Chapter 97─An abduction attempt in Italy

Mishka was smiling at the audience as she sang her new song on the Milan stage.

She could not believe that she was really here. Her troubles at home seemed to vanish as she looked at the crowd at her feet.

“Why can’t I just carry on like this, especially if I have someone like Bruce to support me? He really seems to want to be at my side for my battles,” she thought to herself as she sang.

She finished her song and made a slight bow. She was wearing a red pantsuit again, but this one was designed by Bruce himself.

She then walked off the stage and towards the change rooms.

“I wonder when Bruce and his models are coming onto stage?” she asked herself as she looked around.

She then picked up her phone and dialled his number. There was no answer. She then called Graham who was also on the tour with them.

“I don’t know where he is. We were supposed to go on stage now,” Graham answered.

“Okay, maybe there’s a slight delay. I’m going to change so long,” Mishka remarked before ending the call.

When there was no sign of Bruce a half an hour later, his manager decided to take over and present the designs. So the models went on stage.

Mishka walked outside of the building for some fresh air and to ease her mind.

“Bruce can’t disappear in Milan. There are no jealous wolf females here. Jean is safely back home. So, why would he disappear?” Mishka asked herself as she strolled along a busy fashion street.

She walked down a block when she heard a commotion behind her.

Mishka turned around to see what was happening. There was the noise of raised voices and then a blue car raced past her at a great speed.

“That doesn’t look right. Were those people fighting just now before they sped off? Why were they fighting then?” she wondered as she stared after the car, marking its registration number in her head.

“I might be in a foreign country, but I won’t allow crime to succeed in front of me,” she told herself out loud before taking her cell phone out of her bag and going to stand in front of a building. She then resumed to call the police.

Mishka spoke in English and related her story about the speeding vehicle as well its registration number.

“Great, that’s done and now I can just as well have some Italian coffee for a break to calm my nerves and enjoy the tour,” she told herself.

Mishka walked into a restaurant and ordered some coffee and cake.

She was enjoying her cake and looking for publicity about their show on her phone, when it rang in her hand.

“Hey Graham how’s the first ramp show going? Did you find Bruce?” she asked immediately when she answered the call.

“The fashion show is going well but we’ve just been contacted by the police. They found Bruce in a vehicle which was trying to rush off with him. Some people tried to abduct him, it seems,” Graham responded, speaking fast.

Mishka’s cake fork dropped from her hand and hit the floor.

“But here? Is he okay? Did they do something to him?” she asked as she began to shake from panic.

“Yes, he fought them off while the police closed down on them,” Graham responded with a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank God!” Mishka exclaimed. “I’m coming back to the show right now. I’m still in a coffee shop,” she explained to Graham.

“Be careful, maybe they’re not only looking for Bruce. Maybe they know that you’re here to accompany him on the tour,” Graham warned.

“Okay, I will,” Mishka responded quickly.

“Is everything alright?” a waiter asked, looking at her in concern as he picked up the fork.

“I’m alright, but I think I have to pay my bill and leave now,” Mishka responded with a nervous smile.

“Great, I will do that. Don’t you want a glass of wine, courtesy of the restaurant? You seem to be in some kind of shock?” the waiter asked.

“Oh, I will be alright, thank you. I just have to rush off somewhere, though,” Mishka responded with a polite smile.

“Okay, I will bring your bill then,” the waiter replied with a courteous grin.

***

Back at the show venue, Mishka and Graham waited for Bruce in the backstage area, while his designs were still being modeled on stage.

“The rescue mission is quick, but it feels like forever,” Graham remarked as he studied Mishka’s face.

“I think he’s wondering if there’s something between me and Bruce, since I’m so shaken every time when something happens to Bruce,” she told herself on the inside.

“But, anyone would be taken by surprise, won’t they?” she wondered.

“Well, maybe I’m really more affected by him because he makes my head swim every time when he’s around,” she concluded.

Her phone rang again. This time it was Gillian.

“I will have to explain why I didn’t tell her about Bruce. I will just have to tell her that he’s her relative and that he’s a werewolf,” Mishka decided before answering.

“Hi Mishka, are you okay there?” Gillian asked.

“I’m okay here at the show, thank you. I’ve already sang once,” Mishka responded in a light tone of voice.

“Oh and is Bruce okay?” Gillian asked in an urgent tone.

“He is, why are you asking? Did something happen there?” Mishka asked sitting forwards in her chair anxiously.

“No, but we’re worried that something could happen there. You see, Milla was busy playing around with her video camera in the basement when she heard the cat magician guy and your grandmother talking in the nursery again,” Gillian responded in a low tone of voice.

Mishka looked around to see if everything was still safe around her.

“What did Milla hear that’s so urgent that you’re calling me all the way here?” Mishka asked, trying to avoid Graham’s concerned gaze.

“She overheard your grandmother and the magician talking about how they’re having Bruce abducted again, but this time in Italy. They want him out of your life,” Gillian replied in a serious tone of voice.

“Grandma?” Mishka exclaimed. Graham got up from his chair and moved closer to her.

“Yes. She apparently failed the first time, but this time she’s sure that she will succeed in getting him away from you permanently,” Gillian replied.

“This is such a shock. She didn’t quite succeed, though. I guess she can’t because I will always be there to stop her,” Mishka remarked with her lips set in a grim, straight line.

“Oh? Did it happen already?” Gillian asked in shock.

“Yes, but it didn’t work. Anyway I think that you should try to find my father and tell him about this immediately. Talk to him alone. Don’t let my grandmother find out what you know. And keep Milla away from her, please. Milla mustn’t tell anyone else about this,” Mishka asked her friend.

“I will do that, but be careful out there anyway,” Gillian cautioned before ending the call.

“That sounded hectic. What just happened now?” Graham asked, but before Mishka could answer, Bruce walked into the dressing room with a bodyguard closely behind him.

When Mishka saw Bruce she could not restrain herself. She flew up from her chair and rushed to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Why do you keep getting into trouble?” she asked, but before he could answer she placed a kiss on his lips, stifling his response.

Bruce looked at her afterwards with his brows raised in surprise. He then grabbed her into a tight hug and returned the kiss, but making it longer than hers.

Graham looked on and sighed in relief.

“The two of you are a tough act to follow. The action never ends,” he remarked with an amused smile on his lips.

“Now all I have to do is keep Jean off my tail because she seems to be infatuated with me now,” he remarked as he rubbed his hand across his chin and sighed.

Bruce and Mishka were staring at each other.

“I will have to wait a while before I tell him who’s causing trouble this time,” Mishka told herself as she stared into Bruce’s warm eyes.

He pulled her close into a warm hug and she snuggled against his chest.

“Why don’t I care that he’s a wolf?” she asked herself as she smiled into his jacket.

The End.