Chapter 1 - I Need Some Extra Help

It was now March 1st; exactly one month after the entire Bucket house-- or, shack, as most would call it, had been moved into the Chocolate Room in the factory, along with the whole Bucket Family. Everyone was perfectly happy. Well, almost everyone. Willy was not perfectly happy, perse, but, was still very pleased with everything that had happened in the last month. You know, besides the whole declining-of-the-factory deal. But, that was over with and it was time to forget that particular miserable event. Although he's already been reunited with his father after many years, he still gets flashbacks about it, which makes him a bit depressed. When he does get depressed, he tries to hide it (which he's not always the best at doing.) It was now a normal periodic thing that happened, but, everyone was pretty much used to it-- not that they didn't care. Also, Wonka had been thinking, lately.. Charlie couldn't be there to be taught about the factory and assist him all the time because of school, which Wonka definitely wasn't too fond of in the first place and he had pretty much all of the Oompa Lompas very busy, so, a lot of times, pressure would sort of, well.. get to him. He thought it might be time to hire an assistant, but, he knew he had to be extremely careful with whom he would let walk through those factory gates and, of course, that he must make sure that Charlie was completely okay with it.

At this particular moment, Willy and the Bucket family were sitting down to dinner. This was where Willy had dinner, now, just about every evening. There was a particular usual sitting arrangement-- Mr. Bucket sat at one end of the rectangular table, while Mrs. Bucket sat opposite. Then, going down the table, on either side of Mr. Bucket sat his parents, Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina (one of the only times they'd get out of bed.) The same went for Mrs. Bucket's end of the table; on the side of the table that Grandpa George sat on, sat Grandma Joesephine (also usually bed-ridden) and across from her, Grandpa Joe. And of course, in between Georgina and Joe, sat Mr. Willy Wonka, himself, who was wearing a navy blue, velvety overcoat.. and in between George and Joesephine; opposite of Willy, sat little Charlie.

Simply having small talk at the dinner table, the Bucket Family sat happily, still hardly being able to believe that they had all of this fortune, when only a short while ago, they'd been nearly dirt-poor. Suddenly, Willy interrupeted. He'd been waiting for a bit to say something but didn't have a chance to with all the others talking and would just lift a hand up and have to keep slowly bringing it down-- no one even noticed the squeaking sound his gloves would make every time he felt too awkward to actually say the words he wanted to say.

"Charlie," he said, once he'd finally gotten the chance to and shown a slightly awkward facial expression, which was pretty much every day, for him. "I have a serious question for you and it must, must, must be answered totally and truthfully and completely honest. 'Kay?" That said, he gave that little child-like smirk he always gave, especially when he said "'Kay?" in the high-pitched tone he used.

The words of the Bucket family had died down once this was said. Charlie responded, "Yes, what is it?" as he gave a neutral look to his mentor.

Willy looked him in the eyes and leaned forward a bit. "Well.." he said, looking up and off to the side with those dark, oceanic-blue eyes. "You can't be here 24/7 to assist me and all the Oompa Loompas are always so busy and whatnot. So, I was wondering..." He looked down at his plate; fingers that were wrapped in thick latex would hang on just at the edge of the table in a child-like manner. He looked like a little boy who was about to ask for a new toy. "Since you're.. in school.." he said, gritting his perfectly-straight and white teeth a bit with the school part. "I thought I would hire an assistant to work here in the factory along with us." He ever-so-slightly cringed, as if he knew he were about to be scorned as he closed his eyes for a second and opened one a little, turning his head a bit and sitting back.

Charlie thought about this for a moment as a few members of the Bucket family looked at each other, unsure of what Charlie's answer would be. It was all silent until Grandpa George quietly made a smart remark. "Oh, he only wants an assistant because he's getting lazy." Quickly replying, he looked to his father. "Pops!" he warned him in a whispery sort of tone. At that, Willy opened his left eye and gave a quick, narrow-eyed look at George, when Charlie finally replied.

Charlie gave Willy a slight smile and nodded some. "Of course. If you need the extra help, feel free to take it." Willy felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, being that he'd pondered about this for the past few days. He gave a sigh of relieve and a smile.

"Oh, thank goodness! And here I thought you would be upset with me." He sat up straight and lifted his fork, gently toying with the food on his plate.

Charlie just gave a smile and nodded again, continuing to eat while the Bucket family finished up their own dinner and began to talk again. Charlie didn't mind at all, the first few minutes, but, then, he really started to think. What if Mr. Wonka replaces me? He tried as much as he could to shrug the bad thought away from his mind, but, it seemed he just couldn't shake the worries away. Suddenly, Grandma Georgina had just blurted out, "Chocolate-Chip Ladybugs!!"

Everyone stared at her for a moment while Willy thought for a moment that what she'd just said might be a good idea.





After dinner had been eaten; not a bit of it wasted, except for some of Willy's and the dishes were all clean, Willy thanked Mrs. Bucket for the delicious dinner. Of course, everyone knew that he'd just pushed his slice of liver to the side of his plate and acted like no one would notice. Ick! Ewwy!! No way was he going to eat.. liver..!! He shuddered even at the thought of it. Everyone did, in fact, notice, but, they just knew it was Willy being Willy, so, they just decided to not say anything at all.

"Any time, Willy." No one could see it because she was turned around while she wiped down the kitchen counter, but, she looked slightly dissapointed that Willy had decided to just waste the liver. It was something that she would just have to start getting used to.

Willy, standing at the doorway still had a smile on his face that was a bit bigger than normal, just because Charlie was okay with the whole assistant idea. Then again, he wasn't sure that he, himself was okay with it. He was pretty sure, though. Wait. No. He wasn't.. Okay, he was! "Now, I really must say goodbye for the night. I have to get ready for those assistant interviews!" his voice trailed off. He wasn't sure he was ready to meet with so many people.. and he certainly wasn't going to let them into his factory! Oh, no. He had rented a small building for it and they would be brought in one at a time with two bodyguards he'd also hired, by his side. He hated crowds and there was absolutely no way he was going to put himself in that sort of situation when he knew it could be avoided! He grabbed his top hat from the coat-rack and placed it neatly on his head, then took his cane, which was propped up against the wall beside it, and grasped it just under the handle, lifting it just off the ground with his left hand. "Goodnight, everyone!" He flashed yet another smile as he said this cheerfully, making sure that he was loud enough for the much older ones to hear him while he waved to them. Just when he was about to set foot outside of the front door onto the minty grass, he felt a tug on his overcoat and gasped a bit, quickly turning his head and making his soft, auburn-brown hair swing with his head. Oh! It was just Charlie. "Is something the matter, Charlie?" As he said this, he was still in the same position; his hand still on the doorknob and everything.

Charlie did finally let go of the overcoat and stood up in his normal stance, looking up at the chocolatier with those big, brown eyes of his. "May I ask you something quickly, Mr. Wonka?" Willy immdeiately nodded.

"Of course, my dear boy! Ask me anything!" Charlie then squeezed past him, gesturing that he wanted to ask him alone. Once the boy had done this, Willy looked to Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, who were standing next to each other and watching out of curiosity. They nodded to him, approvingly. Willy then smirked a bit and walked fully outside of the door, closing it behind himself.

Being the very well-behaved boy that Charlie was, his parents and grandparents, although rather curious, respected his privacy as they most certainly trusted him and the chocolatier.

"Now," Willy began. "What did you want to ask me?" He bent over a bit so that he could be a little more down to Charlie's level. Although, that didn't seem to be working so well. He gave a smile and peered down at the young boy, who seemed to look a bit serious, so, he decided to give him his full concentration, trying not to get distracted, which he usually seemed to do pretty easily.

Charlie just stared up at him. "Having a new assistant won't mean that you'll replace me at all, will it?" Willy had to give one of his trademark giggles. Although, at the same time, he was just slightly saddened by the fact that the boy had thought that he would be replaced.

"Oh, of course not, Charlie!" He got down on one knee and put a hand on Charlie's shoulder, keeping his left hand on the top of the cane. "Charlie, I guaruntee, give you a scout's superdy-duper honor that I will never replace you! The assistant will simply be some extra help. Okie dokie?" He messed up the lad's hair a little and smiled some more, only because he saw the satisfied look on Charlie's face.

Charlie did indeed have a satisfied look upon his face. He smiled and had faith in his mentor. "Alright, Mr. Wonka. I believe you." Willy quickly got back up on both feet.

"Good!" he blurted out, being very pleased, now. He hated to see the heir to his factory; his best friend, even, be upset in any way. "Now, I must be on my way. I'll see you in the morning, Charlie! Remember, we have to be there at eight o'clock sharp! No later, no earlier, not a second's difference." Charlie had opened the door and nodded.

"I know." He watched Willy walk into the glass elevator and wave again. Charlie just smiled as they said their goodnights, and off to bed it was for everyone.

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