Matchmaker

In order to reassure Noah, Laila placed her hand on his face and looked straight in his eyes as she said with a voice that showed not even an ounce of doubt, "No matter where I am, no matter who I am with or what I am doing, I will always prefer having you by my side to experience it with me. So, to answer your question, of course I missed you. I might have had fun but no one can replace your presence in my life. So, rest assured that you are and always will be my number one."

While she was saying this Noah was silently listening, not breaking eye contact for even a second. The grin on his face had disappeared and had made place for the vulnerable look that Laila had seen moments before. To break the serious air surrounding the conversation she ended what she was saying with the words, "Even if you are a bit silly from time to time." and chuckled. Seeing Laila laugh like that caused Noah to chuckle as well before he said, "Why you little -" and returned her teasing with some of his own in the form of tickling.

Once they were all laughed out and were catching their breaths from the fooling around, Laila patted Noah's upper leg and said, "Let's go. We have some packing to do. If Maria catches us goofing off like this and sees that we haven't packed a single thing yet, while she was busy slaving away in the kitchen, she will have our heads." Noah got up off the bed and said, "Well we can't have that now can we. I am pretty attached to my head and quite frankly, to yours as well. So, let's get moving and finish this up so we can go have dinner. You sit there and I will grab everything so you can fold them and I will put them in your suitcase. Deal?" Cheerfully Laila replied, "Deal!' as she lifted her fist in the air.

Twenty minutes later most of the packing was done and only the items she would need for her last day and night at Maria's home were left outside of her suitcase. All she needed to do tomorrow is put her toiletries inside after she was done using them, her current outfit and her pyjamas. After placing the last items she could pre-pack inside her suitcase, Noah and Laila headed downstairs. As the fragrant smells of dinner were calling them, they knew that dinner was almost done. As they walked down the stairs they heard Maria and Steve talking in the kitchen. Immediately Laila stopped in her tracks and placed her index finger on her lips as she turned around to tell Noah to be quiet.

As she stood in the middle of the stairs, she listened to her friend's interaction with Steve. Though Maria was speaking harsh words, she couldn't fool Laila. She knew her friend and could tell by her tone that she wasn't actually annoyed. If anything, she might have been feeling a bit awkward and being left alone with him had caused her to fall back onto her natural instincts, which was to guard herself. But you only guard yourself when you fear you might get hurt. For that to happen, you needed to get close to someone. Want to get close to someone. Which gave Laila the idea that Maria might be interested in Steve. For that she needed a bit more evidence.

On the tip of her toes Laila walked down the remaining steps to get a closer look and Noah shrugged his shoulders before doing the same. Though he had no interest in the love life of Maria or Steve, it was clear that Laila did and he was willing to amuse her. Noah saw no harm in waiting in the hall for a bit before walking into the living room so that Laila could snoop a little and Maria and Steve could have some more one-on-one time. This was because in the end he knew that both of them were good people, even if they annoyed him from time to time. He could also see in what way they would be a good fit for one another. For these reasons he was at least not opposed to them getting together. So, if they were interested in one another and Laila wanted to help get them together by giving them some more time alone, he would happily play along. But he drew the line at actually getting involved and playing full-on matchmaker. That was a role he thanked for. Luckily for them he had a partner that loved being a matchmaker. So, in his eyes they were in good hands.

Laila cracked the door open and stood as close to the opening as she could in order to listen in properly on the conversation between Maria and Steve. While Laila was bended over, glued to the doorframe, Noah was leaning against the wall with folded arms, waiting till it was time to eat. As she was listening, Laila could hear Maria say, "Instead of buzzing around me, you can go make yourself useful by setting the table." Her words were followed by a chuckle from Steve and a "Yes, ma'am". It seemed that Steve was enjoying the whole army jokes and Laila had a feeling that Steve too could see through her friend's harsh words.

She had been listening for a few short minutes when Laila heard Maria tell Steve, "Dinner is ready. Go tell Noah and Laila to come downstairs while I bring everything to the table." Causing immediate panic to follow to the curious duo standing just outside the door.