Fears about Gillian and Bruce

“Your nervousness about your grandma is beginning to affect me as well,” Gillian commented as they waited for the door to be opened.

“I’m not nervous about her anymore, just pissed off because there should be mutual respect in a house regardless of age. I’m an adult now, so she can treat me with a little bit more regard,” Mishka responded.

“I get your point,” Gillian responded. “My parents respect my opinion, but then, I don’t have such big boots to fill as yourself,” she added when the door was opened by a pretty, dark-haired girl, who looked at them in surprise.

“Why didn’t you come in at the front door? I thought it was one of us staff members,” Milla remarked as she shook her head at the two young ladies.

“Hi there, Gillian,” she added as she glanced at Gillian briefly.

“Hi, Milla,” Gillian responded with an indulgent smile because she also thought that Milla was too serious for her petite size.

“I don’t want to draw attention to myself because I don’t want my grandma to know exactly what time I arrived home,” Mishka responded as she and Gillian walked into the small entrance hall.

“Oh, well, she’s been asking after you every half an hour or so,” Milla remarked in a dry tone of voice.

All the servants knew that they should not take Myrtle’s temper outbursts too seriously anymore because they felt that she was now getting old. She was not noticing everything around her like before anymore.

“Are the dancers here already?” Mishka asked anxiously.

“Yes, they are in the studio already,” Milla replied. “We told them to just wait for you, since they couldn’t phone you,” she added.

“Oh, yes, I left my phone at home,” Mishka responded smugly.

“We already ate, so don’t let Cook prepare anything. We will have some dessert after the dance class, that’s all, please,” she instructed.

“Great! And your grandma?” Milla asked with her head to the side.

“Tell her that I’m busy with dance class,” Mishka replied in a casual, but firm manner.

“I hope that I can catch some of your dance steps this time. Remember how I struggled to follow the routine last time? Gillian stated as she and Mishka made their way down a hallway towards the entertainment area of the house.

“Just try and enjoy yourself because no one is judging you. We’re judging each other, not guests dancers,” Mishka responded with a giggle.

She always found it funny how Gillian was so fit but not very rhythmic when it came to dance moves.

Walk and talk softly, so grandma doesn’t find out that we’re back before we join the studio group,” Mishka advised. “Once we’re in there she can’t interrupt us,” she added in a low tone of voice.

***

Joan sat in front of the kitchen window, drinking a cup of hot coffee from what Gillian had brewed earlier.

She still could not believe that her cousin was right here under her nose. She hoped that he was not aware of the fact that she also lived here.

“But, how can he not be aware of the fact that his own cousin from the English village is living here? Or is it a mere coincidence?

Was it his wolf instinct which brought him here subconsciously? Did he sense that a relative lives here?” she asked herself as she stared at the

“Or is it simply the fact that blood is thicker than water? I will have to tell Mason about it so he can help me stop Gillian from getting involved with Bruce,” she told herself as she saw her husband, Mason’s van pulling up at the gate.

She made him some coffee as well, so that they could have some courage while they discussed this situation.

“Maybe we will just have to tell Gillian the truth anyway. But how does one do that with a young person who doesn’t even know that some influential people are not what they seem?” Joan asked herself as she prepared Mason’s coffee.

“Good evening, dear,” Mason greeted with a quick kiss on her mouth when he entered the kitchen.

“Hi, dear, how did your day go? Did you compose more music for that concert?” Mason asked.

“No, I had an unexpected visitor,” Joan replied as she poured Mason’s coffee into his favourite mug.

“Oh, who showed up?” Mason asked surprised. He usually loved it when his wife had a visitor otherwise she was so immersed in her piano practice that she forgot her other routines of the day.

Joan was very passionate about her classical music concerts. She loved to compose her own pieces of music and it often took all day long before she was satisfied with a piece of work. Today she had cooked because she had company.

So they were not having food which was ordered in because Joan loved to cook while she chatted.

“Mishka took the day off from work and popped in,” Joan announced.

“Oh, so you had a young visitor, how refreshing! Did you guys exchange some music pointers?” Mason asked with a broad grin on his face.

“Uhm, we actually had an unusual conversation,” Joan replied as she began to dish up for the two of them.

Mason sat down at the table when he heard what Joan said.

“Why was it unusual? Did something strange happen?” he asked with a concerned frown on his brow as he picked up his coffee mug.

“She was walking in the woods and came across Bruce,” Joan responded.

“Oh, goodness! So, is she’s also impressed with him?” Mason asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

“Yes, but not as much as our own daughter is,” Joan responded.

“Oh, so Gillian spoke to Mishka about how impressed she is with Bruce?” Mason asked.

“She went on and on about him and now she’s gone to show Mishka his mansion,” Joan responded.

“Oh, why didn’t you try to distract her?” Mason asked. “You should have told Mishka that it’s too dark to look at a mansion,” he added.

“They were both so excited, there was no way that either one of them would have changed their minds. But they’re only going to look at it from the outside,” Joan replied.

“I sure hope that they don’t come up with clever ideas like trying to pop in and introduce themselves,” Mason remarked with a worried look on his face.

“I think I need a cookie to go with the coffee. It helps with the stress,” he added.

“And ruin your appetite?” Joan asked with an incredulous look on her face.

“Anyway, I had to tell Mishka the real story about Bruce because she actually met him and I wanted her to know that she shouldn’t encourage Gillian to fall for this guy seriously,” she added as she finished with dishing up.

“You told Mishka the family secret?” Mason asked with his eyes stretched wide in disbelief.