A sudden urge to tease

Noah and Laila had been standing on the other side of the door that separated the dining room from the living room for about fifteen minutes. In utter silence, aside from the occasional whisper to one another, they stood next to the door as they waited for the right moment to walk inside. Though they were ready to discuss their next move, they didn't want to be too rushed and ruin whatever was going on in the living room between Steve and Maria. Laila wanted this to happen for them almost as much as Steve himself did and Noah wanted whatever would bring happiness to the people closest to him but most of all what would bring Laila happiness. This fit that criterium perfectly and was well worth him standing awkwardly for a few minutes.

Noah had been somewhat lost in his thoughts while hugging Laila as his head was resting on top of hers, when she patted him on his back and called out to him to get his attention. Noah lifted his chin from Laila's head, allowing Laila to lift her head up and look at Noah's face instead of the wooden door. Noah lowered his chin and he looked at Laila with a questioning look in his eyes to which Laila responded by saying, "How long do you think we should keep waiting here?"

Noah shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't really listening anymore after the first few minutes or so." Laila narrowed her eyes as she looked at him and let out an internal sigh but remained quiet to allow Noah to finish his answer, which he did completely unfazed by the look on Laila's face. He said, "So, whenever you think they have finished talking to each other or have had enough time alone, we can walk inside and continue dealing with the mess from before." Laila thought for a moment before she responded with, "I think we should head inside now. It has become a lot quieter and we have given them plenty of time to bond a little. But I don't think we should walk in like this. We should pretend to be in conversation ourselves so that it doesn't make them feel awkward or caught or something."

Hearing these words, Noah felt a sudden urge to tease Laila. With a playful look in his eyes he cupped Laila's face in his hands and asked her, "And what do you propose we talk about so attentively, hmm? Should we make up something, a fun scandal of our own? I do wonder what would happen if I did something that would make you unable to speak. Would that add to Maria's awkwardness or to your own? Because I am certain that both me and Steve feel no such thing, especially not when it considers us showing our interest in the person we like."

Though Laila wasn't entirely sure what Noah meant, from his tone she got a good idea of which direction his mind had turned to and she felt the blood in her body rising to her face. With flushed cheeks she hit Noah's chest out of a surge of embarrassment and said in an agitated whisper, "Stop messing around!" Then she turned around as she grabbed his arm and added in a hushed tone, "Follow my lead." before pushing the door and taking a step forward. Noah let out a chuckle and let himself be dragged inside the living room, happily going along with whatever his wife had come up with as he was fully amused with what had happened so far.

Acting as naturally as possible, talking as if that was the topic they had been discussing up until the very moment they entered the room, Laila walked in with Noah saying, "As I said, I really feel you should give them a second chance. Maybe more of the situation can be saved than we like to admit. Worst case scenario we smash the phone the SIM-card and let that jammer live until we finish our plan or we can act it out the next day. Make it seem like whatever lie they have come up with is the truth. As if she we will find out when the message was sent."

Once Laila had finished her little monologue and turned her head away from facing Noah, who she was directing all her words at, she came face to face with Maria and Steve. As they were both looking to the front, Laila made eye contact with Maria and Noah exchanged a tale telling glance with Steve. Maria was still sitting on the couch next to Steve and Laila pretended to be surprised by her being in the living room as well as she responded with, "Oh- Maria, I didn't know you were here as well. Didn't you head into the kitchen?"

Maria's eyes widened for a brief moment before she let out an awkward little laugh and curled her legs up as she said, "Oh I went to the kitchen and when I came back I heard you two were talking, so I decided to give you some privacy and came to the living room instead to eat my ice cream." After saying this she avoided Laila's eyes to hide her feelings. While Maria tried to explain herself, Noah and Steve were going over Laila's earlier words.

Though Laila was just spit-balling in order to make their entrance seem less staged, she had actually thought of a great plan B. She was right. It would only be a disaster if the message got out today. Depending on how much detail the message contained, they could wait it out until tomorrow and turn it into the truth to avoid any problems with their larger plan for Olivia.