Wordless warning

Now that her initial thoughts regarding the identity of the blond 'stranger' had been confirmed, Laila took a second look at the man. She could see that he was very handsome and though he wasn't very tall, his slim legs and tailored suit, made him seem a lot taller than he was. Overall he was a very dashing appearance.

Once Jake had left the scene, the crowd began to disperse and the only people left were Laila, Maria, Noah and Steve. Steve stood before the three of them with his hands in his pants-pockets and a big smile on his face. Though he was facing all three, his eyes were focussed on Laila as he said, "We meet again miss Laila. How lovely to see you. Though the circumstances leave room for improvement, I am glad that this jealous man wasn't able to keep you away for the full duration of your pregnancy. Before I would still be able to see you during the occasional business event or party but nowadays he does everything in his might to keep you out of the public eye. Even more so than before."

When Steve said this, Noah's eyes began to narrow themselves as he glared at his colleague and friend. Noah was using his eyes to show Steve that he should watch what he was saying and that he was treading on thin ice but Steve seemed to be blissfully unaware or purposely ignoring Noah's wordless warning as he continued and took matters a step further. "For a second there I feared that he had locked you away in some tower to keep you all to himself because of the possessive beast that lives inside but I am glad to see that his possessiveness only rears its ugly head around other men and not people in general. How have you been? How is pregnancy treating you? Who is your friend?"

Both Laila and Maria seemed surprised to hear Steve speak to Laila like this in front of Noah and commended him internally for his braveness. To Laila Steve's words also showed that she had met him before and that they actually had some kind of relationship. Maybe they were just acquaintances but he could also have been a friend. He certainly seemed to be the type of person that she could get along with and the casual way he was speaking to her, let her know that either he had no boundaries or he did in fact have a relationship with her that went beyond him being her husband's business partner.

His words had seemed to have crossed Noah's line and he gave Steve a verbal warning. "Watch your words Steve. Just because I am a bit grateful for your help just then, does not give you a free pass to do whatever you please. If you don't learn to bite your tongue every once in a while, at least when it comes to you interacting with my wife, I will show you that the beast inside of me isn't just a possessive one." This seemed to have done the trick as Steve held his hands up in surrender and said, "Alright, alright. Calm down boss. No need to go all demon boss on me. I was just making small talk and having a bit of fun with a friend I haven't seen in a while."

Noah folded his other arm around Laila's waist and placed his head on her shoulder as he grumbled back, "She is not your friend, she is my wife, and stop calling me boss. You know damn well we are both partners." Steve chuckled a bit and it was clear to all that he was having fun teasing his friend. "No, no. I can feel the major boss vibes coming from your face and body, and you are the majority share holder. The fact that you ask for my opinion or assistance from time to time is more of a courtesy than a necessity. So, you are most certainly the boss and with Laila being the boss's wife, I can't possibly not show my respect and concern for her wellbeing. Therefore it all comes together to something I simply have to do."

With a big grin on his face Steve ignored Noah's glare, which had made its way back once Steve started talking again, and said, "Besides, we both know that I am just the handsome face of the company, while you are the real mastermind behind it all. You are the cold-faced and serious partner that runs it all and I am but a loyal sidekick. If that doesn't make you boss, what does? The fact that it annoys you a bit is a but an extra perk to all of this." Noah seemed to be no match to Steve when it came to matters like this and he gave up as it wasn't worth his energy. After a few seconds of silent glaring at Steve's relentlessly smiling face he said, "Fine. Do whatever you want. Just watch what you say. Don't make me regret taking you along."

Steve saluted Noah once more as he responded with, "Aye, aye, sir." After that he let out another chuckle, while Maria and Laila silently watched this interaction between the two friends.