Her performance

While Olivia was getting angry over all the things that she felt had gone wrong, Laila was feeling happy and relieved over all that had gone right. About how she had managed to pull off her little act in front of Olivia. Though Olivia still seemed plenty upset, she at least didn't appear to be suspicious. That was a success in Laila's book.

Still, it was strange how Olivia had arrived so shortly after Noah. As Laila was walking back to the dining room she couldn't help but think about it. Was it a coincidence that Olivia had arrived so quickly after Noah had come home? Or had the intel just not been constructed properly in order to be believable and effective? The latter seemed unlikely, because no matter for how little time she had believed the wrong intel, it should have taken Olivia longer to get here then ten minutes after Noah did.

While still in thought Laila walked through the doors and into the dining room, where Steve, Noah and Maria were sitting quietly in order to not give too much away to Olivia. Though Laila had told her that Maria was here, and they were certain that she knew that Noah was here as well, she didn't know about Steve. Plus, they were trying to sell the story that Maria and Laila were still at odds with each other. If Maria were to be talking and giggling with Laila's husband and his friend plus business partner, that story wouldn't be very believable.

Even if they could think up some story or explanation, the odds of Olivia taking that well, were slim to none. Either she would be bothered by another woman, one that she disliked very much, getting along with Noah. Especially one that was supposedly at odds with his wife. While she, the 'best friend', couldn't get much more than a 'Hello' and a 'How are you?' out of him after such a long time.

OR hearing them have any type of fun, would make her angry at them for not being invited for what she would then consider a 'party'. This would cause her to no longer listen to anything she was saying. Instead, she would then push and insist to be included, which would then ruin the purpose of the four of them getting together here. Plus, that would also mean that they would have to keep up the act, of them not getting along, for an entire evening AND find an explanation for Steve being there as well.

All in all it seemed a wise decision to be quiet for a few minutes until she was back outside again. Sometimes it is best to take the road of least resistance and this was certainly that. In fact, it had given them even more to laugh about as being had allowed them to listen in on the conversation between Laila and Maria. Of course the distance between the dining room and the hall was far too great for them to be able to listen in directly, just as how Olivia wouldn't have been able to distinguish any actual words should they have decided to keep on talking, but luckily for them, there was still the intercom system. One of the speakers being in the hall, right by the door to the house. This had allowed them to follow the conversation between Laila and Olivia with just the push of a button.

Now that the conversation was over and Laila had come back into the dining room, they could finally let out the excitement and words they had contained until now. Maria cheered and jumped to hug her. "Oh my gosh Laila, you did amazing! Truly deserving of the title princess." Laila chuckled as she put her hand on Maria's back to reciprocate her hug and thanked her for her praise, but the hug was short-lived as Maria wasn't the only one in wanting of a hug from Laila. Noah pulled Laila back a bit by the collar of her shirt, releasing her from Maria's embrace, and said, "Hey, stop hugging another man's wife like that. Especially so forcefully while she is pregnant. Really, newborn puppies have more self-restraint." As he protectively put his arm around Laila, he glanced downwards at Laila and said, "The more I see her do things like this, the more inclined I feel to help you in your little plan to get her together with that other person that does not know his boundaries."

Immediately Maria's happy face turned into a glaring one as she menacingly asked, "What little plan?" Laila chuckled and patted Noah on his stomach as her other hand was wrapped around his back. "Stop that.", she said to Noah, before turning to Maria and reassuring her that nothing was going on and that Noah was just joking to mess with her. With a sceptical stare Maria returned to her seat while keeping her eye on the both of them. Steve gave Laila a simple word of praise and attempted to pat her on her shoulder but the glare that Noah gave him during his attempt, made him decide to keep it at that and he smilingly took his seat again at the table.

As Laila and Noah walked over to the other side of the table tot take their seats again, Laila took her small window of privacy and used it as an opportunity to state her true feelings towards what Noah had said about helping with her plan for Maria and Steve. While Noah kissed the top of Laila's head and told her that he too was proud of her performance with Olivia, Laila said, "You know, if that inclination of yours was real, I certainly won't say no to the help. Who better to set two people up than their two best friends." Noah chuckled as looked at the cheeky look on Laila's face and he pinched her nose playfully before bending down his head and whispering, "You know that I will always help you. No matter who, no matter what."