On a certain beautiful day, Alphonse was currently packing his suitcase in his preparation for going back to England tomorrow morning.
After he had finally finished with his tremendous task, he found himself back to his bed which has a gravitational pull 20 times stronger than the outside world.
The orphanage was a bit quiet today because, for a whole day, Mrs. K and Drew were the only ones in the home while the rest of the people were going out somewhere without even telling him where they went.
Also, somehow all of them were a bit cold to him today, except for Drew and Mrs. K, they were all ignoring his presence since this morning.
So, he had this nagging feeling to find out where they went out but with how high the outside temperature was, he preferred to stay inside his sub-zero room.
Of course, he got the gist of where would they go today, the summer vacation was just started and for the like such as kids or teenagers, he could guess that they would prefer to go to the pool or beach.
Eventually, he also asked Gwen out today but for some reason, she could not come to accompany him today. Robin and Ione were out to somewhere else today and also the same reason his friends told him.
This would be the first day since he went back here without doing anything.
Then he heard someone smacking his door repeatedly followed with the adorable voice he recognized. "Al, Al, Al, are you there?" Drew asked behind the door.
"Come inside, Drew; it's not locked." He replied.
His door opened and showed Drew Barrymore, the 11-year old girl who just stepped into her puberty. She has grown taller from the last he saw her but still, those baby fat around her face seemed eternal and always look good on her.
"Hey, Al. Take me to the Beverly Center, Al." She demanded him. Of course, he didn't mad at her pompous attitude because the way she did it was so adorable.
"I think I'll pass Drew. I'm not in the mood today." He said while still lying on the bed.
Drew then jumped on his bed then sat on his stomach.
"Come on Al, please--" Said Drew with her puppy eyes. "I promised Jolly to bring you there."
The Jolly she meant was Angelina Jolie.
Turned out they've been hanging around since last year and practiced acting together. Every time her mother came to spend time with her, she always asked her to go to Jolly's home.
Because of the same bad situation occurred with the two mothers, they also became a friend, like they used to say, misery breeds company.
Jolie's mother, Marcheline has divorced 5 years ago from her father, Jon Voight and their financial condition became worsen day by day. Her alimony and child support she got from her ex-husband could not let her continue her old lifestyle.
Last year has breathed hope to Marcheline as Jon Voight, her father called her in hope of reconciling with her but somehow ended up in failure.
Her mother who was in a dire state of finance, hoping Jon Voight would help her, left let her disappointed again.
She hoped by letting Jon Voight got a second chance with her she could also make her family complete again and turned out he was still sleeping around with another woman.
This news devastated Jolie and her brother who accidentally heard their conversation. The friendship between daughters was also affected between the two mothers.
"Okay, besides, where's everyone else? Why didn't you go with them?" He asked curiously.
"I-I don't know!? They left me alone today and they did not plan anything worthwhile today in the house!" She said in agitation.
His eyes squinted at Drew and made her more nervous, "Okay, where were you both planned to do today?"
Drew released a sigh when he did not push further and screamed excitedly, "MALL!"
"Well, shit." He cursed silently.
Because today was John Mick's day off, he took a bus to reach Beverly Center. As he and Drew arrived there, they could see Jolie was waiting for them.
She wore a tomboyish outfit such as a tee-shirt with looney tunes characters printed and long jeans. She kept her long brown hair that reached her back loose.
Different from Drew who wore a checkered shirt and a knee-length skirt.
"Jolly!" He called her and unfortunately, she didn't seem to hear him as she was talking with a stranger.
From what he saw, she seemed to be bothered with the stranger.
He, with Drew on his hands, hurriedly came over to Jolie's side.
"I'm not interested!" Al heard her screaming before he could reach her.
The man tried to ask her again before Al put a hand on his shoulder. "Excuse us sir, but my friend here said she is not interested in everything you offer."
The man who felt a hand on his shoulder seemed surprised and jerked back in reflex. He thought that he was making a scene and attracted the police's attention.
But he was glad that who he saw was not the police but a young man wearing a thick sweater, which was weird because it was summer, a sunglasses and hat accompanied by a girl who he thought that had the same age as the one he was talking to.
The stranger was sure that he never saw this man before but he recognized his face from somewhere but he didn't remember from where.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force this girl or anything. Rather, I was stunned by the beauty of her innocence. I want to capture her beauty in a photograph and I can make her famous in a second." He said with passion.
"Okay, the way you said that was creepy sir. So could you back away from her because she's with me?"
The man turned to Jolie who was now were holding Al's hand while she sticking out her tongue at him.
"I'm sorry, but I'm really a professional photographer and I was looking for a girl to become a model for my cover. My name is Herber Ritts, here's my business card." He took out a card from his pocket and gave it to him.
~Herber Ritts Jr. fashion photographer~
"Miss, if you are interested, please give me a call. I also photographed Brooke Shields 4 years ago and she was satisfied with my works." He then hurriedly ran away from the scene, afraid of him because Al was bigger and looked stronger than him.
"Weird guy," Al murmured loudly.
"Is he real?" Jolie suddenly asked. She thought again about his offer. If she could become a model and get some money from it, she could help her mother financially.
"Dunno, it could be-- or maybe just a scam. It's Hollywood, anything can happen. By the way, Jolie, why are you here alone? Did your mother not accompany you today?"
"My mother is working." She said in sadness.
"You don't have anyone to accompany you?" She shook her head.
Before he could ask her further, Drew interjected him, "Geez Al, stop asking Jolie like a cop! Let's go and have some fun!" Then she dragged them both to the inside of the mall.
Drew and Jolie were having the best time in their life such as window shopping, playing arcades in Ragnarok which is practically is the place he owned and he got a lot of discounts from there.
At first, he was reluctant to follow them around but in time, Al was also having fun with them. And the last activity was the most thing he fond of, they were taking a picture together in a photo booth.
After he saved the picture of the three of them in his wallet, he then met with the gaze of the little ladies who were making a weird face at him.
"What?" He uncomfortably aksed.
"Nothing, just-- are you sure you aren't a predator?" Jolie asked teasingly.
He grinned evilly, "Oh yeah, I am the predator, I will capture every beautiful little girl like you!" He acted as if he was a bear and chase after the two of them.
They both shrieked loudly and ran away from him. They also realized that they were making a ruckus and all of the attention now turned at them.
Didn't want to make more trouble, they hurriedly left the scene before the security came and sent him to the police station.
After they walked away from the photo booth, Drew and Jolie's belly started to grumble.
"Hungry?" They both nodded at his question.
"Let's go to Dairy Queen," He pointed at the fast-food restaurant that happened to be behind them, "They had good burgers--"
"NOO!!" They screamed in harmony.
"Wha-why?"
"That's fast food, Al! It would make us fat!" Drew said.
"Also hurt our figure!" Jolie also added. The offer from Herber Ritts to become a model suddenly appeared again on her mind.
"Come on girls, it's not that bad. You still in the growing phase and it's okay to eat fast food once or twice a month. Remember, we could always exercise together, right Drew?" He smiled wickedly.
Drew face turned ugly after hearing 'exercise' words. After spending a few minutes debating with them, Al finally relented and took them to the grill house that at least gave a descent non-fast food which he counted has the same calories on each food.
But because it's not 'fast', it meant that it was healthy, smart marketing assholes.
Unexpectedly, on their way to the restaurant, they saw that man again-- both Drew and Al made an ugly face while Jolie secretly beaming in a smile, but didn't go unnoticed by Al.
Herber Ritts felt that he was successful in making the girl interested in his offer but suddenly he got a feeling that someone was watching him.
He turned around to see the people he saw a few hours ago and his eyes widened.
He hurriedly ran away from her while she was there standing stunned still at what was going on until she realized that it was them that made him ran away.
Al was looking at her with a furious face walking to their place and screamed. "It's because of you I lost free food!" She said with an accent, probably Russian but from her tone, it looked like she has been lived long enough in English-speaking countries.
"What?" Al was stunned at the girl.
"Yeah, he promised me to go to that restaurant and some pocket money if I agree to let him take picture of me! Now it's all ruined because of you!"
Fortunately, little Drew came to save him, "Don't blame him, are you not afraid that he was a scammer? Maybe he wants to kidnap you and sell your organ or make you a sex slave?"
Al turned his head to her, disbelieving that the one who said that was his little Drew.
"What!?" Said that girl, "But, but, he promised me good food."
"Why don't you come with us?" Drew offered. "My big brother here is a kind man and he will help a damsel with an empty belly, right Al?"
"But..." Drew then looked at him with her killer puppy eyes move, "Fine."
Drew turned to her new friend and introduced herself, "Hi, my name is Drew, this is Jolly," She pointed at her and then at him, "And that is my big brother, Al. Nice to meet you."
Drew offered her hand, the girl was just looking at it for a while before she huffed and shook it. "Milla, Milla Jovovich."
Al flinched hearing that name and carefully looked at her. Curly long brown hair and big blue eyes that shone back to him, yes, he was looking at 11 years old Milla Jovovich.
"Al, you okay? You've been silent for a while." Jolie who had been beside him asked. She also looked at Milla and Drew who were excitedly chatting while they entered the restaurant.
"Yes, I'm okay. Just a little hungry maybe. How about you though?" He asked her back.
"What do you mean?"
"You smiled when you see that yet to be identified photographer again."
She looked at him for a while, released a big sigh, and told him what has been bothering her. Same as any normal American person, money.
"Okay, I'll have people check his background first. If he was not a scammer, I will tell you immediately. And if you are interested in modeling, I'll ask Ari, my agent, to arrange a trusted agent for you. Is that okay for you?"
She then beamed at him and surprise him with a bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Al. With this, I could help my mom a little."
"You're welcome Jolly, anything for a friend. Let's eat first. I'm starving." He went to the restaurant chasing after Drew and Milla who entered first and missed Jolie's murmur.
They choose a seat beside the mirror where he could see the outside view of the shopping district.
After ordering some food they started to talk about their futures.
"So, both of you want to go to theatre school together?" Al asked both of them.
"Yes!" They answered together.
Milla then said, "You both want to be an actress too? Then we can be an actress together!"
"Really? You also want to become an actress?"
"Yes, my mother is a famous actress in Russia! And she taught me a lot. I also want to become an actress like her." She said.
Three of them happily shrieked and started to have a lot of chatter at each other.
"Look at that, the three of you have become a comrade in arms." The three of them suddenly blushed after caught being too excited at each other.
He even thought that these 3 people, born in the same year has a bright future in front of them if history did not stray too much. It was like the most beautiful actress born that year, even his most favorite actress.
"Which school are you going to attend?"
"I think the school name is Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute," Drew replied.
When he heard the school name, he frowned. Not because of the quality of the school, but more likely because of how expensive the school is.
"Did you already tell your mother about this?"
His question was answered yes by Jolie and he didn't hear anything from Drew. She even trying so hard not to look at him.
Then he thought to himself whether Jaid or Marcheline's financial condition could let them enroll in that expensive school. It looked like he needed to talk with them soon.
Drew is his family now whether people would like it or not. As for Jolie, he heard some gossips in the past life that she had strayed life because of financial condition that made her quit acting school, and her life gone south after she failed in the attempt to become a model.
So in this timeline, he won't let her strayed from that path.
Being stared at with a disappointed look from him, Drew became panicked and immediately said, "Okay, okay, geez. I'll tell her okay! Enough about us, tell us about your crazy stunt at after premiere party, Al. You didn't tell us a thing!" Drew pointed her finger at him.
"Party?" Milla the clueless ones asked both Drew and Jolie.
"Oh yeah, we forgot. Milla, let this be a secret that even you must keep from your parent. Are you ready?" Drew asked her and she nodded furiously.
"This man, my big brother is Alphonse Brandt."
She looked at Al then paused for a second, "Who?"
"Pfft, what an anti-climax. I thought she would become fangirls or something." Jolie excitedly said.
"Is he famous?" Milla asked again.
"Yes Milla, if you need help with your career in the future, you could always ask Al for help," Drew assured.
"Yes, I will." She said with a determined face.
"Okay, back to our favorite man in the room, what do you say, Al?" She turned to him again.
"It's just a drunk jerk who wants to have a way with Ione. When he was rejected, he went crazy and charged me like a bull. So I disarmed him and threw him to the pool, a cold water should have sobered him up."
"Really?" She looked at him with a wide eye and then laughed. The other girls, Jolie and Milla were looking at him with a sparkle in their eyes.
"Served him right, no one dares to harras Al's women and live to tell the tale." She said.
"My women?" He ridiculously asked her.
"You didn't realize that we've been making a poll you know. About how many girls you're going to end up. I bet it'll be 3."
"I'll bet 4." Jolie started to tease him also.
"Girls, you know I have a girlfriend right. I don't want to cheat on her." He said.
"Are you going to marry her, Al? How many mistresses are you going to have?" Drew said with a smirk.
"I swear you girls will be the death for me in some times in the future." He said while the girls kept giggling at him.
The food was coming, and the three of them peacefully ate their dinner. Although he saw Milla was eating her share like a hungry hobo.
Seeing the time showed almost 06.00 pm, he then told the girls to go home, "Let's go home Drew, Jolie. Milla, where do you live? Let me give you a ride to your house."
"No!" Drew suddenly screamed. Al was looking at her confusedly. "I mean, the sun it's not even set yet. How about watching a movie."
He was right about one thing, there was something weird about these two girls' behavior, especially from Drew from the beginning of the day.
But watching the movie he did, along with Milla who had nothing to do for the rest of the night, but he didn't want to let these girls passed their curfew or else he would be accused as a predator.
They watched
As soon as the time showed 8 pm, Al called a taxi from the public telephone and asked the driver to pick him up near the mall.
They took Milla first to her house, then when he asked Jolie's house address, she immediately said she wanted to go to the orphanage first before going home. So he did bring Jolie along with them.
When he arrived at the orphanage, he was confused to see the place was dark as if it was empty of souls, so he turned to see Drew and Jolie who were grinning at him.
He decided to pay them no mind as he entered the front door, then he was made flabbergasted at the scene in front of him.
"Happy Birthday!!" He saw everyone, literally, everyone he knew was present here to give him a surprise.
He turned his head to Drew and Jolie who was laughing at his face, then he said, "You were also in this aren't you?" He asked.
"Duh." They both said in unison.
Toby then came with a birthday cake in his hand, "Happy birthday bro, blew the candle Al, and make a wish."
He shook his head with a smile and said, "Fuck it." And proceed to blow the fire out of the candles.
"Happy birthday my brother." Then Toby slammed the cake to his face.
To Be Continued...
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