A soft click was heard on the doorknob as soon as the blonde girl and her father entered the brightly painted house. Rosalia was a little disappointed the moment she set her eyes on the interior; dirty plates piling up at the sink, clothes hanging around everywhere (Even the fan too), as well as the untidy shoe rack with shoes lying all over the place. She was still glad that the other parts of the house were clean, however.
Albert closed the door. "It's a busy week at the college; I didn't have time to clean everything up." He lead the way, calling his daughter to follow suit. "This way. I'm sure you'll like this."
Rosalia tilted her head. "A surprise?"
"Yup, your new room of your own." The professor agreed. Carrying the box full of Rosalia's belongings upstairs, despite his mind was filled with lesson planning for tomorrow's lecture, he felt that it's important to keep his daughter happy too. After all, he wasn't good with ladies, but he loved children very much. He always wanted to have one of his own; however after adopting one good kid, he thought that this boy needs a sibling to keep him company, in case anything happens to him.
There wasn't so much decoration when she reached upstairs. The lack of paintings, or sufficient lights made the size of the corridor look a lot narrower. The house was larger than she thought when she first viewed the exterior. Large space, so many rooms, Rosalia wondered if she is able to adapt to her new environment changes.
"This is your room. Take a good look at it." The professor said, pushing the door away to make it easier for Rosalia to enter. It was rather plain-looking, surrounded with light pink and yellow walls. Nicely-sewn dolls were placed on top of her bed. The bed's height was not too tall for Rosalia to reach out to, with it standing perfectly still.
It wasn't all that bad. At least she can make changes to suit her own needs, as what Albert said during the trip.
"You like it?" Albert smiled, this time in a non-creepy way.
The girl nodded. "It's perfect!"
"Well, I did ask the interior designers not to add any prints onto the walls. It's hard to fall asleep with all these noisy prints sticking out in the middle of the night." Albert reached towards the night-light right beside Rosalia's new bed, switching it on. "I've also added a night-light for you, since a little girl like you can be afraid of all the smallest things at night."
Rosalia grinned with excitement. "Thank you…erm…Professor, c-can I call you…Daddy from now on?" She knew they aren't related by blood. Despite with the legal consent, she was confused if calling the professor in an intimate term might not be appropriate or feels awkward…
"Of course you can, my little Rose."
"Yes, Daddy!"
'Ding dong!'
"I wonder who that is. I don't think school's over yet," Albert murmured. Calling the girl to follow him, the person pressing the doorbell soon got extremely impatient, the bells ringing over and over again. A swift gush of wind blew towards the visitor as she stood there angrily, her arms crossed while leaning towards the side.
"That took you forever, Professor. I was wondering if you aren't welcoming me again right after my last visit." The woman scoffed. She was a young lady, probably in her early twenties and a little young to be out working. A brunette, as it seems, with black natural eyes staring at Albert angrily. Holding a white handbag, her yellow shirt and a pair of denim jeans absorbing the sunlight just behind of her, she stormed into the house as she face-palmed at the mess.
"This house looked as if it was struck by a tornado, how do your expect your kids to live in this…this…junkyard?" She complained, collecting all the pieces of clothing hanging all over the living room before throwing them into the laundry basket. Noticing Rosalia looked confused with all the commotion, she placed the basket down, a friendly smile split on her face. "So, I forgot to introduce myself to you, kid. I'm Ellie Winstone and I'm a social worker checking on your father. What's your name?"
"I'm Rosalia. Nice to meet you." She said, looking at the brunette from head to toe. "So…what's a social worker?"
"Oh, I'm here to observe how your father treats the both of you." she explained, not before mumbling to herself "Making sure that he doesn't ruin yours AND your brother's life." After separating the laundry, Ellie stormed towards the sink as she swinged her handbag to the couch, turning the tap on to wash them. "And Professor Sartre? You seriously need to clean this place up once in a while. Don't forget I'm still checking on you and Clair." She scolded at the professor as she speaks. "Let me make this clear for the last time; first, I'm not your maid. Secondly, you are NOT allowed to tell your son to clean everything up. The last time I've checked, you did not adopt a child to become your servant; you are supposed to provide him the basic necessities-"
"I get it. I get it." Albert interrupted. "It is tough having to plan lectures day after day in a college; you should know this already." He dragged himself to the couch, calling Rosalia to sit on his lap. "I skipped work today so that I take Rose out of the orphanage and take a walk, but I supposed that you've reminded me of work when you're not supposed to."
Ellie sneered at Albert quietly as she gets the cleaning done around the house. Rosalia could hear her mumble "Let's see if you can do without me, I'll see who has the last laugh around here." She quickly turned to the blonde, knowing that she was staring at her for the whole time. "You just arrived here, right?"
"Yes, that is true."
So it seems Rosalia had pressed on the right buttons. The moment she had her hands off the clean plates, Ellie smiled happily, unlike the smile she had when Albert answered her, full with malice. "Let's go shopping! Perhaps we need to wait for Clair, don't want him to miss out all the fun."
"I'm home."
Everyone turned to the door as Clair, holding a pot of Pitcher plant, most likely belonging to the Sarraceniaceae family from the looks of it, half-covering his view. Rosalia could felt a sense of loneliness within her elder brother, looking as indifferent as she saw him for the first time back at the orphanage. His bright red eyes stood out in the room, not before turning to Ellie. "Where are we going again?"
The cold air releasing from the air-con blew directly at Ellie's face as Albert drove his family and her to the shopping mall. Ironically, Ellie has yet to cool down from the argument earlier on, directing the blades out of her face. As always, Clair was reading his 'Big Black Book of Everything' (Rosalia gave a name to his beloved book he always read ever since he visited the orphanage.), unbothered with the unsettling tension between Albert and the young brunette. Meanwhile, Rosalia was stuck in between, with a feeling that going window shopping was a bad idea after all. But finding out that she didn't have many clothes with her now that she left the orphanage, this was necessary. Fortunately the trip to the mall was not as far as the trip from the orphanage as Albert parked his car shortly after.
"All right, kids. We're here." The blue-haired professor told his children. He got out of the car, carrying little Rose who was so tiny and frail. Clair got out of the car obediently, putting the book away and stuck it in his armpit.
"Ok, one thing before we leave; stick to your father and your big sister Ellie at all times. Don't want you kids to get lost in there. Imagine I'm your mother." Ellie warned the kids as if they were her children.
"Well, you did sound like a mother, just so you know Miss Winstone." Joked Albert, unlocking the car and place Rosalia down.
"And you don't sound like a father, Professor Sartre." Ellie emphasized, waving at Rosalia to hold her hand. She remembered the first time she met Albert when he first adopted his son from another orphanage. His accent did freak her out as they speak, while looking at him as if he was some kind of criminal, a dangerous pedophile. Not long after she got used to it and started bickering with him whenever he doesn't act very fatherly to his children. Reminiscing again, she did sound like a worrisome and nagging mother as she spoke. "Okay…kids, let's GO SHOPPING!"
The foursome strolled along the corridors, finding suitable clothes for the new member of the Sartre family. Interestingly, Clair did not look jealous nor sulky as both the adults' attention were on Rosalia. He pulled his white windbreaker out of his waist and put them in, the air-conditioner sometimes made him cold for the somewhat cold-blooded teenager.
Women of all ages looked at Albert suspiciously as he pulled out a dress from the pile of unsorted clothes. Little did they know, the dress was for his daughter. Rosalia tried out all the set of clothes but the ones that Ellie picked were all ended up bought and the ones that Albert picked…well…only some of them were chosen. That did not sadden him, but at least he knew he doesn't have much taste in women's clothing.
As the hours flew, Albert and Clair were already tired of walking in circles, but the girls were enjoying themselves, having the time of their lives. Frolicking around with her new dress, Rosalia hopped around along with her new pink shoes, each clapping in different loudness each time the shoes made contact with the marble surface.
Ellie's eyes widened after looking at a dress on display, despite the fatigue taking most of her energy away. Dropping all the shopping bags she carried, she pulled Rosalia, who was standing at the back into the store.
"Could you let her try on the dress on display? The white one, please." The brunette asked the salesperson. The lady went back to the storeroom, finding the dress Ellie requested. After some messy rummaging, she passed the piece of clothing to Ellie. Looking at it carefully, the light taint of pink on its cloth with pink spaghetti straps matches the little girl perfectly. As she checked the size, both she and Rosalia felt that the dress was way too big for her.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this is the only size for this dress." The salesperson told Ellie after returning to the storeroom. "I don't think we're going to receive any more stocks for this one, the company which manufactured this closed down several months ago."
It would be a great pity for both girls if Ellie decides not to buy this dress after all. Staring at the beautiful dress, Ellie's head played around with the thought of several alternatives. Altering the dress wouldn't work, it would definitely ruin the mood of both the wearer and the people around her. Neither would making a dress similar to this could work. If only Rosalia's a little older…
"Eureka!" Ellie exclaimed suddenly, scaring Rosalia and the salesperson out of the surface. "Fine, I'll buy this dress." She told the salesperson, and then turned to the little girl. "You can wear this dress when you grow older. I'm pretty sure your father and your brother will LOVE it."
At last, Ellie's efforts did not go in vain, tugging the last shopping bag out of the shop. By the time they were out of the shop, the only thing that worries her was actually carrying thousands of shopping bags to their meeting place.
"So, you girls have done enough shopping for one day?" Albert asked calmly, fidgeting the straw he had on his fingers. He was smiling at the fact that Ellie was too tired to have dinner and the bags had surrounded the entire area. Ellie rested her head on the table the moment she released all her load onto the floor, complaining to Albert "we did all the hard work while you and Clair were sitting here, watching us suffer and struggle."
The professor smirked, placing the bent straw on the table. "Actually, you are the one who insist in buying too many clothes for my Rose. Like you said, we men have 'poor taste in fashion.'" He called the waiter for the menu. "While waiting for you and Rose, Clair and I thought that it's best for us to have dinner before you return." He turned to look at the stoic boy, reading his book quietly. "My treat, call up anything you want, but I think you're aren't the type who would order the most expensive dish in the res-"
"I would like the most expensive dish in the house," Ellie interrupted, the waiter immediately serving her with a glass of iced water and turned to Rosalia. "So, Rose, what do you want? Like your father said, he is treating me with the most expensive dish in the menu." She asked gleefully with malice in her speech.
Albert tried sustaining his smile, for the sake of his daughter and clenched his fist behind everyone's back. "Oh, how nice of you, Ms. Winstone." He was intending to strangle the woman's neck if she's a man making a mockery out of him, but since he is civilized and a person with great wisdom, he quickly ruffled the small issue aside. He reached for his back pocket and pulled out his wallet after much trying and sighed. "Guess I'm going broke soon at this rate…"
Albert relaxed his muscles as he drove his children (and Ellie) home. It was a tiring day for everyone, even for Clair as he dozed off, treating his book as his 'security blanket' little boys do in their toddler days. The same goes for Rosalia, but she almost fell in the same state as her brother. Observing her using the rear-view mirror right in front of him, this alone sparked a thought about something that concerned Rosalia.
"Rosalia, are you still awake?"
"Uh hmm. What is it, Daddy?"
He took out a small letter at the front of the car before passing it to Rosalia. "I'm enrolling you to elementary school, school starts tomorrow morning. I've bought all your school books and necessary items, so you don't need to worry too much about it now."
Rosalia read the contents of the letter twice before turning back to her father. She felt a little daunted with everything rushing to her as if there's no tomorrow. Sure, she knew she have to go to school again when she's ready, but NOT this soon as she had initially expected. "If I remember correctly," Albert asked, confirming a fact. "You are in the second grade this year, am I right? I'm sorry this is sudden, but this important for you."
She nodded dutifully. Ellie turned; murmuring in her sleep and snored softly that does not hinder the father and daughter conversation. "One more…just one more…"
"Okay, Ms. Winstone, you're home. Time to get off the car now." The car stopped just right at Ellie's doorstep. From the size of the house, Rosalia knew that the woman lives all alone by herself. She wondered if she left her parents, or worse, her parents left her all by herself in this world. As she imagined herself being in Ellie's shoes, living alone in a small house looks scary and depressed. With no family to turn to or without friends standing by your side, she pondered how one person is going to survive. 'No man is an island', Mrs. Donaldson would always say to her fellow orphans back at the orphanage.
The social worker clutched her head as she gets off the car. Appearing drunk, her heavy eyelids trying to keep her eyes close but she reminds herself to keep them open until she lands on her comfy bed. The high heels on her shoes made it worse for her to stand still.
"Err…goodbye…see you next week…" The door slammed shut, and soon after the car left a drunken Ellie alone. By the time they left, she was already in the living room, snoozing away, whispering nonsensical random words to herself.
For the rest of the night, Albert tugged his daughter to bed for the first time. The moment she dragged herself into dreamland, he pulled several dresses from the shopping bags and observed what fascinating fashion sense those girls have.
"Hmm…perhaps I do lack in my…fashion sense. It seems that Ms. Winstone is right about that for once on that fact."
My longest A/N yet. Watch me rant on how much I love this series.
Erg…this chapter is more boring that I've expected. No worries; Ellie Winstone won't be hogging the spotlight for the rest of the story. I'll put her on the bus as soon as I get some of the boring parts done. Bear with it as the first couple of chapters revolved around Rosalia adjusting to her new life before we get any actual plot moving. (The later parts are actually more interesting than this, cross my heart. Trust me, it will get better.) And yeah, if you played the final chapter, you know how the story's going to end. *Raising and lowering my eyebrows.*
You won't be seeing her again after that and when I say never, I mean it. Before I go on, I want to apologize to you guys that I'll be adding more OCs here, since I doubt the main characters are going to see familiar characters from the game all of a sudden. It mostly about Rosalia, Albert and Clair (Yes, that's the name I've chosen for CR-S01. In case you don't get it, ClaiR Sartre. Look at the capitalized letters. I'm not so sure how you pronounce it, since there's a Claire in the game. You know, the suicidal girl who's with Hank all the time? It's pronounced as 'care', or something. Tell me if you know the right pronunciation.) If you want to know the meaning of this name, go check 'Behind the Name' for more information. (Okay, I do think I sound as if I'm doing a commercial here.)
So I've checked my e-mails everyday, and I would like to give you guys a very big thank you for your support. I really hope I don't fall myself slipping to hiatus again, like I did with my other fics. I'll update the story every Monday (Or Tuesday, if I can't make it in time) and Friday, so stay tuned. Anger Management will be updated irregularly, but I'm going to end it really soon. You know, sometimes I'm confused with the timeline in what and when certain events take place. I really should get my hands on the game and buy a Wii as soon as I get some money out of my savings (and allowance too).
I'm going to fix some parts of chapter one, got too tired checking and re-reading it by the time I completed writing the chapter. There are some things that aren't supposed to be there; be prepared for some alterations in the first chapter. Oh, so much pressure for writing a great fic here, but I'm happy the way it is.
Don't forget to R&R, the story will get more interesting after Ellie leaves the story. I don't think I'll be putting her here for…say, more than two chapters. And well, you get to see lots of interesting stuff. One more thing; do you think Albert is out-of-character here? Since the game doesn't flesh out much about his personality, aside from being a loving father and a dedicated scientist. Another thing; do you think I should add some humorous scenes in it? I don't want the early chapters to get very serious. However I'll drop most of it altogether as the story progresses. Feedback about my writing is most welcome.
Just one request; anyone living in Cumberland, Maryland? Since most parts of the story is set there in the game and I'm not American, as you can see in my profile. I don't know anything about the place, aside from what I found in Wikipedia and other sites.
P.S.: About Albert's poor fashion sense, go watch the second-last case in the Forensics mode. There's a choice that is definitely wrong, but mentions about his 'poor fashion sense.'