How Bright the Lights{Alice in Wonderland ModernDay Alice/Hatter}

Chapter 22

"Well, now I've gone and done it," the Hatter announced upon entering his living room later that evening.

Mally and Nivens looked up briefly from the telly where they were raptly watching House Hunters Abroad, but when Tarrant paused too long his dramatic effect was lost and they turned back to their program. Tarrant huffed and walked past them into the kitchen, setting his messenger bag down on the counter. Thackery looked up from the sauce he was seasoning on the stove.

"What'd ye do now?" he asked disinterestedly.

Tarrant saw that he could either forge on or go off in a huff while no one listened, so he went ahead despite the lukewarm reception.

"I went to see Absolem today. I didn't get Alice's number, and I didn't see her, though unfortunately I ran into her mother. Didn't make a terribly good impression I'm afraid," he said fretfully.

"Her mother, eh?" Thackery looked as though this reminded him of something. He continued his kitchen ritual of banging through cupboards and slamming drawers with slightly more agitation than usual.

"Weel, that's what you didnae do. What were you on about doing this time?" he questioned.

"Oh. I think I've accidentally petitioned Absolem to create the Vetvier summer ready-to-wear line under my own sub-label. And despite trying to tell Absolem that the whole thing was a misunderstanding I was accepted. And did I mention I still don't have Alice's number?" Tarrant frowned as he snaked under Thackery's arm to taste the sauce on the stove.

"Mmm, this is delicious. For pasta?"

Thackery paused and looked at him disbelievingly. "How did ye manage to do tha' 'accidentally'?" he demanded.

Tarrant shrugged.

"Meatloaf, actually," Thackery conceded. "'S in the oven."

"These things always seem to happen to me," Tarrant complained. "I go in somewhere for one reason, such as to find the communication information of the most interesting girl I've ever met, and then come out having promised to make a great number of dresses for a company that I don't even really work for. My accountant is going to give me hell about this one. I can jest hear it now, 'employer number' blah blah 'tax status' blah 'ineligible income' blah. She doesn't seem to grasp how deeply I neither care nor understand what she has to say."

"Oh poor lit'le Tarrant, getting major design contracts wherever you go. I'll be sure to tell yer former classmates so they can write out sympathy cards," he said sarcastically.

The Hatter paused, and grimaced. He was being selfishly arrogant again, wasn't he? Thank goodness he had friends who didn't let him get away with this sort of thing or he wouldn't have any friends at all.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Forget about the design contract. It all stems from the same problem: it's been a whole day and I can't find Alice, despite having found her mother, who I definitely didn't want to find."

"Sae Absolem didn't have her number?" Thackery asked, rustling around in the silverware drawer for just the right sized serving spoon.

"Nae. He gave me the contact information of that sabretooth tiger of a mother of hers, but I've not quite lost all hope yet. Maybe I will have to use it."

Thackery turned to him with a sigh. "Have ye even looked her up yet? Online, like a normal citizen o' th' twenty-first century?"

Tarrant's eyes widened. What a good idea! Yet another reason to be grateful for his friends.

He rushed off without a word and retrieved his tablet from where it was charging under a pile of drawing and a landslide of ribbons on the desk in his workroom. When he got back, Thackery was inspecting some sauerkraut in a large crock he kept in one of the bottom cupboards.