Alice in Glass Slippers

by L. C. Davenport

  Closing her eyes, Alice grimaced. “Sure. How’ve things been at Lewis’s this past year?”

  She turned her head to watch as a slow smile spread across his face. “Much better than I’d anticipated. I think I can hire another part timer.”

  “That’s great!” Alice grinned at him. “And you were worried that fancy dresses–”

  “Gowns, Alice. How many times do I have to remind you?”

  “Gowns wouldn’t be a hot seller. I guess it just takes the right man to sell them.”

  “Darn right it does.” He paused and propped himself up on one elbow. “Dare I ask about The Glass Slipper?”

  Alice closed her eyes and shook her head in despair. “I found Mimi’s records last night while I was cleaning up–”

  “You weren’t trying to finish off any of the things on that stupid list, were you?”

  She rolled her eyes in momentary exasperation. “I was sweeping the back room and found the register stuck under a pair of snow boots.”

  Lewis waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t he grasped her hand. “And?”

  It took a second for her to answer. “I don’t know how we paid the rent this month, and unless something happens soon we aren’t going to make next month’s either.”

  They were quiet for a long moment. “I thought you were doing well,” Lewis said blandly. “Isn’t the men’s line drumming up any additional business?”

  “It is, which is why I can’t figure out why we’re short on cash. I still have all Mom’s old customers, and enough new ones to make us firmly in the black, but…” Her voice trailed off. “I thought I was looking at the wrong accounts, but I checked our balance when I did the deposit last night.”

  “You don’t suppose Mimi’s using money you earn at The Glass Slipper to fund her new stores, do you?”

  “It’s possible… but I don’t think it’d be enough to buy as many as she has.”

  Lewis stared up at the Sky and rubbed his chin. “Do you need some help?”

  Alice snorted. “Not unless you’re offering to help me bump her off and throw her body in Lake Huron.”

  “Lake Huron’s a ways away, Alice.”

  “It’s only an hour. Or two,” she amended when he raised his eyebrows at her. “Let me talk to Mimi first. Maybe if we get the shop looking like it used to, without all the neon colors and loud music…”

  Lewis opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut. “All right. But if that doesn’t work, will you please consider working for me? I’m serious, Alice.”

  “I know you are.” She took a deep breath. “And I’ll think about it. Seriously,” she added when he raised his eyebrows at her.

  He stared at her, hard, for a second before nodding. “Now, tell me why you walked into your house Friday night like you were floating on a cloud. Has Mr. Tall, Dark and Lovesick finally shown you some of his magic?”

  Alice’s cheeks warmed instantly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I do.”

  The next thing Alice knew she was being hauled unceremoniously to her feet and Adam was gazing down at her. “You mean this, Hughes?” he said with a smirk just before he kissed her so thoroughly she had to hold onto his arms to keep from sliding back down to the floor.

  Lewis let out a loud whistle. “Calm down there, man. You’re the wrong species to start eating people.”

  Alice hid her face in Adam’s shirt; sure her face was going to burst into flames. “Shut up, Lewis.”

  “Yeah, shut up, Lewis.” Adam sounded positively smug. “Why’re you two laying on the floor this early in the morning?”

  Shrugging, Lewis stood up and brushed off his pants. “Admiring the view. You should try it sometime. I’ll warn you, though. Alice gets downright testy if she has to get out of bed too early.” He narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of early, what are you doing here?”

  Adam glanced around the atrium distractedly. It was as if he were doing internal measurements. “A little remodeling.”

  “What–”

  Before Lewis could get the rest of his sentence out, a man with a scowl and a hard hat strode into the atrium. “So this is it?” he asked Adam, and when Adam nodded the man’s scowl deepened and he walked to the edge of the fountain, muttering to himself about water and marble.

  When Adam turned around, two sets of curious eyes were staring at him. He sighed heavily and handed Lewis a large square envelope. “The remodeling is due to this.” He watched as Lewis slid his finger through the slot and pulled out a thick piece of paper covered in silver, fancy lettering.

  “A ball?” Lewis looked flummoxed for half a heartbeat and then grinned hugely. “You’re like my own personal marketing department. I can just see it now. Three weeks of women buying everything I can get my hands on.”

  “A ball?” Alice tilted her head back and met Adam’s wide eyes. “Is this your mom’s doing?”

  “You remembered.” Adam’s kiss was gentler this time, but it still made Alice’s head spin. “I only have two tickets per shop owner, but I was hoping you’d accept one from me, to come as my date.”

  Images of a tuxedo-clad Adam filled Alice’s head, and she couldn’t keep the dreamy expression off of her face. “I’d love to come. Can you dance?”

  Adam shuddered. “Will you still be my date if I tell you no?”

  “Of course.”

  He smirked down at her. “That’s good to know.”

  Alice waited for Mimi all day. And the next two days after that. By Wednesday she was ready to redo, again, the shop–only this time without permission. She’d gotten as far as taking Brittany’s music out of the stereo and was staring at the display table just inside the store when Mimi finally waltzed through it. She didn’t look pleased.

  “Alice Riverton!” she snapped. “Have you seen my daughter?”

  “She’s out back.”

  “Not Whitney. Brittany. I’ve been calling her all day and she hasn’t answered her phone. Where is she?”

  Assuming this was a rhetorical question, Alice went back to contemplating the table. It was cluttered with gaudy shoes that no one had touched, much less tried on, in several months. She jumped when Mimi materialized uncomfortably close to her. “I asked you a question, Alice Riverton. Where is Brittany? She needs to start getting ready for the ball before all the good dresses are gone.”

  Alice blinked at her a few times, making Mimi scowl. “Well?”

  “I have no idea,” Alice stuttered. “The last time I saw her was at the baseball game.”

  Mimi let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl, and Alice took an involuntary step back, knocking a particularly loud, red and white stiletto to the ground. Ignoring this, Mimi paced around the room, muttering to herself.

  Alice took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Mimi, have you looked over the financial accounts recently?”

  Mimi kicked a shoebox, making its contents slither across the floor. “Not recently, no.”

  “We’re not doing as well as we were this time last year.”

  Alice watched warily as Mimi’s movements stilled momentarily. “It you’re trying to say something, Alice Riverton, just say it.”

  “We need to make some changes if we want to have enough money to pay the rent next month.”

  The store was completely still for a small eternity. Even the music had paused. “And whose fault is that, exactly, Alice Riverton?”

  Yours, Alice said silently, but wisely kept her counsel.

  “Things weren’t as good when I arrived as you think.” Mimi stood in the middle of the room, her hands fisted at her side. “Inventory was high, sales low. The only people that came in here were biddies too old to know better. And now look at us!” She waved a hand expansively at the over-stuffed shelves. “We have a whole new customer base that can’t wait for us to open the gate every day.”

  “And yet we still can’t pay the rent.” Alice’s voice was quiet but firm. “Something needs to happen
.”

  The smile that crawled onto Mimi’s face made the hairs on the back of Alice’s neck stand straight up. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” Mimi practically purred. “After all, I’m the one in charge of this shop. For the time being, you’re to leave things as they are. This ball business will boost sales.”

  Alice felt her shoulders slump. “May I at least put on some different music?”

  Mimi sniffed and turned on her heel. “If you must. Tell Brittany that she needs to come home right away if you see her.”

  Alice wasn’t sure if she should be grateful she got one concession out of Mimi or depressed that it wasn’t going to be enough. “Okay.”

  “Oh, and Alice Riverton?”

  “Yeah?”

  Mimi paused, one hand resting on the window display. Her eyes flashed at the informal response. “See that the old sign gets replaced with the new one I ordered last week. I can be reasonable. Like you said, we’re trying to change things around here.”

  Then, in a flurry of spiky heels and sickening perfume, Mimi was gone.

  Alice stared at the display she’d backed into for a long, long time. Then she carted armfuls of shoes back into the storage room and cleared away everything that made her think of Mimi Walker.

  Alice took a deep breath, dusted off the now-cleared table, and got to work making her own display. One that would match the one her mother had made in the window almost a year and a half before. She kept an eye on the slippers her grandfather had commissioned for her grandmother, hoping that a smidgeon of their magic would help her resurrect her mother’s legacy.

  Friday morning, Alice decided she’d had enough financial stress for one week and vowed to spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing involving money. After all, fancy shoes were expensive, and there’d been a lot of customers hungry for her wares this week. Sure, they were all mall employees, but still. It had to count for something, right?

  Adam was frowning when he slouched down onto the couch next to her. “Hey,” he said, sounding tired.

  Alice was prepared to say something snarky about the fact that he’d walked in without knocking. But when she looked at him again he seemed so exhausted that she didn’t have the heart. “What’s wrong?” she asked instead, pulling his head down to rest on her shoulder. It was to his credit that he didn’t complain about getting a crick in his neck.

  He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. “There’s just a lot to do before I can leave next week, that’s all.”

  Alice ran her fingers through his hair, and he let out what sounded like a purr. It took her a second for her to register what he’d said.

  “Where’re you going?”

  “Chicago. For a board meeting.”

  “Must be some board meeting.”

  He snorted. “You could say that.”

  Alice lapsed into silence, watching as the strands of his hair separated with her stroking and then fell back together. “When are you leaving?”

  “Next Thursday. I get back a week later, just in time to take you to the ball.”

  Alice lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “Don’t sound so excited, Mr. Wentworth, or I’ll stand you up. I’m sure plenty of girls will be going by themselves and would be willing to act as your date.”

  He turned his face so he could see her. “Are you threatening me with a gaggle of unattached women? It won’t work. I’m not afraid.”

  “You should be.” She grinned at him. “Are you doing anything else while you’re back home?”

  “Home?” He blinked at her in confusion. “Oh, you mean Chicago. I just need to get a few things from my old apartment, including–” he grimaced “–my tuxedo.”

  “You own your own tux?”

  “Does that surprise you? I’m sure Lewis has three or four hanging in his closet.”

  That was truer than he knew, Alice thought. “More like five or six. You’ve obviously never been inside his closet.”

  Adam shuddered. “I’d like to keep it that way, thanks.” His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he groaned after he’d fished it out and checked the screen. “Once this blasted ball business is done, I’m going to lock myself downstairs and refuse to answer the phone.”

  “That’s too bad. I was thinking about calling you to see if you wanted me to make you dinner as a thank-you for all the dancing you’ll be doing.”

  His eyes widened and then narrowed. “Are you calling my bluff, Miss Riverton?”

  “I might be. Is it working?”

  “It most definitely is.” His eyes locked on hers and he was halfway to her lips when the door clattered open, making him groan and lean back.

  “Hey, Alice!” Whitney called down the hallway.

  “Hey, Whitney.” Alice patted Adam on the knee in mock sympathy. “What’re you doing today?”

  Whitney’s head popped around the doorframe. “Shopping at Lewis’s for a dress to wear to the ball. Have you chosen one yet?”

  “I hadn’t even thought about it.”

  Adam glanced at her quizzically. “I thought all girls went a little crazy about stuff like that.”

  “I’ve been a little busy,” she said tartly, poking him in the side. “And knowing Lewis, he’s had a gown picked out for me since he heard about the ball.”

  “That’s an understatement.” Whitney squeaked and jumped when Lewis’s arms wound around her middle. “I’ve had it ready since the first day I opened my doors. Come on over tomorrow so I’ll have time to make any alterations. You already have the perfect pair of shoes.”

  “I think the correct term would be slippers, Lewis.”

  She watched as he made a face and mouthed, “touché,” at her.

  “And how do you know I already have the right ones? Have you secretly been taking inventory at my shop?”

  Lewis’s eyes twinkled in an ‘I-know-something-you-don’t-and-I’m-not-going-to-tell-you’way. “I just know.”

  Alice stared at him suspiciously before shaking her head and turning to Whitney. “I’ll order yours after you’ve chosen your dress if you want.”

  Whitney’s cheeks colored with pleasure. “Thanks. Are you ordering Lewis’s, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “No.” Alice and Lewis glared across the room at each other. “No,” Lewis repeated. “You’re not. I already have a pair.”

  “Alice snorted. “From college graduation. And my Mom picked those out for you, not me.”

  “Are you trying to one-up your own mother?” The look Lewis gave her was slightly incredulous.

  Alice just stared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s either the dress or the shoes, Mr. Hughes. You decide.”

  It took a while for Lewis to reply. “You drive a hard bargain, Miss Riverton. Fine. You win this round. But you have to wear what I choose, no arguing.” He pulled Whitney toward the door. “Come on, Whitney. Let’s go find some people who know how to be reasonable.”

  Adam eyed Alice cautiously once the door had slammed shut behind the others. “Trouble in paradise?”

  Alice slid down further into the couch and groaned. “Yes. I need a best friend, not a brother. The next time you see him, remind him of that point. And your shoes should be here by next Friday.” Alice glared at Adam, as if she were daring him to argue the point.

  “Fine,” he told her, holding his hands up in a placating gesture before they drifted down to his lap. “Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something? You know what happens when you withhold information from me, Alice.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “I worm around the mall, look for clues, and eventually get to the bottom of it anyway.”

  It wouldn’t have been so infuriating if he weren’t right. “Remember Mimi?” he reminded her gently.

  “How could I forget?” She sighed and rubbed her face. “Lewis is just… looking out for me, I guess. Mimi’s not exactly the easiest of bosses.”

  Adam looked like he might press further but chose not to. “I’m
sorry I have to go away so close to the ball,” he told her.

  She shrugged and leaned against him. “It’s okay. It’s your job, after all.”

  When he left her apartment that evening Alice rested her head against the basement door and hoped she wouldn’t miss him as much as she was imagining.

  Adam pushed the lawnmower back into the storage shed Thursday night and wiped his face off with the hem of his t-shirt. It was hot as Hades, even at nine in the evening, and sweat was dripping down his chest.

  Alice and Whitney were sitting on their porch swing when he turned around, and he waved jauntily at them. “Just paying off my debt, ladies,” he called as he made his way back to the house.

  It didn’t escape his notice that Alice was fanning herself furiously with a shoe catalogue. He was cocky enough to think that it wasn’t all because of the weather. He smirked to himself as he scrubbed his face again–before he was hidden from view.

  Lewis was in the kitchen when he came out of the shower. Adam had asked him to come over, so this wasn’t a surprise, but the fact that Lewis was using his hand mixer was.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making cookies. We’re having a movie day tomorrow since it’s supposed to rain all day.”

  Glancing outside, Adam shook his head at the clear, starlit sky. “If you say so.” He waited until Lewis had slid the first batch of cookies in the oven before he kicked out the chair across from him. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

  Lewis dusted his hands off on a towel and sat down. “I figured you invited me over for some reason. Ask away.”

  “How do you like working at the mall?”

  “I like it just fine.” He stared hard at Adam and then started to laugh. “Are you finally getting around to my interview?”

  “Yes,” Adam replied coolly.

  “Took you long enough.”

  Adam raised his eyebrows. “Would you believe me if I told you I saved the best for last?”

  “I would if I didn’t already know you interviewed Alice first.”

  “You have a point there,” Adam conceded. “Tell me about your shop.”

  “You want numbers?”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “No. The financial state of your business is just that–your business. I’m more interested in how you got started and why you chose my mall.”