Very few servers were allowed to wait on the owners of Constellations, often it would just be the head waiter and the head chef. When they served the food and saw Tom sitting on the same table as Cedric, they were surprised. He was their fellow employee, he was even a few ranks below them, why was he just a manager when he knew the owner?
Cedric noticed the odd look on the server's faces. He cleared his throat and they returned to serving the food.
"Don't you have any questions?" Cedric asked Tom.
Tom looked hesitant. He was looking back and forth between Cedric and the servers, Cedric immediately understood he found it odd to talk so comfortably with Cedric in front of his co-employees.
"You may go. Leave the food on the table. We'll manage on our own." Cedric told the head waiter and head chef.
They left the food on the table as instructed and left.
"Why did you go to school with us if you were the Reyes Heir?" Tom asked "Your family is rich enough to buy any school!" He added.
"Well…" Cedric then proceeded to explain to Tom his poverty training. How he was left with the bare minimum and was banned from getting help from his family.
"So my position here is because of you?" Tom asked.
Cedric laughed. "When you started working here I was still under poverty training. You got hired with your own skill, your first promotion however, that was me. You're a good employee, and people look purely on where you got your degree. I've asked Constellations to change its hiring and promotion policy because of you. I'm asking them to consider a person's skill over their diploma." Cedric said with a smile.
"Just the first?" Tom asked. He was clearly wondering if the promotions after were because of his skill or if it was because of his friend's true identity.
"Have some faith in yourself, Tom. I didn't interfere after the first one." Cedric said, in an attempt to comfort his friend.
"So those rumors about Adrianna and the Reyes Heir were in a way true." Tom said with a laugh.
"Yeah, when people find out they will definitely flip out." Jo added.
Cedric's phone began to ring, he saw it was Ram.
"Hey." Cedric said, as he picked up the call.
"Can you come out?" Ram asked.
"I'm with some friends." Cedric explained.
"You have friends other than us?" Ram said in a fake jealous tone.
Cedric laughed at how silly his friend was acting, if the public could see how the normally formal entertainment CEO was acting they would be shocked. On top of this, Ram was never the type to invite them out, so he was somewhat worried about the reason for the call.
"You'll see when you get here." Ram said in a grim tone.
"Message me where, we'll follow." Cedric said, as he dropped the call.
"How do you feel about hanging out with my childhood friends?" Cedric asked with a shrug.
Jo and Tom looked at each other, clearly it was a surprise to them that they would be casually hanging out with the five princes. The two agreed in the end and Cedric had a car sent over to Constellations.
"Cedric, how do you plan on keeping your son's identity a secret?" Jo asked.
"That's right Cedric. With how aggressive social media is now, can you keep him a secret?" Tom added.
"I've actually been thinking about that for quite a while." Cedric said with a sigh. "Back in the day my grandparents even had a child while grandpa was in poverty training, but with social media if I had a child with Adrianna before being revealed as the heir to her I'm pretty sure my son or daughter would have been exposed all over the internet."
"Can't you change tradition?" Tom asked.
"I can and I have my father and grandfather's approval to do so. It's just I don't know how." Cedric admitted that he was quite lost on how to best manage changing this part of the family. Poverty training had proven to be an effective way of preparing the next Reyes Heir, it had launched the Reyes Group to new heights and given the family a unique insight and understanding to ordinary people.
"Well, you still have time to figure it out." Jo said with a shrug. "You have at least fifteen years before little Emilio grows up."
Lights Entertainment had an on ground bar, it was a place where celebrities and some businessmen could socialize and drink without the worry of prying eyes. Ram had built the place when he noticed that he and the boys could go to only one bar, and his celebrities couldn't go to any.
It was aptly named Hideout, and boasted an open floor plan with a first and second floor. Even among these VIPs there were still bound to be some that were more important than others, among them were Ram and his friends, the famous five princes.
Even if it was three in the afternoon the bar already had a lot of patrons. Usually they were actors and actresses who had finished their morning appointments, or hosts whose shows aired in the morning. As Cedric and his friends walked in, Jo and Tom couldn't help but be surprised at the beautiful and famous people gathered.
"Do you think I can get an autograph?" Jo asked as he pointed at an actress. "Or maybe a photo."
Cedric laughed. "You could probably get her number. The fact that you're here means you aren't just anyone."
"I don't want her to give me her number just cause she thinks I'm rich." Jo said with a hint of disgust in his tone.
"Come on, Ram's waiting for us upstairs." Cedric said, as they walked towards the stairs that were tucked away behind the bar.