What goes up, Must come down

Laila had listened to Maria's confession about her mystery man and she had a pretty good idea who that man could be. She was happy that her friend had managed to find someone who could make her see things a bit differently and make her feel comfortable and secure enough to let herself be more vulnerable. Not only to himself but to her as well. It was because of these little things, that Laila felt that Steve was the right guy for her. To make her admit something like this so easily was a great accomplishment on his part. Which of course reminded her to ask about her evening with him.

"Well I think it is great that you are putting yourself out there a bit more. It does make me wonder, this 'someone' you mentioned, doesn't happen to be the same 'someone' who seems to want to go above and beyond for you, right?" Maria blushed, giving Laila the answer to her question. A question that actually didn't need any answering since it was clear from the timeframe Maria had mentioned. So, instead of confirming Laila's only suspect, Maria tried to shift the conversation back to Laila. "Never mind the person I was talking about. What I find more important right now is how you handled things with you husband. Is Noah going to be okay with you quitting your job like that? Especially without confiding in him. I mean, did you at least tell him something or is he going to be completely blindsided when he gets home?"

Laila found it amusing to see how Maria had gone back to avoiding her questions and had an internal chuckle before she answered her question. "I'll have you know, there is no way that I am dropping our conversation about you so soon or so easily but before that I will ease your curiosity and concern. I didn't tell him that I would quit. After all, I hadn't fully decided until after he headed to the office. But, when I left the house to give my notice, I did text him that I have some big news for him when he gets back. I said that I did something big today but I did not clarify what that something was. Odds are he already knows what I mean but if not, then at the very least he knows to expect that I have something to tell him."

Maria chuckled and said, "Well, let's just say it is a good thing you have kind husband." Laila chuckled as well and responded with, "That I do!" Laila then changed the topic back to Maria and asked her about her date, how she felt about Steve now. She was curious if they had made any progress, if they perhaps had decided to become a couple yet or if it was still an unnamed situationship. "The topic of husbands reminds me of your husband-to-be. How did your date with him last night go? Are we getting any closer to you and him becoming something official?"

Seeing as this was a topic she could not avoid with Laila, Maria sighed and explained how she felt inside. "Well, last night was great, he was great. We talked, laughed, shared some stories of our past and if you two hadn't come home when you did, I wouldn't have had any sense of the time. It was like time stood still and allowed us to stretch that moment we had for as long as possible. I think that if the whole guilt thing hadn't come into play, we might have made things official but I'm not certain we are there yet. I did however take another step in his direction after our talk after you and Noah went to bed."

Laila felt herself getting excited for her friend and let out a high pitched, "Oehh.." followed up with an intrigued, "Do tell..." Maria told her about her act of bravery and Laila responded by squealing with the excitement of a little schoolgirl. The air in the room was so wonderfully warm and positive and the stories kept getting better and better. Maria told her about her feelings, how they had been becoming stronger. How she couldn't explain it but it felt like she had known Steve for years. How she felt bad that she had been unwilling to give him a chance based on her own prejudice but that she was happy that Laila and Noah had convinced her that he was a good guy. She could now see what they saw in him and why they thought he would be right for her. She herself was beginning to see that herself more and more.

Laila and Maria were both on a high, feeling happy about all that was happening in their lives but everything that goes up, must come down at some point. For them this point came when Maria asked Laila about last night. Because although they had been successful in what they had set out to do, Olivia and Jake having partnered up, was far from a success and certainly not a reason to celebrate.