Prove himself

Well as luck would have it, Laila and Noah had made up before she had a chance to ask Laila out. Laila received her invite when she and Noah were in bed and well after Laila had received information about her plans from Giselle, making her elaborate plans nothing more than a laughing matter for both Noah and Laila. As Olivia seemed to have a one-track mind with all her plans revolving around him and food, Noah joked around by saying with a chuckle, "I must commend her for her consistency but they will need more than one shrink to cure whatever is going on in her head." in response to Laila informing him of what she had discovered through Giselle.

Knowing what Olivia had planned, Laila decided to have a bit of fun with her by agreeing to go with her to dinner. She didn't plan on actually attending but she didn't want her plans to go fully to waste nor did she want Olivia to have the satisfaction of cancelling on her. So, to at least incorporate come cancelling into that day, she would be the one to cancel instead.

Not long after Olivia's invite, Noah suggested going on a trip. This trip gave them the perfect excuse and allowed them to make up for some lost time. With the number of hours Noah had put into his work, in order to avoid having to face his feelings and what was going on with Laila, he had managed to get enough work done to earn himself over a week's worth of free time. So, they decided to put all the revenges and plans on hold to have some couple time and repair some of the damage that secrets had caused between them. But not until Laila could change the date of her and Olivia meeting up just so she could cancel on the day of by rubbing their romantic getaway in Olivia's face. Laila felt it was a bit petty but she couldn't waste such a good opportunity to get a little even with Olivia for her mean words and her nasty plans.

~ Back in the present ~

Laila was in the middle of gloating as she imagined Olivia's face after she would cancel their plans for tonight, when Noah walked into the bedroom, a place he hadn't slept in for a long time. He asked her, "Are you done packing?" A question Laila could only answer by shaking her head as she had been too busy dreaming to get much packing done. With a sweet smile she responded by saying, "Sorry, I was with my mind elsewhere." Before letting out a deep sigh and asking, "Remind me again, why did I bother unpacking? I feel like I have simply exchanged one stack of folded clothes for the other." This reaction was caused because despite having unpacked just days ago, Laila had to go through the packing process all over again just a week later.

Noah chuckled before he said, "Well, you went on a trip with Maria. So it is only fair that you should go on one with me as well. But since a trip with your husband requires different clothes than a trip with your friend, repacking is just the price you have to pay. However, since I am a kind husband, I shall help you pack. All I ask in return is that I get to pick one of the outfits. That way I can be rewarded for my efforts while you can reduce yours. Deal?"

Laila threw the dress she was holding up in the air and dropped herself on the soft carpet she was sitting on. "You had me at 'pack'. You can pick all my outfits for all I care. That gives me less to think about and more time to relax." Noah let out another chuckle as he picked Laila's dress off the ground. He walked towards the closet, ready to take his pick and said, "Don't regret those words later miss lazy." But Laila didn't care about his words at all and had already started browsing on her phone as she was lying on her back. Looking for fun things to do at where they were heading.

In a nonchalant tone Laila said, "Whether you pick the outfits or I do, I doubt they will stay on long anyways and those that do, will affect you more than they will affect me if I wear them in public. So, I am sure you will choose wisely even without my help."

Hearing this, Noah stopped in his tracks and placed the dress he was holding back in the closet. He hadn't thought about it like that but Laila was right. Laila drew attention to herself wearing the most basic things. Anything beyond simple shirts, shorts and the occasional dress, would put him in an unfavourable situation. How was he to enjoy the trip if men were constantly fawning over his wife? Even more so if they were doing that because of an outfit he had chosen.

Laila was also right about him wanting to make the new her his own. Since her coming here, they had spent the night together just twice. He wanted to put his mark on her and make her never want to leave him. Them being intimate was a part of that. Even though Laila loved him now, there was no guarantee for the future and he didn't have the same foundation with this Laila as he did with the one from his timeline. The current Laila remembered nothing of their past together except the years up until their late teens.

She didn't remember him showering her with gifts, his loving gestures nor how their relationship had developed to what it was today. She didn't even remember the conception of the child that she was currently carrying nor the moment they discovered. She didn't know how they grew together as a couple, in many different ways, and she had been married to a playboy like Jake for all these years. This last fact in particular made him feel somewhat insecure as apparently he had been second choice compared to him for this Laila. During this trip he would be making sure that they made some new memories and he would prove himself to her once more in all the ways he could think of. But if she tempted him too much, there was no guarantee that they would even make it out of the room, which would defeat the purpose of their trip and put too much of a strain on her pregnant body.