A good wife

Olivia didn't realize it but she had dropped a huge bomb. Bigger than the one she had hoped to have dropped. Though Olivia simply wanted to change the subject and hoped that as an added bonus, Laila would get in trouble by her mentioning Laila's ex. But in reality she had caused much more to happen to the two of them.

Both Laila and Noah were in utter shock and they looked at each other across the table. Where Laila's face was mostly filled with panic, Noah was feeling a mix of emotions, which was showing on his face. He couldn't believe that Jake had wormed his way into their lives again! Had he not learned anything from their encounter a few weeks ago? This is what he got for showing mercy. For giving him that shred of hope. Now he had joined the enemy and was about to cause even more trouble than he already had.

But knowing that Olivia wouldn't be Olivia if she hadn't mentioned this on purpose to get to the two of them, Noah and Laila both tried to keep their cool on the outside. After their initial reaction they both put on a calm and collected face, before turning their focus back on dinner and responding to Olivia's little announcement. Laila was the first to say something and said, "Oh wauw. Is that so. That is a name I haven't heard in a while. What made him contact you?"

But Olivia, who had seen that Laila and Noah weren't as unaffected as they tried to seem, wanted to make matters even worse. So, she added a piece of information she thought was news to Noah. "Oh really? He told me he saw you just a few weeks ago. So that 'while' of yours apparently isn't all that long." She followed it up with her signature fake airy laughter, which was sounding more and more like the laugh you hear from an evil villain in a movie.

Olivia was determined to cause as much damage as she could between Laila and Noah over the course of this dinner and now that she had found her perfect weapon, she was not ready to let go of it until she had achieved it's maximum effect. She had remembered how bad the relationship between Noah and Jake was back in high school and the mentioning of an old flame, especially a partner's first love, was something she hoped would cause a fight between Laila and her current flame.

Fortunately both Noah and Laila were smart enough to play along in order to make Olivia feel like she had achieved her goal and stop her from causing any actual damage. In a cold tone Noah responded to that piece of information by saying, "Oh, is that so? That indeed isn't the 'while' I was expecting either. What else did our 'good friend' Jake say, hmm?"

Laila quickly responded with excuses that made her look even more guilty than Olivia was trying to make her sound. With the look of panic in her eyes from before she said to Olivia, "Oh there is no need to get into all of that. We are having a lovely dinner here. Let's not mix Jake into that." Then she turned to Noah and said, "It isn't as bad as you are thinking. Really. I will explain everything to you at home. So, let's let the matter rest for now."

But Noah, staying true to his role, did not accept that solution and said, "No, let's not. I want to hear what Olivia has to say about your good old pall Jake, who is apparently closer friends with you than the two of us. Besides, why can't Olivia tell us more about her talks with him? Are you afraid he might have said something you don't want me to hear?"

Thinking she has got Laila and Noah where she wants them, Olivia was happy to spill all that she and Jake had discussed. Noah and Laila of course listened patiently as they thought, 'hopefully among all that she has to say there are some useful things as well'.

"Yeah Laila, why won't you let me talk about Jake. Don't you realize that all of this is making you look guilty? A good wife wouldn't keep these things from her husband. So, it is better if I tell him everything now, so that you won't be considered a bad wife. There are plenty of couples that have bounced back after infidelity but if you don't share the truth now, your trust will forever remain broken."

Laila held in a big chuckle over Olivia's fake words and pretended like she was backed in a corner, forced to give in. "Fine...Say what you have to say. Just keep in mind that you are my friend."

With an evil looking smile Olivia responded by saying, "Of course...", before she started yapping away. "Well he told me that you two ran into each other at the airport and that you were flirting with him. He claimed you even broke him and his girlfriend up in order to have him for yourself but that in the end, you ran away and left him to deal with the messed you caused. Of course I didn't believe him straight away but when he showed me all the evidence he had, I had to admit that there was at least some truth to his story. So, now he told me that he was trying to start up a business over here with a mutual friend of ours and that he will even be moving here to see if he can change your mind. I told him that you were happily married to Noah and that you are even expecting his child but he didn't seem to care. So, I don't know what you did when you ran into him but it sure made an impression."