Seal the deal

After sharing some sweet moments, Laila and Noah were finally able to start eating. As expected Noah was both captivated by the food and mesmerized by Laila's stunning looks. While he was enjoying another bite of one of the many wonderful dishes Laila had prepared, Noah complimented her cooking once more. "You did a great job here dear. The food truly tastes as good as it looks." Laila let out a chuckle as she wiped off a bit of sauce from the corner of Noah's mouth and said, "I am glad you like it. That makes my time spent in the kitchen well worth it."

Having this little bridge in their conversation, Laila took a deep breath to bring up the topic she had come here to discuss. "...Speaking of time, I wanted to discuss something with you." Noah looked up from his food and stared deep into Laila's eyes with a look of confusion and curiosity. "Of course. Is anything wrong?" Laila shook her head and said, "No, nothing's wrong. It is just that I spoke to Maria the other day-" But before Laila could finish the rest of her sentence, Noah asked, "Oh Maria! That is a name I haven't heard in a while. How is she? I didn't know you two were on speaking terms again."

Though Laila found it to be sweet that Noah was inquiring about Maria, his question was nothing but a distraction right now. She needed to say what she needed to say and any interruption could get her to lose the will or courage to say it. She didn't know where this weird nervousness was coming from. She could always tell Noah anything and it is not like she expected her going away for a week to cause any problems between them or be something that he would be against. ...But it would probably make him sad and lonely. She didn't like making him feel anything less than happy, since he did so much in order to make sure she wasn't either. Despite that, she knew she needed to spend some time with her friend if she wanted to restore the damage that had been done. She needed Maria in more ways than one and for that both she and Noah would have to make a bit of a sacrifice.

While looking at her plate and playing with her food, Laila replied, "Yes, she is well. At least she says she is. I started speaking to her again since just yesterday. So, we haven't been on speaking terms for long. But that does bring me to what I wanted to say. Because as you know, she and I weren't getting along these past few months. I finally realized that I was in the wrong and I wanted to make it up with her in order to restore our friendship. A friendship that has been there since forever and a friendship I really don't want to lose for good. Maria suggested that we have a girl's week in order to catch up and talk over some things. I figured this wouldn't be a problem since you yourself said that you are going to be very busy these upcoming few days."

Since Noah had been quiet this entire time, Laila looked up slowly to see if she could make up how Noah was taking her news as she added, "But..I wanted to check with you as well. See if you are okay with me being away for a few days." When Noah still didn't say anything and was barely making eye contact, Laila decided to pull an answer out of him by asking Noah a question straight up. "What do you think?"

Noah was still looking at his own plate when he said with a sigh, "Well...I can't say I am very happy about the idea of you leaving me. Even if it is just for a week. Especially with you being pregnant." Then he looked up and looked back into Laila's eyes. Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew that what he was doing wasn't right. He knew that Laila didn't need his permission but she was kind enough to prepare all of this in order to ask him anyways and soften the blow the best way she knew how.

Knowing and realizing this, Noah let out another deep before he continued, "But I suppose that is more of an excuse to keep you with me than an actual reason for why you shouldn't go. I am sure I could think of a thousand more reasons for why you shouldn't go. But they would all be equally selfish. I know I will be far too busy to keep you company this week and having you be with a friend, instead of alone at home, will keep my mind at ease and allow me to fully focus on what I have to do here. So, I know that this girl's week is coming at the best possible time..." Noah grabbed Laila's hand from over the table and gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb as he finished his sentence, "... but all the logic in the world won't keep me from missing you like crazy. So, be sure to check up on me from time to time and don't forget about me while you are compensating for all the fun times you and Maria missed out on during your little fight. In return, I will keep myself from dropping all my work and following you to Maria's."

Laila and Noah chuckled at that last remark, while both knowing deep inside that he was fully capable of doing just that. Laila gave Noah's hand a light squeeze and said, "Don't forget that I will miss you too. So, I will message you and call you everyday till you become crazy. You will be regretting your request in no time and begging me to stop." Noah gave Laila's hand a light squeeze as well before he said, "I promise you I won't."

"In that case, I think we have ourselves a deal mister."

Noah replied, "You know that isn't how we seal a deal in this household." Before he lifted himself from his seat and gave Laila a kiss from across the table, sealing the deal in a way befitting the occasion.