Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
She nodded and dropped her hand from her face, though she still looked like she was on the verge of sleep. “Will you come over again tomorrow?”
“I’ll try,” he murmured, hoping it was a promise he could keep.
She nodded and snuggled into the pillow. Her eyes drifted shut once more, but a smile played around her mouth. “I’m holding you to that, babe.”
And then it hit him. With Blair, there had never been one defining moment when he realized he loved her. To be honest, it would’ve been impossible to find one, especially since they’d been best friends since childhood. Maybe he’d loved her back then, or maybe it hadn’t developed until they were older. There had been no pinning it down.
But as he stood there staring at Taliana, he could genuinely say this was it. This was the moment when he couldn’t deny it any longer. Besides, what good would that have done? His heart had decided; there was no taking it back. The only thing he had to do now was tell her.
“Hey, Talia?”
The primer was out of his mouth before he could stop himself, but by then he was already having a hard time figuring out how to form the actual words.
“Yeah?” she mumbled, opening one eye to shoot him a curious look.
This was it. The moment of literal truth.
“I-” He broke off, a lump slowly forming in his throat. And could his heart possibly beat any faster?
It only took half a second for him to realize he couldn’t do it; he wasn’t ready to admit it to anyone other than himself. That was just too much.
His subconscious was screaming at him to just say it, but there he was, chickening out at the last minute. “I’ll see you later,” he finally managed to get out, thankful his voice didn’t crack. He even managed a half-assed smirk, determined not to let his inner turmoil show. “Get some sleep, baby.”
From the matching one that slid across her lips as he turned to leave, she’d bought it. Still, he wouldn’t allow himself to feel relieved until he was out of there.
For once, he didn’t hesitate in leaving.
39
Sinking Suspicions
Something was wrong.
It had been four days since Taliana had last spoken to Sebastian and more than a week since he’d come over. After his sudden departure from her bedroom on Monday night, he’d called her a grand total of three times. One call had been to apologize for not being able to get together the next day. Another call had been to schedule a date for Wednesday night. The third and latest call had been to cancel Wednesday night’s date and reschedule it for Friday.
Since then, Taliana hadn’t heard from him.
Though she saw him on a near daily basis, there was never enough time or privacy for them to have any sort of discussion. And there was a lot they needed to talk about.
Despite the fact that nothing had changed outwardly, there had been a relatively tangible shift in their relationship. Blair had driven a wedge between them, whether that had been her plan or not, and until this whole thing was over, Taliana had a feeling Blair would remain right there in the middle. And quite frankly, Taliana was sick of it. She wanted her boyfriend back, the one she didn’t have to share with anyone else.
But she had to concede that Blair wasn’t the only one to blame-at least not anymore. In the past few weeks, Taliana was beginning to feel out of the loop about the current status of “their”-she was using that word loosely-plan. When it began, Sebastian had no problem keeping her constantly updated. He and Blair were doing this, he and Blair were doing that; those little updates and ideas were comforting. Now, they had all but disappeared.
Sebastian seemed hesitant to share the details of what was going on. If Taliana asked, he would explain in vague terms, but the look of sheer exhaustion on his face always kept her from pressing too hard. They were already skating on thin ice, and Taliana didn’t want to be the one to make it crack.
What worried her the most, though, was the fact that he’d lied to her. One night last week, she had asked if he was going somewhere with Blair that evening, and he’d said he planned to stay in to work on a school project. Three hours later, Michael had come over to her house laughing, telling her about the scene he’d just witnessed at the Sultan’s Palace involving Blair’s extended family and Sebastian. Her silence had, apparently, revealed that she knew nothing about her boyfriend’s whereabouts, and he’d been quick to backtrack.
Taliana was seeing red by the time she showed Michael to the door. She hadn’t been able to truly calm down until after she’d gone for a long, hard run, the only way she could even dream of working out her anger. Sweating, exhausted, and no longer fueled by rage, she was finally able to think rationally.
What if that hadn’t been the first time Sebastian had lied about being with Blair? But what if he hadn’t been lying? What if it was something that had come up at the last minute, far after he and Taliana had spoken? Did she just want to believe the best of him? Or was she trying to ignore something that was right in front of her face? Those were questions she hoped to find the answers to tonight during their date.
Even after suffering through seeing Sebastian and Blair together at school, Taliana somehow managed to stay in high spirits for most of the day. It wasn’t until the clock read seven-thirty, marking Sebastian fifteen minutes late to pick her up, did they dip down to where they’d been not so long ago.
Since they were going to some fancy restaurant in Old Town, Alexandria, she had dolled up for it in a slinky black dress, one of the most dreaded items in her closet. It was hard to believe she was willingly wearing such an outfit for this guy, but if that was what it took to get his attention back to her, then damn it, she would do it.
But when said guy was pushing a half hour late, Taliana wasn’t sure if it was worth it anymore. Swallowing her pride, she grabbed her phone.
“Where are you?” she asked when Sebastian picked up, wiggling her sore toes, which were scrunched up in a pair of pumps.
His pause lasted long enough to make Taliana wonder if he’d hung up. “I’m sorry?”
Taliana’s stomach dropped to her knees. Had he really forgotten? “We were supposed to go out tonight, remember?”
“Oh shit, Talia, I’m so sorry. It totally slipped my mind.”
Under normal circumstances, his apology would’ve been enough, but tonight, it didn’t even come close. “Yeah, I thought so.”
The coldness in her voice seemed to shock him into silence for a long beat. “I know you’re mad, and I would be too. I’m just… I’m so sorry, Talia. I didn’t mean to forget.”
Taliana sighed exasperatedly and reached up to pull her hair out of the messy chignon, letting it tumble down her shoulders. “No, Seb, I’m not mad.” At least, not at the level of wanting to murder him. Still, she knew this simmering rage would come to a boil very, very soon. “Will you still come over, though? I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
There was yet another pause, but this time, Taliana could swear she heard a female voice in the background. She didn’t have to think twice about who it was. “I’m in the middle of something right now, and I can’t get away. Give me a couple hours and I’ll be there.”
The disaster was only worsening. “Whenever you’re free.”
“I promise, we’ll talk as soon as I can. And hopefully I’ll have great news for you. I’ll see you later, baby.”
The line went dead before Taliana could murmur a goodbye, leaving her even more stunned than before.
* * *
If there was one thing Sebastian missed about dating Blair, it was her family. While he came from a clan of raging alcoholics who couldn’t get along unless everyone’s blood alcohol content was well over the legal limit, the Bakhtiars were almost the complete opposite. Sure, they were still crazy in their own right, but they always seemed to have a good time together. That was not something the Phillips family could ever claim, sober or not.
In the years they’d been a couple, he’d been introduced to dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, and various other family members. How Blair managed to remember all their names was a mystery to him, but at last count there had been five Rezas, seven Maryams, and a whopping fourteen Mohammeds. The fact that they all went by different nicknames didn’t help.
Still, though he couldn’t keep track of most of the people he met, there was one woman whose name Sebastian would never forget.