Chapter 13: Dinner Demeanor

Hence, Alexander started his re-life.

It was time to get re-acquainted with everything and he couldn't do so with a drenched set of clothes.

He was still a bit tipsy and dizzy but he had already changed to a more appropriate suit to continue his birthday.

The view outside the window is his neighborhood with dimmed skies which meant that the birthday dinner is set to begin.

Just in time as his headaches made him incredibly famished.

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The dinner kicked off without much birthday showmanship as the Creeds aren't a rowdy bunch.

Reclusive and restrained Alexander is even much more uncomplex than the 60-year-old Sullivan.

The Creed duo sat on the long table and old Sullivan couldn't help but notice the change in his grandson's demeanor.

The boy's eyes were no longer bland and dull as they now reflected expectation and a hint of calculativeness. The air around the boy carried much more mystery and intrigue, coupled with traces of Creed charm and inexplicable maturity.

If not for his cute looks as a boy, Sullivan could have sworn that he was looking at a standard scheming villain.

Old Sullivan didn't think much of it and just attributed it to one thing and that was his birthday present. "Alex, what do you think about your father's computer? Is it well enough that I don't have to send the delivery couriers an earful of complaints?"

Alexander looked at his grandfather with interest as he chewed his food and reacquainted him with the familiar British accent. The boy was still coping with mingling with someone he knew to have been dead.

The old man died when he was 18 and it was crazy to know that it would be about 9 years from now.

He had to think about averting death some other time though as he quickly replied after a swallow. "The gift is fine, grandpa. The mailmen's must have had their special orientations given that computers are fragile commodities to package."

"Your conjecture should be quite right." Sullivan smiled as the boy was now talking sentences instead of his usual limit of 5 words and a majority of silence. If he had known that Oscar's computer could have fixed things up, then he wouldn't have waited two years for it to be a birthday present.

The old Creed looked at the young one and felt empowered with jubilation. Seeing his grandson not so gloomy and speaking a lot of words put him in a celebratory mood.

This, along with the new changes to his business, was a doubling of good fortune to the old man.

Alexander felt weirded out by his old grandfather's creepy and silent smile, so he had to ask out. "What's got you smiling weirdly like that, grandpa?"

Sullivan just sighed and disregarded the unchildishness of the boy's mannerisms. "I guess my old bones are just glad that you're all right now and not too caught up with grieving."

"There is more to life than the past you know." The old Creed was like any other old man as he couldn't help but impart words of wisdom. "Grief only serves to slow us down while moving on is progress."

Alexander listened with melancholy and felt cringe at what was about to come next. He knows the old man means well but it is unfortunate that he can't help himself but be caught up.

"The dead would live on in our hearts while our lives are what carries them forward." Sullivan closed his eyes and patted his chest to quip himself with the elderly's signature line. "Back in my day, death and loss were desensitizing as war and conflicts raged on..."

Alexander just stayed quiet as the old man's rambled on about chicken soups for the soul.

War stories, glory days, how he met grandma, the quirks of his son, prime business strategies, business rivals. This was just among the very few topics that Alexander had heard from his grandfather.

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Eventually, the food on their plates was emptied and each had their own fill of the birthday catering.

Alexander was full in his ears while Sullivan had his fill of imparting wisdom to the young generation.

The old Creed could also feel that the boy had much more interest in other things now and he opted to share the good news.

"Alex, you should know of grandpa's business right?" Sullivan asked with a bit of shame. "It is not the toy shop or camera rentals though but something else entirely."

"Yes." Alexander nodded in understanding. He was somewhat rich in the future because of his grandpa's inheritance and it was frankly nothing to be shameful for. "Filming naked people isn't that bad to pay bills."

"Pfft!" Fortunately, Sullivan wasn't drinking or eating anything or he would've choked. "How did you know about that?"

As of this moment, Alexander wanted to establish his cleverness so he didn't have to kiddy talk his way through the days. "We live in San Fernando Valley and I can surely notice how my nannies interchange but are always beauties with a strange atmosphere around them."

In the past, it was only when he turned 11 that he got to know these things. If anything, his life was the milder version of Draken in Tokyo Revengers.

Alexander could pretty much trace his halfheartedness with relationships and being a chauvinistic womanizer to his babysat days and the porn nanny revelation.

He wasn't in any withholding his future-enlightened advantage as he went full Holmes on his old grandpa. "Put this and that together, you having connections with the porn industry shouldn't be too hard to guess. It is quite elementary, grandpa?"

"Quite right you are young Creed. Hope you don't blame grandpa too much." Old Sullivan could only cough in embarrassment. Hiring porn starlets to save up on money to pay babysitters isn't anything to be proud of after all.

The law of young kids having constant watch while he was busy running his business is what pushed his old bones to do such things.

Fortunately, his grandson was quite accepting of the absurdness and somewhat linked everything together. Sullivan was quite surprised at this hidden cleverness.

"So what about the porn business do you want to tell the young me?" Alexander just sat on his chair 'innocently' while tracing a bit of childishness to perfect his new outward identity.

Sullivan was pretty much tricked and believed that although his grandson was smart he was still a cute and growing boy.

"Well, you'd be happy to know that my production team and I are moving from the San Fernando porn business and stepping up into Hollywood." Old Sullivan grinned with happiness and echoed his grandson's lean and victorious demeanor.

"Congratulations to you then, grandpa!" Alexander had pretty much foreseen this conversation happening at some time in his past-future.

History has changed. If he didn't think much of this reveal before, then now he had to take the opportunity from it.

At this dinner table, Alexander was already thinking of ripping off Hollywood to help his grandfather.