Train of thought

A few hours had passed and evening had come, which meant that the time for Noah's date and Steve's arrival had come as well. Though Laila had been doing a great job at keeping herself distracted with something more positive until now, being fairly productive over the course of an afternoon, her brave face was starting to crack. Now that it had become evening, she was no longer able to silence her inner voice with the hopes of designing her first piece in this life.

While on the outside all she did was smile weakly and stare off into the distance, barely saying a single word in response to Maria, in her mind all sirens were going off. The quiet on the outside was in stark contrast to the commotion that was going on, on the inside. Some of her worries and concerns were valid. Others far from realistic. And they were all jumbled up, going round and round in her mind as she tried to keep her calm by repeating Noah's words to herself over and over again. Almost like a mantra.

Wondering what she would do if Olivia used this opportunity to drug Noah, as she had said before that she would do. Asking herself if Noah could protect himself against Olivia's tricks and hidden attacks. Thinking about how he could deal with a situation like that. Hoping that Olivia wouldn't take advantage of her absence to back Noah into doing something he doesn't want to do. Her mind was all over the place but she was staying strong like she had promised Noah. For each bad thought she had, she worked hard to find something positive that would cancel it out. Or better yet, if she managed to find something that allowed her to regain some hope.

Usually this would come from her thinking about the situation and looking at tit from all possible angles. This could result in her finding a solution or simply a rational explanation. One of these was her telling herself that Olivia might not be a good person. She might be a selfish person. But that she wasn't so evil and wouldn't go so far as to commit r*pe. Once these findings or conclusions had been made, Laila would tell them to Maria. Hoping for a sign of agreement and approval. But although Maria wouldn't put it past Olivia personally, whatever helped Laila to stop needlessly worrying, was welcome in her eyes. So, she would simply nod, agree and then Laila would dwindle again as she went on to tackle the next problem or thought that filled her mind. But unfortunately, not all her 'problems' had logical solutions. Especially those not tied to valid worries but to emotional vulnerabilities.

One of these problems that Laila's mind had drummed up, was the possibility of Noah actually falling in love with Olivia. She had told herself that if he should start spending more and more time with her, then maybe he would start seeing her charms. Especially with her throwing herself on him every chance she gets. She was certain that Olivia would do her best to flaunt what she has and use every excuse she could find to establish as much physical contact as she could. Leading Laila to the question if there was really a man who could resist that. No matter how good of a person Noah was, he was only human. Didn't he have urges too?

Though Laila wasn't particularly insecure, there were some facts she couldn't deny. Olivia was a pretty girl with a great body. Even if it wasn't all naturally hers, even if her beauty was different from Laila's, Olivia was definitely an attractive woman. While she was currently pregnant. Growing bigger by the day and lacking the energy to climb the stairs on most of the days, let alone have energy to do what had gotten her pregnant in the first place.

Though reality certainly wasn't that bad, neither was her belly. Which was only something that she was imagining and now even exaggerating in her mind. But because it contained the slightest bit of truth, even if far from the actual situation, it became harder for Laila to disregard and her hormones did the rest. Despite Maria's efforts, she could not help Laila break that train of thought. Especially since a lot of Laila's conversations on this matter, were taking place in her mind. With only herself there to send her deeper down that spiral.

In these moments Laila would forget or simply dismiss that she was pregnant with Noah's child. Not some stranger. That Noah had known her for their entire lives and loved her enough to accept her even after finding out she was no longer the same person. So, there was no way that he would know suddenly wish to give all of that up for some woman with store-bought breasts. Especially over a little reduced physical intimacy and a forced dinner with someone he considered closer to an enemy than marriage material.

Fortunately the evening took a different turn when Steve finally arrived. Carrying in his hand something that would be a mind blowing dessert along with a heart filled with nothing but positivity and a mind packed with ways to put a different spin on matters. Maria had kept him updated on the situation and had given him a task as he was getting closer as Maria herself felt like she had run out of other options. And who was Steve if not someone who would give his all in order to please the woman that he loved.