on Mr. Gerberre being so well known. A half hour later, he came to Dean Street finally. Looking to his left, he saw the address 2800 in gold letters on the mailbox of a Victorian house. Next in line was 2804. Spot narrowed his eyes; if they went up at intervals of four, 2814 would not be one of the addresses. 2808. 2812. 2816. He stopped dead in his tracks. 2814 did not exist!
"That joik!" Spot snatched a small rock from the ground upon which he stood and hurled it in the air to shatter the window of a dilapidated house. When residents of other houses started to look out the windows at him, he shoved his hands in his pocket and grumpily made his way back to the church where his mother would be waiting for him.
* * * * *
Spunks looked at herself in the long oblong mirror of her room. She was wearing a blue sleeveless dress of velvet that dropped to her ankles and her layered black hair was curled. She wasn't wearing any makeup save for the gloss on her lips and a bit of glitter on her eyelids. She pressed the wrinkles out of her dress with her palms and headed out of her room. Her father's house was packed with church people but soon enough she found Robert and ran up to him to give him a hug.
"Hi hunny," she said before kissing him hard.
Robert grinned. "Why hello yourself, sweety. You seem to be enjoying the party so far. There are so many people here."
"I know! But isn't it great? At least we know it is for a good cause." She looked to her right and saw her dad talking to a few people. Taking Robert's hand in her own, she walked over to him and smiled. "Hi daddy."
Mr. Gerberre turned around to see his daughter. "Oh dearest! There is a group of people I want you to meet in the study room. They are the missionaries from New York, about twenty individuals in total."
"Oh sure, daddy." Mr. Gerberre excused himself from the man he was talking to and then led his daughter and Robert to a large room on the other side of the grand hallway. Spunks entered the room laughing and she smiled warmly as her father introduced her to each guest. A woman and young man caught her attention but their backs were facing her. The young man was wearing a black newsie hat made of velvet in which every single strand of his hair was tucked neatly and the black suit he wore fit him perfectly. The woman was in nun attire but was not wearing the standard headdress. Both she and the youth were admiring a painting on the wall when Mr. Gerberre came up behind them.
"This is Patricia and her son...uhm, I didn't quite get his name yet." The woman turned around and laughed lightly. "Patrick, turn your attention to our host." Her son did just that and he, Spunks, and Mr. Gerberre were left astounded.
"Spot!" Spunks inhaled a quick breath and backed away a step.
"Spunks!" It only cued Spot to take a step forward with wide eyes.
"Spot?" The Brooklyn leader was the last person Mr. Gerberre expected to see at this missionary banquet, and remembering how sad his daughter had looked the day she left with him to Pennsylvania, he wasn't about to let Spot just parade into their house unwelcome.
"Mr. Gerberre!" Spot laughed. This was too good to be true! Of all people to host the program his mother's church had started, it was Mr. Gerberre.
"Spot?" Robert stepped out from behind Spunks and approached the young man he had heard so much about.
"Who the hell is youse?" All formal greetings had then disappeared when Spot noticed Robert was holding Spunks' hand.
"I am Mack's boyfriend, and if I remember correctly, you only succeeded in hurting her terribly so it would probably be in your best interest to leave before I make you regret ever coming her."
Spot smirked and looked the boy up and down. "If there's anyone heah who should be leavin, it'd be youse. Ya obviously haven't hoid of me. Ya see, I like tah fix the people I hate so that they's can't walk. And considerin the fact that youse is all over me goil, I think I'se gonna take this account into drastic measures." He raised his clenched fist and struck Robert in the eye an instant later. Soon enough, a full blown fight broke out between the two boys until eventually they had to be held back; it took four men to restrain Spot.
Spunks was on the verge of tears. Tears that both represented her pain and showed her confusion. She had no idea what to do or say. "Spot," her voice came out as a soft whisper, barely audible. "I am not your girl anymore. Remember we moved on? I obtained a new life and I met new people. Now we are two different individuals; too different to ever get back together again. I think it would be best if you just leave."
The Brooklyn leader looked at her incredously. "Youse crazy? I aint gonna let ya go this time, Spunks. Ya mean everything tah me. When ya left, the whole sky came crashin down on me head. I love ya! I'se sorry you were hoit. But ya gotta remember I was hoit too. Give us another chance."
"Things do not work like that! You can not come in here after so many months and demand that I give you another chance!" She came closer to him and her face grew stern.
"I'se aint demandin, I'se beggin youse! Ya want me tah get on me knees? Is that it? Look, I'se gettin on me knees." and he actually did kneel down, "Spunks, I love youse more than life itself. Can ya honestly look me straight in the eye and say youse don't feel the same way about me?"
By now, a crowd had gathered around the two youths, everyone wearing astounded looks on their faces, looking from the desperate Spot to the girl he was trying so hard to win back. Spunks was oblivious to them though. This whole matter was between her and Spot alone. She looked at the Brooklyn leader sadly. Here he was professing his undying love for her; it was all she could ever ask for and all that she had endlessly prayed for. Yet now, things were quite different. She lived with her father in a glamorous house and enjoyed the easy life. She was receiving an education at one of the finest schools in Pennsylvania and she even had a new boyfriend whose company she very much liked. And to give that all up for Spot, to deny her social status and return to the filthy streets of New York just to be reunited with him out of love all seemed like a potential folly. She was speechless again. Spot was waiting for her reply, to honestly say 'I don't love you' in his face and mean every word. But she would not say it. Instead, she turned on her heels and ran out of the room with her face in her hands.