Wandering eye

A few hours had passed since Maria and Laila had arrived home and all the evidence they had gathered had been watched, edited and was ready to be used. But while they were ready in terms of preparing the evidence, it appeared that they were no longer emotionally ready to actually use said evidence. After watching everything and thinking back on her own feelings when Jake's cheating had been nothing more than her own suspicions, Laila started to second guess whether she wanted to purposefully put another woman in that position.

Even though her not showing Suzy the prepared evidence wouldn't change the fact that Jake WAS cheating on her and that their relationship was nearing its end, actually pulling the trigger and forcing that reality on Suzy out of the blue, didn't feel right. The heat and determination she felt when she and Maria were gathering evidence, the feelings she had when she was fully in her vendetta mindset, had suppressed her more compassionate and rational side.

Now that she had succeeded in getting the evidence she had wanted and needed, both now as well as in her previous life, she got a weird sense of closure and those initial emotions had worn off. This had allowed her to settle down and made her about matters more calmly and clearly. What had seemed like a wonderful idea just hours ago, seemed like a mean and spiteful one now, over a matter that had taken place years ago. Even if this gave her a way to get revenge on Jake, it wasn't fair to use Suzy as collateral damage because Jake not having changed his ways, didn't mean that Suzy hadn't changed hers.

With this back and forth going on in Laila's mind, she grew more silent, which is an universal way to say that something was going. So, when Maria asked her what was going on, Laila explained what she was thinking. Though Maria understood where Laila was coming from, she didn't agree with Laila on this not being fair. Having had multiple interactions with Suzy during her adult life, Maria knew that Suzy was pretty much the same kind of person she was before, selfish and manipulative. But Maria also knew that this was Laila's matter and if she would decide to let it go, she would stand by her decision.

In order to help Laila clear her mind and not waste any more time than necessary on thinking about this, Maria decided to take her friend to the mall and do some shopping. "You won't be able to reach a decision sitting here all day, so why not enjoy ourselves at the mall while you try to figure out what you want to do with all of this." Though Laila was quite exhausted with the night they had had and didn't really feeling like going out, she was no match for Maria's cheerful persuasion.

So, just thirty minutes later, she found herself no longer at the yellow house but at the large indoor mall, which had improved greatly from how she had remembered it. With widened eyes Laila looked around at the different stores and noticed one big name after the other. It was no longer a regular mall but had become a place for the wealthy, which was probably why it should have been no surprise that they ran into the two people that had been on Laila's mind just minutes before.

For the second time that day, Laila heard a surprised voice calling out her name. When she turned around to see who was calling her, she saw Suzy and Jake, walking arm in arm through the mall in her direction. While Laila couldn't believe her luck, Suzy and Jake were fast approaching. When they stood in front of her, Suzy looked at Laila arrogantly as she held onto Jake's arm even tighter. "Well if it isn't Laila, the long lost ex. What brings you back in town? Looking for someone to replace your baby daddy?" She added with a sneer as she looked down at Laila's belly that was being shown off in Laila's cute, fitted, dress.

Maria immediately rolled her eyes while Laila remained calm. Just when Maria was about to defend her friend, Laila herself opened up her mouth. "Ah Suzy. I see that you are still with my sloppy seconds after I refused to take him back. How's that working out for you? Being with a guy and knowing you are his second choice. But I get it, desperate people, do desperate things. No worries about me trying to steal him back though. You can be rest assured knowing that my baby daddy is waiting for me at home. So, you don't have to hold onto Jake so tightly around me. Can't say I would say the same thing about other women. As I recall, he has quite the wandering eye and being in a relationship hasn't stopped him from entertaining other interested female parties before."