Angelina Pov
Today, I'm busy. After all the fuss yesterday, I couldn't get away with all my work. Now, I face my laptop and a whole stack of unsigned papers inside my office.
I'm planning to introduce Therese to my kids, they know who Therese is, I've told them about her but most of them haven't met her.
My kids aren't the typical early birds people would assume, they usually wake up at 10 to 11 am, just between that. I'm not a morning person too, I just needed to catch up with my work.
Kate came in with the cup of coffee I asked for, slowly she placed it on my desk, and was about to leave when I stopped her.
"Honey, is Therese awake?" I say, running through the last paragraphs of my letter.
"Yes, ma'am. She's been up an hour ago." Kate politely answers.
"Can you tell her to come here? Thanks." I lift my head quickly and smile at her.
"Sure, ma'am." For the 2nd time she attempts to leave, and I hope her again.
"Do me a favor, watch over Therese and I'll add a hundred and fifty to your monthly pay, is that alright?" I set aside the work I was fully indulged in and faced her.
"I would be glad to! thank you." She beams at me and there she finally leaves, a huge smile etched on her face.
A few minutes later, a small knock was heard. I knew it was Therese so told her to come in.
"Morning," She quietly says, with no smile and a frown on her face was a display.
"Good morning, take a seat." I gesture for her to take the seat closest to me.
The little girl trudges on her way to it whilst rubbing her eyes, a small yawn escapes her lips as she takes her seat.
I move away from what I was doing, stood up, and then sat beside her. I looked at those exquisite brown eyes, they were her father's. Gently, I stroked Therese's hair.
"How are you?" My hands slid down to her shoulders, I wouldn't take my eyes off her even though she looked away.
"I don't know." Therese mumbles.
"Tell me, I want to know." Softly kneading her shoulders, she starts to speak.
"Well, I can't say I'm happy or anything. I can't also claim I'm sad, you know that feeling of emptiness where you just can't say what you feel." A deep sigh from her says it all, at a young age, she's probably burnt out.
"Look, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this. You know, life is filled with obstacles, you just go to... Go through it. I'm proud of you for making it this far, you see life just inevitably gives us a reason to cry sometimes, and maybe too much of it but at the end of the day it all comes to a halt." Her head crashed into my chest as I spoke.
"Don't you think mines just, too much?" My arms wrap around her, locking her in a loose hug.
"Sad to say I have to agree. Doctor Bailey mentions she's seen some cuts on your arms, Can I see it?" I hopefully waited for her, though I'm gonna have to force her to do it if she disagrees.
The little girl pulls up her sleeves, not yet giving me a full view. There with fearful eyes, she brings up her hands, a series of red and white scars glistened, some were fresh, some weren't.
"Be honest, did you do this?" I ask her, it took a moment for her to answer. A small nod was all she could do.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't contain myself sometimes." Her voice is a little smaller.
"You need to stop, you understand? This may not benefit me but it does to yourself." Another nod from her was given.
"And what if I don't?" Her eyes watched as my fingers trailed along her scars.
"Therapy." For a moment I thought I saw the horror in her eyes. Immediately she moves away from me, there she looked at me furiously.
"No! I'm not crazy." I smiled at her artlessness. At her age, she thinks therapy might mean a direction for those who lost their paths.
"Honey, you don't have to be crazy to have therapy sessions, sometimes it might be because you wanted to heal from what you're going through or what you have gone through," I explain, there it calms her down for a bit yet she still wasn't happy about it, I could feel how she hated what was currently happening.
"Miss, please. I don't want to go to therapy." She desperately looks at me, letting me know she refuses thoroughly. It also caught me when she called me 'Miss' perhaps it will take her time to adjust.
"Then stop your harm, that's my condition." Her eyes wander to the floor yet she nods even though I knew she was against it.
"If you're ready, you can tell me what bothers you, is that okay?" Again she nods yet she kept her distance, it took me a moment to realize I've offended her but she'll understand it someday.
My eyebrows raise as I hear noise coming from downstairs, I realized the children were already awake, today, a little early.
"I guess your siblings are awake, come let me introduce you to them." I grabbed her hand, cold and tiny. Was she nervous? I don't know, I don't know her, the way she thinks, the things she's passionate about, only the tiniest bit.
"What if they don't like me?" She held back not wanting to move from her position.
"They're lovely people, I'm sure they will."
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Amber/Therese Pov
Miss Jolie told me she'd bring me to therapy if I won't stop doing self-harm. As someone like me, that can't just abruptly stop. You'll have to look for it.
Together we went down the stairs. I was quite terrified of what might happen next, Miss Jolie will introduce me to her kids. My siblings, I'm not ready yet, but hopefully, they'll be who they are as Angelina says.
Wonderful, Amazing, Lovely, those were the words I recall her describing them.
We went straight to the kitchen where we find all of them attacking their breakfast.
I usually wake up early, so without having to do anything I helped Lisa and Kate prepare breakfast, it was only sausages and waffles but to me, it's one of the first decent breakfasts I've ever seen.
Miss Jolie cleared her throat loudly and suddenly all their heads turn in our direction. I stood awkwardly next to her, unknowing what to do, should I smile? Do I look stupid?
Suddenly 3 of them hurried to their mom, all accepting huge hugs. I could now conclude that Angelina was a hugger, I wasn't, but she sort of became an exception.
"Ohh, Hello there." A blonde girl greeted me, an awfully wide smile displayed. She looked only a few years younger than me. Somehow I could see a little bit of me in her.
"Hi." I smile back, there was this huge lump in my throat that prevents me from speaking.
"Everyone! Mommy has someone she'd like you to meet." Miss Jolie grabs me by the shoulders, forcing me to flash another nervous smile.
"Hi, Everyone." I manage to let out, just by saying that my stomach lurched, it almost felt like butterflies were inside.
"So all of you know who Therese is right?" A sudden silence covered the entire room. A very uncomfortable silence that makes me want to run and bury my face into a pillow.
"Yesterday, we finally found her. Please I'd like you to welcome your sister, Therese." I watch how the woman says it, how her eyes sparkled, and how sincere her smile was.
The crowd cheered and this time all of them got off their chairs. A warm welcome was given to me, everybody introduced themselves.
Maddox was the oldest, somehow I'd like to refer to him as the Mohawk guy. Then there was Knox, who looked five years younger than me.
Knox had a twin sister named Vivienne the nicest and youngest. Zahara was also a sweetheart, she gave me a quick kiss, and she looked only a year younger than me.
Next was Shiloh, the girl who greeted me earlier, she looked two years younger than me, and finally there was Pax, who was the same age as me he seemed nice but he was the chill kind of person.
They were all kind and welcoming, Angelina was right. The scare seemed to go away after a while.
Vivienne asked me to take a seat next to her, and I did. We ate breakfast and too many questions were asked.
"Therese, why are your hands filled with scars?" Vivienne scans intently, I quickly pull my hand away and hid it under the table.
I take a glance at Angelina, she was enjoying a nice sip of her morning coffee but abruptly stopped right when she heard her daughter's question.
"A bear scratched it, that's what you get when you don't eat your vegetables." Her mother convinces her accompanied by a persuasive nod.
"How do bears know I don't eat them?" Vivienne asks a little indulged with the topic, I giggle a bit about how she bought Angie's lie.
"They just know." As Angelina continues sipping her coffee she then turns her attention to Zahara who tells her mom about her newly found band group on the internet.
Vivienne sinks into her chair, her mood slightly changed, and an adorable pout was vaguely seen. She turns to me and a worried look was on her face.
"How many times did you not eat your vegetables when the bear came?" She was completely concerned.
"Too many times that the bear had enough." I notice Viv immediately goes silent and sinks back into the chair. It feels sad to be the bear of your scars.
After breakfast, all of them took showers. I had to too. Angelina lent me some of Zahara's clothes as it was hers that had to fit me. When I finished, I looked for her.
I wanted to visit Elizabeth. I've already missed the lake and her voice but I have to ask Angelina first.
Knocking on her office door, I waited for a while but there was no answer. I didn't think twice so I just had to slide it open, when I took a quick scan of the room, I realized she wasn't there.
I figured out It was better if I stay and wait for her there, I ventured into the parts of her office, and every drawer was filled with papers. Papers here, papers there, she must be a busy person.
Some of them were movie scripts, some were fund reports from Pakistan, and in one specific drawer labeled my name.
Just by running through it, I figured out my whole name. Sienna Therese Jolie, odd. The rest of my siblings had 'Jolie-Pitt' as their surnames. I don't know who Pitt is, but he might be their father.
So, who was mine?
The first paper I found was the DNA results, then my birth certificate, there wasn't a father enlisted. I also found some of my childhood pictures, most of them were with Angelina, and some of them had a rip like someone was forced out of the picture. Could it be my father?
At the very bottom, my attention was caught by a case file. Missing reports, I ran through them, and immediately Martin's name goes appreciable as one of the suspects.
What I didn't expect was Mrs. Williams was also there, referred to as his accomplice. I gasped, that was why she was acting strange when I mentioned Angelina.
Or maybe she wasn't a part of it at all, just suspected. There wasn't any proof, right? Let's just hope we don't imprison the kind lady but I worry most about Jane.
What happens next if her mother might be found guilty? Will she end her friendship with me? Hopefully not, she's too precious.
"You found what you're looking for?" I turned around to see Angelina well seated in front of her table. Isn't she just too modest that even her footsteps I couldn't track? I'm usually good at tiny sounds.
"Sorry, I just got curious," I say nibbling my bottom lip, was it a mistake I rummaged through her things? Is she mad?
"It's fine, I think I can live with that honey but it's wrong to go through people's things, especially important papers." Her voice was calm and it felt better if she screamed.
"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have. I should go." I felt something squeeze my stomach, guilt. First of all, I try to keep my breathing steady even if I'm surely not sure what she was going to do next.
"Kate said you were looking for me, anything I can do?" Just now, I remembered what I came for.
"I was hoping you'd let me visit my friend. She lived near that lake where your bodyguard caught me." Her eyebrows raised, listening closely to my words. Was I saying it too low?
She thought about it for a moment, like something was holding her back.
"Sorry, honey but I'm busy today. Can we go next time?" Angie bent down to a certain height where she was just my level.
"But I can go alone, it's okay if you don't come." I really don't understand why she has to anyway.
"We can't risk you being alone, something happened and it is better if you have someone with you." Now I know why she bent to my height, she wanted me to meet those eyes. So I could understand what she meant, that she was sincere.
"What happened?" Angelina looked away when I asked, I could tell she was hesitating to tell me.
"Martin got away from prison and we should take extra precautions alright?" The brunette moves away from me and continued her work.
I was disappointed that she didn't let me yet there was another question that was thriving to be asked. The news of Martin getting away wasn't a shock, he was a drunk but I couldn't deny how smart he was and the connections he had.
"Miss?"
"Yes?" She responds not looking away from what she was doing.
"When I was going through your papers, I found Mrs. Williams's name as one of the suspects, Christina Williams, was she cleared?" Quickly, Angelina's attention was back on me.
"No, she's uh, still wanted, why'd you ask?" She looked almost like a lawyer at home with her glasses and a finely fixed posture sitting elegantly in her seat.
"If I ask you to clear her, will you do that?" I gulp down a large chunk of air as Angelina's face turns more serious than ever.
"Tell me why."
"Miss, I'm sorry but Mrs. Williams is an amazing person. She helped me through a lot and she was the one who helped me get away with Martin sometimes. I owe her so much and she has a daughter too, you know the feeling of a mother getting separated from her daughter right?" I think my mission to stop Angie from arresting Mrs. Williams was a huge failure.
"I'm sorry sweetheart but I'll think about it." I could almost sense her hesitance but when she looked at me, she saw how much it meant to much to me.
"Please? Mom?" My heart sank as I saw her shake her head. I was on the verge of tears and it's best if I should be away immediately, I needed to breathe.
At this kind of situations, I would usually run to the lake but now I'm a few kilometers away from it.
"Therese wait!" I hear Angelina yell from behind as I ran to my bedroom, I couldn't stop the flowing tears from my eyes. It just kept falling.
I wanted to hide and maybe even bury these tears in a pillow. I felt Angelina hurrying from behind, her footsteps still light but I didn't want to listen to what she has got to say, maybe not now.
Hi! So I need your suggestion about who Therese's father would be. So if you do have a suggestion please comment it, I'd love to hear your opinion! (Please not Brad) or maybe I could continue with her original dad Colin Farrell. I need your help please😭, thank you!