It was very much uncommon for the concierge to call a tenant just to let them know someone was down in the lobby waiting for them, in fact this was the first time he had called Veruca for something other than to let her know that a large package was about to be delivered via elevator. Nevertheless, the man behind the counter picked up his desk phone and dialed the little brute's phone; it rang for a bit until the receiver picked up the call, and that was when the concierge began to speak graciously to the person on the other end, saying, "Greetings, Miss Veruca, this is Herp from the concierge's desk, it's a pleasure to be speaking to you this evening."

After hearing such a name be uttered, Charlie noticed the concierge wore a name tag that stated his name was "Herp," such an odd name, he thought. Meanwhile, Herp focused on Veruca responding to his call, to which he added, "Well, a Mr. Charlie Bucket is waiting for you down here on ground floor. Will you be going furniture shopping with him this evening or should I send him on his way?"

Veruca's voice made its way out of the phone, but it was too mumbled for Charlie to decipher what she was saying, and all he saw was Herb put on a fake smile, and gleefully respond, "Alright, I'll let him know, take care Miss Veruca."

The call was over yet Charlie didn't know what Veruca had said, meanwhile all Herb did was rest his desk phone and responded by whispering to himself, yet still loud enough Charlie could hear him utilizing slang from his ancestral land, saying, "Yea mon, she is a mouthful."

Herb then looked up at Charlie with a much more natural pleasant expression on his face, and informed him of Veruca's decision, and even more importantly the state of his standing with the little brute, claiming, "She said she's getting ready, it'll just be a few minutes."

"Thank you so much," Charlie replied, nervously chuckling as he was overcome with relief and joy, it seemed the heir did end up getting through to Veruca in the end.

A few minutes passed and Veruca had yet to come down from her Penthouse, but Charlie didn't want to ask Herp to call her again, he did him that one favor and he wasn't going to ask him for another one this soon after the first one. Instead, Charlie decided it would be best to try and cultivate a relationship with the concierge during this time as he did not know if he would need his help again. The Good Boy then turned to point at the concierge's chest, and said, "I see your name tag says 'Herp.' I thought it was a typo for 'Herb,' or something, but then I heard you refer to yourself that way. May you tell me your name, good sir?"

This was a question that the concierge hated answering because he had long grown exhausted of having to explain his name to all of those who learned it, nevertheless, his job meant he was at the disposal of the tenants and their guests, so he complied and answered the question. All Herp did was take a deep breath and look around to see if anyone else was around, there was nobody else in the lobby, and so he responded directly to Charlie, "If you must know, my full name is Herpes Trout, but most people just call me 'Herp.'"

"How'd you get that name?" Charlie responded surprised; a bit too surprised as he also had difficulties regulating his emotions during small talk considering how little time he spent with people outside the factory.

Herp had told this story to people who had asked him what his full name was many times before, he essentially had a script in his head ready for times like these, saying, "Well, my mother says she wanted to name me 'Hermes,' but when she was at hospital giving birth she got so exhausted that she was drowsy by the end of the whole ordeal. When the nurse came in and asked my mom for her son's name, her tiredness combined with her accent cocked-up the nurse and what she wrote on the birth certificate, and well, I got Herpes."

After sharing such a fascinating story the two men just stood there in awkward silence, Charlie then looked around the lobby as well, and then blurted out some advice, "Maybe don't say the last part like that next time someone asks."

Standing in awkward silence was not new for Charlie, it seemed to happen every time he left the factory and interacted with someone, so the feeling he got while spending his time at the concierge's desk with Herp was nothing new to him. The clock had struck 5 PM yet Veruca was nowhere to be seen, nor did she appear in the minutes following, Charlie even began to wonder whether she was even going to come down at all, seeing as he needed Herp to call her in order to get her to come down to the lobby. That was something he could not bear to contemplate, luckily those fears were just a result of a mind that often catastrophized the smallest of problems. Eventually, the elevator bell rang, indicating the passenger had reached the lobby, and when the doors swung wide open out came Veruca, all dolled up and ready to head out. She wore a pair of reddish-brown high-waisted pants, a black and pink vertically-striped top, white flats, and of course a fur coat; this one being a tannish-white rabbit's fur, an optimal fur when the wearer did not need that much warmth from the coat. Surprisingly, she also wore a pair of big, black sunglasses indoors, and with her curled brown hair down Charlie could not make out much of her face.

As she strolled out of the elevator, clutch purse in hand while her arms remained raised at her waist, she walked passed Charlie and marched on towards the door, telling him, "It's seven past five, you're late."

"I've been waiting for you on ground floor for the past fifteen minutes, Veruca," Charlie replied, not in a confrontational tone, more like he was asking for forgiveness, something he did not need to ask for as he was not the one who was running late nor did Veruca plan on dispensing as she continued walking towards the door without a response to the Good Boy's clarification.

"So, you showed up at my apartment building, even after I didn't dial you back?" Veruca asked sort of indignantly while invoking the Americanism for block of flats which had also begun to imply something more high-end in Britain. However, Charlie was surely not going to shame her for such a thing as he too had a soft spot for the Yank term "Candy" instead of the British "Sweets."

As the doorman opened the door for Veruca and her guest, Charlie attempted to ease the tension by nobly responding, "Of course, I made you a promise that I'd take you furniture shopping today and I'm a man of my word."

Without turning to face him as she continued walking outside, all Veruca did was smirk at Charlie's claim of chivalry, and retorted, "I assume that's what Mohammed Jaffar said to Taylor Swift when he did the same thing."

Charlie did not get the reference but from the sound of her tone it probably was not a compliment, yet he didn't want to get into an argument and loose this valuable opportunity to reconnect over some trivial comment. He guided her to his car where he saw her cheeks perk up, almost as if she were smiling, but without being able to see her eyes Charlie could not fully interpret her expression. However, her expression soon returned to her displeased smirk when she noticed Charlie getting into the driver's seat. Charlie noticed this change and watched her stand next to the passenger seat door for a bit until Veruca let out a fake cough and he realized what was going on, she was expecting him to open the door for her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners," Charlie said as he rushed over to the left side of the car and held the door open for his guest.

With Veruca inside, he closed the door and rushed back to the driver's seat, but not before signaling to the Oompa Loompas in the red truck behind him that he was ready to go. Once inside, Charlie noticed Veruca's interests were heightened once again as she took in all the details in his car. She ran her hands across the dashboard, feeling the material through the tips of her fingers and signaling her approval by nodding her head ever so slightly. Since the first time Charlie saw Veruca he knew she was the kind of girl who enjoyed the finer things in life, exactly the type of girl he knew he had to stay away from if he didn't want to have everything he earned swiped right out from under him. But despite her personality running contrary to what he needed at first glance, Charlie was still convinced that there was some good in Veruca, even if it was buried under piles of greed and envy.