Charlie had tried his hand at dating throughout various settings and formats, but none those methods fit his needs. When you are a world-renowned businessman, the new trend of online dating goes completely out window as it would be too easy for the tabloids to turn his honest attempt at a biographical description into some sort of pathetic scribble worth being mocked, and thus he would become the ire of the world for wearing his heart on his sleeve. No, if he wanted to get a girlfriend, he would have to get one the old fashion way, by walking up to one and asking her out, but that was easier said than done. Even though he lived in one of the most populated cities in the world, finding a place where both he and the women he would approach would be comfortable was a serious obstacle the heir could not always overcome. People said nightclubs were a great place to meet women but the Good Boy could not handle the anxiety the loud music and the flashing lights caused him, and the women he would meet in the places he would visit when he left the factory, like those in conference halls were not women who you could ask out as they were not in a place where you could ask a woman out. The only solution to this problem was by meeting somewhere in the middle, like at a bar, but trying to find someone at a bar is like playing a game of Russian Roulette, with the extra element, in this case alcohol, making everything much more dangerous as you never knew who you would meet, and that's exactly the issue what Charlie faced this time around.
A couple of minutes after Charlie told himself he would leave once he finished his second drink the door of the bar swung open and in entered a woman, clearly drunk, exclaiming, "Joel, I want a Gin Gimlet! Now!"
The entrance of this woman into the tavern did not faze Joel the bartender as she was a regular, and as long as her money was good, he would prepare any drink she demanded, despite the fact that she was clearly inebriated and needed to quit drinking for her own safety. This woman sat a few stools to the right of Charlie, but he still had a good view to study her. In fact, his years of business functions had fostered an ability in Charlie to create a rough profile of any person just by studying their appearance. The woman wore elaborate accessories such as a pair of diamond earrings, black designer shoes, and a pink luxury clutch purse, all of which indicated wealth and high status. However, her lack of business attire and choosing to instead double down on luxury accessories like her white fox fur coat were good indicators that her money was in fact not the fruit of her own labor. The woman sported no wedding ring or any other accessory indicating she was in a relationship, meaning that the large sums of money needed to keep up her appearance most likely came from her parents or other familiar figures.
She quickly finished her first Gimlet and slammed her fist with the bottom of the glass sticking out the bottom on the counter, nearly shattering the glass in her hand, and proceeding to scream, "Joel! Another one this instant!"
Joel was already preparing another Gimlet for her as he had picked up on her drinking habits over the years of her patronizing his business, but after he poured the Gin into the glass, the woman lunged over the counter to grab the Gin bottle being stored, and proclaimed, "No! I'm taking the bottle!"
Charlie watched in awe as this woman called the shots in the tavern, expressing dominance over everyone, including the bartender himself. Charlie found this to be an extremely attractive quality as he often found himself gravitating towards bold women, but never someone whose personality was as strong as hers. He didn't know if this was a result of the only potential romantic partners he encountered being focused businesswomen eyeing a deal with Wonka or reporters determined to get a comment from the traveling business representative, or perhaps his reserved personality yearned for a firm-willed counterpart in order to complete some sort of cosmic puzzle. Either way, there was no easier way for Charlie to develop a crush on a woman than for her to start barking orders and helm the ship. Apart from the fact that she was beautiful, it seemed that the woman cleared off Charlie's self-recommendation of finding an heiress and the fact that she seemed to be single could be attributed to her brash personality, something that could draw many suitors away. Now, all that was missing for Charlie to become infatuated with this woman would be for him to discover that underneath her coarse exterior lied a soft, sweet center, to use a candy metaphor as he often did.
Approaching women did not come naturally to Charlie but alcohol sure helped loosen him up, he took a gulp of his beer and approached the stool where the woman was sitting and said the first thing that came into his nervous mind, "You know, if you don't get more lime juice, you'll just be drinking straight Gin."
He immediately regretted saying such a stupid, uninspiring thing, he was not quick on his feet or mind, and coupled with the fact that he had very few experiences simply chatting with someone from outside the factory really made the woman's response even more gut-punching. Without uttering a word, the woman, slouched over the counter with her glass in her left hand and the bottle of Gin she pulled away from Joel in her right hand, simply turned her head ninety degrees to the left and gave Charlie a dead, serious stare. The woman's disdain with Charlie's sad excuse of a pickup line went far beyond a displeasing look; the eyes of her stare bulged out of their sockets, exposing more of the whites and emphasizing her crystalline blue irides. Her thin eyebrows were raised upwards on the sides as they came together at the bridge of her nose, a thin structure while the nostrils were notably wider, and currently flaring. Just as the eyebrows drew attention to her nose, her nose drew attention to her lips; they appeared to be sucked into her mouth as she seemed to scrunch all of the muscles around her mouth up towards her nose. And tying the entire look together, despite wearing her princess-curled brown hair straight down, her notably sized forehead was exposed enough that a noticeable throbbing vein could be spotted palpitating on her left temple. In short, she was in no mood for Charlie's attempts at a game and proceeded to turn her attention back down to her drink.
This was not the first time that Charlie's attempt at flirting failed miserably, nor was this the first time that the woman Charlie was attempting to court reacted with contempt for the awkward chocolatier. With a litany of embarrassing rejections under his belt, Charlie knew all the signs that a woman was simply not into him, and this woman was demonstrating all of them and then some. And while he would typically apologize for even speaking to the woman and flee the scene half-embarrassed-half-crying, he did not do that this time. For some unknown reason Charlie did not cower like he usually did in this type of situation; despite the fact that this woman was not even acknowledging him, he sat down two stools left of her in hopes of getting her to acknowledge him. This bravery was out of the ordinary for the shy confectioner, but even Charlie told himself that he would not be doing this if it were not for this strange feeling telling him to do so. If he did not know any better, Charlie would have said that fate had brought him to this particular spot and was now pushing him to continue engaging this woman. There was also something else at play, the fact that Charlie sensed something familiar about the woman. He could have sworn he had met this woman before, but he could not put his finger on where he did.
He studied the visibly upset woman finish the remainder of her Gimlet and begin to refill her glass with pure Gin, but instead of leaving as he usually did in these situations, Charlie summoned the courage produced by this strange feeling he had, and asked, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask, do I know you from somewhere? You look so familiar."
The woman stopped drinking and listened to Charlie's question only to chug the Gin in her glass, serve herself some more Gin for the conversation she was about to have, turned to her left, and replied in an indignant tone as if it were offensive that this perceived stranger did not know who she was, "Of course you recognize me, why wouldn't you?!"
"I should?" Charlie replied in shock as the woman continued to drink Gin. The suggestion that his gut feeling was correct was not enough for him to hang his hat on the theory he knew her, so he proceeded to stare at the woman as if he was examining a diamond so that she may reveal a bit more information.
Still sensing Charlie's focus on her, she turned around to face him one more time, and slurred as she lunged forward with rage, "Yes, I'm famous! I am a SwiftyPic model and a preeminent influencer! I'm 'V_Salty!' Now, leave me aloooone!"
While Charlie, frightened by the woman's scream, did not recognize this name for its online fame, partially because his only experiences with internet personalities were with self-obsessed twenty-something-year-olds sucking up to him at business events in hopes of making a deal to promote Wonka Candies, the name did mean something for him, which he discovered as he mumbled, "V_Salty? Okay, V_Salty...Salty? Could it...Salt? It's...V. Salt!"
It all made sense now. It was her after all these years.