Never Judge

The access to the 2nd floor was guarded by one of Ram's bodyguards who immediately recognized Cedric and let him in. When they got up to the 2nd floor it was quite bright. Usually the top talents of Lights Entertainment would be drinking and partying here, but today it was practically empty.

"Jo!" Miguel shouted and waved. He was technically Jo's boss but their relationship was quite different. Jo had been working for Miguel for almost a year now and they were a good tandem. They had grown to become friends outside of work as well, so Jo was quite comfortable seeing Miguel in a casual setting. 

"Alexi, Miguel, Ray, Ram, these are Tom and Jo. You guys know Jo, he works for Miguel. They are both my friends from when I was in high school. Jo and Tom, the four princes." Cedric said, introducing his friends.

"Jo works with me, not for me. He works for my sister. She pays the salaries." Miguel said with a laugh.

All of the boys looked at Tom and Jo and nodded, all except for Ram who kept his back turned holding his face.

"What happened?" Cedric asked, as he walked up to his friends.

"Ram did a stupid." Alexi said with a laugh.

"I agree! Ram did a stupid." Ray said, joining in the banter. 

"Can you translate?" Cedric asked Miguel.

"He dated Katerina, someone was not happy about it and fist hit face." Miguel said as he tried to control his laughter.

"Who threw the punch? Eric or Katerina?" Cedric teased. He was pretty sure it was Eric.

"We weren't even dating for real! Your brother is too overprotective!" Ram shouted as he let the ice bag covering his face reveal a swollen cheek. 

"How did it happen?" Cedric said as he sat. Jo and Tom followed his actions. 

Alexi poured a glass for each of the three men and handed it to them. 

"I hope we don't have a sudden operation." Jo teased Miguel as he took a sip out of his glass. 

"I was bringing Katerina home from a fake date. I hugged her to thank her for putting up with the facade and for lunch -" Ram was telling his story when Ray suddenly cut in.

"You let Katerina pay for lunch?" Ray asked in a scandalized tone.

"Do you think Katerina would have let me pay for lunch?" Ram asked Ray. It was a different time, women could pay for lunch. Plus knowing Katerina's personality, Cedric was sure she wouldn't have let Ram pay for it.

"Yeah, probably not." Ray said with a laugh.

"Anyway, we get out of my car and we start walking to the door. Remember this was at around one in the afternoon. We were chatting happily when I got punched by Eric!" Ram said waving his arms. "He then grabs Katerina by the wrist. Katerina starts shouting at him and she's trying to explain to Eric that it was a fake date and she was getting mad at him for over reacting. Eric then turns around and looks at me and says that I should have known not to touch his woman." 

"And Katerina let Eric say that?" Alexi asked. 

"Of course not!" Ram said with a slight laugh. "She slaps him and knees him."

"Ah, yeah, that sounds like my sister. She would never let anyone call her his woman." Alexi laughed. He clearly knew his sister better than anyone. 

"Where's Eric now?" Ray asked. 

"He went home." Ram said with a shrug. "But I'm pretty pissed at him for punching me. I'm not even trying to steal Katerina from him."

"Why didn't you tell him beforehand that you guys were going to fake date?" Miguel asked Ram.

"She isn't his girlfriend. She doesn't need his permission." Ram said proudly.

"That's what Katerina told you, isn't it?" Alexi said, laughing at Ram again.

"Yup. I wanted to tell Eric but Katerina went on and on about her being independent and being single. So her decisions were hers alone and she didn't need to ask permission from anyone." Ram complained. 

"So will you and Katerina keep fake dating?" Cedric asked Ram.

"Yep. I need to keep the elders distracted. If they see I'm dating someone like Katerina they won't nag me for an arranged marriage." Ram said with a shrug.

"And what if Katerina and Eric figure out their issues?" Cedric asked.

"Then Katerina and I will fake break up." Ram said with another shrug. 

"Are you going public with this fake relationship?" Alexi asked Ram.

"I might have to." Ram said hesitantly. "I don't want to, but it depends on the pressure the elders apply. Going public has its own set of complications. I might control my end of the media and I have influence on the traditional forms but with social media my control is very limited. Some things just erupt and my team can't catch up, no matter how good they are."

"Do you think they'll force an engagement?" Cedric asked, as he recalled the sad fate of his cousin Marie and Marco. 

"There is only so much that they can press for. If they push for an engagement, I'll bargain with a more public relationship. If that doesn't satisfy them I'll have to fake break it off with Katerina." Ram explained his plan. 

The boys all nodded. It made sense to them, this way Katerina wouldn't end up in a forced engagement. 

The rest of the night they accompanied Ram as he complained about Eric punching him. He wasn't really mad at Eric, he understood where the actor was coming from, Katerina was someone he seemed to have no timing with. When she liked him, he had his own issues to deal with, and when he liked her, she wasn't ready to be in a serious relationship. 

"Love requires timing." Tom said with a sigh.

"I second that!" Miguel proudly said.

Ram's mood had clearly gotten better after a few drinks. When they stepped out of the bar, it wasn't even dinner time yet. Cedric called for a car to take Tom and Jo home, he promised to keep in touch with both of them and they set a date to visit little Emilio.