Disclaimer: Alice is owned by Syfy. Yada yada yada… Onto the story!
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A Pain in the Paperwork
Ms. Olivia Horvath was an excellent lawyer. Hatter could tell that even before he met her. Her offices were located in what Alice assured him was a highly stylish business district, and her last name was one of the ones included in the title of the firm that she worked for. If these two pieces of evidence didn't convince him, the well-trained receptionist (that led them to Ms. Horvath's personal office at precisely the time dictated by their appointment) did. No one who didn't do well could afford to hire a receptionist that good, or afford to run their appointments on time either.
Ms. Horvath stood up from behind her desk to greet them. Her black hair was straight and fanned across her shoulders as she moved.
Hatter's fashion conscious eye decided that her dark blue skirt suit and shoes must have cost more than some people made in a month, or even a year. He wasn't exactly certain what the average income was around here (though people generally seemed quite prosperous compared to Wonderland).
"Your message with my receptionist said that you know Jack Chase." She said, cutting directly to the point of their visit. The way her voice lingered over the name "Chase" made Hatter realize that she probably knew Jack's other last name as well.
"We're on speaking terms, generally." Commented Hatter, dryly. He hoped that Jack's advice when it came to this lawyer was good. Nothing could go wrong with this meeting. He had to get everything set up if he was going to be allowed to stay in this world. So, Duchess was back at the apartment, vomiting yet again, while Alice stood by his side in the posh office.
"My name's Alice Hamilton and this is David Hatter. Jack wanted us to acquire some land for a private business venture." Hatter winced at the use of his name. Why did everyone in this world require the use of a first name? In Wonderland, people generally just went by their titles or a nickname. Caterpillar never went by his real name (not that anyone knew it) and Hatter didn't feel like he should be forced to either. But, it was the social custom here, no matter how inane he thought it was.
"More land?" A fleeting look of surprise passed over Ms. Horvath's face. Hatter wondered exactly how much Jack had purchased in his time in this world. Or had his mother had him buy land? The machinations of the royal family had always been kept secret from the inhabitants of Wonderland, except for terribly obvious things, such as the Casino. But Hatter wouldn't have put it past the Queen to have a whole series of plans besides the public ones.
"A warehouse. And one that isn't actually completed yet." Hatter specified.
As the woman took her seat again, Alice and Hatter did the same. Their chairs were considerably less comfortable than hers looked. But Hatter figured that every piece of furniture in this office was probably at the height of style. The figure that Jack had listed for retaining Ms. Horvath's services could certainly pay to keep her furniture in fashion.
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"To be honest, I thought you had come about some of the other purchases that Jack had been looking into. But then again, I should have known that if that was the case, he would have come himself." She looked a bit disappointed and Alice wondered if she wasn't yet another woman who had been played by Jack.
Alice didn't know how much the woman knew about Wonderland, but she was determined not to give anything away.
"I'll tell Jack that he might want to stop by the next time he's in town. But the warehouse is actually going to belong to Mr. Hatter." Alice couldn't help it. She felt incapable of calling him "David" if the situation didn't demand it. But it also felt too strange to just call him "Hatter" in front of this neatly made-up and terribly expensive lawyer.
"Oh, that explains it then." Stated the woman, and Alice noticed that the area around her mouth and eyes wrinkled deeply when she smiled. Wrinkles like that only occurred when someone was used to smiling a lot. Alice decided that even if Jack was an ass, people who associated with him weren't always the same.
Alice listened as Hatter explained about the warehouse and what he wanted to do with it while Ms. Horvath took notes on the tablet laptop that she held in her lap.
"Hmm… This shouldn't be too difficult. I've dealt with Farber and Martin before, a decent construction firm, but they have no idea how to run a business." The professionally dressed woman tapped the computer stylus against her lips. "It should only take a phone call. Jasper owes me a few favors. Though getting all the paperwork squared away for the club might take a little longer."
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They determined that if at all possible the construction should be completed by Farber and Martin Builders. That would sooth some of the owners' egos and make certain that there weren't mistakes when one company took over from another. Hatter realized that it was good that the paperwork was going to take awhile, since he was going to need to get the interior designed to code. Though he found that that would require even more paperwork.
Nothing could be done in this world without paperwork. The more he had to deal with it, the more he hated that fact. But it was better than paying bribes (though some of the fees and taxes sounded suspiciously like them to him). He kept his mouth shut on that score.
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As they were leaving the office, Alice saw Hatter smiling slightly. His hat slipped down his arm and landed on her head.
"What's all this about?" She asked, a bit worried by his display. She touched the brim of the hat, causing it to slip down over her ears. Alice admitted that she liked that he had plots and schemes, it made her know that he was settling in, but she was still concerned that some of his ideas might get them into serious trouble.
"I was just thinkin' that I'm going to be a respectable business man soon." He laughed. "It's a worrisome thought." She smiled, remembering how many times she had considered the same thing in the last few days.
"You know? I agree."
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The ride back to Hatter's apartment took place in silence, excluding giving the cab driver directions when they got in and paying the fare at the end.
Hatter hoped that being respectable and giving up his old life would make him worthy of Alice. He had liked the fact that playing both the Resistance and the Hearts had kept him on his toes, but here, just being around Alice did that. He didn't need the excitement of running scams anymore, or smuggling things in his boat. He just needed Alice's approval, which she gave to him with every smile.
They walked into the apartment, to find Duchess sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, reading.
"You're back already? I guess it went well then." She set the book on the coffee table, but Hatter noticed that Alice's eyes never left the book.
The brunette walked over to the table and picked it up, exposing the cover for him to see.
Baby Names.
Well, Alice had to find out sometime.
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AN:
Olivia Horvath is obviously an original character. She is strangely enough named after Olivia from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Dorotea Horvath in Anne McCaffrey's To Ride Pegasus. I suppose that this shows some of my eclectic taste in reading materials.
The construction company Farber and Martin is completely made up. And Jasper Martin is one of the owners if anyone was wondering why the lawyer was going to call in a favor.
And if you all haven't noticed so far, I have a hatred of paperwork. Have you ever noticed exactly how much paperwork that you have to fill out to get anything done? I can see it driving Hatter crazy, since Wonderland doesn't seem to have any such organizational structure from we see in the show.
If you have anything you want to ask, go ahead. I'll answer what I can, as long as it doesn't give too much away.