Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“Sorry!”
“I can’t believe this,” Taliana seethed, clutching her comforter. “When did you find out?”
“Well…”
“Tell me .”
Andrea groaned, obviously not keen on answering Taliana’s questions. “The day before you left,” she finally conceded. “But you’d already made up your mind that you were leaving! I tried to get you to stay, but you were having none of it!”
“Well maybe if you told me that cheating scumbag was moving here as well, I would have changed my mind! God, Mom, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I didn’t see the point! D.C. is a big place, and I never thought you’d run into him.”
“Next time you need to take all possibilities into consideration,” Taliana snapped, furious and slightly hurt that her mom would keep such a thing from her.
“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady.”
Taliana didn’t apologize, but she did attempt to reel in her anger. “What’s he even doing in D.C.?” she asked instead, pushing the conversation in a different direction. “Last I heard his parents were shipping him off to some military school in the middle of nowhere.”
“Apparently, they changed their minds and decided they’d rather send him to live with his aunt,” Andrea explained. “I think she’s a senator or something and is rumored to be a real hard-ass.”
Oh yeah, like any old hard-ass would be able to handle Zak Huntington. He’d probably end up causing that woman so much trouble that she’d send him right back in less than a week. Taliana knew from first-hand experience that no one could control that boy or change him. Both had been difficult lessons to learn.
“She’s got her work cut out for her,” Taliana muttered. “But out of all the places he could have gone, why here? Do I just have super bad karma or something? I mean, isn’t it bad enough that he cheated on me with Sara? I thought I could escape all that.”
“Well, look on the bright side,” her mother tried to reason. “At least you don’t have to deal with her, too.”
Taliana sent a death glare to the boy band poster on her wall, pretending it was her mother instead. “That doesn’t make this any better.”
“Just face it, honey,” she sighed. “Your best friend was a terrible person and your boyfriend was even worse. You’re not the first girl this has happened to, and you’re definitely not the last. So I suggest you suck it up and try to ignore him if you see him again. You came to D.C. for a fresh start and you’re going to get it, no matter what. Do you understand me?”
“Loud and clear.” Taliana flopped back against her pillows and blew out a breath. “Let’s not talk about him anymore. He makes me sick.” Then again, that could have been from her slowly subsiding hangover, but she wasn’t going to say anything about that.
“Good idea,” her mother agreed. “How about we talk about my love life instead?”
Taliana had to try hard not to laugh. “What love life, Mom?”
“Aren’t you a funny one.”
“I try.”
She chuckled again. “I’ll have you know that I managed to score a date with a male model.”
Taliana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “A model? I’m impressed.”
“I did pretty well, didn’t I?” She laughed, sounding excited about her upcoming date. “He’s taking me to dinner tonight at some new restaurant. I have this gorgeous red dress that I’ve been meaning to wear, so I’ll probably go with that that. All have to consider is jewelry and shoes.”
“I bet you’re really regretting that you gave me the ring now,” Taliana joked. “That thing goes with everything.”
“As long as you’re treating it well, I’m okay with it. You haven’t lost it yet, right?”
Taliana laughed at the outrageous idea. They both knew she would guard that thing with her life. “Of course I haven’t,” she scoffed, glancing down at her right hand.
Her bare right hand.
“Oh no.”
A tense silence spread as Taliana stared at her middle finger, which was bereft of any jewelry. The ring that should have been there was most definitely not.
“Don’t tell me you lost it, Taliana.”
“Then I won’t say anything.” The panic rose as she hopped down from the bed and began shaking out the covers in search of the diamond. “Look, Mom, I’m gonna have to call you back.”
“Taliana Colton-Avilla, if you hang up on me, I’ll-“
Taliana ended the call before her mother could finish the sentence, knowing the threat on the end of it wasn’t going to be anything pleasant.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
If she didn’t find that thing and call her mom back in the next five minutes, she had a feeling her mother was going to fly out there to kill her. Either that or Grandma’s ghost was going to do it. Or even worse, the both of them would come after her.
All three ideas made Taliana shudder and pick up the pace of her search. By the time she was done, everything had been ripped off the bed and was lying in a sad heap on the floor, but there was no ring.
Her fingers were fisted in her hair as she stared helplessly at the mess on the floor. She tried to calm herself with a few deep breaths, but nothing worked. She was seconds away from having a panic attack when her survival instincts kicked in. Everything would be okay! She could do this! And while she was sure her mother wouldn’t literally kill her, there was the slight possibility she could be disowned.
Oh god, she had to find that ring.
Taliana nearly tripped over her own feet as she continued her hunt, starting with the bags she’d yet to unpack. Her pathetic excuse for a wardrobe joined the sheets on the floor as she pawed through and tossed everything to the side, not caring where it landed. When both her bags had been emptied, her room looked like a tornado had ripped through, and she still hadn’t found the ring.
“No!”
She was standing in the middle of the floor on top a mountain of clothes when her door banged open and two blonde heads popped into her line of vision.
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa questioned worriedly as her twin took in Taliana’s disaster of a room.
“The ring! I can’t find it anywhere!” Taliana let out a strangled scream and dropped her hands onto her head. “Oh my god, my mom is going to murder me.”