A little too close to home

Though Laila couldn't agree more based on what she had gone through because of the two of them, though she too felt like they deserved each other, she somehow felt that there was more behind Maria's words than her general dislike of Jake and it appeared that she was about to find out what that something was.

In voice that became more of a whisper, Maria continued to tell Laila what she knew about Jake and his personal life. "But I heard a few days ago that he has cheated on her with some girl he met through his work. It was supposedly the niece of some big shot and she of course fell head over heels for those looks of his. He has the charm of the devil I tell you." She said while shaking her head. Laila's mouth fell open after she heard this big revelation but Maria was not done yet and continued her story without even noticing her friend's shock. "So, in order to seal the deal for his dad's company, he is said to have dated her behind Suzy's back. He has even been spotted going in and out of hotels with that girl and I don't think they went in there just to take a nap if you know what I mean."

Maria nudged Laila as she said that last sentence and Laila knew exactly what she meant. She knew it all too clearly and this story was sounding all too familiar. She knew that niece, she knew that story, because not too long it was her story. It was she who was cheated on and behind whose back Jake had dated that niece. At least that was the predicament she was in, when she had made the subconscious decision to leave that life behind for the one she was leading in this timeline. A life that seemed so long ago, despite being the life she had been leading around a week ago.

Laila was feeling shocked and overwhelmed by Maria's words and it seemed that Maria had finally noticed what her revelation had done to her friend. She grabbed Laila's arm, who had turned a bit pale from the shock, and held her tightly to make sure she wouldn't fall and potentially harm the baby. "Thank you." Laila responded with a faint voice and they sat down on a couch nearby. Once seated, Laila told Maria why the story affected her so much.

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that. The story hit a little too close to home. Remember how I told you that I left the other timeline when I found out that Jake had been cheating on me? Well, this was basically my exact story. In my life he too had been caught going in and out of hotels with the niece of some big shot company owner in order to seal a deal. He denied having had sex with her but the signs were all there and the trust had been broken one too many times for me to be able to believe him. So, hearing this all just now repeat itself, brought me back feelings I didn't want to relive."

The longer Laila spent in this timeline, the more she learned that God, and therefore life, works in mysterious ways. No matter which lives we live, some details, some decisions, some events, cannot be avoided. They keep coming back. Maybe in a different form or at a different point in time but this story proved that they do indeed come back. Laila was completely surprised to find out that that the girl Jake had most likely cheated on her with, was now the girl who he had probably cheated with on Suzy. The same girl he had betrayed her with during high school, was now getting a taste of her own medicine with the story that marked her other life. If this wasn't a form of cosmic karma, she didn't know what was.

Laila was a firm believer of the existence of karma and in a sense of people being unable to change who they are. So, someone who is willing to cheat on their partner, spouse, significant other, and is willing to leave that person and be with you, they will also be willing to do the same to you if a better opportunity arises. Actions like that show a person's character and that is clearly flawed if they can betray another person like that. Especially a person they once claimed they loved. Instead of showing them the respect, and using that love that they had once felt, to break up with that person first before doing anything with another person. This goes for men and women the alike. The only reasons someone could have to not go about things in this order, are selfish reasons that lack any form of love. Other than the most selfish kind that is, which is the love of oneself and only oneself.

After her initial shock passed, Laila immediately felt much better and was even able to smile a bit. Though she wasn't proud of herself of feeling a bit happy of this happening to Suzy, it did feel like she got a form of payback for what she had done to her a long time ago. But if it was the truth that Jake had been cheating on Suzy in this lifetime, which made it the truth in her previous lifetime, then she would certainly want Jake to receive a form of punishment as well. Though she had enough on her plate with Olivia at the moment, that didn't mean she would ignore whatever he was doing and had therefore done in the other timeline. She couldn't let him get away with cheating on his wife in two timelines, especially if one of them was her!