Hello again, lovely readers. As always, vanilla212 has done a fantastic job betaing this chapter. Chapter Six is written and undergoing editing, so expect it within the next week!
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Alice was adapting very well to life in Hatter's shop. At least, she was fairly sure she was.
Her first day on the floor was not that bad, all things considered. She chose one of her favorites from among her new dresses. It was a bright shade of green, and made from soft cloth that felt soothing to her. Its sleeves extended past her elbows to completely conceal her Glow. The skirt flared gently around her knees in three layers that brushed against her skin when she walked. Her boots were old, but they did not seem so old with this dress.
She studied her reflection in her mirror, and decided that she looked…nice. Alice had never thought of herself as pretty, but the dress was pretty, and that was almost as good.
The day started quietly. Dormie arrived, gave Hatter a terse greeting and Alice a wary little wave, then scuttled off down a back hallway. Hatter showed her a little bit more about measuring the teas, and, true to Ricky's guarantee, they found she had a natural instinct for it.
Alice knew this already, but having it affirmed by somebody who knew the business as well as Hatter did made her feel...happy? She thought it must be Happiness, or maybe Liberation. She wasn't quite sure which, but she did know that since she had been off the drainer, she was becoming more aware of her emotions. It was like seeing the familiar faces of long-lost friends and acquaintances.
Hatter said she was too smart to be an oyster, but she had trouble believing it. It wasn't that she was smarter, it was that he had never been around a sentient oyster. Maybe they were all like this off the drainer. She couldn't remember.
There were only a few morning customers, and Hatter took these to the back of the shop. Alice knew why, of course. That was where he kept all the teas the Suits weren't to know about.
After wrapping up the early morning business, Hatter showed her to a little kitchen. The room was painted with hideous zebra stripes, and a garish advertisement for the Happy Hearts Casino was taped to the ceiling. A small wooden cold food chest was tucked in the far corner, and she could hear its gears whirring and clinking noisily. Or maybe the noise was coming from the massive boiler that was mounted to the ceiling. Alice wasn't sure. She wondered why Hatter did not buy nicer appliances. He could easily afford better than this.
Shelves lined every available inch of wall space. Some were empty, while others were packed to overflowing with foodstuffs. Alice thought she saw a packet of sewing needles on one shelf, but it could have been her imagination. A black substance that looked suspiciously like soot was clinging to the walls in some places, and the cracked tile floor looked like it hadn't been mopped in years.
The stove was a monstrous contraption that squatted near the door, as if to threaten anybody who dared step inside. Dormie was frying what smelled like pickled borogove, and the odor filled the small room and wafted into the hallway. Dormie hardly bothered to conceal his trepidation as he heaped some of the greasy mess onto a plate and handed it to her. Alice resisted the impish urge to bare her teeth at him.
Hatter filled his own plate, then opened a concealed door between the stove and boiler to reveal a corner room with tall windows along both outer walls. Alice wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but every one of them was splintered, and the morning light hit them and threw chaotic fragments of light all over the room.
The ceiling was low around the edges, but rose up to form a domed skylight in the center. Compared to the kitchen, the room was pristine, and the walls were painted in soft pastels and whites. Alice found it very comforting.
The crowning centerpiece was the dining table. It appeared to be made from opaque glass melted around steel ribbing, and was two levels high like a bunk bed. The first level held a little table for two and was accessible from both sides. The seats were cushioned with bright orange cloth. The upper level was much the same, only it was wider than the lower one and seated four.
Alice stared at it for a moment, then looked over at Hatter. He was brushing a few droplets of stove grease off his black velvet vest. "It stains," he said with a grimace. He gestured to the table. "It's your lucky day, Alice," he said, stretching the syllables out for dramatic effect. "Up or down?"
She hesitated, then said, "Up."
It took a little finesse to climb up without spilling her food or knocking her head on the ceiling, but she managed it and chose a seat. From here, she could see down through the windows at an angle all the way to the mid-levels of the city. Directly above them, a clear blue sky was visible through the skylight (which, she observed, needed cleaning).
They ate breakfast companionably. Hatter did most of the talking, much to Alice's relief. In spite of the comfort of her surroundings, she felt a little nervous being on the top level, with the city dropping below her. His steady chatter and expressive face kept her mind off of it.
After breakfast, he had her cleaning all the shop windows. The building was a lot bigger than it seemed, and she took note of several stairways and closed doors that seemed very fascinating. She would ask Hatter later if she could explore them. Or maybe she would just do it without telling him. She smiled a little at the thought.
The three of them had tea at noon. Or, to be more accurate, Hatter and Alice had straight tea, while Dormie helped himself to what Alice suspected was a variety of Relaxation (which was itself a byproduct of Peace). Hatter did not object, so apparently this was routine.
He showed her the Sensibility cabinet, which was built into the wall behind his desk. It was where he kept all the straight teas, along with many other odds and ends. After that, they went back down to the shop floor. Dormie got the tea stock ticker running, and within minutes he was slumped over the podium, snoring away. Hatter smirked and nudged Alice. "Look at that. He won't wake up until there's a crowd."
He organized the shelves behind the bar while she cleaned the room. Then he handed her a key to the bar counter and said, "You can keep this all for yourself. I had a spare made."
She accepted it and slipped it into the pocket of her dress. "Thanks." He smiled in acknowledgment and took a seat at a table near the bar. "I'll be here for the night, so don't worry if you have problems." He took his hat off, twirled it, and winked at her. "You'll do fine. Tea-head bites aren't poisonous."
She laughed aloud at that, prompting an irritated, snuffling snort from Dormie.
… … … … … … …. …. ….
The first of the customers arrived at about mid-afternoon, and soon the floor was filled with the pandemonium of competing bidders. Alice felt a little overwhelmed at first, but soon caught on to the rhythm. Hatter had marked the teas at current rates, so there would be no bartering tonight. She had mastered the account system by her tenth customer, and by the fifteenth was able to make eye contact with them.
It grew dark outside, and bright lights flickered on across the floor. Behind the counter, Alice had already turned the lamp on her countertop on, and it cast a soft green glow over the bar and nearby tables.
She looked over at Hatter's table less and less as the hours went by and she grew more confident. He was sitting there patiently the entire time, seemingly preoccupied with his hat, but in reality not missing a thing.
A little before midnight, he poked his head in the window. "Alice, do you mind if I run back to the office for a minute? Dormie left a chart in there."
Remembering that she was supposed to be mute, she only nodded. He made his way out while Dormie remained at the podium.
Two minutes passed, then five. Hatter still hadn't returned, and Alice began to feel an uncomfortable clenching in her stomach. Where was he?
A tea-head came back to the counter to buy more, and Alice was instantly aware of his unnaturally pale skin and glassy eyes. She didn't recall which teas he'd purchased, or how much, but clearly he'd had more than enough to strip him of his reason.
Finally, he said, "More."
She shrugged, as if to say, More of what?
He licked his lips and shrugged back at her, his thin shoulders rising almost to his ears. "Doesn't matter, now does it? Something strong. Lots of it."
Ignoring the uneasy gnawing in her stomach, Alice reached for a bottle of Euphoria, hesitated, then picked up one of Excitement. She thought about giving him Passion, but she had a bad feeling about this guy. Passion was one of the most reactive emotions available, and she was not about to augment his already hyper-emotional state.
The man watched her write up the sale impatiently. His eyes were watering by this time, and he furiously rubbed his face, leaving red scratches from his fingernails.
Alice made a split-second decision.
She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to give him a full dose Excitement when he was already so close to the edge. She kept a pitcher of water on the counter for her own use. While he was rubbing his face, she dipped an empty cup in the water and scooped it out half-full. Then she filled the other half with Excitement and swirled it until it was completely mixed.
When she looked up, the tea-head was staring at the cup in her hands. "What did you to it?" He hissed.
Alice froze, feeling the awful clench of Fear in her stomach. Fear was the one feeling she knew all too well. She always felt it right before the drainer or when a piece of her world intruded on her memory, and she felt it now. This crazed tea-head would not hesitate to kill her.
He moved without warning, lunging forward with a curse that sounded more like a snarl. He tried to scramble in the window after her, and let out a hoarse scream when he couldn't get through it. Alice jumped back, her own scream drowned out by his shrieking.
She pressed against the opposite wall, frantically weighing her options. Where was Hatter? Try the door! No, not the door! He would catch her.
Her eyes fell on the shotgun beneath the counter. She had no idea how to use it, but the tea-head didn't know that. He grabbed the cup of diluted tea and smashed it to the floor. Alice seized the moment and ducked beneath his arms, grabbed the gun and rolled out of his reach, narrowly missing the broken glass from the cup.
The man was still screaming, now with tears streaming down his face. Alice pointed the gun at him and backed up until she felt the solid counter door against her back. He yanked on the window doors and tried to wedge his shoulders through, and suddenly she couldn't hear him through the white noise in her head. For what seemed like eternity, she watched as he squeezed his head and upper torso through. Her arms quavered, but she kept the gun trained on him and yelled at him to back off.
Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it was over. Through the counter bars, she saw Hatter approach the man and yank him back onto the floor. The man stumbled to his feet, only to meet Hatter's swinging fist.
The noises of the room snapped back into focus. The tea-head had stopped screaming. Derisive shouts and laughter came from the tables. She felt her knees turn to jelly, and collapsed to the ground with the gun still clutched in her hands.
A twitching nose poked through the window, followed by Dormie's panicked face. He squeaked and quickly yanked his head back when he saw her trembling and clutching the gun. She heard Hatter's voice shouting something, followed by a sharp knock on the door. "Alice, open up!"
She groaned. Open the door? After all that? She wasn't sure she wanted to face him, not after giving him such a good reason to fire her. Her mind raced through the possibilities…he would turn her out onto the streets…he would sell her to a tea-runner…he would alert the Suits….
"Alice, the door!"
She pushed her fears back. He was not Ricky, he was Hatter. But why hadn't he come sooner? He said two minutes, not ten. She stood shakily to her feet, unlocked the door and pulled it open. Hatter stood on the other side, looking genuinely anxious. "Whoa, don't shoot!" He held his arms up instinctively.
"I don't know how," she murmured, and held the gun out to him.
He took it and stepped past her to put it back beneath the counter. "That'll change, rest assured." He turned, and saw that she had flinched away from him. "I'm really, really sorry I was late, Alice." He set a hand carefully on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"
She nodded, unsure of what to say. But she did not push his arm away.
He was staring at her face. "Alice, you're crying. Are you all right?"
Surprised, she touched her cheeks and felt wetness. She was crying. How strange. "He had too much tea already, and he wanted more. So I diluted it. I didn't think he would see…" Ashamed of her stupidity, she set her jaw and pushed away the thoughts of being on the streets tonight. Surely he wouldn't do that?
Hatter sighed and pushed his hat farther back on his head. "Some of them are bent on killing themselves. I wish I could say that guy was an exception to the rule, but he's not."
Then why are you selling to them? Alice thought. You and your damned money. It didn't make sense for her to be angry at him. He wasn't acting like he was going to make her leave, after all. But she was angry, all the same. She pulled away from him again.
Hatter blinked and stepped back. "Alice, there was nothing else you could have done."
He could see that she was barely listening to him. "Look, I sent Dormie to get you something nice to eat," he said, trying to hide his frustration at her withdrawal. "You should take the rest of the night off, all right? We'll try again tomorrow."
She nodded, and he saw her eyes widen suddenly. She covered her mouth with her hands and murmured, "Nobody heard me yell, did they?"
"Nope. Couldn't hear a thing over the nutcase."
She had a point, though. Hatter figured that their conversation was shielded from most of the room by the framing around the door, but this was still a bit of a close call.
She lowered her hands and let out a long sigh. She looked so defenseless that he almost acted on the impulse to give her a comforting hug, but he wasn't sure that she would welcome that. Instead, he led her out from the counter, locked it behind them, and escorted her from the room. Jeers came from a few patrons when they saw her.
Hatter kept walking, but he made a mental note to come back and kick the culprits out once he got Alice settled. It wouldn't do to let them get away with it this time. If he did, the customers would be giving her trouble whenever the opportunity presented itself. Better to put a stop to it now.
Dormie had made soup from the leftover fried borogove, and it was so greasy that Hatter wasn't sure if Alice would want any (he knew he certainly wouldn't). But she accepted a bowl without a word and took it to her room.