Out of Character

Rebecca was feeling impressed by Anthony, and he had made her feel at a loss for words in the process, while also making her feel happy. When it came to Rebecca, being able to silence her like that, and making her feel such a mix of emotions, was a gift that only Anthony seemed to possess. While half avoiding his eyes and fumbling with her fingers, Rebecca said, "Uhm, yeah, that sound like a plan. Let's do that...".

She had brushed off all his other words in her answer, but this wasn't because she hadn't heard him or chose to ignore them. She had heard them, and she had heard them very clearly. She knew this was something she needed to work on if she hoped to have a future with Anthony that involved more than them just being colleagues. But she felt that this was something she needed to work on by herself first, before she would consider involving Anthony in the mess that was her feelings. So, while she was feeling happy and confused by the situation, she was also feeling the seriousness of it all in terms of her needing to change her behaviour.

Because Anthony saying those words the way he had done, had made her see that her actions were hurting Anthony and that was the last thing she had ever wanted to do. Aside from that she had also found a positive, serious, motivator. Anthony inviting her on a date and being so adamant about it, despite not calling it one, had made Rebecca shift from her twilight zone of hope to having some definitive hope. Although she wasn't sure how strong this sense of hope would be tomorrow or the day after that, right now she could see a clear glimpse of what the future could be like. This glimpse made Rebecca even more willing to work on her way of thinking, and in order to not lose her chance with Anthony before she could actually grasp it, she realized she needed to do this ASAP. She needed to find a way to silence that little voice that told her that she wasn't good enough, that he too would leave her when given the opportunity to be with someone better, and she needed to do it soon. Before she forced Anthony to act so out of character a second time or waste her chance with him altogether.

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By now Noah arrived back at the mansion. He opened the door to his home and stepped inside as he yelled out, "Honey, I am home!" Mimicking the way, the husbands in many of those old movies from the fifties and sixties would announce their return from a day of work. With much excitement and a newfound surge of energy, Noah rushed up the stairs and headed to where he knew Laila was waiting for him. He ran down the hall and without stopping his momentum, he pushed the bedroom door open of the room where Maria had been staying for the past couple of days. There he found Laila sitting on the bed, who then flashed him a big smile the moment she saw him. Noah showed an even bigger smile in response and without saying a word he walked over to Laila with fastened steps. Again, without slowing down, he cupped her face, bent down, and gave his wife a big, long, kiss.

Once he had conveyed how much he had missed her and how much he loved her in a modest, physical way, Noah let go of her lips but still held on to her whichever way he could. While being squatted in front of her, one hand was tucked behind her knee and the other was still cupping one side of her face. As one thumb was gently stroking her knee and the other he cheek, Noah asked Laila in gentle, loving voice, "How have you been?" Laila smiled as she covered the hand that was on her face with her own, while the other reached down to touch his face, and said, "I've been good. Just missing you."

Noah let out an almost soundless snorted laughter before he responded, "Well, I guess it is a good thing that I've come home then because I was missing you like crazy too." Laila bent down and placed her forehead on his, while she shifted her hands to surround the back of Noah's neck, and said, "Not just good. Great." Then she placed a quick, sweet, kiss on his lips and smiled at him once more before she said with a soft sigh, "We should get started on the packing. We can't have Maria and Steve waiting for too long."

Noah let out a soft sigh as well, before he stood up and said, "Yeah, you are right. The sooner we get this finished, the sooner we will have the house back to ourselves." Laila chuckled as she shook her head, showing her amused disapproval of Noah's motivation for helping Maria pack.