Push through

Steve was in the middle of explaining what had happened between him and Maria that morning, while Laila and Noah were listening. "So, I decided since I was awake anyways, I should go down as well and see if I could keep her company. You know, spend some alone time with her. To my pleasant surprise, I wasn't rejected. Instead she offered to make me some food as well, which I couldn't help but reject, and we had a wonderful time together. She ate, while I washed the dishes she had used. And while we did, we talked and laughed. We ended up talking until six in the morning and just before we went upstairs she told me that she had enjoyed spending time with me as well."

Laila felt herself becoming really excited for the two of them. Without waiting for Steve to finish, Laila clasped her hands together and she said, "But that is a wonderful development! I knew you two were a match. I just didn't think that you would be getting together so soon after meeting up again. But why are you looking so down then? I would have expected you to be the most excited of us all."

Steve let out a second sigh after being confronted with all of Laila's excitement. "I WAS excited. I mean, I AM excited. It is just that after we both returned to our own rooms, I started doubting what she said and how she said it. Being alone with my thoughts had made me wonder if I had seen more into it than she had actually intended to convey. There are plenty of moments when I can see right through her. Her running away from her feelings. Her blurting out things she doesn't mean. I can even tell that she does like me in the same way I like her. But at the same time, I am afraid that if I move too fast, I will scare her away." Steve cast his eyes down to the table as he voiced his concerns and doubts

"It's clear to me that she is afraid of admitting her own feelings, both to me as well as to herself. Though I am not sure why, I am assuming it has something to do with her past relationships. Now this morning made it seem to me that she has decided to get past her fears and is willing to see where this can go. That she has finally admitted to liking me as well and that it won't be long before we are a couple. With this idea in mind I was preparing on asking her on an actual date. But since I might have been sleep deprived and she might have been too, I started wondering if she might have just been trying to be kind. Maybe she simply didn't want to send me away, knowing I wasn't able to sleep either. I mean, that explanation is as believable as her just pretending to dislike me in order to hide her feelings."

Laila was dumbstruck. In a voice filled with disbelief she said. "What are you even talking about? Why are you suddenly thinking like this?" That is when Steve started listing his reasons. "Well, I mean she was silent during the moment when I told her I had enjoyed spending some time with her. She remained silent the entire time that we were in that room together, cleaning up in the kitchen. She didn't even admit to her enjoying spending time with me as well, until it was time to go upstairs. Feeling guilty could have just as well been a reason for her to say that. After all, she didn't want to spend any time alone with me just a few hours before, when you and Noah were trying to go to bed. Even preferring to go through that uncomfortable rejection wrapped in a quickly thought up excuse and delivered by you, rather than talking to me some more. So, I couldn't help but wonder, what changed in those short few hours?"

Laila exhaled deeply through her nose as she wondered how two people so in love with each other, so perfect for one another, could find so many reasons to not be together. She made her way over to the other side of the table where Steve was doubting everything between him and Maria, and without worrying about Noah's reaction to what she was about to do, she bent down and hugged Steve as tightly as she could. With a soft and soothing voice she said, "You silly, silly man. How is it that men are acting so confident when they are preparing for the chase but when it becomes time to actually act, they start to become so insecure. Doubting even that which is right there for the taking."

After letting go of him she looked him right in the eyes, ignoring the shocked expression on both his face as well as Noah's face, who was looking from behind his paper, and said, "You might not know what has changed and you might not be sure if she meant her words in a romantic way but I do. Without a shred of doubt I can tell you, that she definitely likes you. Cooking for someone, is how she expresses her love. So, the fact that she offered to make you something at four in the morning? That is as clear a sign as any that she likes you. So, don't falter now. This when you need to stay strong and push through."