A/N:  First, I'd like to thank my beta-reader.  I made notes for this story, so I have it all planned out. It's just a shame that I can't share them with anyone. I've also been watching Mad Men in order to get a feel for the decade I'm writing in. Great show, hope you check it out for yourselves. If you recognize it from the movie, I don't own it.

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Scarlett's foot nudged the accelerator of her blue, white topped, silver trimmed 1957 Chevy Bel Air until she topped the speed limit. The car seated four, the backseats never being used and, if her roommate were in the front seat, she'd be screaming at Scarlett to slow down. But she wasn't, something Scarlett was relieved about, because this time, her roommate's cries wouldn't be enough to offset her anger.

When she parked outside of her large, square, apartment building, Scarlett slammed on the brakes. She slammed the car door with all the strength she could muster, and wanted nothing more than to get home as soon as possible. Thankfully, no one was using the lift.

It was a relief to reach her homey apartment, with its built in fireplace, bay window, and yellow curtains, but Scarlett could hear that her roommate's day was going no better than hers.

In her thick, Costa Rican accent, Maria Gonzalez was yelling into the phone. "You're the one who left me for your hot new secretary, so don't go blaming everything on me!"

Scarlett threw her keys on the bookshelf to the right of the bay window, as Maria continued yelling at her ex-husband over the phone, a regular event.

"No, I don't want you back! I just want you to start catching up on your alimony payments!"

Scarlett leaned back on the red couch. Maria continued yelling, leaving Scarlett to wonder if separated couples were always so bitter and angry.

"Sweetie-pie, after putting up with you, I'm entitled to a little compensation!"

Scarlett put a cigarette to her mouth and lit it, inhaling the rich smoke as she listened.

"No, I'm not trying to bleed you dry! I just want enough money to pay next month's rent!" Scarlett flicked the ash of her cigarette into the ashtray on the wooden coffee table in front of her. "If that's how you feel, then good-bye!"

Scarlett heard a loud click from the kitchen.

"I don't know why I even bother," Maria muttered as she entered the living room, smiling as soon as she saw Scarlett. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

Maria put a cigarette between her dark red lips, lit it, and took a drag.

"Trouble with your ex-husband?" Scarlett asked as she took her own drag.

Maria sighed. "How could you ever guess?"

"Y'all shouting about alimony payments was a big tip off," Scarlett said.

Maria twirled her curly shoulder-length black hair around her finger. "You'd think, after five years of marriage, he'd at least follow through on his responsibilities."

"Well, you know what they say, better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all," Scarlett stated.

Maria took the seat next to her. "Whoever said that must never have fallen in love," she muttered bitterly.

"You'll find a new guy," Scarlett told her hopefully.

"Not many men are willing to marry a woman over thirty," Maria said in a melancholy tone.

In Maria's case, Scarlett found that hard to believe. Maria was Costa Rican, with a light-olive complexion, and a smooth, feminine, oval-shaped face. She wore light-pink blush on her cheeks. Dark eyeliner and sapphire-blue eye shadow accented her chocolate-brown eyes. Maria wore a bright red button down shirt that did nothing to hide her buxom curves, and a warm brown skirt that stopped at her knees, showing off her divine, hourglass figure. A pair of nylon stockings that matched her skin covered her legs, and she wore a pair of black, stiletto heels. When it came to beauty, Maria rivaled Marilyn Monroe. If a man could leave Maria, a man could leave anyone.

"So, how'd your interview go?" Maria asked.

"In a word, awful," Scarlett said, flicking her cigarette ash into the ashtray.

"Why, what happened?"

"Well, for starters, I choked on the interview," Scarlett explained.

Maria gestured with the cigarette in her hand. "I need a little more to go on than that."

"I lied about reading a book, went into a little too much detail about my personal life, and then I asked Mr. Wonka how much money the job pays," Scarlett explained. "None of this would have been so bad, if Mr. Wonka hadn't insisted on taking notes about what I did wrong, and mumbled them loud enough for me to hear him."

"So, Wonka's a prick," Maria said as she took a long, languorous puff on her cigarette. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Actually, it was weird," Scarlett said, the incident replaying in her mind. "One second, he was being polite and charming, and the next he was rude and obnoxious."

"Sounds like Wonka's a bipolar nut job," Maria said supportively. "Did he at least like your artwork?"

"Actually," Scarlett began hesitantly, "I applied to be his secretary."

Maria put a hand to her mouth as she coughed violently. "You what!" Maria exclaimed. "I thought you were going to apply for the artist position!"

"I changed my mind at the last minute," Scarlett explained, feeling a cough coming on herself.

"Why?"

"It's like my mom says," Scarlett said, coughing. "No man wants to marry a woman more successful than he is."

"That's why you aim for the men more successful than you are," Maria told her.

"No, those men want trophy wives," Scarlett responded as she inhaled her cigarette. "Besides, I was already angry Mr. Wonka rejected me as his secretary." With distaste she flicked her smoldering cigarette ash into the ashtray. "Imagine how I'd be if he didn't like my art."

Just then the phone rang. Maria answered it immediately.

"What do you want?" she growled harshly, then turned apologetic as she blushed. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

There followed a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, she's here." Maria handed the phone to Scarlett and winked. "Some guy. Looks like you've got a gentleman caller."

"Thank you," Scarlett said to Maria as she put the phone to her ear. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Hello, Miss Rivera," said a suave, alluring voice Scarlett would recognize anywhere.

"Mr. Wonka," Scarlett replied. "Is this about the interview?"

Maria's jaw dropped along with her lit cigarette.

"Actually, I'm calling about a far more exciting opportunity," Mr. Wonka told her as Maria scrambled for her cigarette on the carpet. "Are you aware that you left your sketchbook in the cloak room?"

"Oh, that," Scarlett said, going scarlett. She'd forgotten all about that. "I'm really sorry. I'll come pick it up."

"Perhaps you can come tomorrow on your first day of work," Mr. Wonka told her, with a smirk in his voice.

"First day?" Scarlett said, confused as she pressed the phone closer to her ear. "I don't understand."

"Have I not made myself clear?" Mr. Wonka replied. "I want to hire you."

"But you made it clear you weren't calling me back," Scarlett responded.

"Clearly, that was before I saw your sketchbook."

"What?" Scarlett said in disbelief, wanting to pinch herself.

"Your talent lies far more in secretarial work than it does in creative work," Mr. Wonka told her, confusing Scarlett even more. "No, strike that, reverse it."

"So, you're assuming that I'm going to agree to come work for you?" Scarlett said nervously.

"I suppose I should ask first," Mr. Wonka said. "Miss Rivera, would you come work for me as an artist?"

"As swell as working for you as an artist would be," Scarlett began, twirling the cord with her finger, "I'm not sure if..."

Maria retrieved her cigarette and grabbed the phone before Scarlett could finish.

"She'd love to," Maria said into the phone. "So, Mr. Wonka, are you still looking for a new secretary?"

Scarlett was so dumbstruck by what had happened she didn't even hear what Maria was saying until the end of the conversation.

"Great, I'll be there, bye," Maria said as she hung up the phone with a smile. "What a day. You get to be an artist, and I might have a new job."

Before Scarlett could untie her tongue enough to ask what happened, Maria went to the kitchen and came back with two bars of Wonka chocolate

Scarlett grabbed a bar. "Why did you do that?"

"I wanted to celebrate, and Wonka chocolate seemed appropriate," Maria answered as she unwrapped her bar. "Mind if I turn on the TV? It's almost time for As The World Turns."

"Go ahead," Scarlett answered absentmindedly. "I mean, why did you tell Mr. Wonka that I would work for him?"

"Sweetie, are you kidding me? Willy Wonka asked you to work for him as an artist, and you were about to say no," Maria said as she walked over to the TV in front of them and turned it on. "I couldn't let that happen."

"What if he doesn't like my work?" Scarlett worried. "He'll fire me without a second thought."

"Honey, he wouldn't even think of hiring you if he didn't think you have talent," Maria told her as she went back in her seat. "Now stop talking negative– my show's on."

"Yeah, because nothing negative happens on this show," Scarlett said sardonically.

"What you call negative, I call riveting drama," Maria shot back. "Now be quiet."

Scarlett took a bite of her chocolate and let it slowly melt in her mouth. Maria just bit into the chocolate and chewed it, enraptured with the show, while Scarlett found herself lost in the sweet taste of chocolaty goodness. She didn't really consider soap operas entertaining, but Maria loved them.

"So, are you serious about becoming Mr. Wonka's secretary?" Scarlett asked as soon as a commercial break started.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," Scarlett said, wondering how she should put this, "it's just that, the last guy you worked for was your ex-husband and he—,"

"Ended up leaving me for the blonde bimbo he hired to replace me. Is that what you mean?" Maria said bitterly. "I've learned my lesson, and from what you said about Willy Wonka, he doesn't sound like my type."

"If you say so."

"Plus, we don't even know if he'll hire me."

"Trust me, he will," Scarlett said, nodding to herself. All Maria would have to do is walk into Mr. Wonka's office and she'd get the job instantly. Meanwhile, Scarlett would walk into the building, draw something Mr. Wonka wouldn't like and lose the job.

Scarlett was definitely not looking forward to her first day on the job.

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A/N: Scarlett now has her own Tumblr account at scarlettrivera1971.tumblr.com  How do you like Maria? Those of you who've read How Bad Could It Be should recognize her. Yes, I do have a tendency to reuse the same OCs, but I had to make her lighter skinned in this fanfic becausepeople considered Hispanics a nationality in the fifties. They considered a light-skinned Hispanic white–that's why Desi Arnaz got away with being married to Lucille Ball on television–and I like to stay true to the time period I'm writing in. Personally, I don't think marriage is important, but it was everything to women in the fifties.