Disclaimer, only the OCs are mine
Charlie had managed to avoid talking about Eliza for most the weekend, however willy tried to slide the question in during brainstorming sessions. However Charlie always found a way to get around it. as Sunday evening rolled around however, at dinner, willy finally put the question on the dinner table.
"her name is Eliza Tripp." Charlie finally admitted to willy.
"oh, I have a bridge game with her mother and some friends tonight." Mrs. Bucket said.
"people still play bridge?" Grampa George asked.
"yes pops, people still play bridge, and cribbage, and gin." Mr. Bucket said
"his memory must be going, this is like, the third time he's asked that in three months when she announces she's off to her bridge game." Willy said.
"London bridge?" Grandma Georgina asked.
"well, Eliza Tripp is a nice girl, I've seen her walking around town with her father on several occasions." Mrs. Bucket said.
"he used to be my manager at the toothpaste factory, but now that I have my own department, we barely see each other, sometimes in the breakroom." Mr. Bucket said.
"she had been at an appointment with Willy's father earlier Friday." Charlie said.
"that explains why he was late." Willy said.
"he didn't tell you?" Charlie asked finally starting to eat his dinner.
"I was too busy at the time to ask." Willy said beginning to eat as well.
"so, what about the exchange students?" Mr. bucket asked picking up the flyer that Charlie had given them.
"it's incredibly sudden and no one knows anything about them." Charlie said.
"perhaps they didn't even know they were in an exchange program till the last minute?" grandpa joe suggested.
"capital point dad." Mrs. Bucket said.
"well, we'll save the rest of this conversation for after dinner, it's getting cold." Grampa joe said poking at his food which he hadn't touched yet
However, on the other side of town, an early dinner was just being finished, Eliza had set the journals she intended to bring for the exchange students inside her bag so she wouldn't forget them.
"Eliza, could you come in here please?" Mr. Tripp called.
Eliza sighed and walked into her father's office, he was examining a rock he had picked up a few months previous under a magnifying glass.
"You wanted something?" she asked.
"answers, you said you'd tell me, why you wanted to stay on that end of town, later, later can be now." He said.
Eliza sighed and walked over to her father's desk, pulling over a chair and picking up one of the other rocks.
"I wanted to talk to Charlie bucket." She said.
"isn't he that boy from the chocolate factory?" Mr. Tripp asked.
"yes dad, I wanted to know what he thought about the exchange students we're getting tomorrow, I mean, don't you think it's a bit odd that this was announced so suddenly?" Eliza asked.
"well, yes, but stranger things have happened here, I mean, we have a chocolate factory." He said.
"I guess that's fair, but dad, we lost no one in our class, so we're getting two new students and we have no idea who they exchanged with." Eliza said.
"well, that is rather strange, I guess, but this will be an interesting experience I'm sure" Mr. Tripp said.
"I guess so." Eliza said.
Mr. Tripp smiled and dismissed her. setting the rock down she got up and left the office, heading upstairs just as the doorbell rang. She never liked it when her mother was the hostess of their groups bridge game. Mainly because one of the members was an old woman who always compared Eliza to her grandchildren and always tried to get to listen to stories of her own childhood. When she got to her room, she plopped down on her bed and sighed. She couldn't wait to meet the exchange students tomorrow.
Back at the factory though, Charlie was sitting in the ice cream snow room, he had made himself a small sundae of chocolate ice cream and topped it with some melted chocolate from the chocolate river. Once he was done he went to look for Willy, who he found sitting at a rather out of place desk, writing something down on a piece of lavender colored and scented paper.
"what do you think of thawing the fudge river that used to run through here?" He asked curiously.
"is there a safe way to do that?" Charlie asked curiously
"well placed exploding candies?" Willy suggested.
"let's save that for last, last time we tried with a well-placed exploding candy we ended up with a deep crevasse in fudge mountain and an avalanche that took 6 months to clean." Charlie said walking around willy's desk and taking a spoon from the top drawer.
"well, we can probably spare two or three torches, from the fudge mine." He said.
"that's a little bit better, I think." Charlie said starting on his sundae.
"well, I'll see to that in the morning, have you got the candy you planned to put in the welcome baskets yet? Or do we still need to arrange that as well?" He asked.
"no, I got it already, you know, I'm a little anxious, I can't wait to meet the new students tomorrow." Charlie said.
"I'm sure it will be, interesting, yes, that's a good word for it." willy said.
"interesting? Yes, I guess that is the word." Charlie said.
"so, are you going to see that girl again tomorrow?" willy asked quickly changing the subject.