A Thin Line Between Gum and Chocolate

HOSPITABLE CHOCOLATIER

The next morning came very slowly for Miss Vicky as she was not able to sleep one wink. All night, she was stretched out on the Buckets' couch, staring at the ceiling in puzzlement of what she was to do now that everything she had was gone. The factory was the only thing she had left of her family and her amazing ideas. Never has an avalanche destroyed that town before and she thought hard on why it had to happen just when she began running things and at the height of her success. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Realizing it was very early and the Buckets were still asleep, she got up and put on a robe. She walked over to open the door and there stood Willy Wonka.

"Good morning, Miss Vicky. I hope I didn't wake you." He smiled brightly at her.

She realized her black hair was not as neat like usual but straightened it out quickly, "Willy, good morning. What are you doing here this early?"

"Oh, I couldn't sleep. I feel awful about what happened to your factory." He pouted, trying to show his sympathy but obviously failing at looking sincere about it.

Miss Vicky narrowed her eyes at him, not believing what she was hearing. "Alright, Willy Wonka, what do you want? If you came here to mock me, now is not a good time at all."

Mr. Wonka flinched at her sudden outburst. He tried to explain. "No, I didn't come here to make fun of you..."

She crossed her arms and scowled. "I bet you were hoping for something horrible to happen to me all along. Now you got your wish. You can go back to making your... chocolates and toss me out on the snow. Happy?"

Mr. Wonka shook his head and kept smiling at her. "Of course not. I can't let you leave. I was thinking all night and decided...you can stay and make your candies here in my factory."

Miss Vicky scoffed. "Me, make my candies here? With what, two of my workers? And where, in a dusty basement full of rats and other forms of vermin?"

"No, as a matter of fact I have just the space you need. Up on the highest tower of the factory, kay?" He grinned.

"I don't understand..." Miss Vicky was completely taken off guard. This was a rotten trick, indeed. "You can't be serious, Willy. I'm your competi..."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, sounds crazy, huh? Well, it's either you stay here or stay out in the cold. The choice is yours."

She stood and thought for a moment, wondering if this was a good idea. She knew she would never have enough space to manufacture her candies. It would also take her ages to be able to rebuild a factory once again. She had to stay somewhere for the time being. Somewhere with enough room for her work and she knew none other than her competition who provided just that.

"So, what's in it for you? Why do you want to help me?" She furrowed her brow.

Mr. Wonka shrugged. "I think it's time to return a favor. You invited me to see your factory, now I'm offering you stay in mine. Do you accept it or not?" He was getting impatient and tired of explaining.

There was no other choice. She had no place to live, nowhere else to work. She made her decision. "Fine, I'll stay but I will have all the space I need to work and you will respect my privacy." She narrowed her eyes at him.

He nodded, "Sure! I'll even take you there now if you wish."

A few moments later, Miss Vicky got dressed and followed Mr. Wonka to the glass elevator. It took off quite slowly out of the chocolate room as he searched around for that particular button that would lead to the spare room. Once he found and pressed it, the elevator shot abruptly to the right at an incredible speed. Miss Vicky was taken by surprise and leaned on the closest thing to her. Suddenly, she found herself pressed against her own rival. Once their eyes met, they realized how close their faces were and a peculiar sensation filled them. This time, it was more than just a lump in his throat that Mr. Wonka felt. It was something else much stronger.

When the awkwardness kept building, Miss Vicky quickly stepped away. However, Mr. Wonka could not help but notice her face turning slightly pink. She cleared her throat with somewhat of a disgusted look on her face to hide her embarrassment. "Excuse me, Willy. You really ought to warn me which direction this elevator will be flying."

"Sorry..." Mr. Wonka gawked at her and smiled nervously until the elevator halted. "Okie dokie! Here we are!"

The candy-makers walked out into a small hallway that led to a flight of stairs. There was a large silver double door to their right. He held up his cane, pointing across the hall. "Those stairs straight ahead lead to my tower. So anything you need, anything at all, I'll be there if I'm not working. It is very rare but you never know. Now through this door is your new working space." He opened it for her and revealed the rather large and empty room.

Miss Vicky glanced around and was surprised that she could not even see where the room ended. "This working space is massive, Willy. Are you sure you don't need it for yourself?"

"Are you kidding? I have other rooms twice as big as this." He grinned proudly at her. "This used to be my storage area but I built a larger space for that on the other side of the factory. Go on! Take a look around. You can alter this room any way you wish."

Miss Vicky was lost for words since this was more than she would ever expect her competition to offer her. "Very well, this will do. Thank you again, Willy..."

"It is my pleasure." Mr. Wonka grinned and left the room for her settle in.

A few days had passed and the terrible blizzard was over at last. Miss Vicky was able to create her new working space into a room like one of her own. After going back to what was left of her factory, she was able to retrieve a few items that were salvaged from the disaster. The first thing she had found among the wreckage was her father's portrait. Despite all the numerous wears and tears, she was able to restore it before hanging it up in her room.

Fortunately, some of her machines and a few robot clones were able to be reconstructed. Though the machines were not as efficient and completely functional as they were in her factory, it was a good start to getting her gum and candy manufactured once again. The day her space was in order, Miss Vicky went to work immediately.

For over a week, no one had seen her for she had exerted herself diligently day and night to get back on her feet again. Still in high demand, her gum remained top sellers in the market and many more of her creations were still dominating. Despite Wonka's plans to get people into buying his chocolates again by being the hospitable candy maker, customers were astonished at how Miss Vicky survived and was respected more for her determination.

Everyday was a new project to compete with. No matter what Willy Wonka came up with, Vicky Adams was yet again to be one step ahead. He came up with the idea to make hard candy into chewable taffy. However, Miss Vicky came up with the hard candy that turned into bubblegum and instead of the usual popping noise bubblegum makes, the pops turned into various sounds such as bells and whistles. Another idea from Mr. Wonka was hopping chocolate rabbits but Miss Vicky came up with jumping jelly beans that hopped into a child's mouth when he or she chose a color. Finally, Mr. Wonka and Charlie finished the anticipated raspberry kites that floated up in the air by licorice string. However, Miss Vicky's air bubblegum was able to lift a child up into the air as a bubble was blown. This became an instant hit for the next weeks to come.

The aggravated Willy Wonka could not believe that even without her own factory, Miss Vicky remained ahead of him in candy sales. How in the world did he let her ideas get by him and under his own roof? Besides Christmas was approaching and it was one of the busiest times of the year for candy other than Halloween. He had to think of something spectacular. Something that everyone had to have in their Christmas lists. Day and night the rivals kept working steadily. This was no longer only a competition. It turned into war.