Salted Chocolate

Mariella wasn’t sure if she was very sensibly dressed. She wore tailored designer jeans, a dark purple T-shirt covered by an expensive green velvet Gucci jacket and black high heeled Gucci sandals.

But it was too late to change her clothes now.

“Hurry up, Mariella! I want to go NOW!” her sister’s voice screeched from the hallway of the mansion.

Oh well, Mariella thought. It’s not as if I’m going on a date.

Mariella couldn’t wait to see the factory, but she had a feeling that Veruca would ruin it like she always ruined everything. Veruca usually ruined everything by being so spoiled. Mariella didn’t like that, and was glad she wasn’t like her sister in that way, either. From her perspective, Veruca needed to be taught a lesson. As Mariella got into their limousine, a plan was already formulating in her mind.

An hour later Mariella stood outside the factory gates with her father and her sister.

“Daddy, I want to go in,” Veruca sulked.

“It’s 9:59, sweetheart,” their father explained.

“Make time go faster,” snapped Veruca.

Mariella sighed. When it came to discipline, her father wasn’t really very good. From her perspective, he hadn’t grown a backbone over the years; he was a tough man, except when it came to his daughters.

She looked down the line of children. The fat boy, Augustus Gloop, was eating chocolate (surprise, surprise). Violet Beauregarde, wearing a blue tracksuit, was chewing gum. Her mom, who was dressed in a matching tracksuit, turned to her and said, “Eyes on the prize, Violet, eyes on the prize”, which Mariella thought was creepy. Mike Teevee was looking sulky. The only child who seemed pleasant was the boy next to her, who had found his ticket yesterday. He stood with an old man she assumed was his grandpa.

“Do you think Mr. Wonka will recognize you, Grandpa?” the boy next to her asked.

“Hard to say. It’s been years,” the old man replied.

“Did you say you used to work here?” Mariella asked.

The old man looked surprised. He probably thought she was a snob like her sister. “Yes,” he said slowly.

“Sounds neat to me. Will you tell me about it, please?” Mariella asked curiously.

The old man smiled, as he was quite pleased with her politeness. He then began to tell her about Prince Pondicherry and other amazing things. Mariella got on quite well with Mr. Bucket and Charlie, as it turned out they were called.

Eventually, the gates opened.

“Come along, Mariella,” her father said stiffly.

“Thank you,” she said to Mr. Bucket before being pulled away.

Slowly, the doors to the factory opened, and to everyone’s shock, a singing puppet show about Willy Wonka being great began to play.

“Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka
The amazing chocolatier
Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka
Everybody give a cheer
He’s modest, clever, and so smart,
He barely can restrain it
There’s so much generosity
There is no way to contain it…to contain it
To contain, to contain, to contain!”

Only Mrs. Gloop and Augustus seemed to take a liking to the song, as they were grinning and bobbing their heads back and forth to the tune.

“Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka
He’s the one that you’re about to meet
Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka,
He’s the genius who just can’t be beat
The magician and the chocolate wiz
He’s the best darn guy who ever lived…
Willy Wonka, here he is!”

A chair then appeared, but it was empty. Then everything was set on fire. Everyone exchanged puzzled glances when Mariella heard a violent clapping sound next to her ear.

“Wasn’t that just fantastic? I was worried it was getting a little dodgy in the middle part. But then that finale… Wow!”

Next to her stood a strange pale man with weird glasses and a top hat.

“Who are you?” demanded Violet.

“He’s Willy Wonka,” Mr. Bucket said happily.

“Really?” asked Mariella. She was intrigued.

“Good morning, Starshine. The earth says hello.” He was met with awkward silence. So he pulled out some cue cards.

“Greetings to you the lucky ticket winners. I shake you warmly by the hand.” He held out his hand, but no one shook it. Mariella felt sorry for him. So she headed up the steps and shook his hand. She stepped back shyly, and everyone stared at her like she was mad.

“My name is Willy Wonka,” he then said.

“Then shouldn’t you be up there?” Veruca asked, pointing to the stage.

Mr. Wonka replied, “Well, I couldn’t very well watch the show from up there, could I, little girl?”

“Good thing, too. Otherwise you’d probably be on fire,” Mariella pointed out.

Willy Wonka gave her a dazed smile. “Precisely.” He gave a small laugh and looked around awkwardly.

Finally the group headed into the factory.

“Don’t you want to know our names?” Augustus asked.

“I don’t see why it would matter,” Mr. Wonka said. “Just drop your coats anywhere,” he added.

Mariella dropped her expensive green velvet Gucci jacket on the floor, earning a disapproving look from her father.

“Sure is toasty in here,” Mr. Teevee observed.

Mr. Wonka replied, “Oh yeah. I have to keep it hot because my workers are used to very hot conditions. They just can’t stand the cold.”

“Who are the workers?” Charlie asked; he had been very quiet. Mariella was hoping he won the special prize at the end. He was the only decent one there. She may have been Veruca’s sister, but she still thought her sister was a spoiled brat.

“You’ll see.” Mr. Wonka winked at Charlie.

They were about to head forward when Violet hugged Mr. Wonka. He looked shocked and disgusted.

“Mr. Wonka, I’m Violet Beauregarde,” she said.

“Oh. I don’t care,” he replied, prizing her off of him.

“Well, you should care, because I’m the girl who’s going to win the special prize at the end,” she said.

Mr. Wonka replied, “Well, you do seem confident, and confidence is key.”

Mr. Wonka stepped forward again when he was stopped by Augustus.
“I’m Augustus Gloop,” said Augustus. “I love your chocolate.”

“I can see that. So do I. I never expected to have so much in common.”

He tried again to walk forwards when Veruca stopped him. Mariella was beginning to feel sorry for the poor man.

“I’m Veruca Salt. It’s very nice to meet you, sir,” she said, giving Mr. Wonka a little curtsy.

“I always thought a verruca was a type of wart you got on the bottom of your foot,” he said, then laughed a little. Mariella unsuccessfully tried to stifle the laughter in her own throat, earning a glare from her sister. Then Mr. Wonka turned around.

“You — you’re Mike Teevee,” he said, noticing Mike. “You’re the little devil that cracked the system.

"And you,” he said, turning to Charlie, “You’re just lucky to be here aren’t you? And the rest of you must be their p..p…”

“Parents?” Mr. Salt asked.

“Yeah. Moms and dads. Dad?…papa?” Mr. Wonka zoned out for a bit. Then his eyes fell on Mariella. They were a lovely lilac color.

“You look a bit young to be anyone’s mom,” he said.

“I’m Mariella Salt, Veruca’s older sister,” she replied, holding out her hand for him to kiss. She wasn’t being pretentious; she had been taught it was polite to do so, as she was used to very upper-class parties. But as soon as she did it, she regretted it.

But, luckily for her, Mr Wonka only hesitated a bit. But he didn’t embarrass her by backing down. Instead he bowed at the waist, took her hand in his and kissed it. His eyes met hers, and he stared at her for what seemed like ages, his lips still on her hand. Finally he drew back and laughed uncomfortably.

“Moving on, heh heh,” he said turning and walking forward very quickly.

He’s kind of cute, Mariella thought. Then she scolded herself. Wait a minute. Now what am I thinking? He’s twenty years older than me!