Plenty of time

Laila respected Maria's decision. She had already had a feeling that things would come to this. Maria's last ex had really done a number on her and Steve's forwardness wasn't helping Maria's fight or flight instinct either. Though it was the only way for him to break through her barriers, it did cause her to put up a fight and try to run away in order to protect her heart. Whereas an indirect approach would have taken him longer but would have probably lead to less resistance. Now that it had come to this, she would support her friend and help Steve wherever she could.

"Very well. Let's head inside. Just follow my lead." With those words the two of them entered the dining room once more. As Laila held Maria's hand she walked inside and with a gentle, understanding smile, Laila softly said to Maria, "It will be okay. I promise. Breathe." While Maria stood there a bit awkwardly, trying to avoid Steve's gaze, Laila turned around to face him and told Steve the bad news. "Well I'm afraid I can't leave you here alone with Maria Steve. I forgot that she had messaged me before she came here that she had something that she wanted to tell me in private. When we arrived you were here waiting for us and we haven't had a moment alone since. So, she and I will be heading upstairs together and having the chat I promised her before I go to bed. Since she had a long day today, she will be heading off to bed after that as well."

After that she leaned in a bit and in a lower volume added, "But since I assume you will staying over, you will have plenty of time with her tomorrow." She ended her explanation with a wink and the sentence, "First thing in the morning I will hand her over to you and place her in your care. Do we have a deal?" Steve was an intelligent man and he of course knew that this was not all there was to it. More likely Maria had told Laila that she didn't want to stay here alone with him and asked her to think of an excuse. Though he couldn't be sure of this, the words that had been spoken earlier in the room, gave him a feeling that this was the case. With a slightly dejected smile Steve nodded and said, "Of course. It is quite late after all. So, I should be heading to bed as well. I was just being silly and I felt a bit childish, wanting to stay up later than I should, considering I have plenty to do tomorrow." After that he waved and wished them a good night as they left the room. Noah gave Steve one more shoulder squeeze to say a wordless 'Sorry man.' before he followed them upstairs.

Steve remained in his seat for a moment to deal with his disappointment for a minute. He let out a deep sigh before he got up from his seat and pushed the chair back against the table. And as he walked towards the stairs, he cleared his mind. But although Maria wanting to leave showed him that he hadn't booked as much progress as he had thought, he didn't let himself feel too upset about the matter. He wasn't in a rush and he knew it wouldn't be too easy to obtain Maria's heart. Today he had achieved plenty and as Laila told him indirectly, there is still tomorrow. At least their talks today proved him that she didn't hate him and probably even liked him but that she wasn't ready to admit her feelings to herself yet. So, he decided to remain positive and not let a minor setback make him lose hope altogether. By the time he had reached the top of the stairs he had been cheered back up by his own words and those he had heard in Laila's answer.

Not long after they had said their goodbyes and had headed upstairs, they each found themselves in their own beds. Laila had tried to make her little excuse come as close to the truth as possible and had stayed in Maria's room until she was sure that Steve had gone into his. After that she snuck out and hopped into her bed, where Noah had of course waited for her and had kept himself busy with a book until her return to their room. Though it had gotten much later than she had hoped and Laila had stayed away much longer than Noah had hoped, once she was back the moment to sleep had seemed to slipped past them.

The moment Laila walked in, Noah glanced up from his book and asked, "And? How was she? At least I assume that little act of yours in the dining room was all a lie to help Maria out." Laila let out a sigh filled, "Yeah". "I didn't know what else to do or say after the awkward atmosphere you had created by insisting to leave with me when you know how delicate the situation there was. I had to think up something on the spot and that was the best I could do at such a short notice." But despite Laila's efforts, Noah wasn't willing to take any of the blame.

Instead he said, "Hey, don't look at me. You know me well enough to know that I wouldn't let you go to bed by yourself. If you planned on using me to ease the tension between the two of them, you could have given me a heads-up first. You could have whispered something or texted me before announcing that you are going to bed because you are feeling fatigued. Did you not think that I would be worried and want to go up with you to make sure that you were okay and not just acting tough?"