Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
When Amir put a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder as a sign of understanding, he could finally breathe easily.
“Tabrik, doostam,” his fake future father-in-law murmured. “Now come, it’s time for tea.”
* * *
It was late when Sebastian finally parted ways with Amir and the fourteen Mohammeds. After countless glasses of tea and seemingly endless conversation, he’d had all he could handle for one evening. Claiming exhaustion, he’d excused himself and immediately sought out Blair, his only ally in Noor’s sprawling home.
He found her in one of the empty sitting rooms, curled up on the couch with a blanket across her lap and a movie playing quietly in the background. She glanced up when he entered the room, and a grimace spread across her lips.
“Well?” she prompted, scooting over to make room for him. “What’s my fate?”
With a groan, he collapsed next to her. “You’re off the hook.” He exhaled as his eyes fluttered shut, thankful that this was finally- finally
-drawing to a close. “I don’t have to put a ring on your finger, you don’t have to marry that guy, and Amir is leaving next week for the rest of the summer, so you’re safe until you turn eighteen and can run away from all this shit. You can thank me later.”
Before he could open his eyes and shoot her a satisfied grin, she was suddenly pressed against his shoulder, arms locked tightly around his neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and it almost sounded like she was holding back tears. “You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You never even had to agree, but you stuck it out until the end anyway. Just… Thank you, Seb.”
The unexpected display of emotion caught him off guard, unsure of what he was supposed to do next.
“You should know better than to think I’d let that asshole do this,” he said, patting her shoulder. “I may not be your biggest fan, but I had to do something.”
Blair pulled back enough to look him in the eye. “Look, I… I know you’ll never accept any of my apologies, but I’ll say it again. I’m sorry, Sebastian, I really am. But I didn’t-“
“No offense, but I’m just ready to move on,” he interrupted. “Honestly, I already have.”
“Good,” she said after a beat. “I’m happy for you.”
Sebastian looked up again, not having missed the hitch in her voice. She tried hard to keep it from showing on her face, but it was easy to tell she was forcing herself to say it.
He couldn’t help but crack a grin. “You’re such a bad liar.”
Blair rolled her eyes and slid away from him. “Yeah, whatever.” She yawned, eyes settling on something across the room. “No wonder I’m tired, it’s already one-thirty in the morning. Didn’t you say something about getting back to visit your girlfriend tonight?”
“Shit,” he swore, checking his watch to confirm the time. “I was supposed to be there hours ago. She’s going to kill me for this one. I haven’t exactly been the most attentive boyfriend lately.”
“Shame on you,” Blair scolded as she leaned forward to grab something off the coffee table, shoving it into his hands a moment later. “Take my car, go pay her a visit. I’m sure she still wants to see you, despite the time. I’ll just get a ride home with my father. Maybe he’ll be happy with me for once.” She rolled her eyes, both of them knowing that was unlikely.
Still, it was a surprisingly selfless thing for a notedly selfish girl to do, but Sebastian took the keys to the BMW from her
“I appreciate this, Blair,” he said. “Really.”
Her smile was faint, but her eyes told him this was her way of making up for it all. “Go.”
She only had to say it once.
41
Unmistakable
Blair’s car was parked in front of Taliana’s house.
For a few heart-wrenching moments, Taliana sat half in anticipation, half in terror, waiting for Blair to slide out and purr that she had won. When the door of the white BMW opened and Sebastian appeared instead, Taliana was hit by the fact that his presence barely reassured her.
The night was warm for late April, and the sweater Taliana had draped around her shoulders seemed unnecessary despite the soft breeze. For a Friday night, the neighborhood was quiet, a detail she’d noticed in the two hours she’d been sitting outside. The appearance of Blair’s car had been the only disturbance in the post-midnight hours, but now that the engine had been cut and Sebastian was slowly making his way toward her, the sense of quiet had been restored.
Taliana watched from the front steps as Sebastian slipped the keys into the pocket of his wrinkled slacks and flashed her an exhausted smile. With each step he took toward the porch, Taliana’s heartbeat doubled in speed. It was on the verge of exploding before he even made it halfway.
She desperately wished she could say it beat faster out of excitement or even joy. But this time it was out of nothing more than betrayal and the sheer will it took to keep from throttling him.
Despite the fury burning in her chest, Taliana tried to remain calm. It would’ve been easy to let her anger guide her, but the intelligent part of her brain knew that wouldn’t solve anything. If she wanted answers, she had to hold back.
“Hey,” Sebastian greeted gently. “I’m sorry it’s so late. I lost track of time.”
Taliana certainly hadn’t. As eleven o’clock had turned into midnight, midnight into one o’clock, and one o’clock into two, her awareness of the passing hours had only increased. Now, there they were in the early hours of the morning, staring at each other with two completely different ideas for how the rest of the night was going to go.
“It’s two-thirty in the morning,” Taliana pointed out, the words cold.
He grimaced and nodded, at least pretending to be ashamed. “I’m so sorry. Everything just took longer than I expected.”
“Everything with
Blair?”
Sebastian met her eyes for only a split second before casting them to the ground, a hand slipping up to rub the back of his neck. He said nothing in his own defense.
“I can’t believe you actually thought I wouldn’t find out,” Taliana scoffed, struggling to keep her voice down, fighting to keep from disturbing the night. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“I didn’t want to upset you.” He blew out a sigh, and the hand on his neck came up to ruffle his unruly hair. “I thought I’d be able to finish things tonight and just come to you when I finally had good news.”
His assumptions were going to be the death of this relationship, a death that seemed to be looming closer than she wanted to admit. This had all started because he assumed she would be okay with his newfound relationship with Blair. He had assumed she didn’t need to know anything about it. And now he was assuming that telling her would only make her angry.
For once, he was right.
“I’m not angry because you were with her,” she corrected, letting the sweater fall away as she scrambled to her feet. “I’m angry because you didn’t tell me. You have to stop keeping secrets from me, Sebastian.”