This luxury shop with its fancy merchandise and its even fancier clientele was almost too much for the Good Boy to handle, he never would have even been able to get close to a shop like this when he was a child without getting shoved out of sight by a security guard protecting the merchandise or by overzealous classists hellbent on not having to feast their eyes on a dirty street urchin. Even now, he felt completely out of place at Coûteux, Charlie was so afraid of knocking something over and breaking it by accident that he looked around constantly and nervously to make sure that he didn't bump into something like a coffee table with an expensive lamp nestled on top of it. The same could not be said for Veruca, who walked around the store like she owned the place, she held her head up high and refused to make eye contact with anyone, not that anyone else could see her eyes behind her sunglasses. The little brute's confidence was one of her traits that mesmerized Charlie, the result of an all-too pampered upbringing created this sense in her that she was always in the right, a trait that often veered into dangerous and unsettling territory considering how few restrictions she had placed on her life. The Good Boy very much admired the little brute's ability to take control of every situation she found herself in, but he could also recognize how devastating it was to live in a world where you equated any kind of criticism or concern about the ramifications of your actions with a declaration of war. Perhaps he could help the little brute regulate her emotions and responses in order to keep her from becoming too toxic, yet she would have to let him into her life first. But what better way to initiate such an operation than to start a personal dialogue between the two that could lead to the two becoming much closer than acquaintances.
As the two made their way to the corner of the shop where the sofas were on display, Charlie treaded carefully and asked, "So, how often do you come down to Chelsea? This place seems like your kind of environment."
Surprisingly enough, this was a question Veruca was actually pleased to answer, and so without turning back to face Charlie, she replied, "Whenever I'm not home, I like to come down and check out all of the shops and boutiques here and in the surrounding boroughs."
Over the years of working with people in the core of London, Charlie had become acquainted with the administrative divisions that existed throughout the city, especially those populated with affluent business types, and since he was amazed that the little brute didn't reside somewhere at the top of that list, he pressed on, "I'm actually surprised you don't live in Chelsea, or Kensington or Knightsbridge for that matter. Don't get me wrong, City of London is more than fine, but I thought a girl as posh as you would dwell in a quainter area of town. Not somewhere so hustle and bustle, at least when it comes to business and finance."
Again, Veruca wasn't shy to answer this question, only this time she spoke in a more somber tone, responding, "I always wanted a home with a view and the buildings in the quainter parts of London aren't typically that tall. Plus, Daddy said that I had to live close to the central business district if he was going to continue covering my expenses."
"Seems like an odd request, why does he need you living close to there?" Charlie asked, confused that Mr. Salt, the man who, despite all of the brat's complaints about him being a stricter parent after the tour, still essentially gave Veruca everything she asked for, would tie where his daughter lived to whether he would pay her bills or not.
Interestingly enough, that was one question Veruca did not want to answer; she regressed to her closed-off state of being, yet also began firing back at her guest, asking indignantly, "Well, I'd like to know why you keep following me?"
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked in return, standing on the opposite side of the sofa Veruca was checking out, using the piece of furniture to create physical distance between the two just in case anything nasty went down.
Even though a sofa-turned-divider was not needed as Charlie had feared and prepared for, Veruca still went all in with her attack on her driver, saying, "You showed up at my home unannounced and tried to get into my penthouse. I don't even know you and you wanted to enter my home, and now you're asking me personal questions about my family!"
While Veruca's attacks were typically quick and left the victim feeling dazed in the aftermath, this cold, clear-cut, verbal beatdown struck a chord with Charlie. He didn't mean to cross a line when it came to reaching out to the little brute, Charlie didn't really understand the protocol for reaching out to people for personal reasons, he was simply trying to see her the quickest way he could think of, and he let her know this, replying, "I told you, I made you a promise that I intend to keep. Besides, you're here with me now, aren't you?"
Veruca kept silent after that last comment, not just because she did not wish to interact with Charlie anymore, but because she had no comeback to Charlie's claim. While he did things that might borderline on something worthy of getting the police and judiciary involved, Veruca still got in his car and let him drive her down and accompany her to this furniture shop. Instead, she decided to focus her attention on the various sofas, the only reason she decided to come down from her penthouse and head out with her fellow Golden Ticket winner in the first place. Many of the luxury sofas had an antique aesthetic to them, but she wasn't decorating her parent's home; Veruca was drawn towards the more contemporary styles as they were much sleeker and fit better with the rest of the furniture in her penthouse. There was one sofa that caught her attention, a sectional Atwood Sofa; the brown base was paired with flared legs while the actual sofa possessed a button-tufted back that spun three sides of padding. The sofa was also tealish-blue, a shade that Charlie thought almost matched the color of Veruca's eyes, although he could not compare the two at the moment with her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. As he watched Veruca sit down on the sofa, Charlie contemplated what she had said over in his head and knew that he could not respond to an attack with another attack and leave it at that. Charlie couldn't give up on trying to get Veruca to open up to him, he would not cower like he always did when he was rejected, and what better way than to rip the band aid off than to just tell the little brute what he felt when they first reunited, right?
With Veruca sitting down on the sofa and rubbing her right palm across the surface to feel the material, Charlie sat down next to her so he could be at eye level with her, and added, "There's also something else at play, if I may be honest. When I first spotted you at Fenston's, I do not know what, but I was drawn to your presence. There was some sort of connection there that was telling me to talk to you, and look what happened, I found a fellow Golden Ticket winner."
"I'd even go as far as to say that a shared experience, like the tour of Wonka's factory, can only result in bringing people like us closer together," Charlie added, leaning in much closer to Veruca as he spoke.
If there was ever a cause to raise literal red flags, then this event would have been the prime example, because as far as the brat could tell, Charlie had set this whole trip up just to entrap her. And with the loss of distance between them, but also because of the power behind his words, Veruca leaned forward and sprung off the sofa, only to proclaim, "This is the sofa I want, this one!"
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked as he studied the piece and compared it to the others.
"Of course I'm sure, now, let's go," Veruca responded quickly before looking around and signaling a salesperson to come over to them and attend them.
Coûteux's female staff all wore navy blue skirt suits with pearl necklaces and styled their hair in a bun, just like the blonde sales associate who headed Veruca's call, and greeted them, "Good evening, sir and madam. How may I be of assistance?"
"I've looked around and decided that I'll be taking the 'Lisbon' Atwood Sofa this evening. So, ring it up and have your crew load it up onto that red van outside," Veruca responded, pointing her arm out towards the front window where the red Wonka truck stood parked on the other side.
The sales associate took a quick glance at the sofa before a look of disappointment overcame her face, leading her to explain the situation to Veruca, saying, "I'm so sorry, miss, but we seem to be out of stock of the 'Lisbon' at the moment. If you come with me so that you may give us your address and we may charge you for the sofa, we can have one delivered to your home in about a week."
Hearing that she could not have what she wanted when she wanted was something Veruca could never tolerate, a bubbling heat boiled up to her surface as she carefully removed her sunglasses, revealing that her facial expression had changed. Her expression shifted from a cordial smile to one of contempt; in fact, it was a near identical change in expression to the one Charlie noticed on Veruca after Wonka told her father she could not have one of his squirrels. As Veruca focused her deadly stare on the sales associate, she blurted out in frustration, "A week? A...WEEK?!"
"Veruca? Veruca, are you alright?" Charlie asked as he gently wrapped his palms over Veruca's increasingly twitching shoulders.
The volcano that was The Bad Nut had been dormant for some time, but now she was ready to go off once again with no regard for whomever was caught within range of her.