Face her demon

Laila was still at the airport. With her suitcase in hand and her messages answered, she was ready to head to the taxi stand. She looked around the lit signs at the airport to see which direction the taxi stand was located. She had just spotted the sign and was about to take her step towards the taxi stand when she suddenly heard a voice call out her name. Laila froze to the ground and didn't dare to turn around to look. Her face lost all colour again and her smile drooped down. The reason for all of this was because of who the voice belonged to. It was a voice that was all too familiar to her and one she hadn't been prepared to hear again so soon.

In Laila's mind all sirens were going off and she didn't know whether she should turn around and face the person or whether she should just walk away. While she was thinking of what to do, ignoring the voice that had called out to her in the process, the person that the voice belonged to had decided to take action. Slowly the person approached Laila through the crowded airport while they called out her name a second time. Laila continued to think of what to do in a growing panic as she was running out of time. But when the voice called out her name a third time and a hand was placed on her shoulder, she knew her time was up. She could no longer ignore it and running away was no longer an option either. So, Laila was forced to turn around and face her demon.

With her fakest of smiles Laila turned around and said, "Well if it isn't Jake. What are the odds of running into you here?" Jake's expression was filled with confusion at seeing Laila and he responded with, "Well I could say the same to you. Considering I live here and have to travel plenty for work, it isn't odd to run into me at the airport of the town I live in. You however, I haven't seen you in years. Last I heard you had moved away to another town and there were even rumours of you getting married."

Laila smiled from amusement and supressed a scoff waiting to see where Jake was going with this. "Wow, to think I would run into the Laila Nuri. The one that got away." As he looked her up and down Jake continued, "You look great, though I am not used to seeing you dressed so... 'simplistic'. But then again, I guess it is to be expected for people to change in ten years time. It is just that I always loved it when you dressed up. You would look absolutely stunning every time you did. Not that you don't look good now. As I said, you look great. But those looks were on a whole different level." Again Laila smiled a bit as she listened to Jake digging his own grave.

Seeing as there wasn't much more that Jake could say, Laila finally replied to Jake. "Thanks for the compliments I guess. Well what can I say. The rumours are true." Her words were quite cold and she didn't return any of the compliments Jake had give her. Jake looked a bit dejected before he bounced back and said, "Oh, I see. What has you coming back here? Did you separate from your husband? Are you moving back?"

Laila could now no longer suppress the laughter inside of her at the ridiculous words Jake was spouting. With crossed arms and her face turned to the side as she mumbled "Unbelievable..", Laila let out a short laugh before turning back to face Jake. She replied, "That is quite a jump to make from my words Jake. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you wanted those things to be true. But sorry to disappoint you, I am still married and quite happily I might add. I am simply here to visit a friend." Then she repeated her actions from before with the kind gentleman and showed off her small, round, protruding belly as well as her rings.

Jake looked at Laila's belly with wide eyes before looking back up at her. With an awkward and clearly disappointed expression he replied, "Oh, I see. Congratulations. I am glad to see that you are doing well. I hope that you will have some time for me during your stay in town. I would love to take you out for a meal and catch up." Though in her mind Laila thought, "No way in hell." In reality she decided to take a more civil approach and said, "My week has been booked pretty full and I don't think that my husband would like that very much."

But it seemed Jake wasn't content with such an answer and said, "Oh, come on. You have to eat, don't you? What difference does it make if you eat alone, with a friend or me? At the very least we should be considered acquaintances. Don't tell me your marriage is so fragile that a meal with an acquaintance would damage it. Is your husband that insecure?" Hearing these words caused Laila to become fully annoyed. She didn't want to have a conversation with Jake in the first place but now he was turning it into a fight. Though she had never intended for it to turn into one, she was certainly willing to end it!