A saint

With a soft smile on her face Laila continued and said, "Let me be the one to tell you that if you ask her out for a date, she will not only say yes, she will look forward to it from the moment you ask her and she will remain excited about it until long after it has passed. You are right when you say that she is afraid from what has happened in her past. That has been a big reason why she has been holding back. And I know that the way she responds to your efforts isn't always encouraging but you should know that she is ready to move past things. All she needs from you is to take the lead in this beginning phase. She needs to feel sure that you are serious about her. She needs your certainness to become her courage in taking those first steps forward."

With each word that Laila said, Steve's expression of shock started turning into a bigger and bigger smile. When he felt pepped-up enough by Laila's encouraging words, Steve responded in a cheerful voice, "That means more to me than you might think, especially coming from you. You are right. I don't know why I suddenly started to falter. I guess the idea of this finally potentially becoming reality, so shortly after I though that I had been forced to take a step back, caused me to become a bit doubtful. It had only been a few hours since I had to tell myself that I had overestimated my progress with her. Only to be shot forward even farther than that point I had imagined us to be at, in the course of those same few hours."

With regained confidence and strength Steve said, "If she needs assurance, I can give her all the assurance she needs. You might think I have been upfront about my feelings so far but from now on, I will use every means to my disposal to show her that I care and that I am serious about her. I will ask her on a date every day until she feels ready to say yes. I will talk to her, let her know I am there for her and if possible, I will try to spend some time alone with her each day during her stay here. If you have any suggestions, then I am open to those as well of course. I hope that as her best friend, you too will do your best to make her see that I really like her and that I want to be with her. That I am not a bad guy. That I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. I want what you two have and with her I think I can actually have that."

Laila had heard from Noah that Steve had said things like this about Maria but hearing it directly from him herself, being able to look at his eyes as he was saying it, added a whole new level to her believing that he was the right person for her friend. He had been a great friend to Noah for years, he apparently been a good friend to her and even if things wouldn't work out romantically, he would be a great friend to Maria as well. At the very least she wouldn't have to worry at him treating her badly like the guys before him had. With a happy smile Laila said, "I already have told her all of those things and I will continue to do so whenever she is in doubt. I really wish for you two to be as happy as we are and I am confident that you will be able to achieve that. You are both amazing people and you deserve to be happy. What better than if two great people get together and can be happy with each other. I for one, will do whatever is in my power to help you two find your way to each other."

With an excited expression Steve replied, "Thank you Laila, you are a saint." After saying those words, Steve left his barely eaten breakfast and shot out of the room with newfound energy. But now that this problem seemed to have been fixed and Noah and Laila found themselves alone in their dining room once more, Noah decided to take this opportunity to address the matter of Laila hugging his friend. He cleared his throat loudly to get Laila's attention, who was staring at the door with a proud smile, dreaming away in a world of her own. With a startled look on her face Laila turned around and saw the unamused expression on Noah's face.

"So, my dear wife. Now that Steve's matter has been dealt with, care to explain that overly friendly hug of yours?" Laila chuckled and walked back over to her husband's side. As she put her arms around his neck, she placed a kiss on his cheek before chuckling some more. In a teasing tone she then began to explain herself. Saying, "Oh come on. I was only hugging your friend who was feeling down and was doubting himself for no reason. If I meant anything by it, would I really do it in front of you? I deserve more credit than that. I am smart enough to wait for you to go to sleep and sneak into his room. That way I could do whatever I wanted without arousing your suspicions. Plus, if I were interested in him in that way, I certainly wouldn't be setting him up with my best friend. Haven't you heard? Husbands may come and go but friends are forever. So, if you have no confidence in yourself, at least have some confidence in my friendship with Maria."