Never Judge

"It could have been worse." Hendrick said as he patted Al on the shoulder. He was driving them back to Al\'s house with Eric in the back seat.

"That Sora, she\'s something, isn\'t she?" Al asked as he thought back to the feisty older woman in the meeting earlier that day.

"Sora? I thought you already had Cara, are you building a harem cousin?" Eric teased as he laughed from the back seat.

Al rolled his eyes in annoyance as he ignored Eric\'s comment.

"She\'s a member of our team that was more angry at Al than respectful." Hendrick explained as he laughed with Eric. "She\'s older, much older."

"Right, cause Al isn\'t into older women." Eric added, making Hendrick burst into laughter.

"This one is funny, why don\'t you and Emilio hang out with him more?" Herndrick asked as Al shook his head, annoyed at how much the two were enjoying picking on him.

"Mom doesn\'t like staying in the Capital too much, reminds her of dad. Plus dad\'s former fans always hound her. He\'s been gone for sixteen years and they still chase after her." Eric sighed and shook his head.

He had witnessed first hand when he was younger how his father\'s crazy fans tried to snap photos of him and his mom.

They used to live at the other end of the capital, but with the amount of people that were stalking their community and their home, Katerina chose to move to another country.

"Your dad?" Hendrick asked, making Al suddenly look at the man in the driver\'s seat.

"You didn\'t know who he was?" Al asked.

"You never introduced him." Henrick shrugged as they stopped at an intersection.

"Hi, I\'m Al\'s cousin, Eric Chan II. My mom is Katerina Sebastian-Chan, renowned international women\'s rights lawyer, while my dad was Dr. Eric Chan I, Psychologist." Eric said with the trademark smirk that his mom said made him look just like his dad.

"You forgot, nation\'s husband and most popular artist ever to grace television in recent memory!" Henrdrick added, shocked by who was currently in his car.

"Right, he was all that too, but mom always prefers to say my dad was a doctor. More low key, mom prefers low key. Though according to all the stories dad  just loved acting, it was his choice of career." Eric added as he thought of the stories he had been told of his father.

Hendrick stared at Eric, clearly looking at his features, trying to connect him to his mother and father.

Eric had witnessed it multiple times in the past, it happened when people learned who he actually was.

"Hendrick, the light is green." Al pointed out, snapping Hendrick from his trance.

Hendrick was so out of it that he accidentally stepped too hard on the gas pedal, almost causing a crash.

Luckily he was able to step on the breaks, but not without injuring Al who hit the dashboard of the car.

"That\'s why Uncle Ray always tells you to wear a seatbelt Al." Eric chuckled as Al frowned and gestured to Hendrick to continue driving.

The car was silent as Hendrick continued to drive them towards the direction of the Mountain View community.

After a few awkward minutes of silence, it was Hendrick that first spoke.

"My mom, she has an entire shrine to your parents." He said, clearing his throat, sounding a little bit embarrassed by the fact that his mother was a fan of the young man in the backseat.

"A lot of moms are." Eric said as he smiled at Hendrick. "I\'ve been told that my mom and dad inspired a lot of people not just with their relationship, but with who they were as well."

Al gave his cousin a sad smile, he knew how badly Eric wished he met his dad.

Emilio would tell him stories of how Eric\'s father would spoil him when he was still alive.

"My mom would flip if she knew that I met you." Hendrick chuckled as they spotted the gates to the Mountain View Community coming up.

"Did my cousin give you security clearance already?" Al asked as he noticed the guard closing the gate.

"No, not yet. Was he supposed to?" Hendrick asked, slightly confused by what Al meant.

"He was." Al sighed as he took out his phone and made a few calls.

They had to stop at the gate for a few minutes as Hendrick explained what was happening.

As Al got off the phone, the guards suddenly recognized him.

"Mr. Laurence, we didn\'t see you there-" As the guard was about to let him in, another of his companions quickly came running.

"It\'s Mr. Aldrich Laurence. Also the boss said to give that car permanent clearance." His companion called out.

"We are so sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Laurence." The guard said apologetically as he waved them through.

"They were nice." Hendrick said with a smile as he drove up the main road of the gated community.

"They are all ex-military." Eric told Hendrick, the shock evident in his eyes. "This entire community is owned by Uncle Cedric. The security here is so tight because of events before we were born."

Hendrick nodded as they continued to drive deeper into the community.

They passed multiple mansions before stopping by another set of gates with heavily armed guards.

The guards simply nodded at them, saluted and let them through.

"Last time you were here you were brought against your will, so I\'m sure you weren\'t able to appreciate the place." Al told Hendrick with a grin as they passed the gates.

"As I said, Uncle Cedric is big on security." Eric told Hendrick as Al told him to turn right on the next street.

"You would expect that the main road leads to the biggest house in the community." Al said as he smiled. "You\'ll need to remember the turns."

Hendrick ended driving around the community for a few more minutes before Al told him to stop.

"That\'s our house." Al said as he pointed at a cream colored wall with an open long driveway. "You\'ll have to come over sometimes I guess, eventually. Let\'s go."

Henrick drove again, taking a few more turns before entering a driveway that was sheltered by a canopy of trees.

"This is where Uncle Cedric\'s property starts. It\'s quite a long driveway." Al explained.

"When we were younger we would race our bikes here." Eric chuckled. "I always won."

Hendrick gasped as the property came into view, last time all he saw was Raymond Laurence\'s home. He didn\'t get the chance to see his friend\'s.

At the door, Emilio stood smiling and waving at them.

"Don\'t worry, you\'ll always be in awe, I know I am." Al said as he hopped off the car.