That evening Lauren was to meet the Buckets. They were having dinner in their home. Lauren couldn't wait to meet the infamous heir to the chocolate factory. She dug around in her suitcase, not sure what to wear. How formal would dinner be in this place? She thought about it, and realized it wouldn't be. So she just put on a long black skirt with a magenta blouse. Simple and casual, yet quite nice.

Lauren stepped out of her room, but then realized she didn't know her way back to where the Buckets' home was located. She looked at Willy's door, hoping that he was still there so he could lead her down.

Lauren knocked once, twice, three times and got no answer.

Fan-freakin-tastic, she thought, knowing she would get lost. She had never been too good with direction.

Lauren decided to just wing it and made her way down the hallways, hoping she wouldn't get in too much trouble trying to find her destination. So she wandered, finding the rooms all familiar, but not sure of direction still. As she worried, she suddenly fell back to the ground. Lauren had crashed into something, but what? But then she could see it was the glass elevator. Knowing it could take her anywhere, she cautiously stepped in. But there were so many buttons! Which one should she press? So she just pressed one, hoping it would take her to the right place or at least settle her bearings.

Next thing she knew, Lauren was in the Inventing Room. And there was Willy! She stepped out of the elevator and ran over to him.

"Mr. Wonka!"

Willy jumped, startled by suddenly being called on. He quickly swerved about so he was facing the speaker. And it turned out to be Lauren. He smiled a small, nervous smile.

"Yes?"

"Oh Mr. Wonka! I'm glad I found you! I was trying to go down to dinner with the Buckets and got lost and… can you help me?"

Willy nodded slightly as he said, "Oh, well I guess it's right about that time. So let's boogey right on down there."

Lauren smiled and followed Willy into the elevator. He instantly pressed a button without hesitation, and next thing she knew, she was in front of the Buckets' home. Willy stepped out of the elevator and pushed right on past her inside the house without even knocking. Lauren found that strange, but shrugged and followed after him.

Upon stepping inside, Lauren was met by a hug. She lightly put her arms around the person, but didn't give it much. She wasn't exactly the… hugging type.

"It's wonderful to have someone here around Charlie's age for him to work with him!" exclaimed the woman as she pulled away.

"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Charlie's mother."

"Oh, hello Mrs. Bucket," Lauren brightly greeted.

Mrs. Bucket then proceeded to rapidly introduce everyone else to her.

"It's great to meet you all," Lauren smiled.

Mrs. Bucket then shooed everyone off to the dining table. It was time to eat! And eat they did, for the cooking really was spectacular.

"The food is marvelous, Mrs. Bucket."

"I married her for a reason," piped in Mr. Bucket.

"She does this every night, too," Charlie smiled.

Willy had been strangely quiet, but then asked Charlie, "So what did you do today with your free time?"

"Oh, I tinkered with some ideas in the Tinkering Room. We can all go over them tomorrow."

Mrs. Bucket beamed, "Quite the worker my son is, but there will be none of that at the table, and you know that."

Lauren giggled slightly.

"Lauren, what do you do back home?" Charlie then asked.

"Oh, not much. Mostly just school work and such. I babysat here and there, but I mainly focused on my studies. My parents let me do this because it'll look great on my record for college. I'm just excited to be here and get to work. But," Lauren looked at Mrs. Bucket as she looked like she was about to protest, "I won't go into that here." Mrs. Bucket smiled.

Charlie nodded; listening intently to Lauren's every word. Willy wouldn't look away from his food, though. The boy shot him a look, thinking his mentor should pay attention to his fellow student.

Lauren giggled at this as well.

"Did I mention that I also have a nasty habit of biting people?"

Willy's head shot up and he looked at her wide eyed.

Lauren smirked.

"I thought that'd get your attention. I was kidding."

The rest of the dinner got along well. Lauren and Charlie got along very well, pleasing Mrs. Bucket greatly, and exciting them about getting to work the next day.

"Thank you for the dinner. And yes, I'll come back tomorrow night. You couldn't keep me away from your meals if you tried!" Lauren called after them, making her way back to the glass elevator.

Willy had beaten her inside, and he stood stock still, arms crossed in front of him on top of his cane. He stared off blankly, looking almost reminiscent of something. Lauren then stepped in and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hellooooo? Don't leave me hangin' here. You've gotta press the button. I'll prolly end up breakin' the thing," she smirked.

Willy blinked and snapped back. He grinned and then reached over and pressed a button. The elevator shot off and stopped at one end of the hallway their rooms were on. The two stepped out and proceeded down the long hallway.

"So how early do we get to work?"

"9 am. Right after breakfast."

"Which is where?"

"In your room, silly. The Oompa Loompa room service is very good here."

Lauren nodded and mouthed, "Oh."

"Alright. Here we are! Night, night," Willy quickly stated before abruptly turning directly into his bedroom.

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, slightly surprised by Willy's haste in getting to bed.

"Must've been pretty tired," she mumbled, stepping into her own room.

She then went through her nightly routine and went to bed. Willy had done the same in his own room.