In a heartbeat

With the weekend having passed by, those who matter and those that were interested, had been informed of Anthony and Rebecca having become an engaged couple from being nothing more than friends just a few days ago. Some were overjoyed, others disappointed because now their crush had officially become unrequited, and some were just surprised at the large development in their relationship in such a short amount of time. Still trying to wrap their heads around it a few days after being informed of the news. But the new week also brought along a few other events.

One of which being Laila visiting her former boss to deliver her promised gift, which consisted of her first, personally designed and handmade, dress. It was a big milestone for her in this life and she was ready to climb the stairs that she had forced her way onto in her previous life as well. With the skills and the knowledge of her past, she planned on becoming an even greater success than she had been before. She had no doubt that she would succeed in this, because along with skills and knowledge, she had another trump card up her sleeve. Or at least she hoped she did.

Initially she had planned to wait with asking Maria to join her company until it was actually a company worth mentioning. Without any means to pay her and some success to her name, she didn't want to drag someone else into her jump in the deep end. But with Maria now having become an item with Steve and with things going quite well between them, she hoped it would mean that she would move to this side of the country in order to live with him. At least for a part of the year as the distance was too far to commute regularly and especially for maintaining a new relationship. With no jobs currently holding her back or taking up her time, both there and here after Steve's recovery, she thought Maria might be willing to join and embarked on this journey together, from the beginning.

With Maria's wide range of skills, she was sure to be of value to the development and growth of the company. Aside from that, having Maria by her side. would make any competition or hurdles along the way, that much easier to overcome. With that conviction in the back of her head, and her goals set clear in front of her, Laila had made up her mind. Because of that, today would not only be the day that she would visit her former employer to fulfill her promise, but also the day that she would go by Steve's house to see if Maria would be willing to fulfill hers a bit earlier than planned. She hoped that today would be the day that she would get a definite answer on whether she would be willing to be her right hand woman. Not in the future, but right now. Starting together from the bottom and working their way up. Using nothing more than their own passion, determination and hard work to reach their goal.

In order to increase her chances of success and lowering the chance of her saying something that might come off wrong, Laila had discussed her battle plan with Noah the night before, when they were lying in bed. He agreed with her that having Maria join earlier, would be a good move business wise. So, he practiced with her until they found the right set of words. Although one might think that talking to one's best friend wouldn't require practice, the opposite was in fact true. Because they are a best friend, there is always that possibility of them agreeing for your sake, rather than their own. Not being able to say no. Causing hurt, where help was intended. So, the practice was to ensure that her words came with no pressure, but would also allow Maria to see that this plan was in her best interest as well. Increasing the odds of success not in the form of her just agreeing, but in the form of her actually wanting to take this step now without any other reason being at play.

For this purpose, Noah did his best to act out how he envisioned Maria would react and Laila would react accordingly to how she would in a situation like that. They continued this, going over every detail after each attempt, until Noah posing as Maria finally agreed to her proposal. Before he left for work this morning, he saw that Laila still seemed a bit nervous about it all and so he encouraged her once more. As a gentle push in the back to get her over that mental hurdle, while also lightening the mood enough to break her nervousness.

He told her, "Just pretend like you are not asking her to join you, but like you are trying to make her see the pros and cons of an offer made by someone else. If it wasn't your start-up, but someone else's with your potential and background, what would you tell her in that situation? She is your best friend and you have known her for most your life. She will see what I saw last night. A friend offering a helping hand, while asking for one at the same time. After all, by holding both hands, you stand that much firmer. Because of all of that, I am sure if you present it to her like we practiced last night, she will say yes to you in a heartbeat. And if she doesn't, you can try again after she has had some time to think things over. If she still says no after that, then I'll take her place and make her feel so jealous that she has no other option but to join."