Marvelling at the mansion

“Really? Do you want to see his mansion at night?” Gillian asked excitedly. “It can be just as beautiful as during the day, I don’t know,” she added with a shrug.

“Yes, definitely. Let’s start there,” Mishka responded as she rushed out the front door and into the waiting vehicle.

It felt good to have Gillian behind the steering wheel. It made Mishka feel as if she was really completely off all duties for the day. She did not even have to drive.

‘I’m just happy to be free from all responsibilities today. Did you notice? I didn’t even bring my phone with me,” she remarked as she sat back in the passenger seat.

“You don’t ever really take a complete holiday, you know,” Gillian remarked. “Your holidays are always cut short by business emergencies. That’s why you don’t feel as if you get enough time off,” she added.

“You mean I’m suffering from chronic fatigue?” Mishka asked, frowning in concern.

“I mean your work is too stressful for you. So, you need frequent breaks or one long holiday,” Mishka responded.

“My dad is training me up to be like him, don’t you know that yet?” Mishka responded with her brows raised, pretending to be offended.

“But it should be done in small steps,” Gillian commented in a sensible tone of voice.

“Tell that to my Dad who is paranoid about not having a successor soon enough,” Mishka responded.

“It’s around this corner,” Gillian announced.

“What?” Mishka asked in confusion.

“There you are! Bruce’s home,” Gillian announced excitedly.

“Wow, it’s really different and impressive,” Mishka remarked. How come we didn’t know about such an interesting mansion in our neighbourhood?” she asked in surprise.

Gillian’s car was parked outside the mansion, near the gates. There was a wall right around the building, but not high enough to hide its impressive architecture. It resembled the White House in Washington DC, but it also had golden piers standing tall at the four corners of the building.

“Was this place specifically built for him then?” Mishka asked in surprise.

“No, it belonged to an art collector who also owned real estate in other countries. That’s what I heard from Josh,” Gillian replied.

Josh was a local journalist and also a mutual friend of Mishka and Gillian’s. They were all at the same school together.

“Oh, so you got your research from him,” Mishka remarked as she continued to stare at the mansion.

“Yes, then I came to view the place from outside and decided to ask around the neighbourhood about the new resident here,” Gillian responded.

“So, you were really snooping. Didn’t people get suspicious? Weren’t you afraid that they would tell Bruce about you asking about him?” Mishka asked with a brief glance at Gillian.

“I had nothing to lose. I’m just an ordinary, curious neighbour. Nobody would be suspicious of me,” Gillian responded.

“Oh, yes, they would just think that you were a fan who’s all gaga about the famous designer,” Mishka agreed.

“They’re all curious about him, but their watching him from a distance. Only one business lady was bold enough and invited him for dinner,” Gillian remarked as she started the vehicle again and began to drive away slowly.

“So, did he go?” Mishka asked eagerly.

“You mean to the dinner? Yes, he went and acted like an ordinary person, according to her,” Gillian responded.

“Well, he acted quite ordinary with me as well,” Mishka remarked as she thought about the past afternoon. “But, I must say that the atmosphere was rather magical,” she continued as she tried to recall everything about her meeting with Bruce earlier that day.

“Of course it had to be. You were in the woods and suddenly ran into a breathtakingly attractive guy,” Gillian remarked with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Well, that and also the atmosphere in the woods with the birds singing and the impending storm in the sky,” Mishka responded.

“I can see that you weren’t as taken with him as I was. Maybe because you were mainly focusing on your singing,” Gillian remarked with a smile.

“Well, frankly, I was more impressed with the nature around me and he just blended into the surroundings, I think,” Mishka responded.

“I wish that I could have a hobby that’s so consuming that a super hunk doesn’t knock me off my feet,” Gillian remarked with envious look in her eyes.

Mishka knew that it was a normal, healthy kind of jealousy. She also envied Gillian’s sports skills. She was good at various kinds of sports and was really athletically built.

“Here we are now, let’s just not forget to watch the time,” Gillian remarked when they pulled up outside of Mishka’s family home.

“Let me get out and punch in the password, so we don’t have to push the buzzer,” Mishka suggested before getting out of the vehicle.

“Now, do you see why every normal girl would want to become the co-owner of a house like Bruce’s?” Gillian asked when Mishka climbed back into the car a moment later.

“Ordinary girl?” Mishka mumbled. “I don’t really think that he can be involved with an ordinary girl if he’s a werewolf,” she thought to herself.

“One should get to know the person before one falls in love with his house,” she explained. “Otherwise it will be double heartbreak when things don’t work out. First you cry about the guy, then you cry about losing the house. It will be just too much to handle,” she added, shaking her head.

“You are taking it way to the point of the wedding altar, girl,” Gillian responded. “I will not even imagine being seriously involved with him. He’s not in my league, but that can’t stop me from fantasizing about living in that house,” she continued with an indulgent, dreamy smile.

“Now, grandma’s bound to make a noise and complain about me being away for hours,” Mishka remarked as they walked around the side of the house.

When they reached a small glass door, Mishka pressed the bell for a servant to open for her.

She didn’t want her grandmother to hear the bell of the main entrance doors because then she would be fully alert about someone coming into the house.