Never Judge

After talking about Cedric's grudge list, the group turned their attention to lighter topics since the past few days have been heavy on all of them. Each person had their own little battles fought and won over the past week.

"Katerina, you should bring Camilla with you when you go boy hunting next time!" Alexi teased clearly having drank too much. Unlike everyone else's assistants, Cedric's had become extended members of the group, especially since both Ian and Camilla were both from old rich families that had fallen out of grace in the past generation. 

"I don't go boy hunting!" Katerina said in an attempt to defend herself.

"Don't lie, Katerina. Just last month I saw you walking out of a bar with that rising star business man. What's his name again? Miguel, do you remember his name? The one that tried to pay you to operate on his dad." Veronica had become a little more talkative since she had a little wine to drink.

"Guys, stop it." Katerina said in a serious tone that made her brother shrink in his seat.

"Katerina's worse than me!" A drunk Nicole struggled to say as she snuggled in Ian's arm.

"You know what, I'm leaving. I'll see you guys around." Eric said as he stood up and marched out.

"Eric, wait!" Katerina shouted in an attempt to stop Eric but he refused to turn around. Katerina got out of her chair and glared at Alexi and Veronica before chasing after Eric.

When Katerina was out of sight, Alexi burst into laughter.

"You're mean." A drunk Nicole said.

"What? I'm just helping things along." Alexi said as he reached out to drink another glass.

"How long have those two been a thing?" Adrianna asked.

"Ten years or so. Not as long as Miguel's been chasing Veronica, but the Chan boys like a long chase." Ram teased.

"Stop drinking already." Veronica scolded Nicole as she got another glass of wine.

"It tastes good." Nicole mumbles as she hugged her glass.

"You better take her home Ian. She's pretty much out of it." Miguel told Ian as he watched his little sister finish her glass of wine.

"We'll go then. Thanks for the drink Cedric." Ian said as he helped a drunk Nicole up on her feet.

"Adrianna and I will see Camilla home. Just take care of Nicole." Cedric said with a laugh. Ian had always cared about his co-workers so Cedric was aware of his concern.

Ian nodded and said goodbye to the group as he struggled to keep Nicole up. 

"Babe, where are your keys?" Ian asked Nicole as they approached the parking lot.

"Mmmmm bag." Was all Nicole could mumble.

Ian helped Nicole walk to the car, when he realized she didn't take her awfully pink car, he breathed a sigh of relief. It had been incredibly awkward driving that car from the bar last time. Ian couldn't help but smile at the thought of that night. It was the first time Nicole wasn't shy and was quite sweet with him. 

He noticed that Nicole purposely chose not to bring her bodyguards or assistant to this dinner, as no one approached him as he helped her out of the restaurant, Nicole was clearly being naughy by making sure that Ian was the one that had to take her home.

Ian placed Nicole in the front passenger seat and made sure her seat belt was fastened tightly. As he lifted himself up to get out, Nicole's arms suddenly held him and kissed him on the lips.

Ian was quite surprised, but he wasn't stupid and was not about to turn down a kiss from his girlfriend. Instead, he deepened the kiss until Nicole ended it, catching her breath.

"Still drunk babe?" Ian teased.

"A little." Nicole grumbled. 

"I'll take you home." Ian told Nicole as he kissed her again.

"How will you get home?" Nicole asked Ian in her drunken state. 

Ian was touched that his girlfriend would think about him even if she was drunk. 

"I'll call a cab home." Ian said as he held her hand tight.

"Mmmm, okay," Nicole said as she shifted in her seat.

By the time they got to the Chan residence, Ian saw that Nicole was fast asleep, so he decided not to wake her. So he carried her out of the car in his arms, and as soon as he lifted her, Nicole hugged him by the neck and snuggled into him.

Ian groaned as he felt more uncomfortable in certain areas due to Nicole's actions. He was soon greeted by a maid who opened the door for him. It wasn't the first time that Ian was coming over to the house so the help was quite familiar with their mistresses' boyfriend. Ian also was familiar with the house so he carried Nicole to her room on the second floor. 

Each Chan sibling had a whole floor to themselves, Nicole took the 2nd, Miguel the 3rd, and Eric the 4th floor. Ian assumed that Eric hadn't gone home since he didn't see the actor's car and none of the lights at the top floor were switched on.

Contrary to what he had initially expected, Nicole's room was not pink. It was white and minimalist, and since they had come from a family of doctors, every surface was extremely clean and sterile. 

Nicole's bed was close to the floor, she had told Ian about how she couldn't sleep on a bed that was higher than the ground by two feet because she always fell off. The thought of it made Ian laugh as he placed his girlfriend down on the bed. 

As he got up to leave, Nicole suddenly hugged him and pulled him onto her bed.

"Nicole, it's late. I have to go home. I have work tomorrow." Ian told her as he gently pried her arms off him.

"Sleep here tonight." Nicole mumbled.

"Your brothers will catch us." Ian said. No matter what she said, Nicole still had two older brothers that were quite influential.

"Miguel won't come home, he lives at Mountain View. Eric won't either. I'm pretty sure he'll end up in the house next door." Nicole said with a giggle.

"You're drunk and very tempting, but I can't stay. It will end badly if I stay." Ian whispered into Nicole's ear.

This tickled Nicole so she ended up squirming underneath Ian, her simple action drove him crazy.

"Nicole. Behave." Ian said in a stern voice. It was so difficult being around Nicole when she was drunk. 

Nicole bit her lower lip and stole a kiss on Ian's lips. Ian caught her and deepened the kiss until Nicole was pressed onto the bed and Ian had kicked off his shoes to join her.

"Why are you so tempting?" Ian groaned as he kissed her neck.

"It tickles." Nicole said with a laugh.

"You make it so hard, babe." Ian teased her.

"So, you'll stay?" Nicole asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

Ian simply nodded in reply and kissed her again. It was going to be a long and tiring night.

The next day, Nicole woke up to see Ian stepping out of the shower.

"You just woke up?" Ian asked as he walked over to plant a kiss on her forehead. 

"I'm still tired." Nicole complained.

"Well, we did exercise a lot last night." Ian whispered into her ear, making Nicole blush. "Anyway I need to go to the office now. Cedric's left a lot of work during his undercover months, plus we have this whole grudge list to execute. I probably won't be able to go on a date with you till this weekend." 

"It's fine. Miguel and I have a few operations over the week that I think will be all nighters, plus the whole managing the hospital part. So I'll be busy too." Nicole said.

Ian came out of her walk-in closet all dressed, it seemed he had someone bring him some clothes earlier in the morning. 

"I miss you already." Ian said as he kissed Nicole on the lips and left.