Never Judge

Ayanna leaned back as Katerina went over to the bar to get another bottle of alcohol. 

"Why did we have to go to some unknown bar?" Nicole complained. Instead of going to Hype Bar or Hideout, Katerina had dragged them to an underground bar and got them a corner seat.

"She didn't want the boys interfering." Veronica said. 

Katerina swayed her hips to the music as she brought the bottle over to the other girls. She had a waiter behind her carrying some glasses. 

"What mess did you get into now?" Veronica asked as the waiter poured them shots.

"No questions, just drinks." Katerina said as she handed each of the girls a shot glass. 

"Katerina, you can't solve your problems through drinking!" Natalia, her younger sister, said as she took the shot.

"Who told you that? Alexi? Alexi solves everything with alcohol and girls, so don't take any advice from him Natalia." Katerina said as she waved a finger at the younger woman. 

"More!" Katerina shouted over the music to the waiter.

"What did my brother do to piss you off?" Nicole said as she gladly too the shot the waiter offered.

"I'd rather not talk about him." Katerina said, taking two shots simultaneously. 

"Hey, chill on the drinks." Veronica said. "We can't carry you home if you get drunk."

"Veronica, I don't do drunk." Katerina said, rolling her eyes.

"There's always a first time." Ayanna said with a giggle. 

"So what did he do?" Nicole asked Katerina again, who simply groaned and took another shot.

"I heard my brother came home with a swollen face recently." Veronica said with a laugh. 

The other girls gasped. 

"Did you punch Ram? Aren't you just fake dating though?" Natalia asked her elder sister.

"I didn't punch Ram. Eric did." Katerina said in a pissed off tone.

"What did Ram do?" Veronica asked.

"Why do you think Eric reacted that way?" Katerina said as she rolled her eyes.

Nicole suddenly burst out laughing. "I think excessive jealousy is in our genes." 

Ayanna gasped. "No way. He punched his friend just because he went on a fake date with you? Didn't Eric know? Didn't Ram or you tell him?"

"Why should I tell Eric? Why does Ram need to ask for his permission? He isn't my husband, father, brother, or even just my boyfriend!" Katerina complained as she took another shot. 

"But Katerina, you can't deny that there is still something between you two." Natalia argued. 

"You're too young to know about these things Natalia. If Alexi heard you speaking like that he would be shocked." Katerina teased in a harsh tone. 

"Ooooh! I love this song!" Nicole suddenly said as she began to dance in her seat.

"Let's dance!" Katerina said, dragging Nicole to the center of the room. 

The other girls looked at each other and shook their heads. They took a shot and stood up to join Nicole and Katerina on the dance floor.

Katerina felt free, she didn't need to worry about Eric Chan or her fake boyfriend. She simply danced with her friends and enjoyed the night. With every song she called a waiter over to hand them drinks. She had paid in advance for the waiters to keep them drinking, she didn't want to drink. She just wanted to forget and to dance. 

As the girls continued to drink and dance more and more people began arriving at the bar, it was quite popular, and before they knew it the place was packed. People were drinking and dancing everywhere. Katerina giggled as she watched a man attempt to flirt with a girl, the girl rejected him and continued to drink with her friends.

"What's so funny?" Nicole asked as she shouted over the music. 

"I just saw a guy get rejected." Katerina replied with a laugh.

"Harsh." Nicole giggled. 

Katerina was dancing to the music when she felt a hand on her hips. She looked up and saw that Nicole hadn't noticed that someone was trying to take advantage of her.

Katerina turned to tell off the person behind her, she was shocked that as she turned around to give him a piece of her mind the man was pulled away. She saw several bodyguards dragging him away. An arm soon came around her waist and pulled her away from the dance floor. 

By the way the person held her she knew it could only be one guy, Eric Chan. Behind them she watched as the other boys took the girls out of the bar. She even saw Alexi scolding Natalia, she was sure he was telling her off for letting Katerina drag her to such a place.

"Why? Why did you go to a bar we didn't control?" Eric asked as they walked out through the backdoor.

"Because of this!" Katerina shouted as she pushed his hand away.

"That man was clearly trying to feel you up!" Eric said as he pulled her back into his arms."I'm just trying to keep you safe!" 

"I don't need you to keep me safe. I can handle myself. I could easily send that man packing." Katerina sighed as she continued to walk with Eric to a secluded part of the parking lot. "Why would you go here? Why would you risk being seen? Don't you know how badly this will look to your fans?" Katerina asked.

Eric finally released her and remained silent. 

"Ram! Tell Eric how stupid his actions are! If anyone snapped a photo of him it would have a bad impact on his career!" Katerina shouted as the others approached. 

"Katerina, you girls are easily recognized, what if someone wanted to kidnap you?" Alexi shouted at his sister. "You might be able to defend yourself but what about Natalia and Veronica?"

"Alexi no one recognized us." Katerina said in a calmer tone. 

"What car did you bring?" Alexi asked as he glared at his sister.

Katerina was about to answer when she realized that she had brought her newest sports car.

"How do you think we were able to find you so quickly?" Alexi asked her.

"Alexi, calm down." Eric said in an attempt to defend Katerina. "She's already realized her mistake."

"You, you, you! Don't defend me!" Katerina shouted at Eric.

"I think this issue is between you guys, I'm gonna take Ayanna home. Cedric will be so mad if he finds out she was at a place like this." Ray said as he pulled his drunk fiance to his car.

"Wait for us Ray." Miguel called out as he lifted Veronica in his arms. She wasn't walking straight anymore. "Wow, Ian and Nicole are fast." Miguel laughed as he noticed that his sister and her boyfriend had disappeared as soon as they walked out of the bar.

"I'll take Natalia home. Do you need a ride Ram?" Alexi asked as he helped his sister walk to his car.

"Yeah. My bodyguards are already checking all the phones inside. They'll call if something becomes an issue." Ram said as he followed Alexi to the car.

"Keys." Eric said as he held out his hand.

Katerina grumbled but handed her keys to him.

Katerina noticed that his bodyguards that night were different, they were the ones provided by the Chan family to their children. They were much harsher and more dangerous than the one Eric used when he was out in public, those bodyguards were mostly for crowd control, and the ones that really protected him hid in the shadows.

"Make sure he knows not to mess with her again." Eric said in a dark tone as he walked with Katerina to her car.