Never Judge

"What?" Dave said, as he stood up from his seat. "That's impossible, the Chan family has that place locked down like a fort, no one comes in or out without them knowing."

"I need to talk to Nicole." Ian said as he massaged his temples. "I knew something was up, I think she and her brothers are all in on this."

"I thought Miguel was helping us find the boss." Dave said as he walked over to the bar and got a bottle of wine and some glasses.

"What are you doing Dave?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dave grinned and shrugged as he placed a glass in front of each of his companions and uncorked the wine bottle.

"I figured," Dave said as he began to walk around, pouring the wine "that if the boss is making us go through all this trouble, might as well prank him back by taking a dip in his wine."

Ian lifted the glass to his lips, and smiled, he knew this wine, it was Cedric's favorite.

"What the hell!" Leon said, spitting out the wine.

"What?" Dave asked as he took a sip. He too stared at the glass with a puzzled look. He then turned to Ian who didn't seem bothered or surprised that the wine tasted odd.

"This is Cedric's favorite wine to serve." Ian said as a smirk crossed his lips. "It's a grocery wine that he gives his pretentious clients."

"What? Why?" Dave said as he looked at the bottle, it looked extremely expensive.

"For fun." Ian said with a shrug. "Also this was the wine we got drunk on when he first started working at Mor Co. we were both so poor that we couldn't afford a decent drink. Camilla decided to buy us this cheap wine out of frustration."

"You old rich and your funny tastes." Dave said as he finished the glass and poured himself another.

"I thought you didn't like it?" Leon asked as he looked at the younger man.

"Doesn't mean I won't drink it." Dave said with a shrug. "I'm not like my peers. I'm not some snob."

"We are getting off topic." Leon said, rolling his eyes. "You both better catch me up on everything, and Ian, how sure are you that the person you saw was Cedric?"

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" Ian asked Leon. "We've both known him for years, we know all of his quirks. I can't miss him in a crowd."

"Yeah, you probably know him better than his wife." Dave said, rolling his eyes.

"And you don't?" Ian asked Dave with a funny look.

"Of course we do." Dave said, rolling his eyes. "But why would Cedric go to all this trouble to hide and just let us spot him in the hospital?"

"Maybe he is ready, maybe subconsciously he wants to come back." Ian said with a shrug, trying as much as possible not to sound too hopeful.

"You sound like his lover more than his assistant." Dave said with a laugh.

"Oh shut up." Ian said, annoyed at Dave. "You also want him back. Work is much more stressful when he is gone."

"That's true." Dave said with a sigh. "It's a good thing Mia told Mae what Adrianna likes before, you know." Dave said with a frown.

"In all honesty I saw how much difficulty Mae and Camilla were having, helping Adrianna out. She is so different from the boss." Ian said as he shook his head.

"What do you mean Mia told Mae?" Leon asked with a confused look.

"Well, before she passed, apparently Mia and Mae were already hanging out." Dave said with a shrug. "And Mae learned about what Adrianna likes and doesn't like."

"That's not possible." Leon said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean Leon?" Ian asked. "Mae clearly knows what Adrianna wants, what food she craves, how she wants her desk fixed, how she wants to go about her day. Mia clearly knew that. It was part of her job."

"No, not that." Leon said. "Mia didn't hangout with people."

"Are you suddenly going all jealous boyfriend now?" Dave teased. "I'm sure Mia had friends, Leon, some you knew about and some that you didn't. People are like that."

"No, not Mia, not me." Leon said, shaking his head again. Ian watched as Leon tried to process what was going on. Clearly something was confusing him.

"Spit it out Leon." Ian told him.

"Mia always avoided making connections with people. She avoided making bonds because of the nature of our work. She was like me in that aspect." Leon explained.

"Well, that's clearly not true with you." Dave said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Leon asked as he gave the younger man a puzzled look. "I've kept people at arm's length all my life."

"You are here with us." Dave suddenly said. "Like it or not, you made friends. So why couldn't Mia have made friends too?"

"I knew her schedule, she didn't have time to meet up with Mae." Leon said with a shrug. "Unlike you guys and me, we all worked in the same area following Cedric around. Mae and Mia would have had to meet up at different times."

"There is a simple way to find out the truth." Ian suddenly said.

"How?" Dave asked.

"Her bodyguard." Leon said as he realized what Ian was saying, he quickly took out his phone and called a number.

"Tess," Leon said in an urgent and intimidating tone. "I need you to remember something for us."

Leon paused as the person on the line spoke.

"Did Mia and Mae ever meet up outside of work?" Leon asked as he looked Dave and Ian in the eyes.

"Wait let me put you on speaker, I want you to repeat your words to me." Leon said as he placed his phone on the table and switched it to speaker mode.

"Say it again Tess." Leon said as he nodded at Dave and Ian.

"Miss Mae and Miss Mia never met outside of work, as far as I can recall Miss Mae didn't have a lot of friends. She still doesn't just that man she meets up with every now and then." Tess said over the phone.

"What man?" Dave asked, Mae had never mentioned dating anyone or any friends, and they spoke a lot, so it shocked Dave to find out that Mae was keeping a secret from him.

"A few days ago Miss Mae started meeting up with a man everyday outside her apartment." Tess explained. "He always brings her food or medicine."

"Dave, what if, no that's impossible." Ian said as he tried to shake his suspicions.

"What are you trying to say Ian?" Leon asked, giving Ian a confused look. "Employees are allowed to date."

"No, not that." Ian said, rolling his eyes. "Tess, snap a photo of this man when you see him next."

"Alright, I don't know what good it will do you though." Tess said.

"Why?" Ian asked, confused as to why she would say that.

"Because you won't see his face." Tess said. "He always has his face covered, I can't even see his eyes."

Ian looked up at Leon and Dave, his eyes wide with shock.

"You don't think." Leon said.

"Yes, I do." Ian said with a nod.