A genius

As Olivia was putting on the fastest escape attempt, Noah was putting on something of his own. The act of the disappointed friend. He was pretending to be sorry that she was leaving so soon. Saying how he was so grateful for her for wanting to teach him how to make one of his most favourite dishes. Telling her that he enjoyed being her friend and how he looked forward to more one on one moments with her. "I have many more dishes that I would like to learn how to cook. Since you are so good at cooking and can prepare so much in one day on a whim, you must be skilled enough to do and teach much more."

In response Olivia let out a nervous laughter that seemed close to a melt-down and made her way out of his office and towards the exit. As he watched Olivia speed walk to the elevator, Noah could finally let out the laugh he had been holding in. Happy that his little plan had been a success as he mentally prepared for the big one.

Steve happened to witness Olivia leaving and noticed the satisfied grin on Noah's face, which of course made him curious. He approached his friend and said, "I though today was about you being sacrificed to make an unfortunate text become the truth but it seems like you managed to turn Olivia into the victim instead. I have never seen a person run away so fast, much less the person that would not leave your side until a few hours ago, no matter the price."

Noah let out a chuckle and said, "Yeah, I saw an opportunity to have a little fun with our dear miss Olivia and I couldn't resist it. Today I got to teach her that lies have consequences. I got to watch her sweat and I gave her something to worry about, to keep her busy for a little while. Depending on how believable I sounded in wanting to be her friend, it might keep her busy for a long time. We'll just have to wait and see."

With arched brows Steve repeated, "Her friend?" Before letting out a chuckle himself and saying, "Am I missing something? How and why did you do that?" Noah shrugged his shoulders. "That was her latest trick in the book to visit me at the office and have me spend one-on-one time with her. She claimed to have cooked for me because I was her friend and she wanted for us to chat as we shared lunch. She came in just as I was about to head over to you and see if you wanted to grab a bite together. So, since she says she is such a great cook, I gave her a reason to do some real cooking."

After letting out a sigh Noah said, "Oh well, for now I at least don't have to worry about her popping up somewhere to bother me and I can actually focus on my work. I have a lot to do considering I have to get off work early tomorrow to have dinner at Olivia's place. So do you for that matter. In fact, you probably need to work entirely from home tomorrow. Because I need you to take over my tasks for tomorrow's little bugging session."

Steve had not yet been informed of that little change of plans and was thoroughly surprised by Noah's announcement. As he followed Noah into his office he let out a confused, "Huh?", before elaborating on his confusion. "What do you mean 'dinner at Olivia's place'? I thought only Laila was going over there." As he looked through some files on his desk Noah nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, Laila called met this morning after talking to Olivia. Apparently I have been thrown in as a sacrifice. By telling her that I want her to show me how to make one of today's dishes, I have made sure that she will be kept busy until tomorrow's dinner BUT it also forces me to leave early in order to be there for the show. However, we can't go in there without any backing. So, that is why I need you to be at the house, watching, helping, from the moment Laila sets foot in that house. If she wasn't keeping such a close eye on me, I would have just stayed home myself to set everything up. But if I do that, she might smell that something is wrong. That is why it is better if you do it instead."

Seeing no way to argue with Noah's reasoning, Steve just dropped his head and let out a sigh since he had a lot to do and with this change of plans, not very much time to do it in. That meant that he would be forced to work late tonight. Perhaps even do an all-nighter. Something he did not enjoy, much less so when it meant having less time to spend with Maria. But that is when Noah brought something to his attention that would turn that frown into a smile. "Besides, I figured after this morning, you might want a day alone with Maria. With us away, you would even be able to have a nice romantic dinner date at the house."

After hearing those words Steve's face immediately lit up. He tightly hugged Noah and exclaimed, "You are a genius!", before he rushed out of the door to get back to work. Completely forgetting to ask or say anything more.