I do not own anything from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. All rights and likenesses belong to Roald Dahl, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. I think Mr. Wonka is on to me – I've been getting visits at random times today from singing-telegram gorillas breaking out into "You're No Good!" and "I've Been Watching You." Geez! Give a few Oompa Loompas a couple of chocolate-covered espresso beans and suddenly you're branded a dealer! – Stealth Phoenix
Chapter 14
They worked in silence. Veronica carefully placed each layer as the fondant was laid and pressed into the cake. She quickly decorated with marzipan black satin ribbon around the bottom of each layer where it rested gently on the previous. Willy completed his portion and leaned back against the counter to watch her work.
Veronica's eyebrows were creased slightly as she worked, delicately placing the ribbon and touching up the edges of black ink laid out in the design. Her thin-fingered scarred hands with their short choppy nails were careful not to rest on any point of the care to smear the ink. She poked the wooden skewers into the last layer and carefully, as if crowning a king, placed the top tier on the cake.
She paused, wiping her hands on a towel studying the cake before her. "Beautiful," Veronica murmured before gasping and snapping her fingers.
"What?" asked Spencer, breaking from his trance of watching the two candy-makers at work.
"Topper!" she cried before turning to open the pantry and digging out a cardboard box packed with Styrofoam peanuts. "I made this about a month ago when you first told me the news. Not like I had anything better to do at that point."
She carefully unwrapped two figures in candy glass – two men in a formal dancing position in black and white. The detail was exquisite – you could actually make out tiny facial expressions and fingernails on the figures. They were dressed in old-fashioned tuxedos, clothing draping and creasing naturally.
Veronica carefully placed the figurines on the top of the cake.
"It's a joint effort – Willy did all the work and I prettied it up," she sighed, turning to Spencer.
Spencer was frozen, staring at the cake.
"Spence?" she asked, worried.
He began to sniffle, eyes watering. Willy looked alarmed and ready to run. Veronica shot Willy a concerned look and quickly walked to gather the weeping man into her arms.
"Spencer! Whatever is the matter?" she whispered into his brown hair, holding him close.
"I …it's perfect! I just never thought this day would come," He sobbed. Veronica caught herself rolling her eyes and she could see Willy relax and offer his own shrug of consolation with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, I just guess it never really hit me until now. I'm basically promising to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man," Spencer started to blubber and she found herself backing slowly away to avoid getting snotted by his unattractively running nose.
Willy tossed her the roll of paper towels from by the side of the sink and she hurriedly ripped one off and handed it to Spencer.
"Get a hold of yourself man. No use blubbering over pastry of all things. Things are going to work out alright – please for the love of Mike stop crying!"
He managed to control himself in short order, "Sorry about that – I've been doing that all week. Reggie's pretty well frustrated with me. Then again, I've caught him getting all misty-eyed himself a couple of times."
Veronica gave him one last hug before returning to the kitchen to wash her hands, "Okay, we got it built, it's beautiful – all approve, but, "she hesitated. "How are we supposed to get the bloody thing over there? Willy, you mentioned the Wonkavator?"
He paused, looking at the cake with a dubious eye. He'd initially thought that the layers would be baked and transported separately, but with the awkward silence thing, they had automatically assembled it without considering transportation. "We'll just have to schlep it up to the roof and I'll fly it over."
"Do you know where the place is?" she asked.
"Not a clue."
"Ronnie, you can ride with me and Mr. Wonka can follow overhead." Spencer offered. He'd saw the Beyond Tomorrow article on Willy Wonka's Wonderous Wonkavator.
Relieved at the thought of not having to share tight quarters with Spencer, Willy nodded enthusiastically.
Although, the idea of Veronica in there with me and the cake, his eyes fogged with lust for a moment at that thought. The scantily clad Ms. Carmichael having to press up against him to avoid smashing the cake – better yet, getting a bit of cake on her and having to help her clean it off…with his tongue of course…
"Willy? You ready?" he distantly heard her call.
"Oh yeah!" he breathed lustily. That little patch of frosting on her clavicle was calling to him…
"Willy!"
He jerked back to reality to realize he'd been staring yearningly at the cake long enough for Veronica to put on her beat-up black wool coat and sling the ever-present messenger bag over her shoulder.
She was giving him a curious look, and he rushed to one side, ready to carry it out, blushing slightly again at the direction of his thoughts.
"Are you sure you're up to the party this evening? You keep getting flushed. I hope you're not coming down with something." She said, easily lifting her side of the cake. They carried it level between them to the stairs.
"No. Nothing like that." Willy said.
I'd like to go down with something… he mercilessly hogtied and gagged that thought and threw it in a mental closet. Willy was starting to panic. What was going on with him? Where were these evil thoughts coming from?
I'm your subconscious you ninny.
The voice wouldn't be denied, no matter how he tried to suppress it.
Sure, ignore me for years and then when I finally get a breath of fresh air with the cupcake there, you ignore me. That's not very polite.
Yeah, well. Neither are you.
Touché!
They reached the stairwell and discovered that carrying the cake level would be a tricky matter up stairs. The stairwell was too narrow. Veronica stepped up a stair or two and bent over to keep the cake level. "Come on – it's only one flight."
What she failed to realize was the bent angle gave a lovely view of her breasts cradled in the dress to the shell-shocked Chocolatier. As they started up the first step, he also realized that she was showing flashes of toned white thigh with every step.
Oh. Dear. God!
More like "Thank you God."
Shut it! He snapped at his inner-monologue viciously.
Thinking quickly, Willy yelped, "Wait! This isn't going to work. I need to be on top…"
He trailed off, blushing brightly at what it sounded like.
"Excuse me?" she asked, pausing with one eyebrow raised.
"I mean, I need to go first... t-t-to open the Wonkavator." Willy finished lamely.
She simply nodded and they carefully came back down the steps to trade positions.
This relieved Willy of any more accidental glimpses of her breasts and they were able to wrestle the cake up the stairs and into the Wonkavator with minimal fuss.
"It really is bigger than it first appears," marveled Veronica as the cake rested on the floor and Willy entered the Wonkavator to man its controls.
Does she even have a clue what that sounds like right now? He asked himself desperately.
"I mean, who would have figured that all that would have fit?" she continued, blithely.
I'll take "Absolutely Not" for 200, Alex.
He choked and coughed for a moment before he could answer. "Yes, well…I'll go straight up and wait until I see which car is Spencer's and follow you from there.
She grinned at him for a moment, concern still coloring her eyes, "Good."
The smile faltered for a moment and she stepped forward. To Willy's delight and horror she pressed one hand to his forehead for a moment, watching his face. He could feel the pattern of scar tissue on her fingers and palm.
"Hmmm…no fever. Are you sure you're feeling alright? You don't have to go if you don't want to."
He could smell the lotion on her skin – something soft and warm like peaches and amber. He was momentarily lost in mesmerizing green-gold of her eyes, but quickly gathered himself and flinched back from her touch.
"I'm feeling dandy. Now, scoot or your ride will leave without you."
He quickly closed the door and she had to jump back as the thrusters fired. She shielded her eyes from the debris thrown up and had to grab the hem of the dress with the other to prevent it from flying up.
Once Willy was safely in the air above the building, he sagged back against the wall.
That was weird.
If this was any indication of how the evening was going to go, he was in for a rough night.
But highly enjoyable, chimed in his evil subconscious.
Willy decided at that moment to name the voice Bob – it was an unlikable sort of name.
"Shut up, Bob." He muttered.
He didn't disagree though with the sentiment, however.
--
Jake sat concealed in the car, watching as Veronica came out of the apartment and jumped into the waiting car. She looked pretty good, flashing a lot of leg with that dress and heels. Jake could feel himself tighten with anticipation. All in good time…
The car pulled away from the curb and he momentarily ducked to avoid being seen. Chippy got a ride to the party, he thought to himself. He would have to watch for her return – no way of telling whether she'd get a ride back with the same guy. The man driving the car had to be a Poofter with that kind of clothing.
He waited for a few moments and gathered the grey gym bag in the passenger seat next to him, trading it for his cell phone. No use bringing it in with him, something to leave behind or go off at the wrong time. He got out and casually strolled across the street, making his way to the building door. He managed to slip in without any fuss and made his way up to the apartment.
Making himself comfortable, he relaxed and waited.
--
Veronica slumped in the passenger seat. Why was Willy acting so strange? She was growing more concerned as the ride continued.
Keeping one eye on the review mirror, angled to see the Wonkavator following them Spencer asked casually, "So how are things going on the project?"
She said nothing, as she traditionally did to this question. Then out of nowhere she asked, "Spence, is there something wrong with me – well, more so than the usual?"
He glanced over to her; she was staring out the windshield with a blank expression. "You look a bit pale and run down when I first showed up. Why? Something pestering you?"
"Willy is acting weird. Was there something I may have said or done that upset him this much?"
Spencer was not naïve. He could read what was going through Wonka's brain as if it had been written across the sky in 20 foot neon letters. He also possessed more diplomacy than usually credited to him and wouldn't rat out his fellow XY unless tortured.
"He's probably just nervous about coming to the ceremony. I'd imagine that being a witness to two men declaring their undying love for each other is somewhat out of his normal daily routine."
Her answer was a noncommittal grunt.
"Why Ms. Carmichael, I would say you were worried about him," Spencer teased gently.
"Of course I am. He bolts now, I'm out of a job and a butt-load of cash," said Veronica.
"You think he's cute - which he is, darling. If it weren't for your brother I might have made a pass at him myself."
She amused herself with that image for a moment – and could imagine the look of horror before he bolted from the room. "I don't think he swings that way, Spence."
"But I know he swings yours."
Stunned, she whipped around to look at him, "I beg your pardon?"
Spencer casually turned the wheel, making a turn onto the broad street lined with townhomes – his home neighborhood.
"You heard me. The man was eyeing you like you were the last Perrier at a Milan fashion show."
"You must be mistaken," she was shaking with disbelief, her features paling alarmingly.
Pulling into the parking spot, Spencer leaned out the window, looked up at the hovering Wonkavator and pointed at the building that Reggie and Spencer jointly owned. It was the project that ate their savings and kept begging for more – but it was a labor of love in a revitalizing neighborhood. He cut the engine and turned to face Veronica with the most serious expression she'd ever seen on his face.
"Veronica. I know you've gone through the worst kind of hell when it comes to relationships, but I've seen how Willy Wonka looks at you. He cares about you, darling. He's more than a little uneasy at the thought himself - so you are both on even footing there."
Spencer reached out to stroke his fingers through her long hair. "You never really gave yourself a chance to recover from Marcus – and I know it still bugs you. But I think you need to stop jumping at shadows and take a look at what kind of chance lies in front of you."
He kissed her gently on the forehead and unbuckled his seatbelt to leave the car. "Reggie and I love you dearly and only want you to have a chance at the same kind of happiness that we've been able to find. You're a brave woman and we're proud of you. But take the chance. Can you be brave enough to face the possibility that he may love you too?"
Spencer left the thoughtful woman in the car staring at the streetlights.