If someone studying Charlie and Veruca's relationship made a Venn diagram to visualize the similarities and differences between both former Golden Ticket winners they would have no problem filling in the spaces on the sides, but they would have their work cut out for them when it came to filling the space where the two rings meet in the middle. The Lucky Boy and The Bad Nut were night and day on almost every level you could think of, and now, as the banquet was coming to an end, one such difference was on full display as the two prepared to depart. The brat forced the heir to come out of his shell all night long and that included making him chat with the other guests after the awards ceremony was over, and they continued doing this for about an hour before all the social interaction had drained Charlie's batteries, he now required a recharge by heading back home and curling up in bed with a good book. This stood in sharp contrast to the Salt's Nuts heiress who fed off jumping from group to group and not just to get compliments about her magnificent look. She hadn't been out much over past few months, seeing as she had no close friends before Charlie came back into her life to do so with, but now she was taking advantage of her newfound relationship with a well-known businessman to go out and socialize again, even if it was with mostly middle-and-older-aged businesspeople. The conflict that came with these former Golden Ticket winners being polar opposites of each other came when the Good Boy begged the little brute to wrap it up so that they could leave; luckily by then, Veruca had gotten her recharge from interacting with everyone at the banquet and was ready for Charlie to take her back to her penthouse. But, before they could exit the waiting room, they were bombarded by none other than Rolland Lavender, who was still focused on bullying Charlie and set on getting Veruca to leave with him, not the Good Boy.

"Well, congratulations, Charlie, on your win," Rolland said, putting his hand out to shake the victor's hand.

A sense of dread came over Charlie, he knew Rolland just wanted to make his life miserable, but nevertheless, he shook the competition's hand, and replied, "Thank you, Rolland."

It was only a few seconds later that Rolland rapidly pulled his hand away from the winner's grasp and got in between him and his guest for the evening. With his back to Charlie, blocking him from reaching Veruca, Rolland turned his attention towards the former beauty pageant contestant, and iterated, "As you can see, I am man enough to admit defeat graciously, it's one of my greatest qualities. I would love to show you some of my other qualities."

"This evening, perhaps," Rolland added as he got even closer to his prey.

After years of hitting bars, nightclubs, and parties on two continents, the little brute could smell a player from a mile away, luckily, she'd also developed a knack for toying with them. Rolland's pride was his most cherished asset, so what better way to torture him than to wound it. She stuck her left arm out and grabbed onto Charlie's tux to pull him, and his award, in close to her, and turned down Rolland's offer, claiming, "Sorry, I only go home with winners."

If there was one downfall to Veruca's taunt, it was that Charlie had no idea how to react. He wanted to honor the rollback of endearing acts they agreed to back in the banquet, but with the little brute having been the one who broke the rules first, the Good Boy had no idea what to do next. He just stood there, awkwardly as ever while Veruca pressed him even tighter up against her body, leaving him looking even shorter than Veruca in heels due to his awkward posture and only for him to blurt out, "So much for no intimacy."

"He's not important, though. At least, that's what I assume," Veruca explained to her inviter, all the while staring Rolland straight in the eyes, virtually rubbing salt into the wound of his damaged ego.

This public neutering of his rival was good enough to give Charlie the courage to leave the scene with his dignity still intact, he grabbed his guest's hand, and said, "Alright, let's get you home."

For Rolland, he had lost this round, so wiped himself clean and began searching for someone else to seduce, but not before he spat out one final attempt to embarrass Charlie in from of his old friend as they left, declaring, "Remember, Charlie, no one will hold it against you if you can't get her across the finish line. Well, she will."

The Good Boy pushed the little brute to walk even faster to escape Rolland's taunts as soon as possible as they gave him thoughts about his fellow Golden Ticket winner that left him feeling awkward, and by the time the two of them reached the main entrance to the Millennium Conference Centre the sun had set over an hour ago and now only the streetlights and the lights from the buildings next to the sidewalk illuminated Charlie and Veruca's path back to Charlie's car. With his guest seated inside, Charlie hopped into the driver's seat and made the short drive back to Stourton, a lot easier and faster this time with less traffic and since the mass protests against the visiting buffoonish world leader had long ago subdued. Surprisingly, when Charlie arrived at the apartment complex, Veruca asked him to accompany her up to her penthouse, the heir didn't know why, but he guessed it was because she was starting to feel loopy after so many drinks and she needed someone to prop her up if need be. Nevertheless, the Good Boy agreed, he even locked arms with her to keep her up, which probably made the sharply dressed pair look even more like a glamor couple to Herp who watched them enter the lobby and pass his station at the reception desk as they made their way to the elevator.

The Bad Nut didn't really need his support, so Charlie let go of her when the two of them were in the elevator and proceeded to start what he thought was going to be a short conversation, saying, "I hope you enjoyed the banquet, Veruca."

And all she did was joyfully smirk before responding, "Oh, yes, I enjoyed it very much. I got so chuffed teasing Ronald."

"Rolland," Charlie clarified.

Not that Veruca cared one bit as she dismissably sniped back, "Whatever."

The elevator then made it to Veruca's penthouse, and as she exited out of the device to depart, Charlie reached out to his former Golden Ticket winner one final time that night, proposing, "So, listen. I don't know what your schedule is like for the rest of the week and beyond, but maybe we could do something this weekend or the next."

Unlike the first couple times the heir proposed an excursion for the two of them, the little brute did not shoot down the idea, instead she was curious about the details, asking, "What did you have in mind?"

She had him there, Charlie didn't know that he was even capable of keeping Veruca engaged enough that she would want to spend more time with him, and so he didn't plan out another activity for them, and so he awkwardly replied, "I'm…not sure, I've sort of run out of ideas at this point."

The little brute chuckled as she watched Charlie struggle to turn his desires into actions, and with all the confidence her fellow Golden Ticket winner lacked, she sarcastically asked him, "So, you're trying to make plans for nothing?"

The Good Boy was at a loss of words, he had no event scheduled nor anywhere in particular he wanted to visit, he just wanted to spend time with Veruca, and she knew it. The little brute knew why he wanted to spend time with her, so she let him know she knew, saying, "Look, I can tell from the way you look at me...you have feelings for me."

"I mean, that attempt at a kiss made it obvious," Veruca added, bringing up that awkward memory for them both, and Herp as well, apparently.

Just being remembered of that unfortunate encounter was enough for Charlie's cheeks to become rosy from embarrassment, he couldn't even make eye contact with his guest anymore, instead looking down at the floor, and replying, "I guess it did."

"That, and a man only moves a sofa for a woman if he thinks that he's going to get lucky on it," the brat claimed while pointing at the Atwood sofa Charlie singlehandedly brought up to her penthouse, and in exchange got her to go to dinner with him.

Now, the insinuation that he did all of that to get her to sleep with him was a particularly sensitive issue for Charlie, he had no desire to use Veruca and he wanted to make sure she understood the nature of his intentions, so he explained, "Well, I can assure you that wasn't my intention, it never crossed my mind at all."

While the little brute had long ago learned to associate such a pure claim with guys trying to play the I'm not like other guys card to get her to do things, when Charlie said it, it actually felt true. Even though she was often cold and distant towards others, Veruca did manage to open herself up enough to compliment her inviter, claiming, "Charlie, you're...sweet, and because of that I believe you."

A bright smile overcame Charlie's face after hearing what Veruca honestly thought of him, unfortunately, her opinion of him was not enough to hold back the emotions that typically governed her mind, as emphasized as she muttered, "You're sweet. Too sweet."

Charlie's smile became an expression of confusion and concern as Veruca's demeanor changed to one of antipathy; with all her strength, the brat pushed both of her palms against Charlie's chest, sending him falling to the floor of the elevator, bottom first, where she declared, "I find it disgusting."

From down on the elevator's floor, the Good Boy caught a view of that magnificent red dress the brat wore as she towered over him, but as it turned out, Veruca's push was just another example of the messed-up ways she expressed affection. Her disgusted expression quickly morphed into one that was more relaxed and playful, and before she pressed the button to send Charlie down to the lobby, she clarified, "But not too disgusting."

All Charlie saw before the elevator doors closed was that bright, pearly smile she reserved for journalists interviewing her and chocolate factory owners apparently handing out a special prize to just one child visiting him. Charlie found himself with a lot of time to think as he departed Stourton and headed back to Wonka's factory, because even without the bumper-to-bumper traffic that plagued downtown London this late into the evening, it would still take a while to reach the fringe of the city where his home was. He enjoyed himself at the banquet, receiving an award for his work was also exiting, but what really captivated the heir's mind was just how more well behaved his guest acted that night. There was no temper tantrum like at Coûteux, she didn't act dismissive like at El Pescador Tabasqueño; sure, she had just pushed him down to the ground for the mere fact that she could, but the heir knew Veruca's progress had to be measured on a learning curb in order to avoid being completely frustrated with her apparent lack of progress. But, despite the little brute not reaching an ideal amount of growth on her journey to becoming a normal adult who expressed her emotions in a healthy manner so far, by the looks of it, she was at least starting to warm up to the Good Boy, or at least that's how Charlie saw it.