Chapter 38 Bruce’s disappointment

Bruce was happy to finally be back home. He had run out of options on how to stall Jean from coming to his mansion.

He had explained that something had gone wrong with the designs and so the show had to be cancelled in the city.

"But, I want to go to your house tonight then. Why should I go back to my house?"Jean had argued after she had finally accepted that there was not gonna be any show in the city or anywhere else today.

Bruce had to think very quickly.

"Because there will be no one at my house today. My cousin is leaving, so we're spending the night at a friend's house. He lives near the airport and we need to spend some time with him before Lyle and the others leave," he explained with a sincere tone in his voice.

Bruce knew that Jean did not like farewells and goodbyes. It always irritated her tremendously.

"Great, then I will see you on another weekend," she had greeted with a peck on Bruce's cheek.

Bruce had then almost sped home from relief. He didn't even consider driving reasonably.

"How did it go?" he asked as soon as his eyes fell on Lyle who was sitting on a balcony, drinking a glass of wine.

"Oh, am I glad that you're finally here!" Lyle exclaimed as soon as he heard Bruce's voice behind him.

"Why, did I lose out on a lot? Who was doing anything unusual?" Bruce asked as he took a seat next to Lyle, facing the sunset.

"What took you so long? Didn't Jean want to go home or something?" Lyle asked with a concerned frown.

"No, she eventually wanted to come here and I had to think up a lie to stop her from coming," Bruce responded.

"Oh, as long as you're sure that she didn't follow you," Lyle remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, she didn't get to follow me. I told her that we were not spending the night here. I hate lying, but I had to make sure that she didn't have her way with coming here," Bruce remarked.

"Great, because now she's not here to spoil the atmosphere when I tell you about what you've missed," Lyle continued.

"Of course, but let me order some wine as well because it was very boring waiting for Jean to leave. I didn't even feel like having any refreshments," Bruce remarked.

"Good, ring the bell, but you're not even gonna care about wine when I tell you what happened here," Lyle remarked, his eyes dancing with excitement.

"Am I supposed to be excited or worried, now?" Bruce asked with his eyes stretched wide.

"I think you'll be excited, but also quite upset," Lyle responded.

"Okay, then tell me what I've missed out on," Bruce responded as he rang the bell for wine anyway.

"Guess who was here? I think she came to surprise you, but you ended up surprising her with your absence," Lyle responded.

"No, I can't think of anyone who would want to come and surprise me," Bruce said in a vague tone of voice.

"The crew members for the video from the guest company?" Lyle mentioned with an eager smile on his face.

"Yes, okay. Were they an interesting bunch?" Bruce asked with a slightly curious smile.

"Yes, them, but guess who they actually are?" Lyle asked.

"I've never met them in person. The director said that a team would be coming over that's all," Bruce responded with a confused look in his eyes.

"Well, I found out that the CEO's daughter came with them," Lyle responded with an excited glint in his eyes.

"Oh and is she hardworking and talented?" Bruce asked with a smile.

"Yes, I would say that she loves her work, but she's talented in another area of life," Lyle responded eagerly.

"Oh, have you learned so much about her on one day?" Bruce asked.

"Well, I had a lovely time with her and her team while they were here, but it's what happened after they left, that was really exciting," Lyle commented excitedly.

"I don't understand? Something more happened after they left?" Bruce asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's when I realized how really interesting the CEO"s daughter was," Lyle replied.

"Oh, you checked her out afterwards?" Bruce asked with a curious frown.

"No, there was no reason for that because I spoke to her friend, who happens to be one of our models," Lyle continued.

"Oh, so she knows some of us? That's good," Bruce responded with a thoughtful nod of his head.

"So, that's when things became really interesting," Lyle remarked without taking his eyes off Bruce.

"Oh? What happened then?" Bruce asked, still not understanding Lyle's cause for excitement.

"I found out that she's a singer. A very good singer. She's only gonna be working for her father for a short while before she pursues her music career," Lyle remarked with an even broader grin on his face.

"Oh, good for her to be chasing her own dreams," Bruce responded with a smile and a nod.

"You're still not getting it are you?" Lyle asked, poking a finger in his cheek as he teased Bruce.

Bruce shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know. What am I supposed to get?" he asked.

"My, your day with Jean has completely shifted your focus, it seems," Lyle remarked, still with the teasing grin on his face. "Have you forgotten your passionate quest from two nights ago?" Lyle asked.

"You mean at the fashion party with the invited dancers?" Bruce asked with a frown.

"Yes, you swore that the singer was here. Your mysterious siren from the woods?" Lyle asked.

"Yes, but then I had to give up because I only ran into Jean, remember?" Bruce responded with a vague frown as he recalled the incident of meeting Jean in those very same woods.

"Well, that's who it was! You singer from the woods? She was here and we didn't know it," Lyle remarked with a delighted chuckle.

"Oh, how did you find out? I told you she was here," Bruce responded, sitting on the edge of his chair at this point.

"No, I'm not talking about that night. She was here today," Lyle remarked as he marvelled at Bruce's response.

"She was here today? But how?" Bruce asked with his eyes popping large with disbelief.

"I didn't know that it was her. I thought that she was only a technician, but then Elle told me that she was a singer and she was here as a masked dancer also earlier," Lyle responded.

Bruce let out a heavy hiss of disbelief.

"So, you didn't get to talk to her? Why didn't you call her back?" he asked.

"I did chat to her, but about video-making, not music or her other reason for being here. She did say that she was going to pop in, didn't she? Lyle asked.

"Yes, but I was expecting a normal, neighbourly visit. Not a professional one," Bruce responded, rubbing his chin in disappointment.

"She didn't have to be specific at the time. Maybe the idea just occurred to her when she heard that her team was coming here for work," Lyle remarked with a shrug.

"And the other night when she was masked? She spoke to Elle, you say? Then who invited her and why did she hide her identity?" Bruce asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Maybe you should ask her," Lyle suggested.

"I don't know. Should I just assume that she came to work here so she could see me?" Bruce asked with a doubtful frown as he studied the floor of the balcony.