It was interesting to ponder the fact that when Veruca first laid her hands on one of Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets, Charlie was living in a rundown shack with a hole in the roof that exposed his cherub face to the elements for years, but after she exited the mysterious chocolate factory, he was destined to be worth more as Wonka's heir than she was for being her father's heiress. The little brute didn't think much of the Good Boy on the tour of Wonka's factory, but her interest in him did spike once she realized that he was going to inherit billions, simply put, Veruca was raised to believe someone's self-worth was tied to their bank account and so now, Charlie was worth her time. But, despite Charlie's newfound wealth, there was something else that the brat was told from a young age that essentially prevented Veruca from associating herself with her fellow Golden Ticket winner, and that was the fact that she was expected to surround herself with people who came from money and not people who had money but who's mannerisms and culture originated in the lower classes. These arbitrary and hurtful values that Veruca's father drilled into his daughter's impressionable mind at such a young age had resulted in her refusing to associate with anyone who even appeared to be in the same socioeconomic standing as Charlie back in the day, but even now that Charlie had money, the other rule she was taught to follow would seep into her conscious mind from time to time. Watching Charlie navigate the world of the elites was almost like watching animals at the zoo act human, because that's how the brat's father taught her to view those less fortunate as, animals whose lower social standing was the result of a prodigious character flaw rather than the result of a capitalist world structure that benefited certain people, thus helping them and their descendants accrue wealth over generations.

But, if there was one upside to all of this was that Veruca's own experiences out in the world had helped mitigate some of the effects of her father's toxic ideas he implanted him her mind; she was now spending time with the Good Boy, even though he had been born in poverty, and she found it intriguing how he had come to know who these important businesspeople around them were and what they did. From what Veruca could tell, it seemed that little Charlie had bettered himself over the years, he seemed to have found a position in the world of business, and she made her observations known, pointing out, "You seem to know a lot about these guests."

Leaving such an incorrect claim uncorrected made Charlie feel like a fraud, and so he explained to Veruca in an attempt to alleviate the sense of guilt that overcame him, "To be perfectly honest, Veruca, I don't really know much about the people here beyond a generic bio."

Being honest and humble was such a Charlie thing to do, but it was not her style, but what was her style was chatting it up with others, leading the brat to tug on the heir's arm, and ask as she gestured towards the crowd, "Alright, whom are we mingling with first?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked as he froze up, not moving from the spot where he stood despite Veruca tugging his arm to get him to move, which resulted in the little brute having to elaborate on what she wanted him to do.

"Mingling. Interacting. Socializing. It's what you do at these sorts of events," Veruca explained to her inviter, despite Charlie continuing to look at her as if he had no idea what she was talking about, something that only made her have to add more to her statement.

"I know you're not exactly the most outgoing person, but how could you not know that already?" Veruca asked just as frustrated with the Good Boy as she had been in the past.

Unsurprisingly, chit-chatting and joking with strangers were not Charlie's strengths, and because gatherings like these served the purpose of offering a forum where different businesspeople could discuss their various ventures with each other, these events were essentially setting Charlie up for failure. But, as it turned out, Charlie had come up with a reason for why he failed to recognize his guest's wishes as a part of party protocol, to which he elaborated on his routine by explaining, "I mainly just stand in the corner and wait it out until we're called to our seats for dinner."

A look of frustration overcame Veruca's face, although she should've expected Charlie's response knowing what she knew about his personality. Nevertheless, the little brute vented her anger out at her inviter for failing to act as one should at a gathering like this, exclaiming, "You dragged me out to this event, and you weren't even planning on introducing me to all of your business mates!"

"Well, I don't really have business mates, they're more like familiar faces I see every once and a while, they're not even acquaintances."

"So, then who do you spend your free time with?"

"Well, I still have my parents and a grandmother, there's Mr. Wonka, of course. Doña Rosita is another, sort of, I go to her restaurant and she cooks for me. And then, there's...wait...umm...hold on..."

It was almost painful having to watch Charlie realize that he had no friends, but Veruca was not above rubbing that uncomfortable truth in his face, and so she summarized, "In other words, the only people you spend time with are your family, your boss, and a restaurant owner who's indebted to you."

"When you put it that way, it sounds sort of sad," Charlie responded, crawling ever-so slightly back into his shell to avoid the embarrassment of failing at the one thing every socially competent person should be able to do, form friendships throughout life.

However, the heir knew logically he wasn't a failure, he'd grown up to be a respected businessman and he didn't have to sell himself short because of a character flaw, instead, he summoned the courage to publicly accept who he was and turned the tables, emphasizing, "But I've never met a more loyal group of people in my life. Tell me, Veruca, if you had a problem, how many people could you call whom would actually take the time to show up and listen to your problem?"

"Well...that's a tricky one. There's Daddy, and, I mean, I have you, you seem like the kind of person who would come running over if I whistled for you. I wouldn't even have to bring a box of biscuits to get your attention," Veruca half-joked, jabbing her inviter on the side of his awkwardly thin ribcage.

Now, ignoring the fact that he had just been compared to a dog, Charlie merely nodded as he raised the criteria for his initial question, adding, "Alright, who else but your father or me, though? How many friends can you count on?"

"Friends? Friends? Does Alice count?"

"No, she's your servant. An employee doesn't count."

"But your boss does, got it!" The little brute sniped back with some of the most brash sarcasm the Good Boy had heard from her to date.

The heir knew things were bad when Veruca was down to counting someone who only spent time with her because she was being paid to tend to her every whim as a friend. This was not the image Charlie had in his head, surely the little brute must spend her days living life to the fullest while being surrounded by fellow rich brats the entire time, he thought, and he made his confusion known by saying, "Veruca, I don't understand. Don't you have lots of friends? I mean, you're so outgoing."

As it turned out, Veruca's direct personality was not a blessing, as the Good Boy imaged, instead, it was the very issue at the heart of this problem, and after staring down at her toes for a bit, the little brute looked up at her fellow Golden Ticket winner, and confided in him, "This might come as a bit of a surprise to you, Charlie, but I don't have many friends."

While surprising as this revelation sounded, deep down, it all made sense to Charlie, kids aren't exactly known for their patience and he couldn't see any of Veruca's classmates tolerating her brattiness for long, unless they got something out of it. And, even though she had just dragged him through the mud over his lack of friends, Charlie was not going to ostracize her since he honestly was in no place to do so, instead, he chose to take the high road and hoped to bond with his guest on this tidbit they both shared, and so he interjected, "That's fine, there's no shame in that. But out of curiosity, how many friends are we talking about, like three?"

"A little lower," the little brute replied, shaking her head side to side as she did.

"Okay, two?"

"Lower."

"One?" Charlie asked, almost sounding worried at what the response would be.

And as it turned out, his fears were correct, the typically boastful and prideful Veruca, after having stared her own shortcoming straight in the eyes, did what she always did when the real world got too difficult, she ignored it, preferring to literally burry her face in a glass of alcohol, only to mumble out in shame, "Lower."

It seemed that without even trying, Charlie had been able to knock Veruca off of her pedestal, the typically vainglorious brat had now been reduced to wallowing in the cold, hard truth that if she was ever in need, the total number of people she could rely on for help could all be counted on one hand. And, in the end, none of this was shocking at all; her personality was an acquired taste to be sure, and Charlie knew many people couldn't handle it and was certain that most people didn't even try to come to terms with it in the first place. Unfortunately, it seemed that picking at this untended wound only went against what Charlie had set out to do, keep Veruca from drinking too much.

Her lack of friends was not an issue Veruca wanted to face, frustration overcame the little brute at the thought of having to confront this uncomfortable reality, and so she began shaking and stammering as she barked back, "Alright, can we...please stop talking about...friends, right now!"

"Ugh, I need another drink," Veruca blurted out as she pushed Charlie to the side, and she returned to the bar for another drink. If there was a silver lining to this turn of events, it was that Veruca had built up such a tolerance to alcohol due to her excessive drinking over the years that it now took more than a few drinks to completely mess her up, but by the looks of how his plan at controlling her was going, Charlie was going to have to buckle up if he wanted to survive the night unscathed.