The morning after was, in a sense, just like any other Sunday, if you considered a birthday to be just like any other day. June 9th was the birthday of the factory's founder, but surprisingly, the eccentric and outlandish Willy Wonka made no fuss over his special day, in fact, he preferred to simply ignore it and focus on his candies. While he enjoyed celebrating Charlie's birthday, the master chocolatier had been ambivalent on his yearly celebration ever since the death of his mother; she always threw him a party when he was a kid, so the idea of a birthday party often brought back memories of his beloved mother. And, ever since he lost his mother at such an early age, Wonka never again celebrated his birthday, not that his father would have ever thrown him one, as he thought birthday parties were just another excuse for kids to shovel cavity-inducing sugary sweets into their mouths. That was not including the fact that his mid-life crisis induced by a single strand of silver hair sent him into a downward spiral after literally facing his mortality, and only calcifying the idea in his mind that birthdays were just another reminder that he was yet another year closer to death. And, now on his 58th birthday, Wonka spent his special day strolling around the factory with his heir at his side, inspecting the different rooms and checking up on all the projects they had going on at the moment. This walk around the factory eventually led the pair to one of the most important rooms in the entire factory, the room where the process of making Wonka's world-famous chocolates began; the Cocoa Bean Room.
Unlike the rest of Wonka's competitors, the master chocolatier didn't rely on shipments of cocoa beans from tropical countries to make his best-selling product, every ounce of chocolate he produced came from cocoa beans grown in his own factory in dreary old England. The key ingredient in chocolate, cocoa, had a room of its own to grow in, it was one of the largest rooms in the factory, rivaling the next step for the cocoa in its journey to becoming Wonka chocolates, the Chocolate Room, and, boy, was it elaborate. The Cocoa Bean Room was so massive since it housed nothing but rows and rows of cocoa trees, an underground irrigation system and an overhead UV lights system for the cultivation process, all of which came together to bear the fruit that kept the company alive. Oompa Loompas used scissor lifts to get up to the top of the trees and examine the beans and see which ones were ready to be picked and turned into Wonka's most beloved product. Once the bean was ripe, it was then sent to a grinder next door to the chocolate room where the resulting powder met up with all the other ingredients that went into making Wonka chocolates before all being mixed together by the chocolate waterfall. The room was extremely humid, much warmer than the already exceedingly warm factory, to simulate the tropical climate in which the cocoa tree naturally thrives in, but even the high temperature was not enough to coax Wonka into removing his heavy, dark velvet coat. Instead, the master chocolatier continued to stroll down one of the walkways between isles of cocoa trees with his ornate, candy-filled cane in one hand while the other pointed out to his accompanying heir and his factory's workforce which beans were ripe for the picking, all without cracking a single sweat.
The factory used many types of cocoa beans from various parts of the globe, some of which Charlie had been instrumental in discovering and researching them by visiting their natural habitat and coming to an agreement with the growers to purchase a batch of seeds to grow this particular strain in the factory. Having conducted so many business deals for seeds meant Charlie had an extensive contact list of cocoa tree planters he stayed connected with and every once and a while one of them had something new that captured his attention. Now, seeing how much of his life Wonka put into crafting the world's greatest candies and how little he seemed to care for his birthday, Charlie had come up with the perfect gift to get his mentor that would still help them remain competitive and innovative in the candy world. Speaking with Wonka came easy to Charlie since he had known him for years and trusted him, so, the heir often found himself speaking his mind when he was with his mentor, like now, saying, "I know that you don't like birthday gifts, but I do have one for you, well, sort of. I don't have it with me, just yet, but I can have it here real soon."
All the caveats puzzled Wonka, and while he admired the gesture of his heir to get him a present, he did not hesitate to set some limits, responding, "What is this gift, my dear boy? Just don't gift me another tie, it doesn't jive with my style, and I'll never have a reason to use it."
The candymaker's inattentive-to-others-feeling's comments could always be counted on to, at the bare minimum, put a smirk on your face, as it did to Charlie, leading him to clarify, "No, no, it's not like that. Do you remember Mr. Villareal?"
"The cocoa bean planter in Mexico? Yes."
"Well, I've been corresponding with him for the last few weeks, and he says that he's created a new strain of cocoa bean that he claims is sweeter than the others he's ever grown, and he's invited me down to his plantation and taste the product for myself."
Charlie's greatest asset was his willingness to go out into the world, something that Wonka preferred to limit as much as possible, but, he was always in the market for the next innovation in food, so, after hearing that his heir had found something of interest, he asked, "Fascinating, so, tell me, Charlie, what do you make of it all?"
"From what I've heard, I'm intrigued. This could be a fantastic addition to our current crop, a sweeter cocoa bean could mean we save money by using less sugar or we create an even sweeter chocolate that's sure to hook the customers. Either way, it seems like a win," the heir professed, speaking like the true confectionary entrepreneur Wonka always knew he was destined to become.
"Well, them, it sounds like you'll be going to Mexico, my dear boy. When will you head over there?"
"I told Mr. Villareal that if you agreed, I could head over there on Saturday," Charlie immediately informed his mentor as he had been thinking about this trip for quite some time already.
Even though his job was very important to him and getting this new strain of cocoa bean would surely please Wonka, there was another reason Charlie was eager to go on this trip. The Villareal's family estate had a nice bungalow guesthouse on the beach and the heir thought such an off-the-beaten-path destination was a beautiful place for him and Veruca to stay and visit for a bit. He had not asked her if she would want to come, but The Lucky Boy was more than sure she would jump on the opportunity to leave cloudy London for a warm, sunny beach, even for just the weekend. Besides, every time Charlie went on one of these trips he always traveled alone, and he would always wish to have someone by his side to share the experience with; and now, he had been given the opportunity to do such a thing. The only thing that really stood in his way was the fear of rejection; going away for a couple of days to a distant land was a huge shift in their relationship, it was much different than going to a banquet or a carnival or even dinner, such a trip together would be very intimate. Charlie would have to tread carefully in order to not do anything that might upset Veruca while on the trip, he did not want to cross a line, or even worse, destroy the relationship they already had, yet he still wanted to go through with his plan to invite her.
Seeing as he would be spending extra time on a quick vacation, Charlie needed to explain that he would be gone for a while in order so that Wonka would not grow worried, or even worse, suspicious, when he didn't return in a timely fashion, which he did surprisingly convincingly by stipulating, "Oh, another thing, I might need to stay in Mexico for a day or two."
"...to seal the deal, that is, yeah," he added, stammering his way through his cover-up in order to leave no trace of his true intentions behind going away for so long.
As weird as Charlie was acting, Wonka knew he was not the one to cast aspersions on other's inability to conform with social norms, so, instead he just brushed off that awkward moment, and informed his heir, "So be it, my dear boy. I trust your judgement, stay as long as you have to."
Hearing about how much faith Wonka had in his heir only made Charlie feel even more guilty about what he was doing; he would like to tell the master chocolatier that he would be taking someone with him to Mexico, but he knew it would not end nicely if Wonka found out exactly who he was planning on inviting. At best, Wonka would scold him for even spending a single second with such a Bad Nut instead of doing something that could help the company, or, at worst, he would deny him usage of the Great Glass Elevator and make him cancel the trip all together. The Good Boy did not want to go behind his mentor's back, but Charlie was in too deep already, he had been occulting the truth for a couple of weeks already and he was still trying to figure out what kind of relationship him and Veruca were going to have. And, until that status was figured out, it would be best if someone as stubborn as Wonka could not derail things by throwing a wrench into the process.
But, for Charlie's sake, it was best not to think of deceiving the man who lifted his family out of poverty, but instead focus on a much more pressing issue, like the question of his transportation for the trip, which he cleared up, asserting, "So, I'll take the Great Glass Elevator next weekend. You're not going to need it then, right?"
"That's fine, take it. Again, like with the tie, it's not like I'm going anywhere, he he," Wonka retorted, chuckling his way out of the conversation as the two departed from inspecting the Cocoa Bean Room.
As the heir and the apprentice walked off to their next room scheduled for inspection, Charlie realized that Wonka was right, lying by omission was the only way his goodie-goodie conscience could handle misleading someone, well, handle it well enough that it didn't show all that much.