Finding Normal, or Something Like That

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own anything.

Sorry it's been a bit since I posted anything but I hit a few hiccups, but that's all sorted out now. Anyways, here's chapter nine, in which Hatter's shop is open and Carol proves to be mischievous, like a Hatter. Sorry the chapter isn't extraordinarily long, but hey, it's more Hatter awesomeness, so I hope you enjoy it.

And here's a timeline for the fic so far: Hatter arrived in late April/early May. He acquired the shop in mid-May and opened the shop in mid-November. This chapter happens in mid-December, a month after the shop is opened.

From his vantage point, Hatter had a good view of the shop and the crowd of customers. He watched them.

He was quite surprised at the success of the shop, so far. As of yet, he was just turning over enough to pay the bills and pay salaries, but both Carol and Alice had reassured him that this was a good thing. In fact, Carol had gone so far as to say that he would be turning over a successful tea shop soon enough.

Carol had been in almost every day so far. She had actually been the one who found the final placement for his hat rack, which now stood proudly in his office, near the door.

Apparently, he had opened his shop at the right time. Winter was setting in and the cold weather had drove patrons inside at the temptation of warm drinks. That being that, he had a few months ahead of him before he had to introduce more iced drinks to the menu, which was ultimately a good thing. He was still feeling out the kinks with handling his shop. Even though he considered himself to be a good businessman, this was an entirely new world and he was still finding his footing.

In the month that he had been open, he had already pulled in a fair number of regular customers. That was good. He could use all of the patrons he could get right now, especially if said patrons had positive reviews (which they did so far) and brought friends with them (which most did). And many of Alice's friends had stopped in, at least once. Meg and Tim had been in numerous times. After the first time in, Meg had declared that the shop was perfect and Hatter had a good future ahead of him with the shop.

As he looked over the main floor of his shop from the door of his office, he couldn't help but feel glad. Finally, he had his Wonderland home in the Oyster world.

He was extremely content.

Though, as he thought about his new life, Hatter thought about Alice. The Christmas holiday was coming up, he knew, and that was one of the things that was common between Wonderland and this world. He had managed to squirrel away enough money from Jack's old bank account (and now his) for very good presents for both Alice and Carol, with a little to spare. He was planning something special for the both of them.

However, if he had it his way, he would have a very special gift for Alice, this Christmas, though he didn't think that it would be a good idea, given that he didn't know if Carol would necessarily approve of his plan, though he full intended to have a heart-to-heart with the woman.

The bell over the door rang softly as the door opened. A group of women entered, drawing his gaze. Hatter smiled broadly as he saw Carol among that group. Speak of the devil. The woman looked over and saw him leaning against the office door.

She grinned brightly and broke from her group without so much of a word of explanation to her group. Even from where he stood, Hatter could see the looks of surprise on their faces.

"Hello, David," Carol said as she stopped in front of him.

"'Ello, Carol." He looked over her shoulder for a moment at the group of women, who had gotten in line. All of them were still periodically glancing over at them. "So who are your friends?"

She glanced over her shoulder briefly at them as they moved up in line slowly. "They're a group of my colleagues. One of them, Amelia, had heard about this 'quaint' new tea shop that they wanted to check out." By the way that Carol looked back at the group, Hatter got the impression that Carol didn't necessarily like all of Amelia's actions and such, though he knew for a fact that she agreed that the shop was a good thing.

Hatter caught her drift. "And you didn't tell them that the owner of this tea shop happens to be dating your daughter, then?"

"That would be a rousing no."

He laughed. "Well, is there anything that I can do to help you with that?"

A very sly grin that he was coming to recognize crossed her face. "Would the owner of this very quaint tea shop be so kind as to sit down and have a nice little conversation with us?"

"Of course, I would be delighted and honored to do so."

Hatter returned her grin with an equally sly one of his own. Carol winked at him as she turned. He followed her by a few steps over to her friends, who were now near the front of the line now. All of them were practically staring at him now. He waved to the cashier to indicate that she should put their orders under his tab and she nodded to him

"Hello, ladies," he said, turning his full attention to them.

"And who might you be?" a woman with curly black hair asked, giving him a quick once-over. Hatter got the sense that, by the way the woman had shifted her stance, she was laying on the charm. He could smell it and see it from a mile away.

"Girls, this is David Hatter," Carol said, introducing him.

"I own and run this shop," he continued, popping the 'p' in 'shop.'

The curly-haired woman gave him a smile. "Oh, well, it's a pleasure to meet you, David. I'm Amelia. I apologize I didn't recognize you. I've been in here only a few times before."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

The group reached the cashier. One by one, they placed their orders. Hatter smiled at the young cashier.

"Thanks, Emily."

"No problem, Hatter."

Carol laughed softly, despite her friend's confused looks. "David likes to be confusing sometimes."

"After all, this is my tea shop and it is called Hatter's."

The women all laughed, Amelia giggling especially high. Hatter looked over at Carol and they shared a knowing look. It seems that the woman was really laying on the smarm. Hatter knew he was good-looking, had known so for a long time, and that fact had only be reinforced multiple times by Alice since his arrival in this world.

"Now, would you ladies like to take a seat while your orders are made?" he asked, lifting his hat from his head to run his hand through his hair, messing it up even further.

They moved over to one of the cozier set of couches, settling themselves down. Hatter stretched out on a large, curved chair that he had picked out because it had reminded him of his office chair back in Wonderland. He stretched out his legs.

Once they were comfortable, Amelia looked over at Carol. "So, Carol," she asked, "how do you know David?"

The two chuckled. Carol nodded to him.

"I had the good fortune of meeting Alice, a good while ago," he explained. "We just happened to hit it off and a few months back, not long before I began work on this shop, we started dating. In fact, both Alice and Carol were very instrumental in the design of this shop."

The women all looked at each other, most smiling at the story. He noted how Amelia seemed to shift slightly, a little uncomfortable now, looking over at Carol now. "I thought I recognized some of your touches around this place."

The grin on Carol's face was quite broad. It seemed that Amelia was just beginning to come around to the idea that he was already taken, though Hatter could tell by the look on her face, she was not completely thrilled with the idea.

"David's idea was one of sheer genius. I thought that it would be a very good thing to get involved with, especially since he and Alice are going strong," Carol told her friends. She reached over and patted Hatter on the shoulder. "Alice and I are both so proud of David for getting this shop up and running so quickly."

As their orders arrived, Hatter could tell that Amelia was really uncomfortable now. He didn't suppress the laugh as he observed the women.

"Ah, well, I do try my best."

Well, that's that. Chapter nine. I hope you enjoyed it. Now, remember that I like reviews, so go review. Let me know what you think of the chapter. Good? Bad? Cheeky?