Chapter 17 - Mistake

NOTES: bold text indicates text messages. Italics indicates Russian Language. Bold and italics will denote Arabic.

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Sasha's POV

I hadn't talked to Nef in almost a week. We'd had a really stupid fight over the phone. She hadn't called me and I was ashamed to call her. It was my fault. I was mad that she hadn't called me and I was less than polite on the phone when I did finally talk to her. I had talked to a few of the guys after I had become increasingly moody and each one had said that it was my fault and that I over reacted.

The morning after we got back from our road trip I went out to get flowers for her. I had come up with the bright idea to surprise her with a breakfast date. When I got to her place I texted Jesse asking her to let me in. I went to Nef's room and sat down on her bed. She was curled up under the blankets with just the top of her head sticking out.

I reached my hand over to thread my fingers through her hair.

"Nef, I sorry. I over react on the phone."

The bundle on the bed shifted. There was a deep groan that couldn't belong to Nef. I pulled the blanket back and was met by the face of not my girlfriend but a guy.

"Sasha?" I heard from the door. I turned to see Nef standing there in a baggy t-shirt and bare legs.

I recoiled from the bed. I was furious. Is this why she couldn't call me? Because she was with someone else?

"You...you," I stuttered.

I threw the bouquet of flowers to the floor and stormed past her. Whore! How could I have been so stupid?

"Sasha, wait!" Nef shouted.

I reached for the front door and yanked it open. Before I could get through the door there was a large muscular arm pushing it closed. I turned and came face to face with the guy that slept in Nef's bed.

"Would you just wait?" Nef said as she stormed down the hall toward me.

"Wait? Why? For you tell me that you sleep with him? That you no call because you too busy with him? For you tell me that you a -"

"If you call my sister a whore I will beat the shit out of you," the shirtless man said.

Sister? What?

"Huh?" I said looking at Nef.

She stood next to me with her arms folded across her chest. Her right leg was shaking and she looked pissed.

"Meet Imhotep. My twin brother."

She stood next to him. Shit. They looked just a like. The same brown eyes with green specks. The same nose. The same mouth. They same curly hair.

"Twin brother?"

"Yes. I told you that I had three brother and one of them was my twin."

I rubbed my hand over my face. "I thought -"

"You thought that he was some guy I had slept with."

"Da."

"You two sit down and talk. I'm gonna go put some clothes on," Imhotep said.

We sat down on the couch. I felt like an idiot. I had over reacted again. I reached out to touch her arm and for the first time noticed the bandage on her arm

"That's from last Sunday." She went on to tell me about her her purse being snatched while she was out for Jesse's birthday and how she fell on glass only to come home and find her car stolen. She told me that she had went home with her parents for dinner and to pick up her mom's car so that she would have something to drive. She had forgotten her phone at home and then on Monday it had died. She had had a really shitty week and I topped it off by being a complete dick to her. Great Sasha. Good friggin job.

"I sorry," I said to her.

Imhotep walked out dressed in shorts and a t-shirt holding the flowers I had brought.

"Give her these and try again."

I took the flowers from him and handed them to Nef. "I am sorry. I got mad and did not think."

She took the flowers from me but she still looked mad. I was in the dog house. The very back of the dog house. I would have to grovel later. I had plans to take her out for breakfast so I told both of them to get dressed.

"We go to breakfast," I said.

While they were getting dressed I put the flowers in a vase with water and put it on the coffee table in the living room. We walked to my car and I used the remote to unlock the doors. Both Nef and Imhotep ran to the passenger side door, pushing and shoving to sit in the front seat.

"Nef, I called shot gun!"

"So! I'm older. I ride in the front."

"By 15 minutes! I called shot gun."

"There is no shot gun! I'm dating him. I get to ride in front!"

I laughed at them. My sister and I had had the same argument when we were kids.

"Kitten, tell him I get to ride in front." Nef turned to me.

"Kitten? You call him kitten?" he chuckled.

"Nef sit in front. You sit in back."

“You’re only saying that because she’s pissed at you.”

Yes. That’s right. I need to get back into her good graces so I was going to placate her in every way possible. We went to a small diner not too far away because Nef said she wanted Belgian waffles with strawberries. When we were seated at the booth I slide in beside Nef and rested my right hand on her leg. It felt good to be with her again.

“So Alex…can I call you Alex? How long have you and my sister been together?”

“A couple months.”

“Why am I just getting to meet you now?”

I looked at Nef. This was all on her.

“Didn’t want to bring him around if it wasn’t anything serious.”

“And is it serious?”

Nef looked at me to answer this one. “Da. It serious.” After the way I reacted when I saw someone else in her bed…even if it was her brother, I realized that I wanted to be the only one with her.

“Mom and dad know?”

“Ummm Mom knows that I’m seeing someone that works with the hockey club. Does she know that he’s a player? No.”

“Why?” I asked. Why not just tell them?

“Because then she would tell dad and I want to be the one to tell him. He’s not exactly going to like it.”

“Why not?”

“Nef is the only girl. His baby girl. He wants a doctor, lawyer type person for her…well he’s just not going to like anybody he didn’t pick out.”

Wonderful. I couldn’t get too upset because I knew that my parents would be the same way. Nosy and controlling parents. Everyone’s got them.

“Get on my mom’s good side,” Nef warned. “If my mom loves you then you’re safe and welcome.”

Noted: Charm her mother and all will be well.

Our waitress, a tall brunette with black pants and a white scoop neck shirt, came around to take our orders. “Hi I’m Shelley and I’ll be your server. What can I get for you this morning?” She asked smiling at me. She brushed her hand against my shoulder and squatted down beside me placing her note pad on the table. If I looked too far down I would have been looking right down her shirt.

I ordered an omelet for myself and a Belgian waffle with strawberries for Nef, leaving Imhotep to order. She barely even glanced at him. When Shelley left Imhotep said “I think she was drooling.” It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened and Nef always seemed to take it well.

“Oh! I went out with mom to the spa yesterday and she wants you to come to dinner. I told her that you were busy with work.”

“That’s not going to hold her off for too long though. Mom and Dad are going to want to meet him.”

My schedule was pretty tight until around Christmas.

“Will your family be here for Christmas?” She asked.

“Da.”

“Well that won’t work. You’ll be spending all of your free time with your family…maybe after New Year’s then?”

“Da. It will work. I Russian Orthodox, my Christmas is different.”

“What?” Both Imhotep and Nef looked at me.

“January 7th is my Christmas silly Catholic girl.” I tapped the tip of her nose. Nef’s family was Catholic.

“Oh yeah, some of the orthodox churches in Egypt celebrate on that day too,” Imhotep tapped his fingers on the table.

“So does that mean you can come to dinner on Christmas Eve?”

I nodded yes. Shelley came back with our food and said “If there is anything I can get for you let me know, kay Hun?” She placed her hand on my shoulder again and Nef’s nostrils flared. She did that when she was annoyed. It was the only outward sign of annoyance that she showed. Shelley was flirting with me but I paid it little attention.

“Okay,” I said.

When Shelley left the table I told Nef that my family wouldn’t be coming to the States until January 3 when I got back from a West Coast trip.

“Ok. I’ll tell mom and dad that you’ll be over for Christmas Eve dinner.”

“Judgment day,” Imhotep was now trying to make me nervous.

Nef kicked him under the table, “Be nice.”

I leaned in and placed a kiss on Nef’s temple. When I pulled back I saw that Shelley was once again approaching table.

“I’m so sorry,” She placed her hand over her heart. “But my younger brother is a huge caps fan. I was wondering if I could get a picture?”

“Sure, no problem.”

I stood up from the booth and took Shelley’s phone from her. I handed it to Nef and stood back away from the booth. Shelley wrapped one of her arms around my waist and pressed her body against me. Nef’s left eyebrow raised but she said nothing and took the picture. I handed the phone back to Shelley and she walked away. Once I sat back down Imhotep made a hissing sound and clawed the air with his hand.

“She’s a brave one,” Imhotep please don’t goad your sister.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

When we’d finished eating I waved to Shelley for the bill. When she returned I handed her my credit card.

“I’ll bet you that when she comes back with the receipt her number will be on it.” Nef and Imhotep were placing bets on what Shelley would do.

“No it won’t,” I said. She was a flirt but clearly I was with Nef and paid no attention to her advances.

When she returned with my card and the receipt for me to sign I opened the little black folder and saw a note scrawled across the receipt. I pulled out the one I was supposed to sign and shut the folder. Shit.

“Let me see,” Nef said trying to pull the folder from my hand.

“Nyet. It just a receipt.”

Imhotep snatched the folder from us and opened it. “Call me. Shelley. 555-555-5555.” I signed the receipt, left a tip, and left the copy of the receipt with the note in the black folder. As we walked by Shelley I wrapped an arm around Nef and handed her the keys to my car.

“You drive, baby. I tired.”

She stopped. “You want me to drive your car? Your Mercedes?”

“Da,” I smiled kissing her forehead and pulling her out the diner exit.

“You’re still in the dog house.”

Damn. Come on. It was an honest mistake. I pushed out my lower lip pouting.

“Presents work well. She likes pretty things,” Her brother said sliding into the back seat.