A couple hours later, Hatter set something on her head and put his hands over her eyes. Lillian jumped.
"It's okay. It's just me... Open your eyes..."
Lillian opened her eyes and Hatter took his hands off.
In the mirror sat a girl with curly brown hair wearing a tall green hat with a blue bow tied on the back. It looked just like Hatter's except it had a bow and no slip 10/6 on it.
She gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. Her eyes were wide and teary.
"I..."
"I try to incorporate the person's personality into the hat..."
"It looks like your's."
"Mhm... I see you as a very smart girl but forget things easily. In one ear and out of your mind... You still know the things but you don't think about them at all... In other words, my dear, you are quite mad."
Lillian smiled.
"Hm." Hatter said.
"What?"
"Only one day, I swear I've known you longer than that."
"Yeah. Same here."
"Do you like tea?"
"Well that's a silly question. Why wouldn't I?"
"Come along." The Hatter led her into a room with three wardrobes in it. "I find it funny that wherever I lead you, you follow without a moments hesitation."
"Of course..."
"Very well then." He walked up to the wardrobe in the middle and swung open the doors.
Full of dresses.
"I design these when I have nothing else to do... which is a lot..." he smiled. "Pick your favorite..."
"I couldn't!"
"Sure you can!" he picked one from off the hanger. "You just go like this." He skipped out of the room, across the store, and into another room.
Lillian giggled.
Hatter poked his head out the door. "See?" he said, walking back into the room.
Lillian smiled.
"The dressing room is over there." He pointed to the room he skipped into as he was walking back out.
"Very well then." Lillian grinned. Hatter smiled.
He walked over to a chair near the door but 30 feet away from the wardrobe room. Right in the middle of the two rooms facing the door. He picked up his book of hat ideas and opened it.
Lillian took off her shoes and grabbed 4 dresses. She ran to the dressing room.
Thud-thud-clash!-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
Hatter's eyes looked up from the book. Lillian dropped a dress.
CLASH! She set the rest down.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud...
She picked it up.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
He smiled.
A pink strapless dress with one wave of vertical fabric down the middle of the skirt part. The top was embroidered with gold thread in tiny swirled top hats.
A blue strapless dress that stopped in the middle of the thigh in the front but kept going in the back to the floor. The skirt part was all lose ruffles and the top was carefully embroidered with silver thread into complicated but elegant swirls and tiny tea cups.
A light pink one shoulder dress that's skirt's top left side was pinned up with a pink rose pin to the right's and the rest of the left side drooped down to the floor. The right side had waves of vertical fabric starting where the left was pinned up.
A gothic dress that stopped just above her knee in the front but a piece went down to her shin in the back. It had one thin dark green silk layer on top of a thick three layers of fishnet skirt under it so it wouldn't cling to the legs. From the shoulder down to just above her elbow was dark deep blue velvet and on the ends were bell sleeves- dark blue lace. There was filigree details on the dark blue velvet corsage-like lace up attached to the dress. The neck was low and was lined with ruffled blue lace. She shook her head.
They were all absolutely magnificent... but none of them seemed to match Lillian's hat...
She looked over in the corner of the dressing room. It was the one that Hatter left. She tried it on. It was a bright orange "heart-style" neck strapless dress that stopped at the knees. On the left side were green peacock feathers stretching to the right. On the top left was a blue embroidered teapot. The teapot appeared to be pouring the feathers instead of tea. The skirt part was a smooth gauzy type material and wasn't at all tight.
Lillian tip-toed out quietly.
"Boo!"
"AH!" Hatter jumped. "Little polka dot. I would have never guessed you were seventeen." he said turning around. He smiled. "I thought you might like that one."
Lillian twirled around. "I do."
"Come along," he smiled. "You know... I had a weird dream..."