Never Judge

"Based on your mood over the phone I would never have thought you were with Selina." Cedric said with a laugh. "You seemed happy, happier than I have seen you in a while, like when we were younger, before Ilya." 

"I felt at ease around her." Alexi confessed. "I mean it was awkward at first, but eventually we started talking as if the whole thing with Jen never happened." 

​​

"She was never an enemy Alexi." Katerina told her brother.

"I know, it was my fault." Alexi said, shaking his head. "Look, I need time alone, I\'ll go out for a drive." Alexi said with a sigh as he walked out of Cedric\'s office.

Alexi had driven himself over, as he had told Cedric he had come over from speaking with Selina. At first he drove around the city, taking in the sights and sounds, he tried not to think, he needed to clear his mind so that he could face Jen without revealing what they had learned.

In all honesty he was furious at Jen. She had used him to get to his sister\'s lab, she tricked him. It made him wonder how long she had been playing him like a toy. Did she approach him just to get to Natalia\'s lab? What was her real intention with him? 

Eventually Alexi reached a cliff that faced the sea, he parked his car and took a seat on the hood as he watched the waves crash into the wall. 

He needed to talk to someone, he needed to apologize to Selina. He quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket and called Selina.

"Mr. Sebastian?" Selina asked over the phone. "Can I help you with anything?" Selina\'s tone was cold and formal, Alexi didn\'t blame her. He was horrible to her, then suddenly he asked her out to talk, then he left without an explanation. She would of course be wary of him.

"Selina, I already told you, please just call me Alexi." He said with a frustrated sigh. "Technically we\'ve known each other for years and our families are old friends. Please, drop the formality."

"Alright, Alexi. How can I help you?" Selina\'s tone was still cold, but at least she was calling him by his first name.

"I\'m sorry I had to leave all of a sudden. I wonder if I could make it up to you with coffee tonight?" Alexi asked, he was afraid she would say no, but he had to at least try.

"Selina, are you still there?" Alexi asked as he noticed that she didn\'t respond to his invitation.

"Yes, sure, coffee will be fine." Selina said.

"Great. I\'ll see you then." Alexi said in a flat tone as he dropped the call.

He looked at the time and noticed that Jen would be getting out of work soon and he would have to pick her up and pretend to still be madly in love with her. 

He quickly got into his car and drove to Saints Hospital. While he was on the driveway waiting for Jen, Miguel just so happened to pass by. He knocked on Alexi\'s window, starling Alexi who was deep in thought.

"Hey." Miguel said with a frown as Alexi stepped out of his car. "How are you holding up?"

"I took a drive, cleared my thoughts. Cedric is right, I can\'t be impulsive with this. So I\'m here to pick Jen up for our first public date." Alexi said with a shrug.

"For all it\'s worth Alexi, we don\'t blame you. Ian, Eric, and I understand that you couldn\'t have known. Plus we know how blinding love can be, so we understand." Miguel said as he placed a hand on Alexi\'s shoulder.

"Thank you." Alexi said with a weak smile.

"Anyway, I\'ve got an operation later, so I need to prep. I guess I\'ll see you at the wedding?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, I\'ll see you." Alexi said with a nod as Miguel walked away. 

After a few minutes, Jen came out from the hospital. She was wearing a semi formal dress and had a huge smile on her face. In the past, whenever Jen smiled this way at him, his heart would race, now he just wanted to wipe that smile off her face.

"Alexi, babe." Jen said as she walked over and planted a kiss on his lips. Alexi tried his best to kiss back, hoping that his acting was enough.

"Is something wrong?" Jen asked as their lips parted. It seemed that he wasn\'t convincing enough.

"Nah, it was just a tiring day." Alexi said, shaking his head. He opened the door for Jen and helped her in before finally walking over to the driver\'s side and getting in himself.

"Alexi, if something is bothering you, please tell me." Jen said as she placed a hand on his. He desperately wanted to pull his hand away, but he remembered that he needed to keep up this facade so that they could investigate Jen\'s motives. 

"I\'m just tired." Alexi said, repeating himself. "I went to Cedric today and played with Yoyo. So I\'m quite tired. I hope you don\'t mind that we end dinner quickly tonight?" 

"Sure babe." Jen said as she lifted herself and planted a kiss on his cheek. 

"Let\'s go." Alexi said as he stepped on the gas.

He took them to a famous restaurant in Pris Mall, and instead of choosing a secluded room, he and Jen sat openly in front of everyone. Initially this dinner was supposed to show everyone how much he loved and cared about Jen, but now, it was just a facade he was putting up so that Jen wouldn\'t suspect anything. 

Alexi was silent throughout dinner, he barely answered any of Jen\'s questions and when he did he kept them short. 

"So what about a date?" Jen asked, the whole reason for their dinner was to set a wedding date for them.

"You know, I spoke to some people and I realized why are we rushing?" Alexi asked as he tried to push back the discussion. "I want to plan the best wedding for you, so I don\'t want to set the date in stone yet." 

"But babe, we need a date to make reservations." Jen complained.

"I\'m the president\'s son, they\'ll adjust." Alexi said quite cokily. He didn\'t want to prolong the discussion.

Jen was surprised by his words and decided to drop the conversation. 

When dinner was finally done Jen expected that Alexi would let her stay over at his mansion at the Mountain View community. Much to her surprise, however, Alexi drove her back home to her apartment.

"I need to rest. I can\'t rest with you around." Alexi told her as he placed a kiss on her cheek and left.

He was rushing to get to the coffee shop to meet Selina, he was already late and he was afraid that she wouldn\'t wait.