A good reason

Noah patted the shocked Laila's chest, using the area just below her collarbone to physically push her back down on his lap, and continued to stroke her head in order to calm Laila down as he said, "Hear me out. We wanted to test it before the baby came and this was the perfect opportunity. So, I figured why waste it, right? I turned on the sound and the imaging on the tablet that came with it and while I did some company-work I could watch and hear you sleep. I could see that the video clarity, even in a darkened room, is perfect and the sound resolution impeccable. Even someone like you, who sleeps like half a corpse, barely making a sound, was perfectly audible. So when I heard your stomach rumble I figured it wouldn't take long before you would wake up and asked someone to bring the food up. Two minutes later your soft breathing changed into a louder sound and I knew that time had arrived."

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Laila had recovered from her initial shock of Noah using the baby monitor on her and her rumbling stomach had been taken care of. She still couldn't believe Noah had thought of using the monitor on her but by now she was used to the fact that her husband, though very loving, was a major oddball. So, she told herself that a thing like this should no longer surprise her. The Noah of the past loved an experiment and apparently so did the Noah fifteen years later. Plus, after hearing his explanation, she could understand why he would think that was a good idea. He simply didn't want to waste a good opportunity, which she couldn't really blame him for.

As she was comfortably leaning against Noah, still enjoying the afterglow of the meal the cooks had prepared for her as an after nap snack, she was talking to Noah about how perfect their choice had been. The cooks had prepared her Vietnamese rolls, which were not only really delicious but also quite healthy. "These rolls were really the perfect snack to be eaten so shortly before dinner. They are light, contain mostly veggies, making them healthy, and they tasted great even after cooling down. I definitely wouldn't mind eating them again."

Noah chuckled seeing Laila so blissfully happy now that she was no longer hungry. In fact, Laila's change made him almost believe that her heated reaction from earlier had been mostly caused by her stomach being empty than her actually being upset over what he had done but he was wise enough to not bring that up. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by Laila remembering something. She gasped and said, "Oh that reminds me. There is something I have been meaning to talk to you about." The thing Laila had remembered was something important. Something she had forgotten before because of her tiredness and was about to forget again because of her grumbling stomach yearning for food. But now that she had been fed and they were on the topic of food, she was reminded of Olivia's plan. "Did you manage to avoid Olivia during these past few days?"

Noah was clearly surprised by Laila's question and stammeringly repeated, "O-Olivia?" Then he looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the past few days. Laila's question had pulled him back from the little bubble he was in and reminded him of the request Laila had made of him during the beginning of her trip. "Yeah, I guess.. She called a few times and one time she showed up by the house just as I was about to leave for work but I was far too busy. So, I didn't have to make any excuses since I was truly not able to accompany her for lunch or dinner as she requested."

Laila nodded as she listened to Noah's recap of his interactions with Olivia and every so often she would show her approval of his actions with a wordless sound. After he seemed finished she said, "Good. Good. You did great." But it appeared that Noah had ended his story too soon as he was reminded of another incidence. "Oh and there was also that surprise visit at the office, where she had actually brought food along with her for me, claiming she was worried for my nutrition now that my wife was away from the house." He shrugged his shoulders at this before continuing to tell what had happened.

"She had even made enough for my entire team. But sadly she had not called in advance and we had decided to have lunch early as there was a lot to do and we wanted to efficiently use our time by combining lunch with a meeting. So, someone had already ordered food and were in the middle of eating it by the time she arrived. I felt a bit bad but there was nothing I could do. I even rejected to save what she had made for me for dinner or tomorrow's lunch because of your warning. I had to use Steve as an excuse for dinner and our business trip to where you were as a reason for lunch. So, I hope there was a good reason for me to have to reject that poor woman over and over again. Though I must admit, her insistence was quite suspicious."

Laila looked at him a bit confused and said, "What do you mean. I told you that I am worried that she might be interested in you." Noah gave her a look that said, 'Oh come on.' before actually saying, "We both know that is not the reason why you wanted me to stay away from her. You were acting far too nervous for that to be the reason." Laila chuckled and was amazed at how sharp Noah was, how easily he had seen through her lie. "Fine. You got me. I was planning on telling you about everything once I came back anyways. I just didn't think it would be so soon after we came back."