AU: What my reviews lack in quantity they more than make up for in quality. My sincere appreciation to those of you that have reviewed. I love how thoughtful you are and I am so grateful for your honesty. I love this story and I want to see it through to the end, and all of your lovely reviews keep me on the path to accomplishing that. So, I guess what I'm saying is...thank you!
Breakfast ended all too soon. The food had been delicious, the conversation lively, and best of all, Rowena had managed not to say anything about her personal life. Progress, indeed. Yet she couldn't help but notice strange looks directed her way from several members of the table's occupants. Mrs. Bucket was cheerful and friendly as always, but once they had settled at the table, she had been careful in her words. And Grandpa Joe had watched her very keenly throughout the meal, a strangely satisfied smile on his lips. Stranger still, Mr. Wonka had sat silent through the meal, focusing on his plate full of fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and perfectly cooked hash browns. There had been no little arguments, no needling comments, not even one of his strange looks in her direction.
Come to think of it, it was all a little too strange. Rowena was walking alongside Charlie as the two followed Mr. Wonka's lead away from the comfortable Bucket home. Even now the chocolatier said nothing to her, walking quickly ahead and leaving the other two to scramble behind him. In her black pumps, she was finding the trek through the candied field particularly uneasy, but she was more than determined to keep her peace. The tour was beginning now; she had only to complete it and then she could be on her way, back to her London flat and her paperwork and her perfectly organized life.
"So, Charlie, what do you think?" Willy had stopped suddenly, whirling around to address his young protégé. Just like that, he seemed to be himself again, though there was something new sparkling in his eyes. If Rowena wasn't mistaken, it looked almost like he'd come to a decision over something, whatever that could be. "Should we start our little tour by land, by sea, or in the air?" Charlie seemed to understand his cryptic words perfectly.
"Why don't we ask Rowena?" he suggested, angling to face her. "If you could choose between a boat, a glass elevator, and regular old halls and stairs, which one would you choose?" There it was again, another mention of a glass elevator. Rowena was entirely intrigued by such a notion, but she was hesitant. Willy's gaze finally fell on her, and its intensity seemed greater than it had ever been before. She knew that her answer, for reasons inexplicable to her, would be weighed carefully. To what end, well, she couldn't even begin to imagine.
"I would say…a glass elevator." Charlie looked a little surprised at her answer, but Mr. Wonka…well, he looked so pleased.
"Excellent choice," he resounded, turning back around and striding away.
"Exactly what is a glass elevator?" Rowena asked Charlie as they hurried after him.
"Just what it sounds like," Charlie laughed. "It's an elevator made of glass, and it can take us anywhere in the factory. In fact, it could take us anywhere at all!"
"Anywhere?" Rowena could hardly believe such a thing was possible.
"Anywhere!" Willy called over his shoulder, his hearing apparently sharpened for the moment. "Sideways, longways, slantways, you name it! Now, the only trick is finding where I left the darn thing…" Thwack! Willy collided with a nearly invisible wall, and stumbling backwards he called out cheerfully, "Found it!"
Pushing a button that Rowena couldn't even see, Willy angled his head to smile at her excitedly. To her great annoyance, her heart gave a little leap. That was something she absolutely would not tolerate, and especially when she couldn't even understand why her heart would betray her so. There were no feelings to be considered, nothing to be excited about. This was business, for heaven's sake, business!
Doing her best to ignore him, she stood in awe of the large rectangular contraption that she had only just noticed. Made entirely of glass as promised, she hadn't even seen it standing right there in the open and before her very eyes. On top of the strange device was the only truly conspicuous part, a jumble of silver machinery that she supposed propelled the odd thing.
Good heavens, it really was a glass elevator, sitting right in the middle of the meadow. "Everybody in!" Willy chirped, gesturing chivalrously for the other two to enter the elevator. Charlie pulled Rowena in with him and Willy followed in after them.
Rowena could feel trepidation eating away at her, and alarm bells were clanging loudly in her head. This was not like any other tour she had ever been on, and she had no idea what to expect. She was inside an elevator made completely of glass, and if Mr. Wonka was to be believed, it was about to explode into the air in any direction it could whiz. There were no cables connected to it, no shaft for it to glide through. Anything could happen, and there was nothing she could do about it, aside from fretting silently.
"Where to?" Willy's solemn voice interrupted her thoughts. His gloved hand gestured to what appeared to be hundreds of neatly rowed buttons lining the walls, each one labeled with tiny capital letters. The letters were all a jumble to her frantic mind, and without bothering to read anything she simply pointed to one. "Ah, Licorice Jungle. Good choice. Hang on, then, 'cause here we go!"
Hang on? Rowena glanced around her for anything to hold on to, but before she knew what was happening, Mr. Wonka had punched the button and they were in flight. The elevator soared up into the air with a slowly, smoothly gathered speed, jarred to a stop, and then whizzed in a new direction…a very horizontal direction. She struggled to keep her footing, feeling rather envious that Mr. Wonka seemed to have no trouble keeping his balance. He looked perfectly at ease, smiling at her strangely from the corner he stood in. At least he was a safe distance away from him and she didn't need to worry about the odd prickling sensation she felt when he was too close to her. Charlie looked perfectly happy as well, squeezing her hand and doing what he could to help her stay on her feet.
They were moving so fast, Rowena couldn't even tell which way they were going. They had somehow flown away from the Chocolate Room and into what she could only guess was a dark tunnel. They soared for a few moments more through the unending darkness when quite suddenly and without any warning, the elevator plummeted.
There was a sharp intake of breath by every person in the elevator. Charlie whooped, Willy smiled, and Rowena…began to laugh.
Her fear dissipated. She felt fifteen years old again, free as a bird and without a care in the world. And before she could stop herself, her thoughts flew to Fitz; her brother would have adored this. He would have stood beside her, smiling impishly and laughing right along with her, just as carefree as she felt now.
The elevator had stopped free-falling and was still again. Rowena's laughter had faded away but her smile remained. She could not have known how natural and lovely that smile of hers was, reflecting true enjoyment from the very core of her being. Willy and Charlie certainly seemed to notice, each one of them smiling back at her in ill-hidden surprise.
Rowena was unaware of their attention. Her body remained firmly rooted where it was but her mind was far away. For the first time in so long she had willingly thought about her brother, and most extraordinary of all…it hadn't hurt. There hadn't been that heart tearing twist of pain, that deep feeling of remorse that threatened to overcome her. How had it happened? More than that, why had it happened here and now, of all places and times?
"Rowena?"
"She might be having a flashback, Charlie. Best give her a minute—I know a thing or two about flashbacks."
"I don't think she's having a flashback. I think she's just…thinking."
Slowly Rowena's mind returned to her body. She blinked, took a deep breath, and glanced between Charlie and Willy who were both looking a little concerned. Concerned for her.
"No, I wasn't having a flashback, Willy. I'm sorry if I worried you." Startled, Willy drew back, pressing his back into the elevator wall behind him. His jaw dropped a bit like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words, and his deep blue eyes widened. It occurred to Rowena at that moment that his eyes weren't actually blue, but rather a stunning shade of exotic violet. Like his perfect hands hidden beneath those purple gloves of his, his eyes struck her as being the most beautiful and unique of their kind she'd ever seen.
She started a bit, wondering what she'd done to shock him. And then it struck her; she'd broken the first cardinal rule of any business relationship. Without realizing it, Rowena had called him by first name. It was one thing when a client offered her to address them by their God given name, but this was another matter entirely. Geoffrey and the rest of her superiors had been adamant on the subject. In their staunch opinions, her little blunder was enough to lose a potential client, and a very powerful and lucrative one, at that.
"Oh, Mr. Wonka, I…" She couldn't even begin. What was becoming of her? "I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to--"
Mr. Wonka jerked a bit, apparently coming back to his senses. "Willy will do just fine, Rowena. In fact, I think I prefer it infinitely to that stuffy Mr. Wonka business," he told her quietly, a smile the likes of which she had never seen teasing the corners of his mouth. It was mesmerizing, even oddly breathtaking if she was being honest with herself. Of course, the strict business nature was creeping back over her, and therefore she had very little time to be honest with herself. Nodding jerkily, she tore her eyes away from his, smiling awkwardly down at Charlie in a vain attempt to distract herself.
"I was just thinking about something, Charlie. I didn't mean to startle you."
"What were you thinking about?" His question was so candid, so sincere. She faltered, scrambling to come up with an explanation without approaching the truth. It wouldn't do. The little boy before her possessed an ageless wisdom, perfect in its innocence. Skirting the issue with him simply wouldn't work, and besides that, she didn't really want to lie to him.
"I was thinking about my brother," she told him at length, smiling weakly. "He would have loved this."
"And we've only just begun!" Charlie grinned. "Wait until you see the rest of the factory. You're going to love it, too."
She nodded, scooping up her briefcase that had slipped from her grasp mid-flight. Charlie led the way, pulling Rowena out of the elevator and into a highly polished corridor. There was a pair of ordinary brown doors directly across from the elevator, and labeled in plain letters LICORICE JUNGLE. Pulling her hand free from Charlie, she hurried to pull her steno pad from her briefcase, smiling apologetically at the boy. "Just one moment," she murmured as she flipped it open, hurrying to jot down a quick note.
Glass elevator—mode of transportation. Lack of hand rails could be potential liability.
Peering over the notepad, Rowena found that Willy was hovering dangerously close, angling his neck in an attempt to see what she was writing. Whipping the notebook out of his sight, she turned her back on him as she flipped it shut. "Mr. Wonka--" she began but was swiftly interrupted.
"Willy. It's Willy now, 'kay?"
"All right, Willy, like I told you before, I have to take a few notes while I'm here. It's standard procedure."
"You sure do think highly of standard procedure, don't you?" She was taken aback by his question.
"Well, of course," she said quickly. "It's very important, standard procedure, and rules and regulations. It's all apart of my job."
"Standard procedure doesn't always apply in my factory." He spoke smoothly and pleasantly, yet just as she had detected the first time he'd said it, his voice held some kind of a prophetic promise. She promptly ignored her questionable discovery, slipping the notepad back into her briefcase and shrugging her slim shoulders.
"Like I said before, um, Willy…" His name sounded so strange on her tongue. It was certainly going to tae some getting used to. "I have no choice but to follow my standards of procedure. They're just notes."
"Huh. Right then." He turned on his heels without another word, striding to the double doors and pushing with both hands. They flew open to reveal…another set of doors. He strode towards the next pair of doors, Charlie and Rowena hurrying behind him. Glancing at the lettering on the first pair of doors, Rowena wondered for the first time at the strange name. Licorice Jungle? That wasn't exactly a normal name for the room she assumed licorice was produced in. Then again, Willy Wonka was anything but normal, so it wasn't difficult to believe that he had somehow themed the rooms much like he had themed the guest rooms. She could picture it now; bright wallpaper, colorful machinery, the sweet scent of licorice…
Her jaw dropped and she stumbled over her own feet. Without further ado Willy had pushed the new pair of doors wide open, revealing to her stunned dark eyes a true licorice jungle.
"I don't believe it," she gasped, lamely following a smiling Charlie as he gently tugged her through the doors. There was an oppressive heat that hit her first, thick and humid with the strong sugary smell of licorice. Stretching before her with no end in sight was thick rubbery foliage of every color, twisting vines of fire engine red twining and dripping around and through the exotic trees. They did not enter onto the jungle floor as one might imagine, but were standing on a very tall platform made of lightly colored planks of a material that resembled bamboo.
In hindsight, Rowena couldn't believe she'd expected any less. After her first brush with the Chocolate Room, how could she have doubted the sincerity of the room's name? "Charlie, it's a licorice jungle," she mumbled, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I know," Charlie laughed. "This is one of my favorite rooms."
"Oh, yeah, it's one of the best," Willy added, standing a ways off from the pair and leaning lightly on his cane. His eyes were resting on Rowena again, particularly paying close attention to her delightfully awed reaction. Catching up his cane, he launched into an excited explanation, moving to stand close by her side.
"My licorice jungle is one of a kind, you see. The Oompa-Loompas, who are rather partial to jungle environments, chop the vines down and gather them down there," he gestured with a graceful hand over the edge of the platform to the jungle's floor, "and take 'em away to be processed and packaged. Wild licorice is the very sweetest kind of licorice there is, and it grows in ever so many delicious varieties."
Rowena listened half-heartedly to his explanation. There was something else drawing her attention, or rather someone. Far below them she could just make out the several moving shapes. Could these perhaps be the elusive Oompa-Loompas she'd heard of so often since her arrival?
Her attention was drawn to movement not far from where they stood. On a thick, wide tree branch a very small person dressed in a dark green jumpsuit made of shiny material dashed across the branch's surface, taking a tremendous leap and seizing a dangling vine. Swinging across a wide gap, he landed expertly on another branch. He was not alone; he had landed beside an exact replica of himself, identical from the top of their dark, strangely coifed hair to the tips of their polished black boots.
"Ah, I see the Oompa-Loompas are enjoying themselves," Willy giggled. There were dozens of them, swinging and cutting away at the licorice vines with extreme efficiency.
"The Oompa-Loompas are the workers for the factory," Charlie supplied helpfully.
"Oh," was Rowena's tiny reply. Her eyes were glazing over again; a memory was taking hold of her thoughts. Her next reply was enough to send her companions reeling. "I think I've…yes, I have. I've seen them before."