For a good cause - Bonus chapter

When Laila heard Maria tell Steve to call them downstairs to start dinner, Laila got startled and nudged Noah to get up. As she walked inside with Noah, Laila pretended to have just come down the stairs and had only overheard Maria saying that last bit. With a bit of a nervous voice she said, "We are already here and apparently just in time." After that she let out an equally nervous little chuckle at her own words before walking over to the table. Maria just returned from the kitchen with the last serving-bowl of food and Laila stood behind her as she glanced at the food-filled table in front of them. She squeezed Maria's shoulders and said in a more normal tone of voice with a sense of pride in it, "Your cooking did all the calling for you. It looks and smells amazing as always."

After everything was set on the table, all four of them took a seat and enjoyed the feast that Maria had prepared. They talked, they ate and they talked some more. Then they retired to the living area and took a seat on Maria's beloved sofa where they ate, talk and drank some more as the hours passed slowly. Before they knew it the evening had passed and night had come, along with the need to head to bed. Though Noah wanted to share a bed with Laila, that would leave Maria and Steve for the remaining bed. That would mean that either Steve would have to sleep downstairs on the sofa or the two of them would have to share a bed. Neither option would be something that they would all agree to. So, in the end Noah had to settle for sharing a bed with Steve for the night while the two women shared the other available bed in the house, which was good outcome because it gave Laila and Maria some more girl time before they would have to part tomorrow.

In turns they headed into the bathroom and Noah and Laila said their goodbyes in the hallway, both of them seemingly unwilling to part. The tips of her cupped hand's fingers were hooked onto Noah's opposite hand, where he was holding on with folded fingers, while they were rocking their hands back and forth. After saying their second goodnight and hearing Maria call her into the room, Laila stood on her toes as she pressed one final kiss on Noah's lips before waving him goodbye and disappearing behind the tall, wooden door.

Noah let out a sigh and returned to his room, where Steve had already gotten under the covers and was playing on his phone. He could see that Steve also had kept his t-shirt on but he needed to make sure that what was under the covers was hidden properly too. As Noah took off his pants he told Steve, "You had better be wearing boxers under there and you will stay on your side of the bed at all times. All times, you hear me?!" Steve was of coursed most amused by this all and loved how uncomfortable Noah seemed. Jokingly he replied, "Ah shucks. So no spooning? And here I was hoping that you would share some of your body-heat with me." But no matter how saddened Steve tried to look by Noah's rules, this was something he would not budge on and would not entertain in any way. "You can go spoon a pillow as long as you keep yourself away from me. Having to share a bed with you instead of my lovely wife is bad enough. I don't want to be left with nightmares from this experience by feeling your icicle hands anywhere near me."

Once the pants were off and the rules were set, Noah got under the covers as well and grabbed his book. Just thirty minutes later, after reading a few chapters and after Steve had played a few rounds of his game, they turned off the lights and went to sleep. But over on the other side of the hall, the two other people of their party were far from sleeping and were determined to make every hour of that last night count. Laila also used this opportunity to find out a bit more about how her friend was feeling about Steve. She really saw a good match in him for Maria. He was handsome, successful and could handle her temper without having a big temper himself. He seemed like the perfect fit. But it would only work if Maria could see this too and felt any kind of connection with him.

While trying to hide the big smile that was trying to come out, Laila said casually, "Steve sure is a handsome guy, isn't he?" Maria shrugged her shoulders as she said, "I suppose he is what people would consider attractive." Though her words had been nonchalant and could come across disinterested, her averting her eyes as she was saying this and fidgeting with the tassels of her pillow, told Laila that she was more interested than she was willing to let on. So, Laila tried to throw out her hook again and see what more she could bring to the surface.

"Indeed. I mean he has got the looks, he has a great job, great sense of humour and he can strike up a conversation with anyone. He would be a catch in anyone's eyes. If I wasn't with Noah, I certainly wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better. I think he might even be single..." Laila looked up to see Maria's reaction but before she could see anything, she got a verbal confirmation that Maria was indeed interested. In an excited voice she repeated, "Really?!" Before calming herself down again and following it up with, "Not that I would care if he wasn't." Again she looked down at her pillow as she said these words and Laila couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. Having found a great source of entertainment and telling herself that she was doing it for a good cause, Laila continued to tease her friend as she gained some more information on her feelings for Steve while telling her some more about him. Which wasn't much considering how long she had been living life in this timeline without any of the memories from before.