Chapter 2: In the Real World
Alice's alarm jarred her awake. She rolled over and hit the button, wishing she could just roll over and go back to sleep, but knew she had to get up. It was 5:00 in the morning, and she had to go for a run, shower, get ready for work, and actually get to work before 7:30. So she rolled out of bed, and pulled on her jogging suit and running shoes. She was out the door and running before 5:10.
She had started running after coming back from Wonderland. She had done so much running while she was there that it just seemed natural for her to do some running during her day. But she was beginning to wonder why she continued running. Was she running to something, or from something?
She shook her head to clear her mind and just let the wind rush past her, enjoying the feeling it gave her. She pumped her arms and legs harder, luxuriating in the familiar rhythm of her feet pounding the pavement. The rest of her run went by quickly, and soon she found herself back in her home. Well, her new home.
She had moved out from living with her mother, saying that now she was in her twenties it was time for her to move out and live on her own. And she did live on her own. Hatter – David, she corrected herself in her own head – didn't live with her. She needed her space and somehow he seemed to realize that, and so he rented his own apartment across town. He came over often, or she went over to his place, and she had even spent the night with him a few times, always at his place though.
Now, Alice lived in a one bedroom apartment, which she paid way too much for, but she loved it, because it was hers. It was smallish, but she preferred to think of it as cozy. The whole place was 300 square feet, with most of the space allotted for the living room. Her bedroom was the next biggest room, and there was a small hallway which led to a kitchenette and bathroom. Her land lord had told her she was free to paint it, and pets were allowed, which was good. Once she knew she could have pets, she had gone to the SPCA and saved a kitten, whose mother had apparently been abandoned when the owners had learned she was pregnant.
She named her cat Dinah, of course, and Dinah was a cute, loving, and affectionate little calico. She seemed to like to cuddle with Alice, and would greet her when she walked in the door, and jump into her lap if Alice was sitting down. She could curl up at the foot of Alice's bed at night, and seemed to know intuitively when Alice did and did not want to be cuddled. She was smart as a whip, and training her to use the litter box had been strangely easy. Alice found that she enjoyed the kitten's company immensely.
When she walked in the door Dinah as usual met her at the door and purred, rubbing herself against Alice's legs. Alice bent down to give her a quick pat, and then continued into the apartment, stripping her clothes off as she went. She jumped in the shower, shampooed and conditioned her hair, washed her skin, rinsed and got out. Her shower took her less than ten minutes. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself, then walked through her apartment and into her bedroom to get dressed.
This task didn't take her long to do either. She still had her job as a judo sensei, teaching people who ranged from small children to adults the art of Judo from 7:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon and even taught some evening classes. Her days usually went by pretty fast, for which she was grateful.
She looked at the clock and realized she was running early, and decided she had time to call her mother to see how she was doing. Her mother had been sick for the past four or five days, and Alice liked to check up on her. So she picked up the phone and dialled the number. Her mom picked up on the third ring.
"Hello?" her mother, Carol, answered the phone, obviously groggy.
"Mom, it's me, hi."
"Oh, how are you, sweetie?" Carol's voice picked up a bit when she realized it was her only daughter.
"I'm fine mom, just calling to check in. How are you feeling?"
"Oh, fine, fine," her mother answered, but then coughed.
"Still have that cough?" Alice asked her. "Are you going to call the doctor?"
"Oh, no, no sweetie. It's nothing serious. A cough I picked up from work. It'll clear up in another day or so." Carol waved it off.
"Okay, well if it doesn't clear up by then, call Dr. Harris, okay?" Alice asked.
"Yes, dear."
"Okay, good." Alice checked her watch. "Well, mom, I have to run so I'm not late for work, but I'll talk to you again tomorrow or the next day."
"Okay, sweetie. You know, you don't have to keep tabs on your mother; that's supposed to be my job."
"I know, mom," Alice answered.
Carol chuckled, and coughed again. Before Alice could say anything about it though, Carol spoke. "Well, honey, I love you, and I'll talk to you soon. Have a good day at work. Say hello to David for me, when you see him."
"Okay mom. Love you too. Bye." Alice hung up the phone, feeling slightly worried about her mother. She didn't usually get sick, or stay sick for long, and it worried Alice that her mother might have caught something contagious. She shook the thought off and grabbed her keys from the bowl that she kept on the stand next to the door. "Bye Dinah," she called out behind her. "See you when I get home."
Alice's day went by quickly, as it usually did. She enjoyed her work, which made the days go by a lot quicker, which suited her just fine. Her days never dragged on and her students were usually co-operative and attentive, even the younger ones. All in all, Alice was pretty pleased with her life.
Her love life wasn't too shabby either. Of course, she and Hatter hadn't done the deed yet; they were taking it slow; which Alice liked, even if it did drive her a bit crazy now and again. Besides, they'd only been "together" for a couple weeks or so. Alice wondered idly how much time had passed in Wonderland. She would have to ask Hatter.
To her delight, Hatter was waiting for her when she got home. He was standing outside her apartment building, looking very...delicious. His brown hair was flipped up in the crazy, wild way that Alice loved, and he wore a pair of washed out jeans (which hugged his butt just right, a fact that was not lost on Alice), and a brown long-sleeved over-shirt, which he left unbuttoned over a white tank. She stood back for a moment to take him in, and waited for him to see her.
It didn't take long for him to notice her; he seemed to have a knack for knowing if she was around. It was as if he was tuned into her, and could find her as easy as pie in a crowded room. He grinned and winked at her, making her stomach flip-flop. She walked up to him, struggling to walk in a slow and steady gait. When she was finally next to him he grabbed her and kissed her deeply, unmindful of anyone who might be in the vicinity.
"How are you?" he asked her in that lilting accent she so adored after he released her.
"I'm fine," she replied, walking up her steps and unlocking the door to her building. They walked up to her apartment, which was on the second floor. When they walked in, Dinah was already at the door, purring and wrapping herself around both of their legs.
"Hello then, who's this?" Hatter asked, bending down to pick up the kitten, who purred and nudged his chin with her head before settling in his arms quite comfortably.
"That's Dinah, my new cat," Alice answered, slipping off her shoes and putting her jacket on the coat rack.
"Oh yes? Well, she's a sweet thing, isn't she," Hatter replied, talking more to Dinah than to Alice herself. He slipped off his own shoes and followed Alice into the living room, where they sat down on the couch together. Hatter let Dinah go, and she jumped off the couch and went in search for something else to do; allowing Alice to sink into Hatter's embrace. "Hmm, this feels good," he murmured softly to himself, reminding Alice of Wonderland.
"Hmm, I should go shower," she mumbled into his chest, but didn't move.
"Oh? Should you?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm still in my work clothes," she said.
"Well then, I suppose you should go shower, and make yourself presentable," Hatter teased, tickling her back. Alice arched into his fingers, because it felt so good. "I'll even take you out to eat after, if you like," Hatter whispered into her ear.
"Hmm, I would like." Alice unfolded herself from the couch and went for her second shower of the day. She was quick, and was in and out in less than ten minutes, wrapped a towel around herself, and walked out of the bathroom. She felt Hatter's eyes on her as she walked from the bathroom to her room, and so she slowed down her pace a bit, taking her time getting to her room. Feeling slightly mischievous, she didn't close her door all the way, just pushing it halfway closed with her foot, and as if she didn't notice she opened her closet and perused her clothes for something to wear.
As she was going through her closet, she felt, rather than heard, Hatter behind her. She turned around, to be caught up in his arms. He pulled her to him and leaned down to kiss her.
His kiss was, as usual, romantic and sweet, but somewhere in the kiss she tasted a hint of want and need. He didn't break the kiss when she expected him to, but instead deepened the kiss and brought it into a newer territory, turning it into something a bit more passionate and wild. After a few more minutes of kissing her, he slowly backed off, but kept his hands on her arms, regarding her with his deep brown eyes.
"What was that for?" Alice asked.
"Do I need a reason to want to kiss a pretty girl who's all wet and covered in only a towel?" Jack replied, using words he'd used on her before. "I'll give you a hint, the answer is in the question." He brushed his lips against hers again. "Stop teasing me, Alice, and get dressed, else we'll never get out of here." He let go of her and walked slowly out of the bedroom, turning to look at her with a heated gaze before shutting the door.
Alice looked after him, wondering what would happen if she were to just open the door, walk over in front of Hatter, and drop the towel. She shook her head to clear it and got dressed. She picked out a pair of dark jeans and a white tank top, over which she put a low-cut green blouse, which brought out her eyes. She put on a bit of make-up; just enough to bring out her eyes even more, and make her lips look "plumper and more kissable", which was what it had said on the box of the tube of lipstick she was using. She even took a few minutes to blow dry her hair.
She walked out of her bedroom, loving the way Hatter's eyes tracked her until she stood in front of him. "Shall we go eat?" she asked him, leaning down to press a kiss to his lips.
"Mmmm...yes," Hatter replied, gracefully getting up from his seated position. He helped her put on a coat and took her arm, "Let's go," he said.
They decided, because it was a nice afternoon, that they would walk to the little restaurant that they both liked. When they got there, the waitress sat them in their usual booth, and they ordered their usual meals. They ate while chattering about their days.
"Hatter, I was wondering," Alice began.
"Yes?"
"How much time has passed in Wonderland since we've been gone?"
"Well, that really depends, doesn't it?" Hatter replied. "When you came to Wonderland before, how long were you gone from this world?"
"Well, mom said I was gone for about an hour, and I was in Wonderland for about two days."
"And we've been here for two weeks. That means," Hatter paused, doing a bit of mental math in his head, "that 672 days have passed in Wonderland since we've been gone. Basically, two years have passed."
"Two years?" Alice exclaimed. "That's a long time."
"Not really, time goes fast in Wonderland, and people live for a long time," Hatter said, taking a sip of his drink. "Dessert, do y'think?" he asked, waving to their server.
"No, I'm pretty full," Alice answered, still slightly in shock as to how much time had passed.
They paid their bill and left, arm in arm. While they walked, Alice wondered if Hatter missed his home, if he wished to return to the strange world that was Wonderland. She rather hoped he didn't. She liked him – a lot. She liked him more than she had liked Jack, who was one of the first men she'd ever had real feelings for. She glanced up at Hatter, at his beloved face, at the man who'd risked his own life, time and again, to help her. The man who had left his home, left everything at the drop of his favourite hat to come chasing after her again. The man who she was pretty sure she was falling in love with.
"You're quiet," Hatter commented, glancing down at her. "What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing," Alice said with a smile. "Just...stuff."
"Important stuff?" Hatter asked, his own smile flickering around the edges of his mouth.
"Maybe," Alice said, turning her head to look around at their surroundings, so she wouldn't blurt out what she was thinking, for fear of it. Sure, Hatter had followed her into her world to be with her, so clearly he was serious about her, but Alice knew men, or rather, she knew herself. She knew that the mention of the L-word could, and had, sent her scurrying many times before. Her commitment issues hadn't fully disappeared, which she was definitely cognizant of. She didn't want to ruin what she and Hatter had by doing something stupid like professing her love for him but then taking it back. So she had decided she would wait to tell him, until she knew for sure. Besides, he hadn't told her he loved her yet, so clearly it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Maybe important stuff?" Hatter echoed her, and even though she wasn't looking, she could hear the smile in his voice. Which made her smile, too. She turned to look at him, and was about to reply when she noticed his smile disappear.
"Hatter?" she said, concerned. "What is it?" she turned back around to see where he had been looking, and she saw a figure who she had very much hoped never to see again.
