An Inkling

As Noah was patiently waiting for Laila's news, she turned around to face him after giving herself some encouragement. Laila took a seat on the foot of the bed before she looked into his eyes and said, "Well, remember how we talked about me making the most of my time at home while being pregnant?"

Though Noah had an inkling where Laila was heading with her questions and he had a pretty good idea of what her news would be, he wanted to hear it from Laila. Hear what she had to say herself instead of him filling in her words with his own assumptions. So, he only responded to Laila's words with an affirmative nod and a, "Yeah, I do".

Laila looked up at the ceiling as she thought about how she should phrase the words she was about to say next. "Well, somehow, this morning, seeing you and Steve, I was reminded of those words. I finally felt ready to take another step to start something for myself. So, I decided to take action, now that the motivation was there. I headed to work and I handed in my resignation before heading to the mall and buying the supplies I needed to get started with something for myself. Noah was a bit surprised and was happy that he had let Laila tell him what it was she wanted to tell him, instead of telling her what he thought she wanted to say. In a calm tone he repeated the words, "You resigned?".

Laila nodded and elaborated on her decision. "Yes. I felt bad to continue being on their payroll when I knew that I had no intention to go back. I know it would continue to be on the back of my mind. We have no need for the income and it felt dishonest to go about things this way. To have them fund the starting of my own company. If we were in a financial tight position, I might have made a different decision but when we have plenty to spend ourselves, I saw no reason to not quit and put my full focus on the start of my own company."

Noah silently listened to Laila's words and sat down on a chair with a bit of a sigh. "I understand where you are coming from but I wish you could have at least discussed it with me before you went and quit your job. I know it doesn't feel like a big thing, and in a way it isn't, but it is a family matter and you doing this without talking to me, feels like you didn't care about what I would think about the matter at all. You simply assumed I would be okay and did whatever you felt like doing in that moment."

Laila's eyes grew wide for a brief second. Seeing that Noah was upset, she began to feel a bit of regret for what she had done and the worries she had silenced, made a strong march back into her mind. This reaction was something she knew was a possibility but she had dismissed that possibility as soon as she could. Now that this unlikely scenario had become reality, she had to think of how to make it right with Noah. She would at the very least start with an apology and take things from there.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to dismiss you feelings or opinion or anything. I was just feel the high of the moment and I made a decision which might be a bit rash and hasted looking back on things. I think I thought too light of this matter and I apologize. I do care about what you think and I will always care about it. So, please don't think of it like that. I certainly didn't. And...-"

Laila took another deep breath as she prepared herself to make her confession complete, "If I am being fully honest, there is one more thing I should confess, when I came home, I ended up telling Maria. She too asked me if I had told you about this, and that is when I thought for a minute if I should have talked with you about it before making my decision. By then it was already too late and I ended up dismissing it for a second time. With me being in the mood that I was, after hearing about you going on a date with Olivia, I was in need of cheering up and working on my company, gave me something to take my mind off things."

Laila glanced up at Noah and tried to see his reaction, but his face was stoic and he silently looked at her as his chin was resting on her hands. So, she swallowed hard and continued, "But, when Steve came, to help Maria with cheering me up, I even ended up telling him. I didn't think very much of it in the moment but after I had said it all, I did end up feeling bad. Feeling some regret that I didn't tell you when I had the chance. You didn't deserve to be the last to know. So, I do owe you an apology for that part of this whole ordeal as well."

Laila looked nervously in Noah's direction and he calmly asked her, "Is that the last of it? Are you done confessing now?" Laila nodded and said, "Yeah, I have said all that I needed to say. So, let me have it."