I do not own anything from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. All rights and likenesses belong to Roald Dahl, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. No profit is being garnered from this work. Thanks again to my Beta Yva for all the supportive words and good swift kicks to the rear when I lag behind. Thanks also to Tupik-Ra for his kind support. I can't help but notice the stalwart lawyer getting a little red around the cheeks and ears when mention of L.A. came up…a little romance there? – Stealth Phoenix
Warning: Adult content ahead – should you find offense in adult sexual behavior, skip ahead. You have been warned
Chapter 41
Charlie was feeling excited. He was nervous, but happy with the idea of finally facing his intrusive shadows face-to-face. School was out until after the New Year and Willy grudgingly agreed to let him take a few hours a day to work with L.A. to get him ready to face the wild press head on pending parental consent.
"If you two co-conspirators don't mind, I'd like to watch a few times," Willy said, surprising them both. "I'd like to figure out what you hope to learn from L.A. that you think will help you." His extreme skepticism was apparent from his voice.
Charlie grinned at his mentor, "You make it sound like we're the Christians going out to face the lions."
"You are. I just feel like the janitor expected to go out and clean up the mess once the slaughter is over," the Chocolatier said grimly, strangling his cane with squeaky jerks.
Exchanging a knowing glance with Veronica, Charlie left them to go speak with his parents.
Willy looked slightly sick. She could tell by the achingly precise way he held his body that he was tense with worry. Veronica considered the multiple ways to help him relax and get him to talk to her.
"Willy you need a break – come with me," she ordered suddenly. Grabbing his arm, she marched him out of the packaging room and into the Wonkavator. Pushing a button she'd noticed the other day during Willy's tour, she turned and slipped her arms around him, pulling him close and willing his body to relax.
Reassured by her willing affection, he unbent enough to return her embrace. He buried his nose into the top of her head and inhaled her flowery scent, relaxing further. The thoughts whirling through his head slowed and he was finally able to focus on one thing at a time.
"Veronica," he said softly, only to be silenced but her finger on his lips. He looked surprised, and then smiled slightly when her lips replaced her finger, "Not yet. Let's take a break for a little bit before we re-approach the topic."
They arrived at their destination – one of the multiple shipping bays that led out to the loading dock. Huge slides and pipes broke up the spaces of the ceiling and trampolines covered the floor leading to the conveyor belts. Boxes and bags of candy flew down the tubes to bounce off the trampolines to a finely calculated angle to land perfectly on the appropriate conveyor going to the delivery trucks. With the whole room going, boxes, bags flew through the air in all directions, seemingly miraculously never colliding. It was like being in the middle of a massive food fight with no casualties. She was proud of Willy for coming up with such an ingenious non-conventional way to get his products on the trucks.
Pulling Willy by the hand, she led him down the narrow walk-way as boxes and bags of all shapes and sizes flew within a few inches of her head – a bright yellow line showing her the way. If someone of their size got off the line, they'd be bludgeoned to insensibility with flying merchandise within two steps.
There was one tube and a large trampoline cordoned off toward the back of the bay. Yellow and black safety ribbon indicated that the trampoline was off-line for repairs. The trampoline itself was returned to the original angle - parallel to the floor. Kicking off her shoes, she hoisted herself up to bounce gently on the trampoline.
"Come on – play with me," Veronica invited, bouncing higher, a smile of pure joy on her face.
A grin breaking out on his face, Willy dropped his cane and carefully removed his beautiful plum velvet coat. He knelt and removed the black ankle boots, unzipping them to reveal crazy green and yellow polka-dotted and striped sox and arranging the boots next to the neatly folded coat just so. Then, with a surprisingly athletic gesture, he used both hands to vault up to the trampoline with his hat still firmly placed on his head.
"How did you know that this is one of my favorite ways to unwind?" he asked, bouncing as high as he could. She struggled with the recoil on the other end, but after a moment's adjustment, they bounced in unison – propelling themselves high in the air.
"Lucky guess, really. A single male of your age and temperament? I could only think of two things – and since you indicated that the other wasn't a popular option…" she leered at him for a moment, making him blush, "Jumping on a trampoline was my conclusion."
She attempted a flip, ending up landing flat on her back with a surprised bark of laughter as she was flung back into the air. Willy calmly executed a perfect double flip and a double-axle twist on the rebound. "I practice a lot," was his explanation.
Veronica was laughing too hard to pull off anything as spectacular, but she did get a laugh out of him with what she called her 'flying Buddha' sitting cross legged in a lotus meditation pose while still bouncing in the air – if seen at the right moment it looked like she'd reached a moment of Nirvana and levitating.
They bounced for a long time – doing silly poses and generally attempting to duplicate some of Hollywood's best special effects. Willy did a particularly accurate mid-air strike straight out of "Matrix" and she tumbled to the trampoline with a grunt. She pulled herself to her feet again as he serenely waited with a smug expression – hat still firmly placed on his head.
"That hat has got to go," she announced, making a bouncing lunge to grab his it.
Willy dodged and bounced away, giggling at the mock-irritated expression on her face. Veronica chased him in circles, one hand holding his hat the other flailing to help him keep balance. Thinking ahead, she bounced hard and managed to tackle the hat off his head in mid-air, flying over his head in the process. She landed in a roll and sprang up to her feet with a triumphant cry, "Aha! Mine!"
Rather than wasting breath on protesting, Willy launched himself in a flying tackle – the same maneuver she'd just done. Veronica tried to lunge out of the way, but moved the wrong way and was caught in a bone-crunching tackle – her head met the trampoline frame with a hollow thud. The blow made her see stars for a long moment.
When the stars cleared, she was lying on her back, Willy's concerned face hovered above her- he was saying something, but the ringing in her ears drowned him out.
"…onica? Come on sweetheart. Are you in there?" his voice came back, tinny-sounding like he was down the hall talking into a tin can.
"Mine?" she asked groggily, still clutching the hat between them. The poor thing was crushed beyond recognition.
He sighed with relief and sat up, "Are you alright? You hit the side pretty hard."
"Yeah – just knocked me for a loop for a second," she apologetically handed him the mangled hat. "Sorry – we seem to have a casualty."
Willy took the hat with a forlorn expression, "Aw, man! It was one of my favorites." He took a moment to try and bend it back into position, but gave up and placed the tortured haberdashery back on his head. She giggled at the sight – an offended Willy Wonka wearing his mangled trademark hat.
He growled at her and crawled over to straddle her prone body, "Look at what you did. You've been quite the naughty girl."
Breathless with laughter, she replied saucily, "Yes, I am a naughty girl. What do you plan on doing about it?"
"I might have to punish you," Willy said, an evil glint in his bright purple eyes. Without further warning, he attacked. Nimble fingers found her secret spots – making her laugh and curl into herself like a shrimp. She did her best to wiggle away, but the bloody trampoline defeated her efforts, being too slick to push away and too bouncy to get any leverage to flip him off.
"M..me…Mercy!" she giggled, tears streaming from her eyes, breath coming in hard won pauses in between the relentless tickling.
Willy laughed down at her too. Her face was flushed pink and she panted heavily from the exertion. Veronica's tousled hair was a mess around her face and eyes were bright olive green with merriment. Finding her irresistible at the moment, he leaned down to collect a slow kiss. Comfortable there, he stayed for a while, lips prodding hers open and tongue lazily brushing against hers.
She reached up and brushed the fly-away hair back from his face and fingers tangled themselves at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer.
Slowly, he stretched his body along hers, delighting in the slender strength inherent in her frame. Her smooth curves fit perfectly against his own hard lines. He cradled her head and followed the line of her throat down to the area just behind her left ear and breathed a warm puff of air against the sensitive skin, delighting in her shiver of arousal. It was one of the little things he glorified in learning about her during their explorations.
"What am I to do with you?" he asked, voice darkened with emotion. Her response was to arch up hard, pressing against him urgently, "God…your voice," she groaned. His voice vibrating against that spot went straight between her legs.
Willy felt himself harden against her, "You know what I'd like to do with you?" he said in his lowest voice, pitching it intimately to reach her ears alone.
He proceeded to tell her in graphic detail, his most primal self taking dark pleasure in making his mate write in wanton desire against him using only his voice. Her movements grinding against him with almost mindless arousal almost made him take her right then and there – but he wanted to torment her a bit further.
Willy's hands snaked under the thin tee shirt she'd been wearing to caress her soft skin. It wasn't as erotic for him since he was still wearing his gloves, but the friction of the latex pulling at her skin with the warm hands underneath caused the breath to catch in her throat. He rolled her suddenly to lie flush on top of him and he took the opportunity to slide his hands down to cup her bottom and squeeze the tender flesh.
Veronica reared back and with hands quicker than thought he darted up to jerk the tee shirt from her body. She blinked in shock and found herself rolled under him once more, his body scooting down to attack her breast cased in their frilly armor, his long thigh grinding against her center in harmony with his movements. Helpless, she fell back with a whimper.
"You have been such a naughty girl - you need to be punished. You're going to lie there at take what's coming to you without question or complaint. Understand?" Willy said, pausing in his ministrations to look up the line of her body to her lust-glazed eyes.
"Yes sir!" she breathed, looking down at him.
"Sir? Hmm…I kinda like that." He mused, before returning to his attack.
Willy's strong white teeth nipped at the exposed flesh while gloved hands pushed the straps of her bra down, exposing her to his greedy eyes. She gasped and arched into him as his hot mouth sucked on one achingly pointed nipple. His teeth played with the hardened nub and she sobbed as the sensation drove her up the long slippery slope of ecstasy. While she was safely distracted, his hand trailed down the soft plane of her stomach to the clasp of her pants, deftly unfastening them before sliding inside to gently trace her outline against her panties.
The slope of arousal suddenly felt more like a roller coaster as she jerked against him, attempting to sit up, to slide away to do anything to escape from the intense sensations rocketing through her.
Willy calmly held her down, moving smoothly from one breast to the other with his mouth making her fall back to the trampoline surface with a cry. He could feel the heat radiating from her, the smooth skin under his lips soft and pliant, the hot warm center under his hand practically begging with the aborted thrusts of her hips as he held her immobile. He could feel her wetness even through the glove. Willy slowly slipped his fingers under the band of her panties to delicately stroke her, nudging her turgid center of pleasure before slipping two fingers inside her molten depths.
She almost bucked him off as she screamed, her orgasm taking her with vicious force. He stroked inside Veronica a few times as the frantic flesh clung and wrapped itself around his fingers. He loved watching her face as she came – the almost pained expression, parted lips and wide bright green eyes staring into his blindly as she tore apart under his touch.
As reason returned to her eyes, he made sure she was watching as he stroked a few more times before removing his damp fingers to slowly suck the tips into his mouth, relishing the flavor of her even as her eyes darkened once again with renewed arousal.
He leaned up to kiss her, her hands finding purchase on his shirt as she returned his kiss with frantic force. Veronica could only gasp, "Need you. Please?"
Not waiting for an answer, she pushed him to roll over so she could rip open his vest and shirt with scarcely contained frustration, sending buttons flying around the room. She slid down his long legs to tug at his belt. Feeling his own arousal rise, he quickly helped her, his clever fingers finding the buttons that held his pants close and releasing them. Her scarred fingers burrowed inside and it was Willy's turn to gasp and arch as she released him from the constrictive clothing and plunged her hot mouth around him.
"Dear God!" he groaned as he felt her tongue caress his engorged flesh. The sight of her wild hair bobbing down around his hips, lips wrapped around him, watching his reactions carefully almost sent him over the edge. She applied a little suction and he found himself bolting upward and pulling her up with urgent need – he wanted to spend himself inside her, not in her mouth.
"Clothes…off…now." He panted, not recognizing his own voice. He pushed her back and pulled at the waist of her pants, drawing them and her panties off and tossing them over his head as he fell upon her.
"Inside…hurry!" she pleaded, grabbing his still clothed hips and yanking him close to rest his manhood against where she needed it the most.
Willy suddenly brought himself up short, pulling back to tease her – wagging one finger in front of her nose as she whined and bucked up in an attempt to draw him inside. "What have we learned from this little lesson?" he asked, eyes dark with need.
"Willy – I need you…" she begged, but he wouldn't relent, "God, you're an arrogant prick."
Entering her a fraction of an inch, he drew back as she tried bucking again, "Flattery will get you nowhere. We won't mess with Mr. Wonka's hat again, will we?"
"Willy…" she growled, then groaning as one hand came down to play with the center of her pleasure.
"You won't mess with the hat again. Right?"
"Yes….anything you say. God…" she writhed against him, the pressure growing too intense for him to control for much longer.
"What's the magic word?" he asked in his deepest voice, allowing himself to slide forward another fraction of an inch, the hot wet heat of her making his sight swim.
"Please!" Veronica screamed.
"Good girl." He said, thrusting home.
Willy let himself go – let go of the rational mind that was too much of a burden at this point. He lost himself to the intense heat, pressure and moisture that clamped itself around his member. The wonderful friction as he slid home again...again…again. Making sure to lock eyes as the rising heat drove through his lower back and from his chest – he screamed as his orgasm shot through him. His muscles locked as he helplessly thrust home again, banging into her with painful intensity. With exquisitely sensitive nerves, he could feel her lock around him again and then she too was screaming her completion, body bucking against his. Weakly, he helped prolong her pleasure with a few irregular thrusts and she moaned high and lost in his ear as she clenched again.
When he regained his senses, they were both still panting. He looked up and was shocked to see tears streaming from her eyes, "You're crying. Did I hurt you?"
"No. I'm fine. Just an emotional overload," she smiled, even as more tears streamed from her eyes, "I feel like I've been pleasantly electrocuted."
Rolling off her he asked, "That's a good thing, right?"
She snuggled up to his side and threw one leg over his, still clad in his pants, "Dear God, yes."
Willy relaxed, enjoying the respite. Relaxed and content with this beautiful woman by his side, he closed his eyes and hummed in happiness.
"So, do you feel better now?" she asked, resting her head on his chest.
"Oddly enough, yes. Who knew?" he smiled, looking up in to the dark tunnel above their heads.
They lay there, recovering their strength for a long time.
"Now that you're better relaxed," she said with a quick wink, "What were you going to say earlier?"
"I'm scared for you and Charlie, but I recognize that this is something you have to do," Willy said at last, tracing small circles on her shoulder. "I know that this is a fear I have to face – losing you two to the world outside. I'll do my best to work it out with Sherman."
"Us too. We love you, don't cut us out of the loop and I'll make sure that we don't do the same to you." She said, hugging him close. "I love that you're willing to put yourself through this kind of hell for us Willy. I love the fact that you're strong enough to face that you are afraid without trying to bluster your way through it."
"With your sterling example for courage, how could I do any less," he said simply.
"No matter what happens, I'm not going to leave you. I've waited my whole life for you, I'll be damned if Victor will drive me from your side. You're mine and I fight for what's mine." Veronica said, leaning up to meet his eyes.
"I love you Veronica Carmichael," Willy said kissing her once more, "You're mine as well. I'll defend you to the death if necessary."
"I prefer if you live thank you very much," she said tartly, sitting up and scrabbling around for her clothing. The bra was still wrapped around her waist, the shirt was retrieved from its crumbled pile on the edge. Where had the pants gone?
Willy finally sat up as she crawled around the edge of the trampoline looking for her lost pants – charmed by the sight as she crawled by. "I think they might have been launched to one of the trucks," he said bashfully.
Willy tucked himself back into his clothing and did his best to restore his appearance – the shirt and the vest were lost causes since most of the buttons were gone.
"I can make some sort of skirt out of packing material, maybe duct tape to keep your shirt together until we can get some new clothes?" Veronica asked with a grin.
"Nah…I can pull off the decedent rock star look until I get back to my room. You on the other hand…"
Willy took off the vest and pulled on his velvet jacket, the hat he just replaced on his head…he was right, it was kind of a decadent rock star look with his pale chest gleaming in the dark colors of his clothes, the sprinkle of dark hair leading down into the waistband of his pants. To her eyes he looked…delicious.
Okay…some black plastic tarp and some silver duct tape…she cut a short length of tarp to wrap around her waist, then used the duct tape for both functional and decorative purposes. Within a few minutes she had a function and fashionable mini-skirt. Slipping the stiletto heels back on she struck a pose, "Ta-da! What do you think?"
With the tee shirt and black miniskirt paired with the heels, Willy had to admit she looked stunning, her legs were mile long and the pale skin shone against the dramatic black of the modified clothes, "Look out world – here she comes. Hands off though, she's mine!"
Arm in arm they strolled out of the packaging room.
--
It was later that afternoon that found Charlie, liberated from his parents for the afternoon, Willy and Veronica freshly showered and clothed, working with L.A. in the hallway by the front entrance.
The Oompa Loompa woman was a harsh task mistress – she prodded and wheedled Veronica into standing straight, walking tall and to practice moving.
Charlie was poked and prodded similarly, although he was used to the pointed reminders since he often heard the same things from his grandparents.
Willy just sat on a stool and smirked at them. For the one demonstration that L.A. had asked for, he had pulled off faultlessly, strolling tall and proud, seeming without a care in the world.
L.A. saved her razor-sharp tongue for Veronica, "For Al-Oha's sake woman! You're a human being not a gorilla, keep the arm swing down. You're not boxing!"
"I can walk you know – I've been doing it for a while." Veronica huffed, rolling her eyes.
"No – you shuffle. I'm getting you to actually stroll, walk, glide or whatever descriptor you want to slap on it. All this needs to be second nature before you get ambushed again. I saw the footage of you on E! last night, the only time you looked good was as you sprinted away." L.A. said unrepentant.
Veronica stopped, "You have footage? Can I see?"
L.A. bent over the ever present laptop and pulled up a file. She double clicked and turned the screen to face everyone.
Veronica watched in stony silence – wincing at how the various cameras flashed in her face. She looked washed out, eyes huge with terror.
L.A. pointed out, "See – the way you move to avoid being accosted? Your whole posture screams "Prey". Paparazzi are pack hunters – if they sense weakness they close in for the kill."
Willy had to agree with the whole animal analogy – when she broke free and sprinted down the street, her meek persona had fallen away and she ran with a certain animal grace – like a gazelle being chased down by jackals.
"Okay – I get what you're aiming for. What about actually facing them and talking on camera?"
"You're not ready for that much yet. I need to get you a makeover first." L.A. said, scribbling rapidly in her notebook. "I'm going to book you with my stylist – he'll take care of your hair and make-up and teach you what you do to maintain it. After that, I'll take you downtown and we'll pick up some good pieces for your wardrobe."
Sensing the dead silence, she turned to face the horrified woman, "What?"
"Hair? Make-up? What am I, a Barbie doll?" Veronica was frozen. This thing was starting to avalanche on her. She shot a pleading look at Willy who only shrugged.
"Barbie only has to look good. You have to move and sound good too," L.A. pushed Veronica into a seat and knelt on the floor facing her. "You are stepping into a large public role. These are the weapons by which you launch your attack. Going into battle unarmed only leads to resounding defeat."
Veronica curled up into herself, she was tired and being picked on constantly was grating on her nerves, "I've had enough for today."
Charlie did his best to emulate his mentor as he strolled a few more times up and down the long length of the entryway, his body was held too stiff though and he was too self conscious. L.A. picked on him a bit more before he too conceded defeat for the day.
"No skin off my nose – it'll give me time to pull together a time table we can work with. Let me know what your professional appointments are going to be…actually you need an assistant. Might I ask one of the tribe to stand in for you in that function?" L.A. asked politely.
Veronica's head whirled – make-over, media training, apartment hunting, assistant?
"Um…," she shot another glance at Willy and read his minuscule nod, "...yes?"
L.A. crossed her arms and bowed, the effect oddly contrary with her sharp appearance, "You got it. Send me a runner and let me know the next time you want to meet." She efficiently gathered her laptop and her notebook and was gone in the blink of an eye.
"Well, I feel like I've been hit by a hurricane. How about you?" Charlie said stretching.
"Yarg," Veronica agreed, slipping off her shoes and rubbing her sore feet.
"L.A. knows her stuff – follow her lead and she'll steer you clear of trouble," Willy said.
"That may be, but…ouch!" Veronica bemoaned, prodding a fresh blister from the shoes.
"Those look pretty painful," Charlie said sympathetically.
"I'm spending tomorrow morning looking at new places to live – that'll buy me a break for a little bit, but tomorrow afternoon we should meet back here," Veronica said, trying to plan her day out loud.
"Charlie and I need to check up on operations and get back to the inventing room, who's going with you to look?" Willy asked.
"I can get L.A. to join me and I'll meet up with Reggie or Spencer….shit! I need to call them back…" Veronica swore, jumping to her feet and hobbling as quickly as her feet would let her.
"Meet you later?" Willy said, trying to conceal his smile at her pained expression.
"Yeah, sure," Veronica grimaced.
"Soak your feet! According to Mum, being beautiful is a pain," Charlie called out helpfully.
Judging from a certain ache in her personal anatomy that made her eyes gleam with memory, the throbbing of her feel and the stress headache building behind her eyes, she must be simply radiating beauty, she thought sarcastically. If supermodels felt like this all the time, no wonder they were notoriously short tempered. If men knew what we did to ourselves for them…
"Man, I feel like a woman," Veronica snarled.