"That sounded really hectic," Graham commented as he emerged from a small corridor which led to the models' change rooms. "I didn't want to risk a chance of Jean seeing me on video by mistake," he added as he flashed a quick grin in Bruce's direction.
"I had to let her know how I feel," Bruce responded. He let out a deep breath to allow the tension to escape from his body and mind.
"If she's that annoying then I'm glad that I didn't get to hear what she said. It could have caused me to give up on befriending her," Graham remarked as he observed Bruce.
"Oh, I have some bad history with her, that's why she works me up so much," Bruce responded with a flush spreading over his face. He felt embarrassed about losing his temper in front of one of his models.
Graham cleared his throat with a grunt.
"Be careful, they say that there's a thin line between love and hate. You might want to make sure that you don't have any other feelings for her, before alienating her from your life," he commented with a raised eyebrow.
"The thought of her being estranged from me sounds like a dream come true. Those are the only feelings that I have for her," Bruce responded as he walked over to the table to look through a file which was laying on it.
"Then you should be careful not to give her any mixed messages in the future. Try avoiding her in public so that you're not forced to be courteous towards her," Graham advised as he picked up his own jacket from a chair and threw it over his shoulder.
"She actually mentioned something about me having to be on the lookout for her friend, Theresa. She then hinted that Theresa might be snooping around behind Mishka's back to try and find out more about her," Bruce commented as he studied the file in front of him intensely.
"Is Mishka the singer that you told me about?" Graham asked as he looked at Bruce in concern.
"Yes, that's her. Theresa once saw her in the woods and I had to shield her from Theresa's jealousy," Bruce commented.
"So, the three of you were actually in the woods together?" Graham asked with his eyes widening up in amusement.
"It was all a coincidence, except for Theresa's appearance. She actually planned to be there, then she saw this girl.
I think she went to spy on Jean's behalf because we had a picnic in the woods for some of the pack members, then she was shocked to see Mishka in the woods.
She reported this to Jean, telling her how I shielded Mishka from her," Bruce explained as he began to walk towards the door.
"So, she's spending her life spying on Jean's behalf. How sad," Graham responded. He followed Bruce towards the door when he was struck by a thought.
"What if it was Jean's supporters who were spying on us this afternoon? But how would they know about our plans to meet there?" he asked, staring at the floor.
"It would only be coincidence if they were her supporters. I think those were simply a few curious wolves. Otherwise they would have come a little closer to hear what we were talking about," Bruce responded as he walked out the door.
"Well, hopefully you won't have to exercise your threat about going out against them in the woods. We don't want to start a fight so soon after arriving in this area," Graham remarked with a concerned look in his eyes.
"No, we don't, but I won't allow Jean or her family to intimidate me," Bruce responded with his mouth set straight in determination.
"Then I will be on your side, fighting for our clan from this side of town," Graham responded with a satisfied grin on his face.
"She should not dare try to spy on Mishka because her father is powerful in business and I won't allow it myself either," Bruce remarked, wagging his finger as he walked down the passage which led to the balcony. There were cocktails there, waiting for him and a few of the models who were around.
***
Mishka drove in at the gates of her home with a smile on her face. The blonde girl had not followed her.
"It's just gonna be very strange to see Joan in a man's suit and moustache on Saturday," she told herself as she parked her vehicle in the courtyard. She decided to walk in through the back door and go through the kitchen for a change.
Joan had insisted on accompanying Mishka to the ball on Saturday, for Mishka's safety's sake.
"I think I'm gonna dress up as a man, so that they wouldn't have a hint about who I am," Joan had mentioned while she and Mishka had sat in the small hall.
"Won't that be very hard?" Mishka had asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Don't worry, I've done it before and it was very convincing," Joan had replied with a happy grin of anticipation.
"Well, think about it very carefully because I think that I won't be in any danger at the ball," Mishka had responded in a calm and casual tone of voice.
She had then left the city hall to go home on her own.
"Tonight I'm actually hungry enough to wish for home food. Let me see what Cook has prepared," Mishka told herself as she walked to the back porch.
She heard voices as she approached.
"Who can be chatting outside when the servants are all busy with the dinner preparations?" Mishka mumbled to herself.
She was totally surprised to see Gillian and Milla busy looking at a cell phone screen while they made loud comments.
"What are the two of you so excited about?" Mishka asked when she reached them.
"Oh, great that you're here now," Gillian responded excitedly. "I just came to give Milla some support with her video. It's been a while since we worked on it," Gillian replied.
"I hear that your grandma was not too charmed about us helping Milla to make a movie," Gillian added in a whisper, leaning close to Mishka.
"Don't worry about her. My dad gave Milla his support," Mishka responded as she sat down on a garden chair.
"Oh, that's wonderful. Anyway, Milla and I decided that we can use actual chanting sounds in the video. I told her about your grandma's chanting," Gillian whispered into Mishka's ear.
At this Mishka quickly turned around to glance at Milla in shock.
"It does sound scary. I went down to the basement with Gillian and we took off the camera to watch the recording," Milla remarked with her eyes wide in amazement.
"I think it's a lot like voodoo stuff," she added in a whisper as she glanced at the kitchen door.
"Oh, my! Are we gonna serve dinner on the porch tonight?" Grace asked with her hands on her hips as she stared at the group of young ladies, shaking her head. "I need you to help serve dinner now, Milla," she added as she cocked her head to the side, signalling that Milla should follow her back into the kitchen.
"She will be there right now, don't worry," Mishka replied.
"Do you think she heard anything about what we were talking about? I mean, about your grandma and everything?" Milla asked, her eyes large with alarm as she stared at the kitchen door.
"Oh, you're the one who mentioned voodoo," Gillian responded. She looked at Milla with her eyebrows raised.