Speak of the devil

Laila had made her way to the taxi stand and had picked a taxi to board. Meanwhile her heart had calmed down but her mind was still filled with many thoughts. She handed her suitcase to the driver before she took a seat in the car. He placed it for her in the trunk of the car and got in the car himself as well. She gave the man Maria's address and sent Maria a message to let her know she was on her way to her house. After that she spent the rest of the ride in silence as she returned to her thoughts.

In the car Laila wondered if she should tell Noah about running into Jake over here or if she should just keep it to herself since nothing had happened. She knew it would upset him and she didn't want that for something that meant nothing. He was already so busy and she didn't want to add this to his list of worries. But Jake had already said that he wouldn't be backing down. Which meant that there was a big chance that they would run into each other again and he might not give up so easily then.

Plus, her keeping this from him would surely upset Noah as well if he should ever find out and the odds of him finding out eventually were quite high. Especially considering she was not good at keeping secrets and keeping one from someone she lived with 24/7 was the challenge among challenges. So, once she would return home, it would only be a matter of waiting before she would spill the beans herself or behave in a way that would make Noah suspicious and ask about it. The reason for this was because they had known each other since birth. He knew her through and through. So, he would notice her behaving different from usual immediately. Just like he had noticed her behaving differently on her first day in this timeline.

Besides her being unable to keep it a secret, she didn't like keeping them either. Secrets only cause trouble. She had seen it many times before and it had been the beginning of the end of her own relationship with Jake. She and Noah had never kept any secrets in the past and she imagined that this hadn't changed by them becoming a couple. So, she didn't want to start with keeping any secrets now. Certainly not secrets that had such a damaging potential to her marriage.

However, even if she had reached this conclusion, this still left her with another dilemma. The dilemma at present was having to decide between whether she should tell him now or if it was better for her to wait until she came back. She had chased Jake off while being on her own. She had made it clear she wasn't interested, that she was happily married and that she was even pregnant. After today she would be together with Maria for the rest of her stay here. Maria was a no nonsense type of girl when it came to matters like this and was more than capable at fending Jake off. With her safety against Jake guaranteed, was there really need for her to get Noah involved now?

While Laila was weighing out her options, trying to choose the one that would cause the least amount of trouble and grief, she was startled by her phone ringing. While she whispered, "Speak of the devil...", Laila picked up the call.

"Hello honey, what's wrong?"

With a warm but teasing voice the voice on the other side of the phone asked, "Nothing. Does something have to be wrong for me to call my wife?"

With this sudden call her need to make a decision had been brought forward. As Noah was speaking, Laila was going back and forth on whether she should just tell Noah about what had happened or wait. If not wait till she had returned, then till she was able to consult Maria. She needed to know if this was something worth upsetting him over now or if it was better for him to be upset later when his deadline had passed.

"You were the one who told me to call you back when I am free. So, I hurried my meeting and called you back but I am met with far less enthusiasm than I had hoped for."

Laila shook her head to clear her mind and said, "I'm sorry Noah. I didn't mean to come across as unexcited. I am happy that you called me. I just didn't expect it so soon. So, I became worried that something might have happened." She couldn't believe herself. In her worrying over upsetting Noah, she had made him upset by making him think she wasn't happy to hear from him. Though she knew he was exaggerating his hurt feelings. she was also certain that it had upset him in a way. No one wants to think that their partner isn't happy to hear from them. So, she needed to get her act together otherwise her contemplating would be for nothing before she was even able to make a decision.