Never Judge

"As I mentioned I didn't know my dad that well." Mae began as Cedric and Ian listened closely to her story. "From what my mother told me, he worked in a different country and would only come to visit me maybe twice a year."

Cedric and Ian remained silent as Mae told her story, they simply nodded, acknowledging what she had said.

"One day, mom left me at home with my uncle, I think he was my uncle." Mae mumbled as she tried to recall the distant past. "Anyway, she left and she never came back."

"Both your parents are gone?" Ian asked, this was news to him. Nowhere in her records did it say that Mae was adopted.

"You didn't know that I was adopted?" Mae asked as she looked up at her boss and at Ian.

"No, it's not in your records Mae." Ian said as he shook his head. "And you know how thorough we check everything."

"That doesn't make sense." Mae said with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Cedric asked. "Someone probably hid the truth about your adoption or the government messed up the documents, I mean that does happen. And you've never mentioned that you were adopted, so we didn't think to look into it."

"I never mentioned it because I thought you knew." Mae said as she looked at Cedric and Ian with a conflicted expression.

"What do you remember about your parents and your uncle?" Ian asked. "I mean if you don't mind us looking into it."

Cedric could see how worried Mae suddenly looked when Ian opened up the idea of looking into her past. She probably misunderstood what Ian's intentions were, so he quickly stepped in to reassure her.

"Mae, it's not what you think." Cedric said with a frown. "We trust you, you've worked with me for years now. The reason why Ian wants to investigate your past is so that you could have closure."

Mae frowned, but nodded.

Cedric turned to Ian and gave him a concerned look, he wasn't quite eager to investigate Mae's past if she herself was hesitant about it.

"Mae, do you want to find out about what happened to your parents and uncle?" Ian asked with a worried look on his face. Clearly he had realized that he might have crossed a line in assuming it was what she wanted.

"Honestly, I don't know how to feel about it." Mae said. "I'm not sad about it, nor am I happy."

"Mae, if you are in any way uncomfortable with this, tell us." Cedric told his young assistant, and he was telling her the truth, if she simply wanted to move on he wouldn't mind.

Mae remained silent for a while as she thought about Cedric's and Ian's offer to investigate her past.

"No, let's do this." Mae suddenly said with a determined expression. "In the past, I didn't want to know and it hurt too much to remember, but now I think it's time. I think I need to know what happened to them."

Ian and Cedric nodded at her.

"Then, Ian and you can investigate the matter when you aren't too busy with work, my resources will be at your disposal." Cedric told his assistant.

"Thank you." Mae said with a smile.

"Do you mind telling us more about what you remember?" Ian asked as he took out a pen and a notebook to jot down all the clues Mae could provide.

"Well, okay, so I know I grew up in the province and it was just right outside of the capital." Mae said as she tried to recall everything from her childhood.

"Was it very provincial or like a city?" Ian asked as he tapped his pen on the notebook.

"It was very provincial, if I remember correctly it was quite remote." Mae explained. "We didn't have many neighbors and we kept to ourselves."

"Do you remember your mom's name? Or your dad's name? Or even your uncle's?" Ian asked.

"No, I just called them mom, dad, and uncle." Mae said with a frown as she realized that she didn't know her  parents at all.

"How about your name back then, do you remember that?" Ian asked.

"I only ever remember being called Mae." Mae said as she tried to remember if her mother or father had ever called her by any other name, but nothing came to mind. All her life she had been Mae.

"How about a last name?" Ian asked.

"If she can't remember another name, it would be odd for her to remember her original last name." Cedric said as he rolled his eyes.

"No, nothing else." Mae said, shaking her head.

"See, I told you so." Cedric said with a laugh as sighed.

"Well it was worth a try." Ian said with a shrug as he considered what else to ask Mae.

"You guys should probably start by questioning her adoptive parents." Cedric suggested.

"Yeah, we'll get to that when we land and actually have time to go and visit them." Ian told Cedric. "I mean it's not like our plate isn't full as it is with normal work."

Cedric simply laughed at his friend.

"Do you remember what your dad's job was? I'm sure you were told some reason why he couldn't stay." Ian said as he thought of what else to ask.

"I think mom said he ran a shop in the capital." Mae said as she tried to recall her dad's job.

"You would earn the same running a shop in the capital and in the province." Ian pointed out.

"I wasn't exactly old enough to remember these things." Mae complained, clearly frustrated that they were getting nowhere with her memories.

"Do you at least remember what he looked like?" Ian asked.

"He was handsome." Mae answered quickly.

"All dads are handsome in their kid's eyes, be more specific." Ian complained.

"No, I mean he was like actor level handsome." Mae said as she tried to emphasize what she meant. "He had black hair and piercing black eyes. His skin was quite light, that's what I remember."

"Well that's oddly specific." Ian said as he jotted down what Mae could remember.

"Aside from all the fun I had with him, that's all I can remember." Mae said with a sigh.

"Alright, don't worry." Cedric said as he looked compassionately at Mae. "Let's see what we can do to get to the bottom of Mae's past, and maybe find her uncle and parents." Cedric said as he looked towards Ian.

"I'll get things moving as soon as we arrive." Ian said with a nod.

"Let's get some work done first so that we can rest before landing." Cedric said with a nod as he powered his laptop back on.