When sleep found Rowena again, she dreamed of chocolate. To most normal people, it would have been a wonderful dream, but for her, it was a deceptively sweet manifestation of another nightmare. For some unaccountable reason, she awoke absolutely infuriated. In one form or another, Willy Wonka had finagled his way into her dreams and she knew it. What other reason was there to dream of something she didn't even ever think about?

Soft shafts of sunlight warmed the room, and with quick, jerky motions Rowena tore herself from the bed and strode into the bathroom. She had a new sense of purpose today, a renewal of her determination to get the job done and get it done right. If word ever got back to Geoffrey in the London office, unlikely as it was, she was done for. In her mind, the integrity of her work ethic was being called into question. Her personal and professional lives needed to be kept far from one another, and by heaven, she'd make sure there would be no more slipups today.

Like the rest of her suite, the bathroom was fit for a queen. Standing before a rather lovely gold framed mirror, she examined herself with a critical eye. Miraculously, most of the makeup on her face had survived the night. Without the benefit of any of her own things, she had to make do with whatever she could find. Glancing around, her attention was drawn to an absolutely beautiful gold tub. A quick bath in a tub like that was exactly what she needed. Smiling pleasantly despite her mood, she ran the water until it was almost scalding, then sat idly by while it filled. An assortment of bottles and bars were arranged along the edge beside the wall, and discovering a pretty glass vial of bubble bath, she added the thick red liquid to the running water.

Throwing off the robe she had slept in, she scampered into the tub. The soothing hot water was enough to make her sigh in something close to euphoria, and she indulged in a brief soak. The deliciously crisp scent of apples surrounded her, and for those brief few minutes she felt positively heavenly.

If she had been anywhere else in the world, Rowena would have been tempted to throw caution to the wind for another few minutes and remain where she was. But since she had already been startled by a most untimely visit by Mr. Wonka the night before, she was not taking any chances. Her bath finished, she toweled off and dressed carefully in her outfit from the day before. Everything was as it should be and to her liking, her clothing wrinkle free and delightfully no-nonsense. With the toothbrush and toothpaste she had found the night before, she gladly brushed her teeth vigorously.

There was one last detail to be considered; her hair. The long blonde tresses were next to impossible even in the best light, and after a fitful night they were positively wild. Rowena had been careful to pile it onto her head with a few stray bobby pins from her briefcase before her bath, but it had come undone and gave her the appearance of a wild thing. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, those waves of hers had not always been so bothersome. In days long since past, she'd even enjoyed that the sprightly hair had a mind of its own. Now it was simply intolerable to her.

Worst of all, she was forced to comb through it with her fingers since the hairbrush she had wielded the night before was still in the hallway somewhere, and Rowena would absolutely not risk anyone seeing her before she was ready to be seen. She just managed to pin it into a tolerable French twist of sorts, and at last she was ready to face her final day in factory.

Not a moment too soon, either. A series of rapid knocks on the door alerted her. "Rowena!" Charlie's happy voice accompanied the knocks. She couldn't help a small smile as she hurried to the door, genuinely pleased that it was Charlie who had come to fetch her instead of Mr. Wonka. Truth be told, she was in no hurry to meet up with him. If the previous day was any indication, it would take every ounce of self control she had not to react to his bizarre behavior. Quite simply she couldn't let him provoke anymore strange responses and feelings from her. She opened the door smoothly, smiling down at the boy who stood in the doorway.

"Morning, Rowena!"

"Good morning, Charlie," she returned rather sweetly. Her smile fell away immediately when Mr. Wonka appeared from around the corner and strolled into the room. Evidently, Charlie hadn't come alone as she had supposed.

"Rise and shine, Little Dreamer," he beamed, twirling his cane. Dressed in his full Wonka regalia, the only difference was a plum vest that peeked from beneath his crimson jacket. It was an odd color combination, one that Rowena tried promptly to ignore. What did it matter to her what he wore?

"Shall we begin, Mr. Wonka?" she questioned in a tone that matched her mood. He faltered a bit, whirling to face her and smiling broadly in that childish simplicity of his she was beginning to know so well.

"All business this morning I see," he said with a tip of his hat.

"Naturally," was her crisp reply, going to the foot of the bed to gather her briefcase. "This is a business meeting of sorts, after all." Gliding past Mr. Wonka without so much as a glance, she joined Charlie in the hall. "And how was your night, Charlie?" she asked him, her voice softening. With Mr. Wonka, of course, it was business as usual; but with Charlie, despite being the factory owner's partner and protégé, it was different. He was a boy, and a dear, sweet one at that. On top of it all, she rather liked him, so she rationalized that being friendly with him wasn't a problem.

"My night was great," he assured her, taking her hand as he had done the day before. "Mum was hoping you'd come and have breakfast with us."

"Oh. Well, yes, I suppose we have time. That would be wonderful." She realized that she meant it. All right then, breakfast with the Buckets was harmless; she had to eat, and she found that she looked forward to seeing Charlie's family again. After breakfast, there would be time enough for work.

Mr. Wonka had joined them, a strange look on his face, and for one brief moment Rowena felt a little guilty for ignoring him. "Will you be joining us too, Mr. Wonka?" she asked him as nonchalantly as possible, and was more than a little surprised when that childish grin of his returned in an instant.

"Natch," he replied pleasantly, and without further ado he preceded down the hallway. As Charlie and Rowena followed behind, Charlie asked her plenty of questions about her night in the guest wing. Rowena answered them as politely as possible without hinting at her unorthodox run-in with Willy.

The Chocolate Room was as vibrant as she remembered it, her senses fairly tingling from the electrifying colors and sweet, scintillating smells. They took to the path alongside the river of chocolate, and briefly the rich smell of the churning liquid chocolate came close to tempting her. Her stomach betrayed her and growled quietly. Perhaps she was hungrier than she realized.

"Ready to try something?" Mr. Wonka called from behind her. Rolling her eyes, she casually turned around to face him.

"No thank you, Mr. Wonka. I already told you yesterday, I don't enjoy sweet things." Her explanation had clearly moved Charlie, but Rowena remained terribly uncertain about how Mr. Wonka had taken her reasons for no longer caring for sweets.

"How do you know you don't enjoy them if you don't even try them anymore?" They were back to square one. Rowena placed her hands on her hips, preparing a reply, but Willy continued uninterrupted. "And for that matter, how do you know that you just don't enjoy those chocolates that you used to eat? You haven't even tried my chocolate. And I assure you that there is positively no comparison."

"That's ridiculous, Mr. Wonka," Rowena argued, feeling her annoyance on the rise. "Like I told you already, I just don't enjoy candy and sweets. Whether it's Slugworth's or Wonka's, I don't eat chocolate anymore."

Willy froze, his hand partially raised as if he was going to make a point. His eyes hardened in a way she'd never seen before, and an unnatural chill descended on the pair.

"What did you say?" he ground out, his voice so soft and intense that Rowena felt a trickle of fear run down her spine.

"Slugworth's," she muttered, shaking her head in confusion. "That's the shop we bought our chocolates from." If it was possible, the chocolatier's eyes gleamed even colder. Like an approaching predator he took two slow, deliberate steps up to her, leaning over her until his nose nearly touched her own.

"Well then, that just takes the cake, doesn't it?" he continued, trapping her in his powerful gaze. "Now you have to try something."

"No, I don't," she challenged despite the warning bells going off in her head.

"Uh, yeah, you do."

"Mr. Wonka, you can't make me try your chocolate."

He tilted his head slowly and meaningfully toward the rushing river just beside them, his eyes never leaving hers. "You sure about that, starshine?"

Forgetting her fear, Rowena was filled with fury, and she lifted her chin proudly to meet his gaze with a cold one of her own. "You wouldn't dare," she needled, every inch of her electrified in righteous indignation at his horrible threat.

He laughed shortly, tossing his head back briefly before replying daringly, "Oh, wouldn't I?" Their standoff continued in silence, each one daring the other with unspoken words to try their worst. Neither could be moved, and both felt assured that they had the greater right to be upset.

"Um, Willy?" Charlie's soft voice interrupted, bringing Rowena immediately back to reality. Her eyes broke free from Wonka's challenging stare, and she saw Charlie approach the man and tug gently on his jacket. "What are you doing?"

The boy's perplexed question seemed the key in bringing Wonka around, and blinking several times, he stumbled back awkwardly to face Charlie. "I…don't know, Charlie," was his incredulous reply, as though he had just been awoken from a trance. "But she…she…" he tried to argue when Charlie gave him a powerful look of disappointment, but his words faltered.

Rowena found that she was perfectly capable of speech, and reaching a hand out to Charlie, she announced, "Let's hurry along, Charlie. We mustn't keep your mother waiting." With an indignant toss of her head, she left with Charlie leading the way, fighting to contain her lingering anger. Abandoned to his own devices, Willy seemed to recover quickly and sauntered along behind them.

Crossing the bridge with Charlie, Rowena was still fairly seething. Sensing this, Charlie looked up at her with a kind look in his eyes. "Don't be mad at Willy, Rowena," he pleaded softly. "He was just angry because you mentioned…Slugworth." He whispered the name, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the meandering Willy didn't overhear.

"But I don't understand why that would make him so angry," she whispered in return.

"Well, Slugworth is one of the reasons he had to shut down his factory a few years ago. He kept stealing his recipes and secrets and almost put Willy out of business." Rowena pondered this for a moment. For a man who loved chocolate as much as Willy Wonka, losing the factory would be like losing his life's work. Reluctantly beginning to understand, she sighed shakily, feeling some of her anger slip away.

"I didn't know that, Charlie. That's…well, that's rather despicable of Slugworth, isn't it? I guess it's a good thing I don't fancy his chocolates anymore." Charlie squeezed her hand, his smile growing.

"That's all right, Rowena. You couldn't have known. Willy knows that, too." And for whatever inexplicable reason, that made her feel much better.

They had reached the rickety little house, and Charlie raced in through the door with Rowena. "Mum, we're here!" he announced, leaving Rowena and hurrying into the kitchen. She could feel Mr. Wonka entering behind, sensing him as he stood beside her. He said nothing, merely standing with his gloved hands resting on top of his cane.

Rowena could feel an apology welling up inside her, and with all her might she fought against it. Why should she apologize? She hadn't done anything wrong, of course. Why should she feel any regret about their heated argument? But her guilt would not be ignored, and in a whirl of words she blurted out, "I'm sorry if I upset you by mentioning Slug—I mean, that other person."

Willy said nothing, staring down at her with a look of perplexity. The intensity was there, and she knew he was carefully analyzing something, though she still had no idea what that could be. Mrs. Bucket came out from the kitchen, wreathed in smiles. "Come in, Rowena, Willy. Make yourselves comfortable at the table. Breakfast will be ready in just a minute."

Grateful for the brief escape, Rowena moved for the table, smiling at Charlie's grandparents who were already seated there. She was very much aware of Willy settling into the seat beside her, and she scooted as far in her chair as she was able to the other side.

"I would never have thrown you into the river." Mr. Wonka's words were for her ears only. Her breath caught in her chest. Slowly she eased herself back to the center of the chair, lacing her fingers together and placing them on the table.

"I know you wouldn't have," she responded in the same secretive tone. Against all odds, she knew it was true. Their disagreement appeared to be over, at least until Willy added, "Even if I wanted to."

She wanted to be angry, truly she did, but her emotions rebelled and reversed themselves. Rowena found herself laughing again. "How very assuring," she added between laughs, but stopped short. All eyes were on her, each of the table's elderly occupants trying to divulge exactly what had happened to send her laughing. Embarrassed and blushing, she cleared her throat and excused herself, seeking in the kitchen with Charlie and Mrs. Bucket. She could feel Willy's eyes following her as she hurried away.

"Come back to the battlefront, have you?" Mrs. Bucket quipped when Rowena joined her and her son.

"I was hoping I could help," she replied with an unsure smile.

"Well, how do you feel about eggs?"

Relief filled her and her smile deepened. "Eggs! Of course! I do know a thing or two about eggs, I'm happy to say."

"Wonderful," Mrs. Bucket called over her shoulder, hurrying to the stove where sizzling bacon was ready to be turned over. "Then I would love your help!"

Not long after Charlie wandered back to the table, sitting to the left of Rowena's empty chair. "I don't know why cooking is so much fun to them," he pondered honestly, furrowing his brow. A burst of laughter echoed from the kitchen.

"Well, Charlie," Willy responded slowly, his gaze fixed unerringly in the kitchen's direction. "Women are strange creatures. Just when you think you understand them, they go and do something totally unexpected. You think you've got it all figured out, and wham-o! By the next day, you realize you're one-hundred-percent-completely-wrong."

Charlie looked at him curiously, perplexed by Willy's strangely glowing eyes. "Willy, are you talking about Rowena?" he asked candidly, and Willy gave a little jump.

"Rowena? What…why…no! I'm talking about strange women and their mysterious behavior. What does that have to do with Rowena?"

It was Grandpa Joe who chuckled at Willy's response, watching him from across the table with a wise old smile. "And what, may I ask, is so funny?" Willy demanded lightly.

"Willy, my boy, when a pretty girl is on your mind there's nothing to be ashamed of. She's intelligent and interesting and even perhaps a bit secretive, that much I can see. And if that means you like her, in whatever way that may be, then there's nothing wrong with that. It's only natural."

"Nonsense," Willy scoffed, straightening his jacket. "Just because she's intelligent and interesting and very secretive doesn't make me think of her. Just because she's pretty and has a wonderful laugh and smells like apples this morning and I want her to try my chocolate because I know she'll just love it doesn't mean a thing." His hand had punctuated the air during his rushed response, and now it was frozen there, hovering in midair as realization dawned on him.

"Oh. I like her, don't I," he mumbled, letting his hand slowly fall.

Charlie laughed, shaking his head. "Of course you like her, Willy! I like her, too. Everyone does."

"Charlie," Grandpa Joe interrupted with a sly smile. "I think what Willy means is--"

"How 'bout a little more shh over there, Grandpa Joe, 'kay? Thanks." Willy had been quick to cut him off, glancing a little worriedly in Charlie's direction. Charlie didn't seem to catch on, shrugging his shoulders and sitting back in his chair.

"Well, I like her, and I'm sad she has to go today," he murmured sincerely.

Willy Wonka looked on to the kitchen and said nothing.