Disclaimer:
I don't own anything in this story!
A/n: A big thank-you to the people who reviewed the last chapter. As always, I LOVE reviews, so please keep them coming! And you know what I'll do with flames! Well, on to the next chapter of Confusion!
Ronnie had thought that the Fudge room was amazing...but it was nothing compared to Dessert Island! The island, which was quite large, had candy grass, a cottage made out of various candies, and a beach made out of what Ronnie assumed was graham crackers or something similar. In addition, the water surrounding the island was the clearest water Ronnie had ever seen! "This my favorite part of the factory so far!" she exclaimed.
Willy smiled. "It makes me very happy to hear that, 'cause this room is very special to me," he said. "I'll bet it is! Who wouldn't love a room like this?" Ronnie replied. "Thank you! I built it right after I closed my factory because of the spies. I just couldn't go into any of the other rooms in the factory without thinking about how those despicable spies stole my recipes. So I built this room as a place I could come to when I was feeling really down. Now I go here when I want to take a vacation," Willy explained. "I'd love to vacation here!" Ronnie blurted out without thinking. Then she realized just what she was implying and clapped her hand over her mouth. "I...I mean, you know, if I lived in the factory," she said, feeling extremely embarrassed.
"It would be wonderful to vacation here, just the two of us," thought Willy. "What did you just say?" Ronnie asked, sounding curious. Willy was mortified as he realized that he must have inadvertently spoken his thought out loud. "Er, nothing!" he replied. Then he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, you are the first person I've brought to this room. Not even the Oompa Loompas or Charlie's family have been in here," he said. Ronnie grinned. "I'm very honored!" she said. Willy grinned back. "I like hearing that," he said. Then he remembered what time it was. "Well, are you ready for lunch?" he asked. In response, Ronnie's stomach let out a loud rumble. "I guess that means yes!" Willy said. Ronnie giggled sheepishly. "Yes, it does," she said. "In that case, I'll let the Oompa Loompas know we're ready for our food," Willy said.
Needless to say, since Willy wasn't carrying any sort of pager or cell phone, Ronnie was a bit confused as to just how he planned to contact the Oompa Loompas! Before she could actually ask Willy about that, though, the chocolatier walked over to the elevator doors. For the first time, Ronnie noticed that, on the left hand side of the elevator doors, there was a set of much smaller glass doors. And beside them was a medium-sized button, which Willy pressed. Seconds later, the button flashed green. Willy clapped his hands. "Oh, good! The Oompa Loompas have seen the signal, and will be sending our food up very soon!" he exclaimed happily.
A few minutes later, the button flashed twice. That was quickly followed by the arrival of a much smaller version of the glass elevator, which was carrying three covered food dishes, along with a picnic blanket, silverware, plates, bowls, napkins, glasses, and a large thermos. "The Great Glass Dumbwaiter, I take it," said Ronnie. Willy grinned. "Indeed it is!" he said proudly. Then he reached into the Dumbwaiter and pulled out the picnic blanket. "Would you like to have our picnic on the grass, or on the beach?" he asked. "Definitely the beach!" Ronnie said. Willy grinned even bigger. "The beach it is, then!" he said.
"What kind of candy is this beach made out of?" Ronnie asked as she helped Willy spread out the picnic blanket on the beach. "Eatable sand, of course! It's just like regular sand, only it's eatable...and it tastes a lot better, too!" Willy replied. Ronnie laughed. "Yeah, regular sand doesn't taste too good!" she agreed. "Do you like building sandcastles?" Willy asked, sounding almost shy. "Like to? I love to!" Ronnie answered. "Well, then, maybe we can build some later," suggested Willy. Ronnie smiled. "I'd like that," she said. Then they remembered that the food was still in the dumbwaiter, and possibly starting to get cold, so they hurried over and got it.
"Are you ready to see what we're eating?" Willy asked teasingly. Ronnie playfully bopped him on the shoulder. "Of course I am!" she said. "Okay, then!" Willy said eagerly. Then he proceeded to remove the cover from the first dish of food, revealing a pot of spaghetti. Ronnie gasped with delight. "How did you know I love spaghetti?" she asked. "You do? I was hoping you did!" Willy replied. Ronnie smiled. "It's one of my favorite foods," she said. Willy smiled back. "It's one of mine, too," he said. Then he uncovered the other two food dishes, which turned out to be garlic bread and a mixture of red vegetables.
Ronnie reached for a plate so she could dish herself up, but Willy stopped her. "Since you're my da...er, I mean my guest, I'd like to serve you," he said. Ronnie felt her heart leap inside her chest. "Did I hear that correctly? Did he really almost call me his date?" she wondered to herself. Then she reminded herself that Willy had just made a very generous offer, and was waiting for her to respond. "Ronnie, where are your manners?" she silently scolded herself. "Thank you. I'm honored that you offered," she said to Willy. "My pleasure," Willy said as he handed her the plate he'd just dished up for her.
Once Willy had dished up his plate, Ronnie eagerly began eating her spaghetti. "Well, what do you think?" Willy asked. "This is the best spaghetti I've ever eaten!" Ronnie exclaimed happily. The chocolatier grinned. "I'm glad you like it. It's my own secret recipe," he said. "Well, you did an excellent job!" Ronnie said. "Thank you," Willy replied. Then he reached for the thermos and poured himself a glass of some sort of red juice. "My latest invention, Wonka's Special Valentine's Punch. Would you like to try some?" he asked Ronnie. "Definitely," Ronnie responded. "'Kay then," said Willy as he poured her a glass.
Ronnie immediately picked the glass up and took a sip. The taste was unlike that of any juice Ronnie had tried before. In fact, she realized with a shock that the word she'd use to describe the taste would be "love". How something could actually taste like love, Ronnie didn't know, but that juice definitely did! "This is delicious!" she said to Willy. "It's supposed to taste like l..l...like l..." Willy stammered, looking shy once again. "Love?" Ronnie supplied. "Yeah, that," Willy said. Ronnie smiled. "It does taste like love," she said. "You're the first non-Oompa Loompa, besides me, to try this juice," Willy said, sounding eager to change the subject a bit. "Well, it definitely has my full approval," Ronnie replied.
"So, what do you do for work?" Willy asked suddenly, surprising himself as well as Ronnie. Needless to say, Ronnie hadn't quite been expecting that question! "What makes you ask that?" she asked. "Well, we were just talking about what I do for work, what with the Valentine Punch and all, so that made me curious about what your job is," said Willy. Ronnie hesitated for a moment. She still didn't feel right telling Willy that she worked for Slugworth. Finally, she settled for saying, "Actually, I work with candy, too." "You don't by any chance work for one of those copy-cat candy-making cads, do you?" Willy asked. Ronnie took a deep breath. She knew there was no way she could look at Willy and lie to him. She had to tell him the truth.
"I work for Slugworth. But I wish I didn't, and I assure you-" Ronnie began, but Willy held up his hand to stop her. Then, to Ronnie's absolute shock, Willy said, "Don't worry, I don't think you're one of those despicable spies. You've never acted even a tiny bit like they did." Ronnie smiled. "I'd never agree to be a spy for that despicable excuse for a candy maker!" she said. Willy laughed. "Sounds like you have the same opinion of him that I do!" he said. "I can't stand him! He's a horrible boss, and his candy is terrible! I'm embarrassed to be part of making that awful stuff!" Ronnie replied. Then she surprised herself by saying something that she had never told anyone before. "I wish Slugworth would allow his employees to help him come up with candy ideas," she said.
That made Willy smile. "You like inventing candy, too?" he said. "I love it! I also like just plain making it," Ronnie replied. "What are some candy ideas you've come up with?" Willy inquired. "Well, just a few days ago I thought of candy earrings, earrings made out of candy," said Ronnie. Without really thinking about what he was doing, Willy reached over and gently took one of Ronnie's earrings, which looked like strawberries dipped in chocolate, in his hand. Being careful not to pull on it, he slowly rotated it and examined it. "That's a fantabulous idea!" he exclaimed. "You really think so?" said Ronnie. "I know so. After all, the earrings you're wearing already LOOK like chocolate-dipped strawberries. So why not make them TASTE like them and be eatable as well?" Willy answered.
Ronnie grinned. "My thoughts exactly!" she said. "I'll bet people would be buying them like crazy!" Willy replied. Ronnie nodded, then said, "You know, I like making candy, and I like to cook a bit, too, but most of all, I love to bake." Then, before Willy could say anything, Ronnie reached into the tote bag she had been carrying with her all morning, and pulled out a box. "Speaking of which, Happy Valentine's Day!" she said. Willy opened the box. "It's a pie! I may not make pie in my factory, but it's one of my favorites!" he cried happily. Ronnie grinned an even bigger grin. "And not just any pie! It's Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Delight Pie! I got the idea from your Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Delight bars, my favorite of your candy bars," she said excitedly.
Willy eagerly grabbed a knife (luckily, he and Ronnie hadn't cleaned up from lunch yet!) and began cutting the pie. He cut two pieces, and put each on a plate. After handing one of the plates to Ronnie, he picked up a fork and took a bite of his slice of pie. "Well, how is it?" Ronnie asked. "It's the most incredible, delicious pie I've ever tasted!" Willy declared. "Really?" Ronnie asked. "Really and truly! It tastes like the best chocolate you can imagine," Willy said. "I'm glad you like it so much," Ronnie said. Willy grinned once again and said, "It also tastes like it was made with a lot of love." Then, when he realized what he'd said, he turned the color of a tomato. He had NOT meant to speak that thought out loud!
"Well, I consider making candy and baked goods to be a labor of love, so it was made with a lot of love," Ronnie responded. "I think it's very important to make candy with a lot of love. 'Cuz if the love isn't there, then it doesn't taste good at all," Willy said. "I agree whole-heartedly," said Ronnie. "Remember when you asked me earlier today if there's anything I love more than candy?" Willy suddenly found himself asking. "Yes. Why?" inquired Ronnie. "Well, I USED to love candy more than anything in the world, but now, well...I...I...you see..." the chocolatier stammered. "Now there is something you love more than candy?" Ronnie asked, trying to help him out. "Not someTHING, but...well...what I'm trying to say is...I l...I l...I love...," Willy couldn't finish his sentence. Instead, before he knew quite what he was doing, he leaned over and pressed his lips to Ronnie's.
Now, Ronnie had known that Willy liked her, and she had even wondered if he liked her in THAT way (not to mention the fact that she had hoped that he did!). She was no idiot! However, needless to say, she hadn't quite been expecting him to kiss her! So, for a few brief seconds (which, to Ronnie, seemed like several very long minutes), she sat there in surprise, not really knowing what to think, say, or do. Then she relaxed and found herself returning the kiss.
After the kiss ended (which was way too soon for both Willy's and Ronnie's tastes!), Willy and Ronnie looked at each other, not knowing quite what to say. It was Ronnie who spoke first. "This is turning out to be the best Valentine's Day ever!" she said. Willy grinned. "I agree," he said. Then he asked, "What would you like to do next?" Ronnie didn't hesitate. "Build sandcastles!" she replied. "I was hoping you'd say that!" said Willy.
Then Ronnie and Willy remembered that they still hadn't cleaned up from lunch yet. So they gathered up the dishes and picnic blanket and sent them back to the Oompa Loompas via the dumbwaiter. Once that was done, Willy retrieved the sandcastle building stuff from the candy cottage and the two happily began to build. They were soon having so much fun building that they completely lost track of time. When Ronnie did finally think to look at her watch, she was surprised to find that it was nearly five o'clock. "Willy, it's almost five," she informed the chocolatier. Willy looked as disappointed as she felt. They both knew that their special Valentine's day together was almost over. "Can you at least stay for supper?" Willy asked. "I'd love to!" said Ronnie, eager to stretch the day out as much as possible. Willy grinned. "Good! I suppose we should probably check in with the Buckets, and see if they'd like us to eat with them," he said.
When they arrived back in the Chocolate Room, they were extremely surprised to find Mrs. Bucket and Charlie waiting for them near the elevator. They were even more surprised to see that both of them appeared quite worried about something. Naturally, Willy's first thought was that there had been sort of accident in the factory, like a machine malfunctioning or one of the Oompa Loompa testers developing a nasty side-effect after trying one of the new candies. "Charlie, what happened? Are the Oompa Loompas all right?" he asked. "The Oompa Loompas are fine, Willy. It's nothing having to do with the factory," Charlie assured his mentor. "Then what is it?" Willy asked.
"I'm afraid there's quite a blizzard going on outside. We were watching the news just now, and they have advised everyone to stay indoors until it passes," said Mrs. Bucket. Willy knew immediately what that meant: Ronnie wasn't going to be able to get home that night. Trying hard not to sound or look too eager (the last thing he wanted was for Mrs. Bucket and Charlie teasing him or asking any embarrassing questions!), he said, "Well, then, Ronnie will just have to spend the night here!"
Chapter 13 Preview: Ronnie spends the night at the factory, which leds to a few interesting and embarassing moments!