Misunderstood (Neighbor from Hell (YA) 1)

“Good morning, Mrs. Blaine,” the larger of the two said as he gestured for Sebastian to stop.

“Good morning, Vincent,” Mrs. Blaine said with a warm smile as she reached over and took his large hand between her frail ones and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “How is Andrew doing?”

“He’s doing much better, Mrs. Blaine. He’s putting on weight and the doctors said that he should be able to come home soon,” Vincent said with a warm smile.

“That’s wonderful news,” Mrs. Blaine said, giving his hand another squeeze. “Tell Margaret that I’ve been thinking about her.”

“I will, Mrs. Blaine,” Vincent said, returning her squeeze with a very gentle one of his own before releasing her hands and–

Focused on Sebastian.

The warm, welcoming smile that he’d greeted Mrs. Blaine with was gone and in its place was a look of warning, letting Sebastian know what would happen if he did anything to upset Mrs. Blaine. Before he could make good on the unspoken threat, Mrs. Blaine said, “This is Sebastian, the boy that I’ve been telling you about.”

At that, the scowl was gone, replaced by a welcoming smile and…an amused twitch of his lips? Clearing his throat, Vincent reached over and shook Sebastian’s hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

Not sure how to respond to that, Sebastian simply nodded as he returned the handshake as the other security guard chuckled.

What the hell had she been telling them? Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder as amusement lit Vincent’s face while he gestured for Sebastian to go inside. Telling himself that he was just being paranoid, Sebastian absently nodded as he pushed Mrs. Blaine inside and found himself glaring at the back of Mrs. Blaine’s head when he heard the men laughing behind him.

Still glaring, he followed Mrs. Blaine’s gesture and rolled her toward the bank of elevators as she greeted everyone she passed with a smile. Sebastian parked her in front of the elevators and reached over and pressed the call button. Once the elevator doors opened, he rolled her inside, watched as she pressed the button for the twenty-second floor with the tip of her cane, and continued to glare.

Lips twitching, she said, “I may have shared some of the stories that your cousins have told me about your exploits. You’ve kept us all quite entertained over the years,” making him sigh because he could only imagine the stories that his cousins told her.

“Glad I could help,” he said dryly, watching as the numbers above the elevator doors lit up.

“Me, too,” Mrs. Blaine said with a firm nod, making his lips twitch as he leaned back against the elevator wall.

“Are you going to tell me why I’m here yet?”

“I could use the company,” Mrs. Blaine simply said with a firm nod as the elevator came to a stop with a quiet ding, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something more to it.

Not that he was complaining since it saved him from trying to make it through another day without dying of boredom. When the elevator doors opened, Sebastian pushed Mrs. Blaine into an upscale waiting room complete with a receptionist that looked stunned to see them.

“Mrs. Blaine, what a wonderful surprise to see you!” the young woman said, but something, mostly the fact that the smile on her face looked like it was strained, told Sebastian that it wasn’t exactly a welcomed surprise.

“Mary,” Mrs. Blaine said coolly in greeting as she gestured for Sebastian to take her down the long corridor to their right.

“Mrs. Blaine?” Mary called after them only to groan as she rushed to catch up with them when they kept going. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Blaine, but your sons are in a board meeting. I would be more than happy to show you back to the waiting room and bring you something to drink while you wait.”

Instead of answering her, Mrs. Blaine ignored her and gestured for him to bring her to the large double doors at the end of hallway. Sebastian threw the receptionist one last look over his shoulder to find her wringing her hands together as she noticeably panicked before he shifted his attention to the double doors in question. When he raised his hand to knock, Mrs. Blaine gestured for him to open the door.

Not sure what he was going to find behind the closed doors, Sebastian reluctantly opened the door in front of him to find over two dozen people in expensive suits glaring in his direction. That is, until they spotted Mrs. Blaine next to him. He watched as one of the men that he’d seen at Uncle Jason’s and Aunt Haley’s house slowly stood up. He was guessing that this was Aunt Haley’s father, but he wasn’t really sure since he hadn’t been introduced to any of them.

“Mother, what a pleasant surprise,” Mr. Blaine said with a polite smile as he came around the corner and–

Frowned when his mother gestured for Sebastian to push her toward the seat that her son had just vacated. Once Sebastian moved the chair out of the way to make room for Mrs. Blaine’s wheelchair, he moved to leave only to bite back a groan when she gestured for the man sitting to her right to move.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, the man stood up with a murmured, “Excuse me,” and quickly made his way to the other end of the table. Once he was gone, Mrs. Blaine gestured for Sebastian to take his seat. Aware that every set of eyes in the room was on him, Sebastian sat down next to her while her son st

ood there, looking as though he was debating his next words.

Finally, he said, “As happy as I am to see you, this probably isn’t the best time for a visit, Mother.”

“The last time I checked, this was still my company,” Mrs. Blaine said as her eyes narrowed dangerously on her son.

He opened his mouth, seemed to think better of it, cleared his throat and pasted a polite smile on his lips as he murmured, “Of course,” and with that, he moved his chair to her left and sat down as an awkward silence enveloped the room.

Sebastian glanced at Mrs. Blaine to find her patiently waiting for them to continue before shifting his attention to her son only to find Mr. Blaine watching him. Clearing his throat, he gestured to Sebastian. “And who do we have here?”