Veruca felt nothing for most of the night as she was so intoxicated she could not even move around on her own, but as time passed she began to regain more and more of her sensations, yet that was not exactly the best thing for her. As the sun rose over London, its rays made their way through the windows of Veruca's bedroom and bounced off her full cheeks. The light did not bother Veruca since she was so out of it, but, like clockwork, when the clock struck 9 AM, the brat began to wake up. While most of the city woke up around 6 or 7 AM, Veruca had a habit of waking up halfway through the morning, in part because she had spent the previous night hitting her own bar, but mostly because her schedule was cleared most of the time as she had no reason to wake up early. Veruca was so privileged that she did not need to earn a living because of how wealthy her family was, but since she had no real job to go to, this resulted in her becoming even more lazy than she already was and the brat now woke up much later than someone her age should be getting up. However, considering the excessive drinking she engaged in the previous night, Veruca found herself with a case of the rare drunkover, partially hungover yet there was still plenty of alcohol coursing through her veins that she was still technically drunk. And all of this made the process of waking up even more perilous for Veruca, perilous but not new to her.
Now that the little brute was awake, she pushed herself up to a halfway sitting position and stared at the entrance to her walk-in closet, observing its mere existence, and then let out a simple but cryptic message, "Eh, still here."
Without elaborating on her comment, the crusty-eyed and messy-haired Veruca turned her attention towards the doorway leading out to the rest of the penthouse, and screamed, "Alice, bring me a cup of coconut water, now!"
"Oh, lord, my head," she whispered to herself as she rubbed the tips of the fingers of her right hand on her right temple, attempting to ease the pain inside her head and wishing she had not screamed, yet deep down aware that voice volume regulation was a skill she lacked.
And while the brat suffered the physical consequences of excessive drinking, a quaint voice replied from the other side of the door, "Coming Miss Veruca."
Alice, a quaint, red-headed 18-year-old and Veruca's domestic servant, had picked up on Veruca's daily routine after having worked for her for months now, and now she made sure to have her patron's hangover cures ready at a moments notice, which she delivered as she walked into the bedroom with a glass, and said, "Here is your cuppa coconut water, Miss Veruca. And I have your dressing gown waiting for you in the bathroom if you wish to shower now."
As usual, Veruca did not say thank you to Alice and instead proceeded to grab the glass out from her servant's hand and began drinking the coconut water without saying a word to her. But Alice did not let this disrespect stand in the way of her work, she instead stood by her patron to ask her a question about something strange that was on her mind ever since she first set foot in Veruca's bedroom that morning, and carefully asked, "Also, should I prepare something for your...friend?"
"Friend?" Veruca asked confused as she had no idea who Alice was talking about, that was until she looked down at her waist.
Even though Charlie tried to stay as far away from Veruca as possible while he slept in the same bed as her, he somehow found himself spooning with the little brute in the morning. Despite being behind Veruca, the slot for the big spoon, Charlie found himself in fetal position under Veruca's left arm, his head nestled under it and his left arm wrapped around her waist. He got a good-night's sleep next to her, but it unfortunately came to an end when he was awakened by Veruca's loud scream directed at her servant. And once Veruca was made aware of someone else's presence in her bed both her and Charlie's eyes locked, hers focused and irritated while Charlie's expressed embarrassment and timidity. He quickly let go of Veruca's waist and sat up straight, but her large blue eyes never stopped following him, nor did they stop projecting anger towards him.
"Oh, bloody hell, did we...," Veruca screamed in anger before Charlie cut her off with a frightened expression on his face and he pulled back the bed sheets, showing that both of them still had their clothes on.
While this seemed to quell the anger Veruca had concerning the possibility that she might have done something she would have regretted the night prior, the irritation caused by Charlie's presence did not vanish all together, leading her to ask, "I think I recognize you. Who are you?"
"You don't remember? I'm Charlie, Charlie Bucket, the last Golden Ticket winner, from Wonka's factory," he replied, disappointed but not surprised that Veruca didn't remember the heartfelt conversation about the past they had at the bar.
But knowing how negatively Veruca felt about Wonka's factory, it came as no surprise to Charlie that after telling her where she recognized him from, she asked as if dreading to learn what she did the night prior, "Oh, God, why did I go back to Wonka's?"
"No, we met at a pub, Fenston's, surely you must remember," Charlie replied, attempting to clear up any discrepancies Veruca had and figure out just how much she remembered from the night before.
As she ran her fingers through the tangled mess that was her uncombed, curled brown hair, Veruca shut her eyes so as to not have to look at Charlie, and responded, "All I can recall was ordering a Gimlet, that's the last coherent part of the night that I remember."
Surprisingly, Veruca did turn to look at Charlie sitting next to her, and after sizing him up, she commented, "You know, you're the first bloke I ever picked up at a pub that was still here the morning after. So, tell me, what are you still doing here?"
"You were off your trolley last night, I couldn't possibly have left you by yourself," Charlie answered honestly, something that did not sit right with Veruca.
"That doesn't answer my question," she responded bluntly, implying a demand for clarification in her tone.
"You were throwing up so much last night, choking on your own vomit, you're lucky I stayed. That is why there is a bucket on the side of your bed," Charlie elaborated, pointing towards the bucket on the floor as he did.
"So Bucket fetched me a bucket," Veruca responded, cracking a joke to ease the tension since she was confused as the thought of someone caring for someone else without expecting anything in return seemed so alien to her.
Sensing the uncomfortable vibe in the room, Charlie attempted to change the conversation, asking Veruca, "What time is it?"
"It's four past nine, sir," Alice responded after staring down at the small watch on her wrist.
The revelation that Alice had been present throughout the entire conversation she had with Charlie frustrated Veruca, causing her to lash out, "You're still here?! Go!"
"Of course, Miss Veruca," Alice replied with a hint of fear in her voice as she bowed and left the room, despite the fact the only reason she remained was because Veruca had not responded to her original question if whether or not she should also bring Charlie something.
After hearing the time, Charlie completely ignored everything Veruca told Alice, he instead realized he had his own watch on and checked to confirm the time, to which he responded rather frightened, "Four past nine? Oh my, I'm late for work!"
"Oh boy, it's going to take over half an hour to get back to the factory by car, so I'll have to take the...," Charlie cried frantically as he put on his suit jacket and grabbed the tie he left resting on the chair he spent a large portion of the night sitting on before lying down and sleeping next to The Bad Nut.
As he struggled to button his dress shirt and flatten out the wrinkles since he would not have the time to stop at home and change, Charlie spoke without making eye contact with Veruca, who thought she might as well be watching a circus monkey trying to ride a unicycle, and said, "Listen Veruca, I really think we should meet up again sometime soon and reminisce on the good old days. I'm available tomorrow, that is if you'd like my company."
Such a proposition was new ground for the Good Boy since he had never asked a girl to spend some time with him after work, then again, he had never had a girl he could ask to spend time with before, but little did they both know that Veruca's decision would end up changing their lives forever.