This is my first fanfiction. Please don't flame it. I hope you like it. I'll also recommend a song to listen to while reading this chapter: Asleep on a Sunbeam, by Belle & Sebastian.
Summary: Ten years after the end of Alice in Wonderland, after rejecting Hamish, Alice is afraid she'll grow old alone. Until a certain white rabbit appears at her office in China…
Alice POV
I sighed. I loved China, it had been a brilliant idea to do business here, even if I say so myself, but it was so extremely hot all the time. It made me tired and depressed, while I could have used some happiness. The stumbling sounds of my secretary Mia coming in woke me from my daydream about chess pieces and playing cards. Always the chess pieces and playing cards.
Mia mumbled something about a new costumer and turned bright red. This didn't surprise me. She was very timid. I opened my mouth to thank her for announcing the arrival of Mr. Sheen, but she had already fled. Instead, a small man stood before me, in a classic waistcoat, a big watch hanging from his pocket. He had startling bright white hair, sticking in every direction, and a twinkle in his eyes. He seemed oddly familiar, but he wasn't the one I remembered.
I have been having those dreams, you see. Vivid and full of color, but never completely sharp. I've had them all my life, yet they seem like a memory too, like an experience. And there is always a tall man with bright red curly hair and piercing green eyes, greeting me like an old friend. Except he doesn't seem like a friend to me, more of a lost love. I'm not sure myself what I mean by that. He just seems like coming home. But Mr. Sheen wasn't him. Nothing like him. But still known to me.
As he approached, I smelled something strange. Fresh grass, and hay, maybe? He greeted me cheerfully, and it took some getting used to. I hadn't been really cheerful for a very long time. Not since, what? What was it, what had been bugging me ever since that strange engagement party? I didn't know, yet I thought I ought to. It was a horrible feeling, and it had been eating at me for the past decade. It was simply out of reach. Like I saw the answer, and it was a t the tip of my tongue, but still unattainable.
I suddenly realized it was very rude of me not to greet Mr. Sheen. So I quickly got up and shook his hand. He sent me a sly smile and sat down. He cut to the chase. 'I would very much like to show you some of my products, which I hope you will be able to sell here.' His directness was strangely comforting. None of that distracting chit-chat. Down to business. I liked Mr. Sheen. I nodded and got up. He helped me into my coat, like a real gentleman, and opened the door for me. He walked slightly funny, almost jumpy. He led me to the shore, where an enormous ship was waiting for us.
Short, I know. But there will be a second chapter very soon, because the ideas are still fresh in my head. R&R, please, and I might continue sooner.