Pale as a ghost

Although Steve had intended his words to be a type of final blow, to make Ally realize she should give up and move on to another guy, his words had sparked a flame in Ally. A flame of unwillingness to admit defeat. Ally's face scrunched up for a brief second after hearing how serious Steve was about the woman before her. But those words, in combination with the label 'girlfriend' from a man who she was convinced could only be an eternal bachelor, made her second guess the sincerity of his words or at the very least, the chance at success at a serious relationship for a man like him. Especially with someone she refused to see as anything special, just another pretty face and not even the prettiest she had seen Steve around with over the years.

So far she had never been unable to make him choose her over whoever he was shacking up with at that moment, so why would this woman be any different. She must have some kind of spell on him, but nothing she wouldn't be able to break. After all, between herself and Maria, there was no competition. And although she was right, she was mistaken about who the winning party was in that comparison in Steve's eyes. But that didn't stop her from leaving that conversation by responding, "A man can dream. Of course. Just like a woman can. But they shouldn't forget that it is just a dream and there will come a time to wake up." She said those words as she shook Maria's extended hand and then added, "I'll be there when that alarm rings." as she touched Steve's arm and walked away.

This blatant flirting by Ally of course earned Steve a solid glare and some explaining to do, as Maria was clearly upset. In a harsh tone she said, "I hope you haven't ordered that ring yet, because it seems to me that she thinks that she is the rightful recipient of it and we clearly have different ring sizes." Steve put his arms around Maria, who was in no mood yet to reciprocate his embrace, and he said, "Who cares what she thinks. I'll have you know, that that ring is ready and waiting for you, with your name engraved and a blank space for the date, for whenever you are willing to accept it."

Maria didn't want to admit it at that point, as her face became flushed and she suppressed a smile that was bubbling to the surface, but hearing that made her feel quite happy. She didn't want to smile and show Steve she was happy, and quite frankly, lately more and more willing to accept that ring she was offered, since she was still angry with him. So, instead she made another snide remark. "Any other exes I should expect to show up here tonight or worry about? Because if they are bold enough to act this way while I am standing right next to you, I don't want to think about what they will do if I am going around the room as planned and not by your side playing ex goalie."

"You have no one to worry about, period. Whether one shows up or they all do, whether you are standing next to me or not, you are always right here and here." Pointing at his heart and his head as she said those words. "You are playing goalie 24/7, leaving room for no one else to enter or even make me want to give them the time of day. There is no competition. You are in a league of your own that they can never reach." Maria wanted to believe him. She did believe him. Feeling the weight of his words and hearing his sincerity in every word he spoke. But although her mind knew she had nothing to worry about, her heart was more anxious and insecure from past hurt and managed to make her lips move all on their own as she scoffed and added, "Sure, you say that now. But if another one comes here, dressed like she was or even wearing something more revealing, coming onto you as strongly as she did, I wonder if you'll still say the same."

Fortunately Steve didn't mind. He chuckled and placed a kiss on the top of Maria's head before he said with a patient and loving voice, "Even if they would try to drag me to the bedroom and strip naked in front of me, I still wouldn't even glance in their direction. I'll close my eyes and wait for you to rescue me. You are one of a kind and nothing or no one will make me want to risk losing you. Not now, not ever. I am yours forever." He raised two fingers straight in the air as he said, "I promise."

With everyone busy with their own conversations and troubles to deal with, no one had noticed that Laila still hadn't arrived. Even though most guests had arrived and Laila was supposed to be there several minutes ago, she was nowhere in sight. It wasn't until one of the guests asked Noah about it, and he looked around as he had no answer to that question and had expected a call from her by now, that he said, "That is a great question. She was stuck in traffic, but I thought she would be here by now. Let me see if I can find out." He then excused himself as he grabbed his phone from his pocket to see if he had somehow missed her call. But only saw some missed calls from an unknown number.

The moment he saw this, he got a bad feeling, but before he could even acknowledge that feeling and process it, it was strengthened by another wave of worry when Max came rushing over. He was looking as pale as a ghost. Holding a phone in his hand as he told Noah in a shaking voice, "I'm sorry Mr. Stephens. I don't know how to tell you but I have a phone call for you from the hospital. They tried to reach you on your cell, but they couldn't get through. They need to speak with you about something important. Something happened to Mrs. Stephens."