The Siren and the Wolf

“So, we’re gonna keep Gillian away from your cousin, you say?” Mason asked his wife.

“Yes, we’re just gonna have to do that until she notices someone else,” Joan replied.

“But, I know from experience that such plans always backfire,” Mason remarked as he kept his eye on the television screen.

“We have to try anyway, or we’ll regret it when things go horribly wrong and we have to explain to the entire family why we didn’t do our best with keeping them apart,” Joan responded.

“So, what do you plan on doing exactly?” Mason asked, looking at his wife who was busy rearranging some flowers in a vase. She always did this when she faced a problem that she could not handle.

“She’s too old to send away to go and live somewhere else for a change in scenery,” Joan responded.

“Much too big,” Mason agreed, placing his focus back on the TV programme.

“But, maybe we can create a diversion which will make her want to leave here on her own and maybe she can come back when she has an actual love interest in her life,” Joan remarked with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“How on earth are we gonna do that?” Mason asked with a puzzled frown on his brow. “We can’t say that there’s gonna be a natural disaster here because then we’ll have to leave as well,” he added as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

“We can approach Mishka and ask her to tell Gillian about a great opportunity in another city and that she has to move there,” Joan remarked as she stared at the TV unseeing.

“But then we’ll have to do a lot of research because we don’t know about anyone who can give her a job in another city. It will not be easy. It could take months or even a year,” Mason responded.

“Or maybe we can ask Mishka to start dating Bruce and that will discourage Gillian into admiring someone else,” Joan suggested as she sat down on an armchair suddenly.

“That sounds so desperate,” Mason responded.

“We don’t have many other options and Mishka will be easy to convince because she already knows about Bruce. She knows how I feel about him getting involved with Gillian,” Joan responded.

“The plan could be out of her comfort zone,” Mason replied, shaking his head slowly.

“She will agree just for the sake of helping out,” Joan replied.

“And what if Mishka really falls for Bruce? What about our dreams of setting her up with Jason, the singer from Korea?” Mason asked.

“Your nephew, Jason has so many fans to pay attention to that he won’t have time for Mishka,” Joan responded.

“You never know. The two of them might hit it off. Then Gillian will have a cousin as well as a best friend as a superstar,” Mason replied with an optimistic raising of his eyebrows.

“So, we will have to invite him here to meet her, but then we will wait for months until he finds time on his busy schedule,” Joan responded dismally.

“But, we should also not give up on that happening for them,” Mason replied.

“I think it’s just you who wants to be surrounded by stars,” Joan teased with her eyes stretched wide.

“Let’s just try and create a diversion for Gillian,” she insisted,

“You know that we only get disappointed when we try elaborate plans with all our heart and soul,” Mason responded.

“Jason might have a secret love interest,” Joan suggested.

“All we can do is try, though,” Mason responded.

“They might end up hating each other’s guts instead,” Joan remarked contemplatively.

“Alright, I can see that you are being negative about this,” but what if a miracle happens and they like each other?” Mason asked.

“Then we will sit with Gillian who’s falling for Bruce,” Joan complained. “No, we have to ask Mishka for help. There’s nothing wrong about her falling for someone whom she’s not related to by blood,” she added.

“Her grandmother might object to her involvement with Bruce,” Mason responded, scratching his head.

“Oh, yes, Mishka asked me to sort her grandma out because she’s putting too much pressure on her as a granddaughter,” Joan remarked with a firm set of her jaw.

“What on earth are you gonna do with Myrtle? She’s so set in her ways that she won’t listen to a word that you say,” Mason responded.

“Well, I will not just chat to her. I will show her better outlooks upon life by making the prospect of living in her own home sound very attractive,” Joan replied.

“Now, are we gonna focus on Bruce or Mishka’s grandma?” Mason asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“I promised Mishka that I would motivate her grandma to return to her own city. At the same time, we have to keep Gillian from running after Bruce. So, both are equally important,” Joan responded.

“Maybe we’re underestimating Gillian. She might have a better self-esteem and treat him cool in real life. Fantasies and real life are very different,” Mason remarked.

“But what if that’s not the case?” Joan asked. “I can’t have the wolf nature cause trouble in our home and I can’t allow it to ruin Gillian’s future,” she added.

“Then what about telling her straight out that she has a werewolf uncle and that it’s Bruce?” Mason suggested.

“Do you realize how crazy that sounds, just as you’re now saying it? There’s no way that she’s gonna believe that werewolves exist,” Joan replied with an incongruous look in her eyes.

“There comes her car now,” Mason announced. “We can either take the risk of just telling her now or spend the next couple of weeks panicking about her and Bruce meeting,” he added.

“I will try and discourage her from admiring him and I will ask Mishka to play her part as well,” Joan responded with her chin raised adamantly.

“Then, good luck because you know that it’s not easy to discourage Gillian when she set’s her mind on something,” Mason responded with a shrug as he listened to Gillian unlocking the front door.