Never Judge

As Cedric drove them home he noticed that Jas felt a little awkward.

"Do you feel uncomfortable around me?" Cedric asked.

​​

"A little. Do you know her?" Jas asked.

"Her? Miss Nicole Chan you mean?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah her." Jas said in a sad tone.

"I know her." Cedric said with a nod.

"Could you not tell her I was here? I don\'t want her to think that there is still something between me and Ian. Ian made it clear when we broke up that he only saw me as a friend, something closer to a sister than a lover." Jas requested as her voice shoke. Clearly she was nervous about Nicole finding out that Ian went to a bar with her and Ian.

"It\'s not good to lie." Cedric said, shaking his head. "I lied to my wife a while back, it was a pretty big one. I almost lost her."

"But Nicole might misunderstand." Jas complained.

"It\'s better to tell Nicole than to keep it from her. If we don\'t tell her then she\'ll think that you and Ian are hiding something, then she will really be mad." Cedric explained.

"But she is Nicole Chan, the Nicole Chan. Her family isn\'t simple, she could have people come after me." Jas said worriedly.

"She isn\'t like that." Cedric said in Nicole\'s defense. "Among the sisters, she\'s the nicer one." Cedric laughed as he thought of how bad it would get if Katerina was the one that got jealous. That one would definitely send hitmen.

As they neared the community where Nicole lived, silence engulfed the car. Jas was clearly worried about potentially running into Nicole as they dropped Ian off.

Cedric parked Ian\'s car outside of the Chan sibling\'s home and dialed a number.

"Hey." Cedric greeted.

"What?" Eric groaned as he picked up the call. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I\'m outside your sister\'s place. I need help bringing Ian inside, he\'s passed out drunk." Cedric said with a chuckle.

"It\'s not Nicole\'s place, it\'s our place!" Eric complained.

"It\'s not your home anymore, you live at her place like 90% of the time." Cedric said to the person.

"Fine, fine, the things I do for my brother-in-law." Eric complained.

"I\'m with one of his friends. I\'m dropping her off." He said in a more serious tone.

"Alright. On my way." Eric said.

"Who was that?" Jas asked Cedric.

"His brother-in-law." Cedric responded.

"The miracle doctor?" Jas asked.

"No. The older one." As Cedric said this he saw Eric jogging over with Katerina walking at a slower pace behind him.

Cedric got out of the car and waved at Eric. 

"Hmmmm, who\'s she?" Katerina asked as she approached.

"Ian\'s old friend and ex." Cedric confessed. It made no sense for him to hide who Jas was since in the end Katerina was sure to uncover who Jas was.

"And Ian went drinking, with her?" Katerina asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Damien was with us." Cedric explained.

"Ok, let\'s get Ian in the door before we wake Nicole." Eric said in an attempt to change the topic.

The two men walked over to the back seat and carried Ian out, he was passed out drunk. When they finally reached the door they didn\'t need to knock.

"Oh, thanks." Cedric said, assuming it was a maid.

"Hey sister." Eric greeted nervously.

"He\'s that drunk?" Cedric could hear Nicole ask.

"Talk about it with him tomorrow Nicole." Cedric complained. "He isn\'t light! Let us place him on the bed or couch."

"Okay, okay." Nicole said as she led them in. "Put him on the couch."

Cedric and Eric nodded and dropped Ian on the couch. He was so drunk that he didn\'t even mind and continued to sleep peacefully as Nicole watched with a sour expression.

"He has a lot on his plate right now." Cedric explained, hoping Nicole would understand Ian\'s predicament.

"Who did you guys drink with?" Nicole asked.

"Damien." Cedric answered plainly.

"Who else?" She asked again, daring Cedric to lie. "I saw her in the car."

"Jas Ortega was with us too." Cedric confessed.

"Why is she in Ian\'s car? Do I need to ask you every question? Spill." Nicole demanded.

"She lives nearby, I\'m going to drop her off. Nothing happened. She was supposed to take a cab but I told her it\'s dangerous so I offered to drop her off." Cedric admitted.

"I\'ll go talk to her." Nicole said as she marched out with her growing belly, she was now six months pregnant and despite being quite slim you could clearly see that she was further along her pregnancy.

Cedric chased Nicole out.

"Nicole, your emotions. You\'re pregnant." Cedric said as he walked behind her.

"I\'m a doctor Cedric." Nicole reminded him. "I know what I should and shouldn\'t do for my child."

"She didn\'t do anything wrong." Cedric said, defending Jas.

"I just want to talk. I won\'t eat her." Nicole argued back.

When Nicole finally reached the car she knocked on the window, giving the already tipsy Jas a fright. She signaled for Jas to come out and talk. Jas nervously unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and stepped out. 

"Doctor Chan, is there anything I can help you with?" Jas asked in a shy voice.

She was suddenly slapped in the face by Nicole.

"Nicole! What the hell?!" Cedric asked as he pulled Nicole away.

"You know he has someone! You know we\'re having a child and yet you are trying to set a trap for him! Bitch!" Nicole accused. 

"Nicole, she didn\'t do anything. Why are you being like this?" Cedric asked.

"Not doing anything? It\'s clearly a trap. She didn\'t bring a car? Do you know how rich the Ortegas are, she has a car and a driver. So don\'t give me the drunk driving excuse." Nicole accused.

"Ian never minded dropping me off. Even after." Jas said in an attempt to defend herself. All of a sudden another slap came on her. 

"Nicole!" This time it was Eric that scolded Nicole.

"Women like you are always desperate." Nicole accused before finally turning around and slamming the door behind her.

"I\'m sorry about my sister." Eric said as he approached Jas who was pressing a hand against the area Nicole had slapped.

"I don\'t blame her." Jas confessed. "Ian has moved on. Even if Nicole were to leave him he would never come back to me." Jas said as she turned and rode the car.

"I\'ll talk to Nicole." Eric said with a sigh as he placed a hand on Cedric\'s shoulder. "Make sure she gets home safe and doesn\'t utter a word about what happened."

Cedric nodded. 

"Wait." Katerina suddenly said as Cedric was walking towards the driver\'s side of the car.

"What is it Katerina?" Cedric asked. He was already tired and just wanted to go home.

"I want to talk to you in private. It\'s about Nurse Jen and Selina Ramirez." Katerina said as she walked towards the distance.

"Go. I\'ll make sure Nicole doesn\'t come back to attack Jas." Eric said with a nod. 

With that Cedric followed Katerina.