Compromise

It was a fact that Laila had been in danger, it was a fact that there had been no staff present to help her in that moment, and it was also a fact that Noah too was not there nor was he aware of the danger his wife was in. So, until he was absolutely certain that Harold posed no kind of threat anymore, he would probably continue to react more extremely to anything that stood out, for one reason or another.

When Garry found Laila in the room attached to the living room, where he had been, surrounded by papers, pencils, fabric, he walked up to her calmly and said, "Miss". But Laila was truly in her own world and did not hear or see him from the corner of her eyes. Garry then proceeded to clear his throat in order to get her attention, which he followed-up with a tap on the shoulder. This seemed to catch her attention and made Laila turn around in a startled fashion. Garry didn't react to her jump at all and just said in his regular calm voice, "Miss, I have master Noah on the phone for you in the living room."

This confused Laila for a brief moment, until she suddenly realized the answer to her own question. She was in the middle of asking Garry, "Why did he call the house and not m-". The last word didn't need to fully cross her lips for her to know that he probably had and that her actions were the reason for him calling the house. "I am such a fool. I was so focussed on my drawings, that I probably didn't even hear my phone." She quickly rummaged through scattered papers and looked around herself in search of her phone, but wasn't very successful. She was interrupted before she could continue her search any further by Garry, who said, "Miss, perhaps you should postpone the search for later and talk to master Noah on the landline for now. He sounded quite worried about you."

Feeling a bit scatter-brained because of the sudden interruption and the idea of having missed Noah's call, and of course not knowing where her phone currently was, Laila stammered, "Uhm. Yeah. I should do that. Yes, that might be better for now." She then followed Garry outside of the dining room and quickly picked up the telephone receiver. As the receiver was pressed against her chest she said to Garry, "Thank you Garry. I will take it from here. Please continue with what you were doing before this". Then she raised the receiver to her ear and started off with an apology.

"Sorry honey. I just heard from Garry that you tried to call me and that I didn't pick up. I was just so lost in my designs that I must have drowned the sound out." Noah let out a relieved sigh after hearing Laila's voice and said, "That's okay. I am a bit more on edge because of the Harold business. Not being able to reach you, after calling you twice, that is something I am not used to and not something I can deal with calmly at the moment. Even though Harold is behind bars, he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. So, as long as he is still in touch with the outside world through his lawyer, and as long as Olivia is free to do his bidding, I won't feel assured about your safety. They were able to get inside our home once, I can't let something like that happen again. I plan on strengthening the security around our home. To make sure something like that can't happen again. No matter who it is that tries. But that will require time. So, I hope you can be patient with me until then."

Now it was Laila's turn to let out a soft sigh as she wondered what she was supposed to do with a couple like them. Both letting their worries get to them so easily and then apologizing about them so quickly after. She nodded quietly before she confirmed her agreement with her words. "Don't worry about me and do what you think is necessary. I too want to feel safe in our home and I want you to know that I am safe when I am inside our home. In my current state, and lacking a job, I am hardly in need of leaving the house very frequently. If I do need to leave, I'll try to take someone with me or wait until you return. Since funds are the last thing that we are lacking, I'll let you use your hard-earned money to accompany me to any stores I need to visit, once you get back from work. Sure they will charge you extra for having to open after hours, but I think you will find that well worth it, judging by your current state of mind."

Noah chuckled and leaned back into his chair, feeling much the opposite from how he was feeling when he made this call. "You know me so well. Up till the very last dime is yours to spend on whatever you need, and I'll be happy to join you whenever and wherever you need me." After that he said in a more serious tone, "Thank you for being so understanding. I know you don't like being treated as if you can't do anything by yourself or like you are some fragile little being. But to me, you are the most precious thing in my life at the moment, so I can't help being more protective of you."

Laila nodded once more before she replied, "I know. But that is what a marriage is, right? Give and take. Compromise. Sometimes you have to give in to what I want, and sometimes I have to give in to what you want. Now stop wasting your time worrying over me and get back to your work." Noah chuckled before he replied, "Yes, ma'am! But before I do, I want to say that I am so happy that you went back to working on your own company. I know my initial reaction when you told me about it wasn't great, but trust me when I say that I am so proud you took this opportunity and I want to hear all about it." Before Laila could respond, Noah added, "I know, I know. I am not allowed to help you, so you don't have to tell me any details about the company itself, but you can tell me about what you have in mind for this particular design, right?"

Laila had no comeback for that and could only respond with agreement. Then she ended the call and they both went back to what they were doing. Noah with the everyday management of the company, after filling Steve in on the findings in the warehouse and Joe's decision. While Laila went back to her design for her former boss and first customer. Her sketches were almost all done, making her almost ready to actually get started on making the outfit she had designed.