Plenty to draw from

Laila had been put in a tough position and despite knowing that they would accept it if she said 'no', she felt like the only answer she could give in this situation was 'yes'. As she was looking in their hopeful and pleading eyes, Laila hesitated as she turned from one face to the other. It wasn't until she felt a squeeze in her hand from Noah and turned to him, that she was able to break out of this place of doubt and make a decision.

With kind eyes and a gentle smile he said to her, "It's okay." Those two words instantly made her feel reassured and reminded her who she would be doing this for. Though he had intended to let her know that it was alright for her to say 'no', for her it only affirmed that she should be saying the opposite. Noah would jump in front of a bullet for her, so she should be willing and able to get through an awkward and tense situation for him any day of the week.

Laila returned Noah's smile with one of her own before she turned to face the rest and said, "No, I am not opposed. As long as we work out the two main problems, I would be ready and willing to face Olivia and get ourselves some eyes and ears on the inside."

Both Steve and Maria simultaneously let out a cheerful, "Wonderful!" Causing the two of them to immediately turn to each other with an expression of shocked surprise, while Noah and Laila did the same and shared a chuckle at their reaction. They both imagined that it wouldn't be long before Steve and Maria would be more than just their respective friends and share a different title that would bind them together apart from their bond with the two of them.

Maria quickly averted her eyes and scraped her throat before she said, "Well, alright. Now that that is settled, I might have an idea to get Olivia to invite you to her home. She knows now that I am staying here and she is under the impression that you and I are still at odds. She even thinks that you dislike me and have only welcomed me because Noah arranged for it and because of our history. So, we can use that believe and tell her that you want to escape this house for a while. To get away from me. And that if you should go anywhere but her house, that I would insist on coming as well. But seeing as my relationship with her isn't all that great and she too knows that I blame her for our friendship being lost, she would have no trouble believing that to be true. That way you won't have to come up with a new lie, just carry on with the old one."

Steve was so impressed by Maria's quick thinking that his body moved on his own and in his excitement, he placed his hand on her arm that was resting on the table as he complemented her. "Wow what a brilliant plan!" Maria was far too shocked to let any of his words register and didn't even think to pull her arm away as she sat there with widened eyes but fortunately for her, Steve didn't want to push her too much too soon. So, when he realized what he had done and noticed her reaction to his touch, he instantly let go. But he was far from feeling sorry that he had done it. In a way, these reactions proved to him that she did like him. Otherwise she wouldn't be blushing and freezing up like that over something as simple as him touching her arm for a brief second.

Instead, he simply carried on and said, "I couldn't have thought of something better myself. I think this should work just fine in easing her suspicions. Especially if you let her vent her frustrations when you are there and pretend to have some of your own. Maybe you could talk about your frustrations with Olivia while pretending that they are about Maria. That should give you plenty to draw from."

Noah was the first to approve of their plans and said, "Well aren't you both on fire. These are both great plans. Who would have thought you had it in ya." Before turning to Laila and asking, "Can you work with that dear?" Laila smiled and replied, "I most certainly can. I am impressed with both of you for thinking of a solution so quickly. That gives me hope that the other problems will soon have a solution as well. And pay no mind to Noah here. I don't know what has gotten into him but I think we all know that if he didn't think you had something like this in you, he wouldn't have asked you to come here today and help us think of a plan to deal with Olivia and Harold. In fact, we are both lucky to have friends like you in our lives." Then she turned her head to the side to face Noah and with a glare she asked, "Aren't we dear?", in order to let him know she expected a kinder response from him this time around.

With a bit of his old shyness and a hint of reluctance Noah said, "They know what I mean when I say those things and I think you explained it well enough in case they didn't.... But yes, you two are a great help and there is a reason I asked you for it."

After these words everyone laughed and Laila patted Noah's hand as he looked away from feeling a bit awkward about it all. Of course Maria and Steve wouldn't let him live this down without making use of Noah's confession and putting in a remark or two as good friends tend to do.