Uhm…I don't have anything important to say, so here's chapter 8!

A Rose By Any Other Name Chapter 8

Rose was a little bewildered when she woke up from her deep sleep. The bed she was in was not her own. She glanced down at her wristwatch, which she couldn't see very well in the dark, let alone without her glasses on. She hadn't remembered taking them off, but they were lying on a small table beside the bed. She put them on, then looked down at her watch again, squinting through the darkness of the room. 3:14. She groaned softly, then buried herself in the covers again.

The thought once again occurred to her that she was most definitely not in her own bed. Her own bed was much more uncomfortable. This bed was…extremely soft. And warm, too. She decided against falling back to sleep, and hobbled out of bed. She was still wearing her own clothes. The ones she was wearing yesterday.

Yesterday! The day Willy Wonka had shown her around his factory. Was she dreaming, or did that really happen? She didn't know exactly, but then she glanced back at the bed she was previously asleep in. There was a big "W" on the headboard. Apparently she was still at his factory.

Rose walked slowly and sleepily to the door. She opened it just a crack, almost afraid that some monster would pop out. Or maybe even Willy Wonka. She had some rather scary dreams about him that night. One of which involved him chaining her to a wall and telling her that he would keep her here forever. She shook her head.

The hallway in which she stepped out into was very dark. She was and had always been afraid of the dark. In fact, she was afraid of a lot of things. When she was little, kids used to tease her about being a "scaredy-cat" or "wimp". Even Wonka giggled at her for jumping whenever he'd appear behind her or in front of her out of nowhere. But even he was still a child, in some ways.

Rose had walked halfway down the long hallway and had almost reached the elevator when she saw a door she had not seen when they came here yesterday. It was a door just like hers, except it was painted purple, and was at the other end of the hallway, parallel to hers. She decided she'd open it, just for fun. Just for an adventure. Besides, what were the odds that he'd actually catch her? This was one room he had not shown to her.

She was standing a foot away from the door now. A rush of adrenaline went through her. What if this was some room he didn't want me to see? Maybe I should just turn around and walk back to my room. I'm sure it wouldn't do any harm if I just took a…

Rose was cut short by a voice behind her that made her jump at least a foot off the ground. "Do you realize it's the middle of the night? Or middle of the morning, whichever way you wanna look at it. Heheheheheh."

She spun around to meet the candy man himself, standing less than a few inches away from her own face. A rush of blood went to her head. "Oh, oh…I I'm sorry, I'll just go back to my r…"

Rose was cut short again, this time by his gloved finger coming to her mouth. "Well since you're so ooooobviously interested in what's behind that door…it's my room. Don't ever open that door, kay? Okay. Goodnight!" He said, smiling as wide as he would if it were actually the middle of the day. She nodded, looking down at her feet. Rose shuffled back to the bedroom he'd given her, closed the door, locked it, and jumped back in her bed.

She hoped he didn't see her face get all red. She also hoped he couldn't tell how much he scared her. It wasn't exactly that he was scary…it was that he seemed to know everything she was thinking, feeling, and that he knew he scared her a little. Rose threw the covers over her head and tried as hard as she could to fall asleep again.

Willy came in her room at about eight that morning. He sat down in the same chair he had put there by her bed the night before. He liked looking at her, asleep like that. It sent strange, warm shivers up his back. He thought he smelled something coming from where she was laying, something subtle and sweet. He leaned in closer to her neck and inhaled. What was that? It smelled like a flower, but he didn't know what kind. It was a nice smell, though. It didn't seem like she'd sprayed it on, either. Maybe she was born smelling like that… He wondered.

When Rose woke up, she didn't expect to see Willy Wonka at least two inches from her face. She gasped, which made him jump. He sat there, dumbfounded. Her eyes are pretty in the morning… Wonka thought.

"H…how long have you been…sitting there?" Rose asked, a little startled.

"Oh, long enough. You take forever to get up. I myself have been up all night!" He said, though he wouldn't disclose why exactly he'd been up all night.

"Oh…well, if you don't mind, I'm going to get up and get dressed." She said, forgetting that she was still in her own clothes.

"Okie dokie. Your stuff is over there, in that wardrobe." Willy said, pointing to the enormous wardrobe at the other side of the room.

"Wait, do you mean…" Rose said, getting up out of bed. She walked over to the wardrobe and hesitantly opened it. Inside were all her clothes. Every one of them. She opened up the drawers, and blushed a little, shutting them quickly. She was a little flustered, maybe even a little mad.

"You mean to say that you brought all my clothes here to this room? All my clothes from my house?" Rose said, angered.

"Uhhh, no. The oompa loompas got them. Your house key had fallen onto the floor the other day, so I told them to take that and go get all your clothes and bring them here! That way you don't have to go back home and get them all! Heheheh!" Wonka said.

Rose was in a tizzy. She paced back and forth, back and forth. This got her some odd looks from Willy, but he didn't say anything. Just smiled at her. She now realized what was going on, and it scared her a little bit, but she decided she wouldn't tell Willy what she thought she knew. Instead, she stopped, took a deep breath, and fixed the glasses on her nose.

"Heheheh."

"What?"

"You keep doing that…that…fixing your glasses thing. It's kinda funny." Willy Wonka said.

"I guess it's just…a nervous habit…heh." Rose stuttered.

"I like it."

"Everybody else thinks I look stupid when I do it…"

I don't. I think you look cute doing it. In fact, I think you look cute doing…everything. And you smell good. And you have soft hair! And you look cute when you're angry. Like you did two seconds ago. And I have no idea what I'm thinking, but this is all very, very new to me. And kinda…weird.

"Are you uhhh…okay?" Rose said, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was…having a…well, I was just thinking to myself." Willy said, still off in daydream-land.

"Is everything okay in here?" said Charlie, who had just walked into the room.

"Heeey! You know you're never allowed down this hallway unless something seriously bad is going wrong!" Wonka said. Which didn't really apply in most cases. He'd let Charlie come down to his room when he'd had nightmares, which somehow always seemed to calm Charlie down. He was a funny little boy, that Charlie.

"Oh! Hello. You're the girl we saw the other day! Nice to see you again." Charlie said, nodding.

"And the same to you, Charlie." Rose said. He was a sweet boy, she thought.

"Okay, okay, enough with the formalites, niceties, and so on. I have things to do. You take her to your house, kay? I have…things to do. Bye now!" Willy said, as he dashed out of the room.

Both Charlie and Rose were a little confused by the candy man's quick retreat. They both shrugged it off, though. Charlie turned to Rose. "Would you like to meet my family?" He asked in his all-too-adorable voice. Rose nodded, and they headed off to the glass elevator, which Charlie had become extremely familiar with.

"How do you like living here now?" Rose asked the young boy.

"It's great, really. Mr. Wonka and I get along well. I am to take over the factory…when he's…finished doing his job." Charlie said, looking at his shoes.

"So I've heard. He seems to be very fond of you." Rose said.

"Yes, he's a great guy. I must warn you, though…be careful around him. Sometimes the chocolate…gets to him. You know? I uh…don't really know how to explain it. But he starts acting a little weird. When I say that, I mean…a little more askew than normal. If you could actually call him…well…normal. He gets these…ideas. Or at least, he did the other day. I should probably just keep my mouth shut. Here we are…" Charlie said, thinking he'd already said too much.

The two stepped out of the great glass elevator, and onto the bright green edible grass. I could never get my lawn this shade… Rose thought. Charlie escorted her up to his slanted little shack. Rose liked the way the house looked on the outside, it seemed like something she would've dreamt up for one of her stories. Though she never let anyone know, Rose liked to write as well as read. She had quite a vivid imagination.

Charlie didn't hesitate to open the door. He was greeted with the usual hugs and kisses from his mum. Charlie's mother's gaze then landed upon Rose. She smiled and welcomed her in.

"So this is the girl Mr. Wonka invited to his factory. We have yet to figure out why exactly he's brought you here, but Mr. Wonka has only ever had good intentions in anything he's ever done in his life. Don't worry." Charlie's mother said with a grin.

"What kind of skinny obscenity have you brought into this house now, Charlie?" Grandpa George said, looking at Rose with what seemed to be disgust. Rose laughed.

"Be nice, grandpa. This is her…you know. The one he's brought here." Charlie said.

"I see. Well then, you'd better watch out for yourself. He's a kook. The biggest loony I've ever met in my entire existence." Grandpa George said, scowling. Grandma Georgina just smiled her ever present smile, while Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine were fast asleep. This was a sight that amused Rose. Four old people obviously living in a huge bed. It reminded her of her own grandparents, always sitting around the house.

"I think he's rather intelligent. A little funny, yes, but very smart! He makes me laugh, and sometimes he scares me. I don't know what exactly I think about him." Rose said, replying to Grandpa George.

"Well you'll find out soon enough that all he is is a tall, skinny lunatic. You'll find out soon enough." The older man said, shaking his head.

Rose didn't know what to think of this. The subtle warning from Charlie. Charlie's grandpa telling her how crazy Mr. Wonka was. She wasn't quite sure of Willy's intentions, but then she thought back to what Mrs. Bucket had said: " We have yet to figure out why exactly he's brought you here, but Mr. Wonka has only ever had good intentions in anything he's ever done in his life."

She had to think on these things awhile. And why exactly he'd brought all of her clothes here, to his factory. Maybe he had planned on her…living here with him. But…why? And why her?

"All in good time." He had said to her.

Rose had stayed with the Buckets for dinner that night, and that night the table was full of talk about Mr. Wonka. They were all telling her things about him. They all seem to be rather fond of him…he must treat them well here. What would it be like to live here? In his factory? She pondered this for a very long time.

When dinner was over, she said good-bye to Charlie's family. They were all very warm and friendly to her. No wonder Charlie turned out to be such a great kid! Charlie lead her outside. The chocolate room was very dim, so he thought it would be helpful if he lead her to the elevator.

"About what Grandpa George said…Mr. Wonka isn't a lunatic. He likes to over exaggerate. Like I said before though, be careful. He's not a bad guy at all, he's just…not used to being around…women. Girls. I don't think he knows much about them, actually. He grew up with just his dad…his mum died before he was even born." Charlie said, fidgeting with his sweater.

"I know, his dad was my dentist when I was little…and still is. If you couldn't already tell. Heheh." Rose said, showing her braces off with a smile.

"He's…not very fond of his dad. He ran away when he was little. To become what he is now, that is." Charlie said, pushing a button to open the glass elevator.

"You seem to know a lot about Mr. Wonka. Do you two talk a lot?" Rose asked.

"Oh, yes. A lot. I guess you could say he's my best friend. My only friend, besides my family that is." he said, as they whizzed off to Rose's room.

"Can I ask you something?" Rose said, biting her lip. Another one of her many nervous habits.

"Anything!" Charlie said, enthusiastically.

"Do you…have any idea why he…brought me here in the first place?" Rose asked.

"That's something that I think you'll have to find out for yourself." Charlie said, smiling his adorable smile.

"Hmm…" Rose mumbled, looking at the different colors that flashed below her.

That entire day, Willy Wonka was in his enormous library trying to figure out what kind of a scent that was that he smelled Rose. He wasn't doing a very good job of it though, because in between his research his thoughts often lingered back to the softness of her hair all across his lap, and those brown eyes of hers in the morning light. He couldn't put his finger on what he was feeling.

Finally, later that night while he was thumbing through a book of flowers, his eyes fell on one page in particular. On it in big, bold letters was "ROSE" and had a picture of a beautiful red flower. This in fact was one of those books that had the scent of the particular flower on that page. It smelled exactly like her. He had an idea to make a perfume that smelled just like her…

That same night, he had over 200,000 roses delivered to his factory.

Rose said goodnight to Charlie as she arrived in the hallway where her room was, and tiptoed softly down to her room. A million different questions were swimming through her head, and all about him. She decided she wouldn't worry about it all too much that night.

Before she got to her room, she turned around to look at his bedroom door. She wondered if he were in there right now, or still milling about in his factory. Maybe I should go tell him goodnight…that is, if he's even in there…

She walked carefully and softly to his room, she wanted to avoid walking loudly in case he happened to be asleep. When she approached his door, she didn't even have to knock.

"Yeeees?" A voice from inside the room said.

Rose shook a little bit. How did he know she was standing right outside his door? She took a quick look around. No security cameras. Nothing.

"Well uh…I just was um, on my way to the…my room, and I just uh, wanted to say…"

The door opened to a hatless Mr. Wonka who gave her a strange look. She couldn't tell if he was smiling or not. She thought she saw a small one painted across his gaunt face. She smiled up at him.

"Goodnight." Rose said, shaking just as much.

"G'night…" He said, still staring into those eyes of hers. He wanted so bad just to reach out and touch her hair again. Touch her face. He was very fond of this girl…she seemed so kind. She had a vivid imagination…like him. Except, not to the extreme of his. He still felt drawn to her by some unnatural force. He didn't really understand why…he felt as if there was this desire in him threatening to burst, and when it did, he wouldn't be able to control it. What is wrong with me? For some reason she looked so…tasty right now. That chocolate was seriously getting to him.

Rose looked down at his chest, his taut muscles showing through the black shirt he was wearing beneath his coat. Her eyes traveled down the seams of his coat, and down to his very boots. Even without those boots he wore, he'd still tower above her. She was short, but still very thin. It was a genetic trait she sometimes wished she didn't have. The kids in school always thought she looked nerdy, being so thin and wearing those glasses. She sometimes wished someone would look beyond her appearances. And beyond her timidity and awkwardness. Some people didn't understand her. Didn't understand why she was so lost in her thoughts all of the time, so wrapped up in imaginary worlds she created herself. Maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way I do. Misunderstood. That's something we'd be able to share with each other.

They both realized they had been standing there for far too long. Until their eyes met again. Willy saw a sort of laughter in Rose's eyes, something you'd see in a child's eyes. He also saw something more. Something that twinkled from deep within them. Rose thought the same of his.

"Well, goodnight. Rose." He said, astonished that he actually had called her by her name.

"Goodnight!" She said, smiling at him. She turned around and headed to the bedroom he had given her.

Almost instantly, as they both hit their beds, they felt something…odd. Something different, and…weird! Something neither of them had ever felt before. They both sort of brushed it off, and let sleep envelope them.

So…how did you like that chapter? Please let me know, I love feedback! I've had a lot of time to write lately. I think this story is taking a mind of its own…heheheh. Wonder what will happen to Rose next?