Never Judge

"Mom, this way." Mae said as she guided her mom into her unit.

Cedric had offered to give Marisa a place to stay in the famous Solaire Towers. At first Marisa had tried to turn down Cedric's offer, but Cedric was very insistent.

He explained how he wanted her to stay in a place where she could be kept safe, where there was ample security. He used Mae and Mien as an excuse to give her her own place in Solaire.

"Wow, this place is even bigger than my house!" Marisa exclaimed as she walked into the living room. "Mr. Reyes provides quite well."

"Working for the Reyes Group is the best thing to have ever happened to me mom." Mae said with a smile as she walked over to the kitchen counter and took out a set of keys.

"So, mom, you have a choice, Mr. Reyes asked me to give you a unit, but for the night since it's quite bare, you can stay with me or Mien." Mae explained.

"How bare is bare?" Marisa asked. "Because I'm used to living with as little things as possible."

"Mom, that can change now." Mae told her mother. "Why don't we take you to look at the apartment, then you can decide."

"Alright." Marisa said with a nod.

"Mom, before anything, I'm pretty sure you figured out that Dave is my boyfriend." Mae said in a shy tone.

"Anyone could tell that, especially with the way you two interacted earlier. I'm surprised Mr. Reyes didn't scold you." Marisa said with a laugh.

"We aren't normally that showy with our relationship." Mae told her mother as she blushed. "Do you want tea or coffee mom? We need to wait for Dave, he said he would accompany us."

"Coffee." Marisa said with a smile.

"One coffee coming right up." Mae said in an eager tone as she walked over to the kitchen.

Marisa followed her, curious as to what the rest of the unit looked like. When they entered the kitchen, Mae heard Marisa gasp in shock.

"This place is huge!" Marisa exclaimed as she looked around.

"You can explore it mom, I'll just make coffee for the both of us." Mae called out as she walked over to the coffee machine and began to prepare their drinks.

Marisa walked around the dining room and kitchen, touching the counter and looking at the very high tech appliances in the room.

"So how serious are you and Dave?" Marisa asked as she finally moved towards the counter and sat down on a stool.

"Well, we've been together for a year now and yes we've talked about the future." Mae said as she poured a cup of coffee for her and her mom. "Luckily his family isn't traditional and they will let him marry for love." Mae explained as she placed the cups on a tray.

"He comes from a rich family?" Marisa asked her daughter as Mae carried the tray with two cups of coffee on it.

Mae gently placed the tray down on the counter and served Marisa her cup.

"Well, yes, he is here to train under Cedric." Mae told her mom as she placed the tray away and pulled the sugar and cream towards them. "Eventually he will have to leave and go back to his family to work for them."

"Are you sure they will accept you?" Marisa asked her daughter. "I've heard stories about how cruel rich families can get when it comes to poor in-laws."

"I promise you, Mrs. Benitez, that will never happen to your daughter." Dave's deep voice said as he entered the kitchen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to assume that your family is like that." Marisa said as she looked down, she was embarrassed that Dave had heard her doubting his family.

"No harm Mrs. Benitez." Dave said with a smile. "You only want what is best for your daughter, and I admire that."

"Hey babe." Mae said as Dave walked over and pulled her into a hug.

"We've been way too expressive of our relationship today." Dave teased as he let her go. "Shall we take your mom to her apartment?" He asked as he offered his hand to Mae.

"Sure." Mae said with a nod as she took a final sip of her coffee and left the cup on the table.

Marisa gave her daughter a confused expression but said nothing.

"Right, I guess I need to explain some things." Mae said as she scratched her head. "There were rumors in the past that Cedric, Mr. Reyes, the CEO, didn't like his employees dating. So we kept our relationship a secret at first."

"So he is alright with the two of you being a couple?" Marisa asked as she pointed at the pair.

"He has nothing against it as long as our work doesn't suffer." Dave said with a nod.

"That's good, it seems the Reyes Group is quite progressive." Marisa said.

"Yes, they are, mom." Mae told her mother. "Come on mom, let's take a look at your place and we can see what else I need to buy this weekend for you." Mae said as she pulled her mom out the door.

"Wait what, buy me new stuff? Isn't that expensive." Marisa said as they got into the elevator and Mae checked what floor her mother's apartment would be at.

"Don't worry mom, I'm not the one paying for it." Mae said with a laugh as the elevator doors closed and it descended. "Cedric is paying for it since he made you move."

"What? I can't -" Marisa said as she was shocked by what her daughter had just told her.

"Don't worry Mrs. Benitez, Cedric is so rich that redecorating your apartment is like loose change to him." Dave said, shaking his head. "And even if he didn't offer, I would have offered to pay for it myself."

"Ooooh, mom, you're on the same floor as Mien." Mae said as they stepped out of the elevator.

She quickly went up to one of the doors and rang a doorbell.

After a minute, Mien opened the door and was quite surprised to find Mae and his mother standing outside.