A/N: Finally got a chance to sit down and type out what I have written! I think this chapter will please everyone. Please review! Tell me what you think. And if anyone wants to do that with a visual (AKA a fanart) please do!
peace, love and lipgloss,
Mlle.Fox
"She doesn't like chocolate Charlie!" Willy exclaimed as if the very thought was unthinkable, which in his case, it was. "How can I live in the same factory with somebody who doesn't like chocolate?" Willy pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat slumped in his desk chair.
"Not everyone likes chocolate Willy. And you said she did like other candy right?" Charlie asked sitting on the edge of Willy's desk.
"Yeah...I guess so..." Willy admitted reluctantly.
"I'm sorry...What was that? Mumbler?" Charlie asked with a hand to his ear.
"Charlie! How can I expect her to get the whole Wonka factory experience if she doesn't like chocolate?" asked Willy.
"Considering we're about to completely renovate the factory and change everything, I shouldn't think it would matter much." Charlie pointed out folding his arms over his chest. Willy slapped his desk,
"You're right! We're about to change all the equipment and rooms anyway...So the old wonder of the factory won't matter anymore! I'll simply have to grin and bear her."
"Don't you mean...Grin and bear it?" Charlie asked.
"No." Willy said. Charlie sighed,
"Well...you can start tonight at supper."
Willy's smile faded,
"Oh yeah...Can't we just order her a pizza and let her eat in her room?"
"You know my mother. What do you think?" Charlie asked with a smirk.
"What time does she want me there?" Willy asked with a sigh.
"Promptly at seven. As always." Charlie said walking out of the office with his hands in his pockets.
"Charlie..." Willy stopped Charlie from walking out the door. Charlie waited patiently as Willy continued, "You're way too mature to be sixteen."
"Fifteen years, nine months and four days to be precise." Charlie smiled.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
"Do you think he'll let me stay Kara?" I asked the older woman.
"Oh sure...He let Grandpa George stay didn't he? He thinks the whole factory is silly." Kara remarked with a smile tugging up her lips. Laying back with his eyes closed, Grandpa George commented,
"I'm old and crippled not deaf!"
"I like grapes!" Grandma Georgina proclaimed.
"Point being, Willy is...of all things...sensible..." Kara said as Grandpa George lifted his head in protest, "Despite what Grandpa George says!" Kara added cutting him off at the pass.
"I don't know...After breakfast this morning I'm rather inclined to believe the opposite right alongside George here." I told Kara taking the stacks of plates from her.
"Knew I liked her." Grandpa George said. I smiled and set the table for a few moments, when Grandpa Joe came in wearing a purple vest.
"Evening Buckets! And Miss Freddy!" he said closing the door.
"How was work today dear?" Grandma Josephine asked. Her husband leaned in for a peck on her lips and said,
"The shop is a friendly place once more!"
"Grandpa Joe is a tour guide at the original candy shop on Cherry Lane." Josephine explained with pride.
"You know, I use to work there twenty years ago." Grandpa Joe said unbuttoning his vest.
"Really?" Mr. Wonka seems so young." I asked.
"He is young. He started his company when he was fifteen." Grandpa Joe said taking down come glasses.
"What else do you know about him Grandpa Joe?" I asked switching my recorder on. Finally! A break! A lead! Something! Anything better than the population of Guam!
"Well...you know how he dresses?" Grandpa Joe asked. Okay little random, but I prayed it was leading somewhere as I nodded and said,
"Like a Goth ringmaster shopping at Hot Topic? What about it?"
"He didn't always dress that way." Joe said.
"Well he must have worn diapers once..." I said. Grandpa Joe laughed,
"Oh no...what I mean is, when he started out, he dressed in an ordinary way like the rest of us. White oxford shirt, gray slacks. When nobody wanted to take him seriously as a candy maker, he decided to go out and buy himself a proper suit. Well he went to Ferguson's Clothes Emporium on Brandberry Street. That's a gently used clothing store. There wasn't much to choose from. All he could afford at the time, was a pair of black slacks, a purple shirt, a black vest and a maroon velvet tailcoat nobody wanted. But without a top hat and cane, it didn't look right. So Willy found the top hat and cane in an old magician's trunk. People thought he looked like a person who made candy for a living, so they began to buy it all up. Soon the candy could start selling itself, but Willy kept the look. It suits him, wouldn't you agree?" said Grandpa Joe finishing his story.
"It does...in a weird way..." I admitted with a smile as I turned off my tape recorder. I made a note to myself to talk to Grandpa Joe more often in the next three months.
"Evening Buckets!" Sam said entering the house.
"Good evening!" we all chorused. I was almost expecting John Boy Walton to come down the stairs.
"Good day at the toothpaste factory dear?" Kara asked giving him a kiss.
"Oh always...but you know it's funny. Tom says they made this years quota already." Sam said sitting down a moment.
"Well that's good right?" asked Kara.
"Oh yeah but...Tom asked me if it had anything to do with Mr. Wonka shipping out his latest shipment of Wonka bars." Sam said.
"Oh that's silly. Willy has sent out plenty of candy before and toothpaste sales weren't up." Grandma Josephine said taking up her knitting.
"You know my Internet friend on-line?" Grandpa George spoke up. "He thinks Wonka is a shareholder in the toothpaste factory!"
"Oh Pop! That's conspiracy theory talking!" Sam said.
"Mr. Wonka is just a good candyman." Grandpa Joe said.
"Right!" Grandma Georgina said.
"Do you even know what we're talking about?" George asked her. Grandma Georgina looked at him blankly,
"Dragonflies?"
I had to laugh softly to myself for a moment. The Bucket family reminded me of my family back home. While me and Jack went up to New York to pursue our careers, the Jones clan originates from Lexington Kentucky. Our father raises horses for racing with my uncle, Paul Riker and his son Paul Junior. Those three are the biggest rednecks and good ol' boys you've ever met. To them, cow tipping should be an Olympic event. Then there's my Aunt Mixon or Mixy as we all call her. If you looked up scatterbrained and best cook in the world, you'd find her picture. The matriarch of the family is Grandma Riker. A grand old Southern lady, class through and through, she still wears gloves and a hat everywhere she goes. I wish I could be more like her. But I'm not what you'd call, 'genteel'. Grandma Riker says it comes with age. I say fooey.
Speaking of fooey, in came Willy Wonka and Charlie.
"Evening Buckets! And Freddy!" Charlie greeted the room.
"Good evening Charlie! Good evening Willy!" the Bucket family said.
"Do you always greet each other like the Cleaver family?" I asked.
"Annoying isn't it?" Grandpa George said.
"Pop!" warned Sam.
"Doesn't your family have any quirks, Miss Jones? Idiosyncrasies? Customs? Rituals? Religious sacrifices?" Willy asked taking his top hat off, the first time letting me see he had reddish brown hair cut into thick layers that fell into his eyes. For some reason, I had to shake the thought of running my fingers through his hair out of my head as I replied,
"If you mean little stuff that looks weird to others, heck yeah! I don't think you're a real family without them!"
"Oh that's true. When I was a girl, my mother always whistled to greet my father. He called her his little songbird!" Grandma Josephine laughed. Wonka tapped his fingers on the table.
"Yeah that's cute...So Miss Jones! How long have you hated chocolate?" Willy asked me with that plastic grin of his. Everyone paused to look at me in shock, while Charlie slapped Willy upside the head.
"OW!" cried Willy rubbing the back of his head. I cleared my throat. It was just a little while lie. It was a good safe way to stay away from that which would ruin me. So why did I feel like the scum of the Earth by lying to these nice people? I ignored that annoying little voice inside me looking Mr. Wonka right in the eye,
"I don't hate chocolate. I just don't care for it. That's all."
"So...you're saying you could be convinced to like chocolate?" Willy asked.
"I didn't say that!" I said forcing a smile of my own.
"But if I were to say...find a type of chocolate that you might like...Would you change your mind then?" He asked. Uh oh. Willy looked like he had a plan brewing in those gorgeous amethyst eyes of his. Wait...Did I just think he eyes were gorgeous? Never mind.
"I can't say." I said with a shrug.
"Okie dokie then." he said clamming up. So did that mean he was dropping it all together or dropping it for now? Oy this wasn't good. Breaking the silence, Kara said to Sam,
"So...Sam dear...Why don't you tell Willy what Tom told you? "
The talk turned to other things. Charlie's school, candy ideas, Grandpa George's adventures on line, and Grandma Josephine's new scarf. We talked about everything but every time I tried to ask Wonka something about himself or his past, he'd give off some random fact like the weight of a elephant's foot, the speed of a hummingbird, or how many licks it does take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop,
Finally, after dessert (for everyone but me) Mr. Wonka and I walked out of the Bucket House together in an awkward silence.
"Goodnight Miss James." Wonka said bringing his cane to rest on his shoulder and tucking a hand into his slacks.
"Wait Mr. Wonka! What about the interview? The tour? What time should I come to your office in the morning?" I asked.
"I don't know." Willy said with a shrug.
"Okay...that's it. Mr. Wonka I say this with all professionalism and respect. You are GOING to meet me at my door bright and early in the morning at eight to escort me to breakfast yourself! YOU ARE going to show me around your factory and answer my questions like I need them answered. IS THAT CLEAR?" I said with a dangerous twitch to my eye. He looked at me blankly before saying,
"You have a cute nose."
"What?" I said confused.
"When you get all mad like that it gets all...schrunchilly...It becomes you." he said and to my genuine surprise, he gave me a real smile. I felt my stomach flip flop. It was a nice smile. Dang it. Lord help me...it was a really nice smile!
"Thank you..." I said reluctantly.
"Goodnight Miss James." Willy said before turning and whistling off.
"Oy vey..." I groaned. It was bad enough I had to diet in a chocolate factory. Now I had to do it while fighting off that flip flop of my stomach while he gave me great smiles like that one. Again, oy vey.