Well worth the reward

After having been through such a terrible and draining week, Noah and Laila decided it was high time for them to spend some time alone. Even though they had already made up with each other, both Laila and Noah had had a tough time keeping Olivia away long enough for them to enjoy each other's company. Making a trip feel like a good escape.

~ A few days ago ~

As soon as Olivia had found out that Laila had returned, she made her way over to the house. She knew that if Laila was back, Noah would soon follow. Although she hated to admit it, she knew that Laila had a big influence on Noah still. Despite all that she had done over the years to make their relationship worsen. With her back, Olivia finally had an excuse to enter the house again. Something which seemed awfully difficult during the time that Laila had been away. Better yet, even getting close to Noah had been nearly impossible, let alone finding an opportunity to have him to herself behind closed doors.

Having to maintain her credibility as their spy over at the Stephens residence, Giselle's friend had let Olivia know of her return on the day they arrived home. With baked goods in hand Olivia knocked on their door as soon as she saw the chance, which was about an hour after they had entered the house. Unfortunately for her, that had been enough time for Laila to fall deep asleep and she was still asleep by the time that Olivia came by the door.

Using his own fatigue from his business trip as an excuse, Noah managed to send Olivia away without letting her set foot inside the house. He simply thanked her for coming by, grabbed the plate of brownies that were in her hand and apologized for being unable to invite her in as Laila was asleep and he was about to take a nap as well. Olivia wanting to remain in Noah's good graces, had no choice but to smile as she reluctantly accepted his turning her away and angrily stomped back to her own house. Laila only discovered she had been by that day, when Olivia returned the next day and the next until Laila agreed to see her.

Even though she had been dealing with a lot at that moment, not sure if her relationship with Noah would make it, she couldn't have Olivia resorting to crazy actions and harming Noah in the process just because she refused to see her. Of course Olivia wasted no time in telling her how dreadful she was looking and saying, "Honestly it is almost like you are trying to push Noah away. Your looks are your only redeeming feature and they are mediocre at best. You cannot afford to slack off on the selfcare. You have a golden goose in your hands and yet you take him for granted any chance you get. If you don't want him, I will gladly take him off your hands and I imagine with me many others."

Laila smiled as she let Olivia's hidden daggers and the clearly visible ones slide off her and nodded every so often. She was contemplating if she should tell Olivia that she and Noah were having trouble at the moment in order to make her feel more at ease thinking that her victory was drawing near, or if that would put Noah in even more danger as it would make her pull out all the stops to push him over the edge. She wasn't sure if any interference on Olivia's part would be something her relationship could survive at the moment. So by letting a known threat know that their marriage was on a rocky road, Laila feared that she might be tempting fate. And while Laila had been in her own thoughts, Olivia revealed that she had been by before the drama had entered her marriage.

"I can't believe that he still puts up with you. First you go away on a trip on your own. Selfishly leaving him behind to take care of himself despite being extremely busy at work. Then when you do return, the first thing you do is sleep. Didn't you get enough rest over at your parents' house?" Laila was surprised and without giving it much thought she asked, "How did you know that the first thing I did was sleep?"

With a taunting look on her face Olivia asked, "Oh? He didn't tell you?" With her nose lifted well up in the air, feeling all kinds of smug that she could be the one to tell Laila that her husband had kept something form her, Olivia explained to her, "I came over on the day you two returned and brought you a plate of brownies. I wanted to see how you were doing and spend some time with you as you so selfishly had left all of a sudden without letting me know or telling me when you will be back. Fortunately I had connections all over town and was able to come by when you returned. Despite being so thoughtful, I didn't even get to see you since you decided to put your level of laziness to the test."

With her arms crossed, Olivia continued to express her dismay as she recalled that day's events. She didn't think she would have an opportunity to get back at Laila for showing her the door so many times in the last few days but she was glad that the opportunity presented itself so soon. This was perfect and gave her the chance to stir some trouble between her and Noah while she was at it. Just like that it seemed that her moment of embarrassment would be well worth the reward.