Our sign of friendship

When Maria and Laila came out of the airport through the automatic sliding doors, the driver immediately rushed forward to help with the suitcase. "Good afternoon miss. Please let me carry that for you." Maria wasn't very used to having staff for everyday things but she went along with whatever Laila and Noah had arranged. After all, it was their everyday life and she was a guest in their home. Plus, it hadn't been the first time, so she was used to some of the splendour. "Thank you Damian, that would be very helpful." Damian nodded at Laila and grabbed the handle to the suitcase from Maria's hands. He quickly carried the suitcase to the car and loaded it into the trunk of the car, while Laila and Maria slowly continued to walk to the car. By the time they had reached the car, both doors had already been opened for them and they could step right inside before Damian closed the door behind them.

Once they were inside the car, Laila went through her bag and grabbed a small box which she then handed to Maria. "What is this?", Maria asked as she accepted the box from Laila's hand. "This is your gift and the reason I was late. I had quite a difficult time picking it out, so I hope you like it." Maria quickly untied the ribbon that held the lid of the box closed and popped it open to see what her friend had picked out. When her eyes fell on what was inside, she immediately gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. The box contained a beautiful white gold necklace. It was decorated with a line of clear white diamonds in a circle shape. The centre contained a single, princess cut shaped yellow diamond.

"This is far too expensive. How could I possible accept something like this? I thought it would be something small but you are giving me something with diamonds?!" Laila smiled gently as she looked at the shocked Maria. She held Maria's free hand and said, "This is small. Far smaller than you deserve. Besides, the main diamond is a lab-diamond. Only the outer ones are natural diamonds. So, on the whole this was far less expensive than what you might think upon first glance. I saw it and I just had to buy it for you despite knowing that you would protest. It is your birth stone and it reminds me so much of that house of yours that we both love so much."

Maria was a bit hesitant and brought up the gifts she had received after Laila had stayed over at her house a few weeks ago. "Even if that is the case, it really is too much. Don't think I have forgotten all the things you had sent over to my house after you left last time. How much must I accept before you stop spoiling me like this?" With a cheeky smile Laila answered, "I will never stop. I will spoil you rotten until the day I die, just as you have done for me each time we meet. You might not have the money to shower me with luxurious gifts like this but you spoil me in a way that far surpasses the power of money. So, I insist. Even if it might be a bit more expensive than what you might like from me, what good is having money if you can't spend it on the people you love. If it makes you feel any better, I paid for it from our joint account, so Noah is paying for it for the most part. So, you aren't 'wasting' my money but his."

In her final attempt to persuade Maria into accepting her gift, Laila said, "Plus, I bought the same necklace for myself but with my birthstone." Laila revealed an exact replica of the necklace in Maria's hand from underneath her shirt. With the only difference being, that the one around Laila's neck had a deep blue stone where hers had a bright yellow one. "I thought we could make this our friendship necklace. Some people have bracelets, other people have rings and I wanted us to show our sign of friendship with a necklace. Will you deny me this pleasure?" After hearing all of this and looking into Laila's puppy dog eyes, Maria sighed before giving in. "Well alright then. When you put it like that, you don't give me much room to refuse now do you?" With a big bright smile Laila responded by saying, "Nope! None whatsoever. Now that that is settled, you should hurry up and put it on. I want to see how it looks."

Maria chuckled before she said, "You really are impossible. I am no match for you at all. Poor Noah stands no chance against you does he?" Again Laila replied with, "Nope!", before saying, "And thank you for the compliment. Now turn around, so that I can put it on for you." Maria let out another chuckle as she went along with Laila's demands. "I must say, I didn't think that the day would come where you would feel sorry for Noah but it is good to see that my powers cause you two to grow closer to each other. Let's see how spending a few days under the same roof, along with me, will do to your relationship." Maria shook her head as she laughed soundlessly.

After she closed the spinning clasp of the necklace Laila said, "There! All done. Have a look" Maria looked at the beautiful gift hanging around her neck and as she saw it in the mirror, it looked even more impressive than it did before. The popping colours, the size, the shimmering of the stones. It was all so dazzling and captivating, that her hand moved on its own as it carefully touched the hanger. She had to admit that it was a wonderful gift and that she loved every single detail her eyes landed on. But not quite knowing how to express this to Laila, who was anxiously waiting for her reaction, she simply pulled her friend into another hug and said, "Thank you. You chose well." This was all the response Laila needed and she returned the hug just as tightly, feeling happy that her dearest friend had like the gift she had picked out with so much effort and consideration.