Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“What happened?” Sebastian prompted, signaling to their usual barista to bring him a latte.
Marcus heaved a sigh and settled his hands in his lap. “You remember Zak, right?”
Sebastian had to rack his brain for a moment, but a face finally came to the name. “Zak? Your cousin from California with all the tattoos and so many piercings he could pass for Swiss cheese?”
The curly haired boy grimaced, his fingers tightening around the pack of smokes. “Yeah. Him.”
Sebastian paused when the barista brought his drink, and he slipped her a generous tip as always, causing her to blush. He waited until she was gone before speaking again. “What about him?”
“He’s coming to live with us,” Marcus revealed. “Apparently his parents couldn’t handle him anymore and thought my mother could knock some sense into him.”
Jacob let out a bark of laughter, throwing his head back so his long, auburn hair fell away from his forehead. “Yeah, good luck with that. That guy is batshit nuts.”
“I don’t know,” Michael mused. “Victoria could probably handle him. She can instill fear in even the bravest hearts.”
Sebastian shuddered at the thought of Marcus’s mother. Senator Victoria Patterson ruled her home and represented her state with an iron fist. She was the main reason Marcus had turned out as a practically perfect child, seeing as her only son was too afraid to ever go against her wishes. Sebastian didn’t really blame him either. With her power suits and steely glare, even he knew not to get on Senator Patterson’s bad side.
“When is he going to be here?” Sebastian questioned, cupping the warm mug in his hands.
“Saturday afternoon.” Marcus’s look of dissatisfaction remained. “And my mother wants me to bring him to your party so he can make friends.”
Sebastian paused before his cup reached his lips, his eyes swinging up sharply. “Who is she to invite someone to my party?”
“The devil,” Michael answered, rolling his eyes as he kicked his feet up onto the table. “But it doesn’t seem like there’s anything you can do about this, unless you really want to take it up with Victoria.”
Sebastian shut his mouth.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Sebastian slouched farther down in his seat. “I swear, if he even considers making a scene, I’m going to-“
The obnoxiously loud chirp of a phone interrupted his threat, and Sebastian shot a glare at its owner. Michael paid the look no mind as he slipped a hand into the pocket of his jeans and produced it a moment later, a loud laugh escaping his lips once he read the text on the screen.
“Oh, that’s a good one,” he snickered, looking up at Sebastian a few seconds later. “You won’t believe who’s back.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s some dumb celebrity here to see the president,” Marcus groaned. “All those Hollywood assholes just need to stay on the west coast where they belong.”
“Nope,” Michael replied, fingers flying over the screen. “Guess again.”
It was Jacob’s turn. “The son of that ambassador who incessantly hit on Sebastian that time at the zoo?”
There was no missing Michael’s amusement this time, which was punctuated with a loud snort. “I wish. But no.”
Sebastian lazily flipped his friend the finger. “Who is it, Michael?”
“You’re going to love this one, Seb,” he said, a smirk sliding over his lips. “It’s Taliana Avilla.”
Sebastian choked on his coffee, causing Marcus to pat him hard on the back. After the coughing spell passed, he stared at his friend in shock.
“You mean
Stick Girl?” he questioned incredulously. “What the hell is she doing back here?”
Michael’s phone beeped again. “I’m hearing different things from different people,” he said, continuing to read, “but word is that she tried to kill some guy in California and now she’s coming back here to live with her father to get away from it all. Stupid rumor, but considering her history, I might actually believe it.”
Jacob ran a hand through his hair, the rings snagging a few strands. “That psycho just needs to be institutionalized.”
Marcus grunted his assent. “I second that motion.”
If it was possible, Sebastian would’ve passed the motion and thrown her in the nearest maximum-security prison where she deserved to be. After what happened in sixth grade and their numerous run-ins before that, he wanted her as far away from him as possible. The fact that she was in the same city made him feel slightly on edge, not to mention nauseated.
Hopefully he’d never have to see her sorry face again.
Model Behavior
Breakfast in the Avilla household was a little more hectic than Taliana remembered. By the time she was up and dressed back in the day, Katherine would have had breakfast made, Charles would be happily sipping his morning coffee, and the twins would either be sitting at the table playing a game or still at a friend’s house from the sleepover they’d gone to the night before.
This summer morning, however, was much different.
“Come on, Vanessa! You drank all the orange juice!”
“Charles! Go upstairs and change your pants, they’ve got syrup on them!”
“Ugh! Mom, this milk went bad days ago!”
“Katherine! You’re burning the eggs!”
The sheer volume of the back-and-forth banter coming from the kitchen was what had woken Taliana in the first place, but now that she was standing right outside the doorway, she was convinced her eardrums would burst if she got any closer.
Deciding to risk life and limb, she stepped into the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table. In the background she heard Katherine shout? good morning over the sound of the television, which was spewing the latest news about the stock market, causing her father to let out a distressed groan every time the Dow dipped further. While Taliana was unsure what all those numbers meant, watching her father’s reaction to them was immensely entertaining.
However, her attention quickly shifted when a towering plate of pancakes appeared in front of her.
“Eat!” Katherine mouthed as she ushered the twins into their seats around the table.
Taliana didn’t need to be told twice.