NOTE: Many thanks to Lady Doppelganger for her beta-reading prowess. Without her, this would still be sitting on Google Drive.

Alice Hamilton was sure her luck had finally changed. Her newest boyfriend, Jack, showed great promise. He was handsome, kind, intelligent and gainfully employed. As far as Alice could tell, he was better than all five of her previous boyfriends combined. Jack was definitely a guy worth holding on to, and she planned to do just that.

Whereas some women looked for excitement in their romantic pursuits, Alice looked for stability. Her mother would ask of her suitors "Is he cute? Does he bring you flowers? Does he make you laugh?" For Alice, it boiled down to something else: could she trust him?

Alice's mother chided her for having an impossibly long list of criteria when it came to boyfriends. So far, she hadn't found anything wrong with Jack.

They met at a weekend business conference and hit it off immediately. At the end of the second day, he asked her out for dinner and drinks, and they had been on a few dates since then. When he found out that Alice was looking for a job, Jack mentioned that his mother had a manager's position open at her bar, Wonderland. He arranged for Alice to be interviewed, and she got the job.

Alice's main goal when she registered for the conference was networking; after all, a business degree didn't exactly guarantee employment. Jack was an additional perk, but working for his mother was daunting. Alice had known the instant she shook Kathy's hand that this would be a difficult woman to please.

Now it was her first day on the job, and Alice was nervous about meeting her new staff. So far, the bouncer was creepy – Brooklyn accent, and nicknamed "Mad March." The hostess, Duchess (could that really be her name?) was faux-pleasant and gorgeous. Apparently she had intended to apply for what was now Alice's job. There was also an older man – an accountant who had worked for Wonderland long before Jack's mother bought it. His name was Charlie, and he was the nicest so far.

"Dormie is our DJ. He's always running a bit late, though, so you'll have to meet him later," Jack explained as he led Alice to the bar for a complimentary drink. "And this is David, one of my mother's hand-picked hires."

A dark-haired man in a fedora turned around. He acknowledged Jack with a quick look before settling his appraising gaze on Alice. His eyes traveled up and down and his mouth twitched, but he didn't say anything.

She extended her hand. "I'm Alice."

"Pleased to meet you, Alice," he said. "Everybody calls me Hatter."

Alice noted that he was English, like Jack's family, but he didn't speak with the same accent.

"Hatter?" she asked. "Because you wear a hat?"

"Er, no. It's my last name." The look on his face said that this conversation was all too familiar.

"Oh. That's cute. Hatter, Wonderland." She gestured to the room to make her point. Though she tried to disguise it, Alice tended to talk with her hands when she was nervous.

"Does this look like a kid's story to you?"

What was this guy's deal? Alice shrugged it off. "No."

"Would you care for a drink?" he asked. "Cosmopolitan? Chardonnay? Cup of tea, perhaps?"

Hmm. He obviously already had some opinions of her. "No, thank you," she said primly.

Jack took her by the elbow to continue the tour, but Alice turned back to Hatter. "For future reference, though, I'm more of a gin-and-tonic, red wine and coffee kind of girl."

His mouth twitched in an obvious effort not to react. "Duly noted."

Alice smiled. She'd wear him down eventually.