Cassie's Love •Willy Wonka•

1: "Hottie Wonka."

Charlie is sat at the table doing what I think is his homework, not entirely sure though. Me and John are sat next to each other at the table having a little gossip about our coworkers. Dad then walks in exposing the already cold house to the bitter weather that lurks outside.
"Evening, Buckets." He says as he pulls down his scarf.
"Evening." Grandpa Joe says.
"Hi, dad." Me, Charlie and John say at the same time. About 2 years ago, John came out as gay and sadly his parents disowned him but my parents took him in. He didn't go down without a fight though, he really argued with his parents about it. While he doesn't live with us anymore, we still are his family. He calls my parents mom and dad because they are like his parental figures.

"Did you hear about Rebecca being fired?" I ask John as dad goes to say hello to mom.
"No? How did this happen? She was only working at the shop 2 weeks." John questions.
"She wasn't turning up on time ever and cutting her shifts early so she could go watch the drag queens on the tv." I reply.
"I didnt like her anyway, she was a bitch." John shrugs.
"John, you shouldn't use language like that infront of Charlie." Mom tells John off.
"Like he doesn't hear it at school anyway." John says trying to defend himself. Mom's glare ends the conversation.
Dad sits down next to Charlie. "Charlie, I found something i think you'll like." Dad then places a bunch of weird toothpaste caps that look deformed infront for Charlie.
"You know." I turn to John as he continues to speak. "That dude who lives down the street from the barbers."
"The hot one yeah?" I reply.
"Nothing, i just think he's hot too." John says.
"If you two don't stop gossiping, ill sew your lips together." Grandpa George threatens. We both shut up. While it may have been an empty threat we can't exactly be sure with Grandpa George.
"Its exactly what I need!" Charlie says excitedly. He runs off to go grab something.
"What is it Charlie?" Grandpa Joe questions. Me and John are interested in what Charlie plans on using the caps for. Charlie places his Willy Wonka factory model on the table.
"Dad found it. Just the piece I needed."
"What piece was it?" John questions.
"A head for Willy Wonka." Charlie answers.
"Willy Wonka definitely is hot and Charlie has mastered that perfectly. Well done." I say.
"How wonderful." Grandma Josephine states.
"Its quite a likeness." Grandpa Joe says.
"You think so?" Charlie asks.
"Think so? I know so." Grandpa Joe says. I can feel a good storytime coming on. Tune in to the Buckets house for another of Grandpa Joe stories. I feel like he makes stuff up for Charlie sometimes.

"I saw Willy Wonka with my own two eyes." Grandpa Joe continues. "I used to work for him, you know?"
"You did?" Charlie questions in amazement.
"I did."
"He did." Grandma Josephine confirms
"He did." Grandpa George also confirms.
"I love grapes." Grandma Georgina says. I laugh a little.
"Of course I was a much younger man in those days." Grandpa Joe says as he stares into the distance.

"Willy Wonka began with a single store on Cherry Street." Grandpa Joe starts only to be interrupted by John.
"Thats where the school supplies shop is now right?"
"Why does it matter?" I ask.
"Just trying to picture it, please continue."

"But the whole world wanted his candy. The man was a genius. Did you know he invented a new way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours without a freezer? You can even leave it lying in the sun on a hot day and it won't go runny." Grandpa Joe continues.
"Willy Wonka is also attractive." I say earning a hit on the head by dad with his newspaper.
"Thats impossible." Charlie says most likely to Me and Joe but more to Joe.
"But Willy Wonka did it. Before long he decided to build a proper chocolate factory, the largest chocolate factory in history, 50 times as big as any others." Grandpa Joe also shares the details of him kissing Grandma Josephine.
"Grandpa don't make it gross." Charlie says a bit disgusted.
"If Charlie finds that disgusting, he's not going to agree with all the guys you fuck." I whisper to John. John laughs. Mom heard what I said.
"Darling, may I have that newspaper?" She says sweetly to dad.
"Sure." Dad says uncertainly.
Mom hits me on the head with it. "Cassie that was a wildly inappropriate comment to make."
"Thats why I whispered it." I say giggling at mom's reaction. She doesn't even reply to my answer. She just shakes her head in disapproval.

"Tell them about the Indian Prince." Grandma Josephine suggests to ease the tension. "They'd like to hear about that."
"You mean, Prince Pondicherry." Grandpa Joe confirms as mom sets the grandparents dinner on their bed. "Well, Prince Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mr Wonka and asked him to come all the way out to India and built him a colossal Palace, entirely out of chocolate. True to his word, the bricks were chocolate and the cement holding them together was chocolate. All the walls and ceilings were made out of chocolate, as well. So were the carpets and the pictures and the furniture. Mr Wonka told him the Palace would melt. He was right of course. Soon after this, there was a very hot day, with a boiling sun. The Prince sent a urgent telegram requesting a new Palace but Willy Wonka was facing problems of his own.

"All the other chocolate makers, you see, had grown jealous of Mr Wonka. They began sending in spies to steal his secret recipes. Fickelgruber started making an ice cream that would never melt. Prodnose came out with a chewing gum that never lost its flavour. Then Slugworth began making candy balloons that you could blow up to incredible sizes. The thievery got so bad, one day, without warning, Mr Wonka told everysingle one of his workers to go home. He announced that he was closing his chocolate factory forever."

"But it didn't close forever, its open right now." Charlie says confused.
"Ah, yes, well sometimes when grownups say forever they mean a very long time." John says to Charlie.
"Such as I feel like I've eaten nothing but cabbage soup forever." Grandpa George says.
"Now, Pops." Dad warns his own dad.
"The factory did close." Grandma Josephine says.
"And it seemed like it was going to be closed together." Grandpa Joe finishes.
"Wait, im starting to remember this happening." I cut in.
"Then, one day, we saw smoke rising from the chimneys. The factory was back in business."
"Hey, Cassie remember when we were like 6 and the Wonka bars being sold again was the biggest thing ever." John reminds me.
"Oh my god, yeah." I say remembering.
"Did you get your job back?" Charlies asks.
"No. No one did." Grandpa Joe answers.

"But there must be people working there?" I ask.
"Think about it, Cassie. Have you ever seen a single person going into that factory? Or coming out of it?" Grandma Josephine asks me.
"Well, no." I answer honestly.
"The gates are always closed." Charlie adds.
"Exactly." Grandpa Joe says.
"But then whos running the machines?" Charlie asks curiously.
"Maybe Hottie Wonka is running the machines himself." I say. The newspaper went into the fire so I couldn't get a hit on the head for the comment.
"Nobody knows, Charlie." Mom obviously goes for the sensible answer.
"It certainly is a mystery." Dad says.
"Just like why Cassie can't keep a guy for more than a month." John adds in.
"The ones I've been with only wanted me for sex so can't do much about that." I answer.
"First of all ew. Second, hasn't anyone asked Mr Wonka?" Charlie asks. I laugh at Charlie's 'ew'.
"Nobody sees him anymore." Grandpa Joe answers.
"Mr Hottie went into hibernation permanently." I say. John rolls his eyes.
"I've found the reason Cassie can't keep a guy. She has an obsession with someone who doesn't even know she exists." I punch John in the arm.
"He never comes out. The only thing that comes out of that factory is the candy, already packed and addressed." Grandpa Joe continues.
"I would give anything in the world to go in there and see what the factory is like." I say muching on the cabbage in my soup.
"Well you, won't because you cant. No one can. Its a mystery and will always be a mystery. That little factory of Charlie's is as close as any of us will ever get." Grandpa George says grumpily.
"Come on, kids. I think its time we let your grandparents get some sleep." Mom says to me, John and Charlie.
"Me and John are 26, we are hardly kids." I protest.
"Dont act like kids then." Mom says back. "John are you staying the night?"
"I should get home, thank you for the evening. What time does you shift end, Cassie?"
"5pm." I answer.
"Goodbye, Buckets." John says. He hugs me. I hug him back.
"Goodbye, John." We all shout back.

Charlie and I say our goodnights and run upstairs to go to sleep.

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