Heart to heart

Laila's jaw dropped and her she was momentarily stunned in silence by Maria's final revelation before she let out an excited cheer. Though it was Maria's mind that had been in the gutter, causing her to react so flustered after hearing Laila's question, for Laila it had given her the answer she had been looking for. As she was feeling filled with pride for her friends progress and Steve's accomplishments, she grabbed Maria and pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tightly as she said, "Oh you did so well my friend. I am so proud! It feels like I am a mom sending her final child off to college. Emotional yet filled with happiness."

After those words, Laila loosened her hug with Maria. Then, as she was still holding onto her shoulders, Laila continued to ride the wave of her excitement and asked, "Well, how was it? Did you like your first kiss with Steve? Is he a good kisser?" With these questions Maria's mind relived last night's events and her face was given another boost to remain its red colour. With a layer of shyness, and as she avoided Laila's sparkling eyes, Maria began to tell Laila more about last night. Because after she and Noah had gone upstairs to work on their relationship and grow closer, Maria and Steve had clearly done the same.

"Well I can't complain. That is for sure. It was warm, soft and in a way kind of enchanting. His energy was pulling me in and if he hadn't been a gentleman, I can't say with certainty that nothing more would have happened. So, I am very glad he showed some restraint when I was clearly losing mine." Laila chuckled as she was very familiar with that feeling. The first time she had kissed Noah, she had felt the same way. It had been something she like she had never experienced before and managed to make her go weak in the knees. By now she had gotten a bit more used to it and Laila had even learned how to get even with him when he used those skills to tease her but she was far from immune to Noah's kissing ways. She probably never would be and neither would Maria be to Steve's prowess if she had to go by her description. Perhaps his looks weren't the only thing aiding to his popularity among the women in his day to day life.

"I guess I should be extra proud of Steve then. For shooting his shot with you for the umpteenth time and for holding back when he needed to. That is exactly like momma raised him." Maria looked a bit taken aback at Laila, harbouring a layer of disgust as she said, "Are you his mom in this scenario? Because with what you said before, that would make him my brother. Please don't put ideas like that in my head. I am barely ready for a relationship. Please don't add incest to the mix. I would quite like to keep him as far away as possible from my family tree unless it is with a ring and an I do between the two of us.

Laila chuckled and said, "Yeah, I am sorry. You are right. I forgot about the way your mind works for a second there and I hadn't thought the dynamics through properly. I too prefer for him to not be related to you in any way unless it is as your husband. You can add the blood tie by giving me some cute godchildren to look after. I am sure that Steve would be happy to help you with that and if you agreed, I am sure that he would put a ring on that finger of yours in less than three months haha."

Maria's eyes grew wide. She couldn't believe how intuitive Laila was in these situations. How accurate her words were. She had brought marriage into the mix so easily and she was right in thinking that if it were up to Steve, they would be planning a wedding instead of their next date. She just couldn't understand how he could be so certain about it all and now Laila too. But it was undeniable that the feelings between them were growing stronger in a rapid rate. Surprising even herself. If she could go from a fearful no to a confident yes to the question of wanting to become his girlfriend in less than a week. There was certainly a very real possibility that she would say yes to a marriage in less than a year. Though how much less was something that they would have to find out. For now she just wanted to take things one step at a time and she was happy with the progress they had made so far. So, after she had gotten over her initial surprise, Maria answered Laila's speculation and wishes for the future with a simple, "We'll see".

After that they wrapped up their little heart to heart and made their way downstairs as well to join the men for breakfast.