Nothing to lose

Jake was still explaining to Maria, Laila and Steve how he never thought to take Harold's words seriously and how he never imagined that what had happened today, could have ever happened. "He never said any of those things during the day. Always when we were at a bar or having a drink at his office after a workday. During those times he would think back on what had happened between him, Noah and Steve and it would cause his feelings from back then to boil up again. That would cause him to drink more heavily, which in turn would fuel his anger even more. Since the circumstances had always been like this, I never thought to take it seriously. I mean, who would take the words of a drunken man seriously? I have said plenty of things when I was drunk that I would never do with a sober mind."

Hearing Jake's explanation, Maria, Steve and Laila, could not argue with his reasoning. In that situation they couldn't say that they wouldn't have done the same. Alcohol can make people more truthful but when you consume enough, it can also distort your view of reality and mess with your emotions. Sure, there was still a basis to his anger. It wasn't like his feelings of hate were fake. But they could have indeed been strengthened by some excessive drinking and could make him say things he did not necessarily mean.

Since the topic had been brought up and Noah's name had been mentioned, it made Laila wonder where Noah was currently at and what he was doing. So, while Jake was telling Maria and Steve about Olivia and her role in everything, Laila excused herself to make a call. She walked out of the room and called Noah in the hallway, hoping that he was doing okay and that she wasn't disturbing anything by calling him.

But while he usually answered her calls within the first two rings, he wasn't answering at all now. She waited and waited until she was forwarded to his voicemail. She left him a message, telling him that she was worried about him and wanted to know how things were going and if he was okay. After she ended the call she stared at the screen for a brief moment, before she decided to give up and go back into the room, but that is when her screen lit up and Noah called her back. But while she had called regularly, he video called her back. With shaking hands she quickly accepted his call and anxiously she waited for the screen to show Noah's face.

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With Laila out of the room, Maria used the opportunity to question Jake some more on the new relationship he planned on having with Laila. She interrupted his story and said, "Let's wait for Laila to return before you finish that story. While we wait, I would like to ask you some more about this plan of yours of becoming friends after all this. Though I am not against this idea, as I had this idea myself as well, I do wonder if you have thought this through. While Laila has nothing to lose by becoming friends with you, I would think that things will be a bit harder for you."

Jake hesitantly said, "..What do you mean...?" To which Maria replied, "Well, where you simply knew things before and could hide from reality by lying to yourself and pushing certain thoughts away, you won't be able to do that now. You will be witnessing Laila and Noah living their lives and starting their family together from the front row. You will have to watch her being happy in the arms of another man, watch their kids grow up and play a role in their lives as well. Are you sure you will be able to do that? Constantly being confronted with the thing you wanted but can never have? You won't become resentful towards Noah for living the life you wanted for yourself?"

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While Steve and Maria waited for an answer to Maria's questions, Laila was finally able to talk to Noah. She could only stare for a moment when she saw his cheerful smile and Noah still looking healthy and well. So, Noah was the one to start their conversation and said, "Hello honey. Sorry I missed your call. It is a bit loud up hear so I didn't hear it. Is something wrong?" Only now did Laila notice that Noah wasn't in a car. She could hear a loud noise in the background and it appeared as if he was in the sky.

Laila shook her head in response to Noah's question and asked, "Are you flying right now?". Adding clarity to her question by pointing up at the sky. Noah nodded and grinned. "Yeah, we are in a chopper. We are on our way to one of Olivia's properties as Harold should be heading that way as well. Since he had a lead on us, I decided to fly there instead to catch up on the time we lost on other things."