Bruce, Lyle and their companions were happy with their picnic lunch for Sunday afternoon. They felt that it had been a splendid idea.
They were all sitting outside of a small tent in the woods, overlooking the lake. They had their lunch packed out on a foldup table in the tent and they helped themselves from the small buffet as they sat on a rug under a tree.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if our relatives from England could also have been here? The forest is big enough to accommodate us all," Lyle commented with a wide spread of his hands and a big smile on his face.
Some of the wolf clan members were there to see Lyle and his wife off for their last day in the country. The group had some wine with them as well for their outdoor farewell party and they were in no rush.
Some music was playing softly on a radio while everyone had lunch.
"It would have been amazing, yes. It would have made me feel completely at home here in this new country and in this city," Bruce remarked with a sincere look in his eyes.
"Don't worry. With your designing prestige you will soon meet many folks who will make you feel completely at home here. You can befriend that girl Mishka, for instance. I bet she knows many people here," Dolores remarked.
"Yes, you can even have some business success with her by asking her to sing at your fashion shows," Lyle commented to support his wife's statement.
"That's serious. Do you think she can take me that seriously?" Bruce asked with a cynical chuckle.
"Give it some hope. Everything starts somewhere. She's already shown interest in your company by offering to attend a recording session of a show of yours," Dolores remarked with a broad grin which lit up her eyes. She loved a budding romance.
"It's a start, yes, but it could be mere curiosity," Bruce replied as he looked across the lake where some swans were sailing on the water peacefully.
"Yes, but you have the potential to make anything small become something really big," Lyle remarked. "You could collaborate with shows in the future. It isn't impossible," he added with an optimistic glint in his eyes.
"Fashion and one's personal life are two completely different parts of life," Bruce responded.
"You can start over if you don't expect too much in the beginning," Dolores remarked.
"Remember all the crazy people I've been involved with in the past? They all caused disaster whether they were wolves or human," Bruce remarked as he rose from the rug to stretch his legs.
"So, do you want to play it safe always and just be platonic, in the event that all partners are emotionally unbalanced?" Dolores asked as she observed Bruce carefully.
"You do seem quite taken with this new girl, though, you know?" Lyle remarked with an amused grin on his face. He rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"She's amazing, of course! Quite unusual," Bruce responded with a smile.
"I know that you're afraid of having to explain to her that you're not the age that you appear to be, but you can take it slow and easy. Show interest, but don't be hasty," Lyle remarked as he picked up a pebble and threw it into the water.
"You know that one can't play it safe when one is romantically involved with someone.
And you never fit well into arranged partner situations either yourself," Dolores commented with her eyes on Bruce as well as on some other guests who were dancing bare feet on the grass.
"You mean like with my aunt Belle who's always finding the perfect match for someone every couple of years," Bruce commented with a chuckle.
"Yes, but you shouldn't fall into the trap of involving yourself with someone just so that your aunt does not come up with a new match suggestion for you," Dolores remarked as she pulled at a blade of grass with a pensive frown on her face.
"Yes, one does get fed up with people's romantic interferences. It leads to real disaster sometimes," Bruce remarked as he looked at Dolores for her opinion.
"But if you date someone simply so that your aunt or someone else doesn't set you up with an unwanted partner, then you're also busy with a fabrication of your own," Dolores responded.
"It's just that finding a true mate causes one to become very vulnerable. Way more than one can handle and then all reason goes through the window. Anything can happen," Bruce remarked as he sat down again.
"Then be true to your emotions but then don't focus too heavily on the one person," Lyle advised.
"So, I should do the usual and date various people?" Bruce asked looking up at Lyle with a humorous smile on his face.
"Not as usual. Be true to yourself and show the person that you care for them, but show them that you're taking it easy also.
Girls like cool, collected guys," Lyle remarked as he bent down to pat Bruce on the shoulder.
"You mean like yourself?" Bruce responded with a teasing laugh.
"Take some models out as mere friends. Let them know that there's nothing to it. Then Mishka can get used to seeing you in social media photos with models as well and she will be comfortable with you. She won't think you're obsessed with her.
Then, if you notice that she's really interested, you can show some more interest yourself," Dolores suggested.
"What if she's not into guys who fool around?" Bruce asked with a concerned frown on his brow.
"You will be able to pick that up. Check her body language when you're with her," Lyle advised as he sat down next to Bruce.
"Date some of these new wolf models. You can get to know them while you're at it," Dolores remarked.
"Oh, yes, it's important to know whether they're just models or if they have some plans up the sleeves," Lyle added in a serious tone of voice.
"Do you think that someone could be interested in taking over my company from the inside?" Bruce asked curiously.
"It always happens with people who come close and pretend to be innocent and unambitious," Dolores remarked.
"You're giving me so many ideas just before you leave. How do I keep up with everything on my own after you're gone? How do I remember everything?" Bruce asked with a concerned look in his deep grey eyes.
"You can always call and ask us to remind you of anything you need to know," Lyle responded with another pat on Bruce's shoulder.
"Your instincts will kick in and you will know just what to do. You will remember the right advice, just in time," Dolores said with a calm look in her eyes.
There was a pause in the music then and some people giggled as they stopped dancing.
"Is the deejay gonna change the style of music now?" Dolores asked with her eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Maybe it's gonna be romantic and slow now," Lyle remarked with an amused grin on his face.
"You guys can dance while I take a walk," Bruce suggested.
"No, you should dance as well. Remember, you have to loosen up and mingle," Dolores hinted with her brows raised as she smiled at Bruce's nervousness.
"Is that the sound of someone singing in the distance?" Lyle asked suddenly.
"Very faintly, yes," Dolores agreed with a frown.
Lyle looked at Bruce with a raised eyebrow.
"Do you hear that?" he asked curiously.
"Yes. It's someone who's singing, surely. It sounds like her voice," Bruce responded with his eyes narrowed in focus.
"But from where does the sound come? Can we track it down? What are the odds of her singing out here on a Sunday afternoon?" Dolores asked as she observed Bruce's reaction with sharp eyes.