An extra guest

As Laila and Jake were walking back from the hospital, they were talking about how things would be after all of this was over and dealt with. "So, you asked me about whether or not Noah would be fine with us being friends but this made me wonder, are you sure you will be fine being friends? Being friends with me, will mean not only having me in your life but also Noah. You and him haven't always gotten along and I need to know that there won't be any trouble. I can't have our friendship affect my marriage with Noah."

Hearing these words from Laila stung a bit as it was another realization that he and Laila would never be getting back together. At least, that was something he could no longer hope for if he wanted to have at least a friendship with her. He too knew that if either Laila or Noah found out that he still had other intentions, even being friends would no longer be an option. Especially since Laila had now made it clear that if there were any problems between him and Noah, she would choose Noah over him to save her marriage.

But if by being friends he could be a welcome person in her life, instead of the enemy he had been viewed as for the past ten plus years, he would have to swallow his hurt and pride. In the end it had been him who caused her to walk out of his life in the first place, so it was only right that he would have to be the one to give something up to get her to come back. Her offer of friendship also proved to him that she hadn't treated him as just another pawn, a means to an end, when he had come to her to offer his help and shoulder to cry on. Though he had gone with ulterior motives, she had still managed to see the good in him through the anger she must have been feeling towards him. She had managed to think of a way to keep him in her life without him having to ask for it. It was these things that showed him that she was still the kind-hearted Laila he had known and loved all those years ago. With this gesture, she had proven that his time waiting for her and his efforts to get her back hadn't been wasted.

So, because of Laila's efforts, he reluctantly said, "It might be a bit hard at first but I'll get over it. If you do your best, I will do my best to make this friendship work." With that promise they continued walking to the hospital.

After a little less than an hour, Laila returned with four containers and an extra guest. They agreed that Jake wouldn't come out until after Laila had told Steve and Maria about him. She already had a plan on how she would break the news. Since Laila had her hands full and could not knock physically to let Maria and Steve know that she had returned, and she couldn't have Jake open the door for her since he shouldn't be there, she instead made them aware of her presence by letting out a loud "knock, knock". She did this in case Maria and Steve were being intimate or discussing anything she should not be hearing. After hearing a "Come in", followed by a chuckle, Laila entered the room. After she walked in with the containers in hand, both Maria and Steve were greeted by the lovely scent of the food Laila had brought for them all to enjoy.

Maria was the first to comment on it. "Oh my gosh Laila, that smells amazing. What did you get?" Steve agreed with Maria's observation and waited for Laila to tell them about what she had bought. "Well, when I walked out of the hospital I saw a small store that was selling wok meals. It smelled so lovely and it looked so colourful that I couldn't resist. I asked them to make something for you with brown rice, chicken and no peppers. Of course he also added plenty of vegetables. For me and Maria I went with noodles. Mine is vegetarian. So, if you prefer that, we can switch or share. Maria's noodles contains beef since I know she likes that with wok meals, so that one is off limits for you."

Steve and Maria both chuckled. "Well, there you have it. Keep your fork to yourself otherwise momma Laila will stab you with her own." Steve responded by saying, "Hey, I haven't even recovered from what happened this morning and here you are already talking about having me stabbed. I think that will be more harmful to my health and recovery than a bite of your noodles you stingy woman." Laila chuckled and Maria shrugged her shoulders as she said, "It wasn't me who made the threat. Blame Laila for being merciless."

They shared another chuckle before Laila gave everyone the container with the meal she had chosen for them. This is when Maria noticed that there was another container left, which seemed to have no owner.