Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mr. Ren, may I come in?”

The simple clock above the door read 10:00 AM. It was time for his daily briefing.

“Yes, Maz.”

He liked his secretary. She was punctual and always arrived with a coffee in hand for him. More importantly, she actually got her work done unlike the younger girls in the office.

He knew all about why his underlings preferred their secretaries to be beautiful over efficient. Or, as they put it, ‘choice’. But he’d pick the 60-something woman over even the choicest of girls each, and every, time.

As CEO of Command Group, a multimillion dollar corporation and the fruit of his grandfather’s life’s work, Kylo Ren had no time for distractions.

“Here you go, black.” She placed the steaming cup on his desk.

“In an hour you’ll have a meeting with all of the department heads. I brought you some talking points and made sure to include your feedback from the last one.” Maz laid out several cards covered in her chicken scratch.

Her notes were always a pain to read, but she was the only one who wrote fast enough to get everything down.

“Oh, and it's bring-your-kid-to-work day. So try not to frown.”

Great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Rey! Let’s get a move on or we’re going to be late!”

She could hear the smile in her custodian’s voice as he yelled up the stairs. Like any self respecting teenager, she had to roll her eyes.

“Just a second, Poe!” She yelled back, rushing to give herself one final look over in the mirror.

“My boss is a stickler for timeliness, no second to waste!” He hurried her, “And that’s dad to you, you little brat.” She heard him mumble from the landing.

Rey had to smile at that.

Mr. Dameron had been like a father to her. He made sure she had everything she could need when he took her in, raising her most of her life.

Apparently he knew Rey’s parents well, before their accident. He had been young when he adopted her, entrusted with her care in their will. He once told her he used to joke that they’d be the first to go, a good ten years younger than them. He never knew they’d given it serious thought or prepared for what would happen to her if that were the case.

Rey herself had been too young to remember Poe from when they were still alive, but there were enough photographs to prove it. In fact, were it not for the few memories she still had of her parents, she may not have ever known she wasn’t a Dameron herself.

Even so, Poe was Poe and Mom and Dad were locked safely away in her hazy recollection of the past. She didn’t mean any harm by never calling him ‘dad’, she just couldn’t do it.

Maybe someday, she would think.

For what it was worth, he really did try to be the world’s #1 father. It was annoying, really. But Rey was glad to have him.

Or she was up until last week, when SuperDad mode kicked in and Poe informed her his job was offering a take your kid to work day. He shared the news over their Friday night meatloaf and Rey thought there was no way he was going to ask her to go with him.

“Isn’t that something little kids do?” She asked after he made it clear he thought she should come.

“Well, sure. But this is Command Group, Rey. You’re getting ready to send out your college applications after the holidays, right? I figure this could be the perfect way to make your qualifications a little meatier. You should really give this some thought. Your grades are terrific, no doubt. But what of your extracurriculars?”

“What of them? I’m in the pottery club and I’ll be on the cheer team this season.” She shrugged, knowing full well joining the team was a last-ditch effort to check off ‘athletics’ on her admission records.

“And that’s all well and good, but imagine what a decent connection at a company like mine could do for you. You’re a great Kid, Rey, but you haven’t had a job yet. Right now, there’s not much on those applications to set you apart from all the other great kids applying to Chandrila U. It’s a very competitive process, you know.” He gave a nostril clearing sniff as he chewed.

She did know. She spent weeks speaking to each of her teachers at her advisors' behest, but none would write her a letter of recommendation. Her best friend Rose had already been accepted on early admission, and CU had the only business program that gave girls real consideration.

Maybe if she cozied up to one of the secretaries in Poe’s office they could write a referral for her. She might even learn a thing or two from them. Poe was always talking about how great his assistant was.

What was her name? Zorii?

“Do you really think it could help?” She pushed her peas around her plate.

“Absolutely kiddo! I’ll write you an absence note for next week, and we’ll drive into the city together. Proud of you for taking some initiative. This is gonna be great, you’ll see.”

She’d never seen him eat so enthusiastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come the day of, Rey decided she would much rather be at the drive in, or home, or school for that matter.

It was exactly as she had predicted. No one in Poe’s department even brought their kid, and the other departments who did participate understood that the word ‘kid’ meant ten and under. Clocking in at a whopping eighteen, Rey really stood out.

“This is so embarrassing.” She huffed, sitting quietly on a chair outside Poe’s office.

Zorii chuckled from her desk just a few feet over, and Rey sunk into the cushion of her seat.

She had met the secretary first thing that morning and they got on well enough. But it turned out Poe’s assistant had a lot less free time for chatting than Rey hoped. This was going to make the ‘cozying up’ part of her plan a great deal more difficult.

With nothing better to do, Rey sat and looked out the 30th floor window. She supposed it was pretty impressive the only floor above Poe’s was where Command Group’s CEO, and Poe’s boss, worked. Sadly, there wasn't much to see from so high up - just other buildings, and the blip of a foggy landscape off in the direction of their boring suburb.

Turning to watch the mundane happenings of an office full of accountants, Rey did her best to find anything of interest. There was nothing, of course, and she had to make a conscious effort to keep from nodding off. But something soon caught her eye.

Observing the sliver of a man’s head peeking from around the corner opposite Zorii, Rey watched as a bespectacled clerk appeared and nervously approached.

Making his way to the secretary’s desk, he dropped some paperwork on its corner and adjusted his tie, all in silence. Rey noticed the way he waited there a moment, as if he was working up the nerve to say something.

When he didn’t, Zorii met him with a simple,

“Thank you, Gerald.”

Gerald looked to be in his mid 40s or so, but walked like most of the boys in Rey’s school: a tight smile on his face and a slight hunch to his back. The man screamed low self esteem.

Rey felt her brow pull down into a disapproving squint when she saw the way his gaze lingered on Zorii. The latter seemingly unbothered, she wore a neutral expression and ignored the man as she continued to work.

When his eyes flicked over to her, Rey nearly jumped.

She was accustomed to the way her classmates would hoot and holler at the girls in her grade, but she didn’t have much experience with men beyond late teenagerdom. Though, really, ‘men’ wasn’t the most accurate word for them.

Watching as he leered, hands in his pockets and his walk purposefully slow, Rey stiffened in her seat. Her arms and legs prickling from embarrassment, she wished she hadn’t worn a dress.

When he finally turned to disappear round the corner and into the sea of cubicles beyond, Rey let out her held breath and pulled down her hem as far as she could manage.

Rey’s shuffling earning Zorii’s attention, the fashionable woman briefly addressed her.

“Rey, honey - no offense but, if you don’t want to feel the eyes of every creep in this building, it might be best if you find somewhere to hide out until your father is ready.” She clicked away at her typewriter with one hand, her eyes never leaving their spot on the document. Her other hand scribbled across a notepad or reset the carriage, never missing a beat.

Rey wondered if multitasking like that was something she could master in a day. Maybe she could add that to her applications.

“Why don’t you run down to the copy room for me and make use of yourself there? I need about thirty of these, if you don’t mind?” Zorii picked up and waved a small stack of papers with her writing hand, never ceasing her typing. “It’s a pretty nifty machine, you’ll have a blast.”

Rey had heard of photocopiers before. She had even seen one in the teacher’s lounge when she went looking for a recommendation during their lunch hour. But she hadn’t used one yet.

That’s bound to be a skill any serious business school would like to see, she decided.

“How do I do it?” Rey took the stack of papers from Zorii’s outstretched hand. Once emptied, it immediately began to rifle through a drawer.

“Here.” She handed Rey a thick booklet.

It was a xerox manual.

Oh good, they give homework here too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The department heads were all overpaid, incompetent morons who ate up Kylo’s time. He knew their bi-monthly meetings were all for show, something their secretaries could write in their planners to make it seem like they did anything productive at all.

It was hard to say which annoyed Kylo more, that he gave their meeting his earnest attention or that they gave it none.

On the one hand, he had to give them some credit. At least they were smart enough to make it look like they were doing their job. It certainly made it harder to fire them.

Harder, but not impossible.

“Cardo, a word.”

By 12:00 Kylo was in need of lunch, and a new head of sales. He buzzed for Maz.

“Done already?” She asked, placing his nicoise salad on the desk and adjusting her acetate frames.

“He knew it was coming. Hardly even put up a fight.” Kylo shook out his napkin and placed it in his collar.

“But that does remind me,” he took a bite and wondered why peanut butter sandwiches had gone out of fashion.

“I’ll need you to draft up a memo about the vacancy of his position.”

She was already busy jotting down his directive.

“Once you have that finalized I’d like to read over it.” He took another bite then set his fork down.

“Of course, sir. Anything else?”

“We’ll have to inform everyone who’s worth a damn that he’s leaving. Better to do it sooner rather than later. It might even scare them into doing their job, for once.” He grumbled.

He was already irritated at his senior execs for the vacuous looks they gave him after asking for an update from their last meeting. Now he was doubly irritated; he'd have to finish the day hungry.

“I know you’re leaving early today for your vacation, but could you make a few copies and distribute them before you head out?” Mostly he just doled out instructions for the life hardened woman, but he tried to remember to ask every once in a while.

“No.”

It wasn’t often she refused.

“Sorry?” He asked, though he knew he hadn’t misheard.

“The copier is broken, sir. I doubt the repair technician will get around to it today, seeing as it’s Friday. Let alone before I leave - I was planning on taking the 1:00 train. It’ll have to wait until Monday, at the earliest.”

“What do you mean it’s broken? We only just bought the damned thing.” He looked at her incredulously.

“Well, when I went in there a moment ago there was a girl in the copy room, sir. —“

“What girl?” He cut her off, angrily pushing his chair away from the desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day’s frustrations coming to a head, Kylo stomped his way toward the copy room.

He had just fired Cardo, what was one more person? Whoever it was would surely deserve it, seeing as they couldn’t raise a kid with enough common decency not to break company property.

Throwing open the door to the room, a raging Kylo breathed heavily through his nose.

But there was no child in sight, only some poor secretary who sat crouching down to peer inside the machine.

When she registered his presence, she turned her head from the panel to look over her shoulder, and met his eyes.

“Are you the repairman?” She asked

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh no.”

Rey heard the whirring of what could only be an overworked motor.

“No, no, no!” Rey groaned aloud to herself.

She watched helplessly as the crinkled pages caught on their way out of the newfangled device, crumpling further and splattered with ink.

There was no way she was getting anyone’s recommendation now.

“Oh my.” A voice sounded from behind.

Rey turned to find a grandmotherly looking woman watching her stand powerless in front of the wheezing machine.

“I think I broke it.” Rey said, horrified and wondering why she hadn’t lied. She could’ve just said she had found it that way, it’s not like she worked there.

“Hmmm.” The woman hummed before turning to leave, closing the door behind her.

“Wait I-“ But she was gone, and Rey had no idea if help was on the way or not.

There’s no way Zorii will vouch for me now.

Eyeing the booklet in her hands, Rey mulled over whether leaving the machine in its current state was worth risking her chances of getting into college. She decided it wasn’t, and reluctantly got to work.

Only minutes later, Rey had successfully yanked the chewed paper from the receiving tray and was beginning to investigate the paper supply bin when the door behind her opened once more.

Turning to look, she had hoped to find Zorii in search of her missing copies. Instead, she found an impressively large man filling the frame.

Rey noticed his long legs first, the man practically towering over her from her crouched position.

He wore black loafers and socks, fitted gray slacks with a slim cut leg and a black turtleneck.

His sleek outfit was different from the grandfatherly fashions of the rest of the men she’d seen that day, and so was his face. He wore a bit of facial hair while all the other men were clean shaven. Even harder to miss, his hair laid in a dark shag. One that was much longer than the waxed and combed styles of Poe or his peers.

Rey tried not to stare for too long, but it was hard to look away. His eyes were dark, deeply set and serious, his nose pronounced, and his lips along with it. Under the glaring hue of the room's halogen lights she could make out the shadow of a scar. When his head tilted down toward her, Rey saw more clearly a thin silver line bisecting his right cheek and climbing over his eyelid to just above his brow. He had an odd look about him, but his loud traits made for an unexpectedly rugged image. Rey blushed at the realization that she found him extremely handsome.

He was certainly younger than any of the men in Poe’s office, which probably meant he was good with technology. She figured he must be the person they sent to fix the copier. His annoyed expression all but confirmed it.

“Are you the repairman?” She asked, her voice a nervous chirp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The repairman?

Do repairmen wear $400 watches?

She wasn’t a secretary, and she wasn’t exactly a child by the looks of her. But she was someone’s responsibility.

“What’s your name?” He asked her.

“Rey, sir.” She stood and brushed her dress straight. He noticed it was a bit too short for the office and he found her headband awfully juvenile.

So, she was someone’s kid after all.

“Rey what? Who’s your father?”

“Rey Palpatine, sir. My father is Poe Dameron.”

Was she playing a trick on him? Why the two last names? Did she keep her mother’s maiden name? Kylo didn’t even think the man was married. But perhaps he was, and a feminist at that.

Then again, Dameron wasn’t that old. How come this kid looked like she could be working the front desk? She didn’t look like him either. Dameron had the tanned skin of someone from the south and the dark characteristics you’d expect to accompany it. Lots of the girls around the office found him handsome, yet this girl was...

Kylo found her features far more delicate than what he’d expect from a blood relative of Dameron. The man had a devilish quality to him and anyone would suspect even his daughter ought to have an ounce of the same sultry qualities. Kylo himself had seen the senior accountant canoodling his secretary on their last company retreat, there’s no way this innocent looking girl could be his offspring.

Letting his eyes wander over her, he noticed the band of freckles that ran across her cheeks, her slender nose and her naturally pouting, upturned lips. He quickly singled out the hazel twinkle of her impish eyes, as well as the doe like lashes which framed them. Unlike Poe, her skin was fair and tinged the color of a peach, while her hair fell in loose golden brown waves.

She was beautiful.

He grimaced.

This was a teenager he was talking about. Kylo shifted his focus from her looks to her reply.

The poor girl came across as certifiably guilty, and it didn’t make sense for her to lie about her parentage. She probably was Dameron’s.

Of course she is, he sighed.

Dameron was the only one of his department heads worth keeping around. He ran their accounting and finance department well enough as to avoid being audited as regularly as their competitors, and that alone would’ve been enough.

But Dameron had saved Kylo’s ass on more than one occasion. After his father’s sudden passing, Kylo had struggled with following in the enormous footsteps he and his grandfather left behind. It turned out running the city’s largest satellite communications company wasn’t something that came naturally to him, so when it came to salvaging some of his earlier corporate losses, there was no one he trusted more than Dameron.

Kylo had gotten a handle on things since then, but Dameron had cemented himself as a reliable and competent part of Command Group during the worst of it. So it didn’t matter how bad of a mood Kylo was in, the man was certainly too valuable to fire because of a bad salad and a paper jam.

At least, it looked like a paper jam.

“Move.”

Kylo brushed her aside, sitting on his heels to make himself level with the contraption. Reaching to open the loading tray, the troublesome girl slammed her hand against its door, her fingers laying over top of his own.

“I wouldn’t do that, sir. I think I smell smoke.”

He gave her a disbelieving look.

“Well if there’s smoke don’t you think we ought to remove the paper from inside? Or do you think it better we burn the whole building down around us?” He went to push her hand aside, but she held it firm.

“Look.” She shoved the open manual she held in her other hand directly in front of his nose.

It read:

“On rare occasions a paper jam under the fuser may cause the copy paper to smoulder. This should cause no alarm since the paper will always be contained within the machine... Therefore if you smell or see any sign of smoke, the following procedure should be adopted:

If the doors are accidentally opened and paper ignites, close the doors immediately and let the paper burn itself out.”

Hm. She was right.

“You may be the only person in this office who actually read that damn thing.” He pushed the booklet down from his face and stood.

She held it to her chest, and looked up to him with uncertain eyes.

“I only skimmed it.” She admitted, “Though, it isn’t rocket science.”

The honest thing.

“Hm. Have it your way.” He dusted his slacks with the back of a hand while giving her another once over.

“You seem to know what you’re doing. I’ll leave you here to get it sorted.” He turned to leave.

Rey moved to protest, reaching out to grab his arm.

“I don’t actually know what I’m doing! Aren’t you here to help me?”

He turned halfway to look back at her, then down to her hand on his elbow.

“You’re the one who broke it after all, yes?” He narrowed his eyes on her.

She pressed her lips together in resentful silence, then nodded her head.

“So you’ll be the one to fix it.” He leaned forward, a seething energy radiating from his body. He plucked her hand from his arm and dropped it.

”I’ll be back in an hour to check on your progress.” He straightened.

Her mouth parted in despair.

“That should give you enough time to read the rest.” He pointed to the manual, then straightened his watch.

Inconsequential as she was, Kylo was reminded of the way she had hoped he was the repairman. Maybe it was his pride, but he suddenly had an itching need to reveal his title to her.

“And, when your father is free, tell him I’d like a moment of his time. He can find me upstairs.”

Kylo watched the girl’s blinking face morph into a paler version of itself. It was clear she had connected the dots.

“You- you’re Mr. Ren?” She asked nervously, her mouth having gone dry.

Turning to leave, he answered.

“An hour, Miss. Palpatine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey watched the man walk out the door, her chances of receiving a higher education leaving along with him.

“Snails!” Rey cursed under her breath.

Handsomeness be damned, this man was worse than the evilest Batman villain.

Dropping to the floor, she rifled through the booklet’s pages and read as quickly as she could.

“Why does he want to talk to Poe?” Rey moaned.

“I am never going to live this down, Mr. Dameron is going to make me mow the lawn for the rest of my life!”

She withdrew her hand sharply, watching a droplet of blood emerge from a fresh paper cut.

“How was I to know that was Mr. Ren? It’s not everyday Chandrila’s richest bachelor comes running to fix a copy machine.” Rey felt her cheeks redden at the fact she knew so much about the man.

Sucking at her battle wound, she was reminded of his pleasing appearance.

“And why was he so young? Poe’s always bragging about being the youngest department head at Command Group, but what does it matter when his boss is practically the same age?” Rey was venting for the sake of being angry.

Wondering just how old he really was, she memorized the copier’s schematics from pages 1 - 3. If her AP physics class taught her anything, it’s that the instructions for troubleshooting a copy machine really weren’t rocket science.

Opening the paper loading tray, Rey discarded the soot covered pages that rested on top and plucked out the paper that had tangled in the pins.

Just as the manual had said, a simple paper jam.

She stood to let the machine cycle once, twice. Turning it off, then back on, Rey tried once more to make Zorii’s copy.

It worked.

Rey breathed a sigh of relief then cried out in elation, jumping from foot to foot. She hadn’t just used the copier, but fixed it. Mr. Ren himself had said she was probably the only person to actually read the manual. She bet she was the only girl there who could have fixed it - maybe the only person.

Now that had to be something worth putting on her application.

Looking to the clock, Rey saw she still had another ten minutes before Mr. Ren would return.

Her celebratory mood fell quickly back to one of anxiety as she hurried to finish Zorii’s copies, and bolted back to Poe’s office.

“Rey, honey, please don’t run.” Zorii said after Rey came inches away from crashing into the woman on her coffee break.

“Oh, you got the copies. I heard the machine was broken and figured you were off exploring or something. Thank you.” She took the forms from a breathless Rey.

“Where’s Poe?” She asked.

“He’s in a meeting, sweetie. At least until 1:30, why?”

Mr. Ren had said an hour and that was at 12:15. That meant she’d have to wait to tell Poe until after his boss had come back to check on her work.

Mr. Ren couldn't be mad at her for not barging in on Poe’s meeting. Maybe she could even convince him not to speak with her father at all. She had fixed the machine, like he had asked. There’s no way he’d be able to say anything now.

“Uh….nevermind. Where’s the powder room?” Rey looked for an excuse to dash back to the copy room.

“Back the way you came, hun’. Try to be more careful though, ok? Imagine if you ran into someone important, like your dad’s boss!” She laughed.

Rey winced at the accuracy of the woman’s prediction. If only she knew.

By the time Rey had made it back to the room where he had left her, Mr. Ren was descending down the hallway opposite from her.

“Miss. Palpatine.” He acknowledged her.

“I hope I’m not catching you returning from abandoning your responsibilities.” His head tilted toward her. He did not look happy.

“No, sir. I was returning the copies I had been asked to make. I fixed it, like you requested.”

He stood a bit straighter.

“Well let’s see it, then.” He opened the door for her, his arm extending into the room as he waited for her to enter.

Rey shuffled in, and clasped her hands in front of her.

“See.” She said looking at the machine, too ashamed to meet his eyes.

“Show me.” He said, his hands resting heavily in his pockets.

Rey picked up the manual from the floor and opened it to a random page. Lifting the cover, she placed the open book onto the glass panel before switching the ‘on’ button.

She knew it was fixed, but she couldn’t keep from holding her breath in nervous anticipation. What if it jammed again?

To her relief, and perhaps Mr. Ren’s disbelief, the copy came out smoothly and with detailed accuracy. The ink hadn’t smudged and the page was completely dry.

“Sir.” She handed him the successful copy.

“Hm.” He took the paper.

Rey felt victorious. She had impressed one of the most successful businessmen in the country.

“You surprise me.” He admitted.

Rey figured ‘surprising’ was just as validating as ‘impressing’.

“Thank you, sir. As for my father, –”

“Yes. When should I expect him?”

“Er, he - he’s in a meeting until 1:30, sir. But-”

“Right, then I’ll be waiting for him in my office.” The brooding man turned to leave.

“But! Sir, I fixed it. Just as you asked me to, and-”

This was not going as well as she had planned.

“- and no one else came in to use it while I worked on it. So…I didn’t hold anyone up! In fact, I think it hardly made a difference. Why must you speak with him over something so small?” Rey could sense she was whining before she could stop.

Now in the doorway, he turned back to face her. “Well that’s simply not true, is it Miss. Palpatine? Else wise I never would have caught wind of it, and my secretary would currently be on her way home to begin her well-deserved vacation.”

Rey suddenly noticed the older woman from before was standing behind him in the hall.

Aw, Hell’s bells.

“Yet here she is, staying late to complete a very important task I had assigned her. A task which you interrupted, as she has been waiting to use this. exact. copier.” He leaned in with every emphasized word.

Rey shrunk into herself.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Ma’am. It was my first time using it and I was only trying to help my father’s secretary. It was an accident, I swear. My father doesn’t even know I was in here. Must you still speak with him?” She explained, desperation dripping from her apologetic voice.

The man seemed unbothered, as did his assistant.

“As it happens, I’ve been meaning to conduct his quarterly review.” Mr. Ren poked his head back into the room to look at the clock, then back at her. “No better time than the present.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.” He nodded to Rey, then turned to address his secretary as he left.

“Maz, the room’s all yours.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey had to sit outside Mr. Ren’s office in the waiting area opposite Maz’s desk for nearly an hour. When she was summoned inside, the anticipation had brought her to the verge of tears.

As she passed by the older woman’s desk, she paused to face her.

“I’m really sorry I delayed your vacation plans Mrs…..Maz.” She stumbled, her chin wobbling.

Rey hadn’t expected to be met with a smile.

“Don’t worry, girl. He’s not as big and bad as he seems.” She winked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Ren’s office was predictably large, impressively furnished and provided a panoramic view of the city. Its ceiling vaulted into a detailed, pointed star made entirely of opaque glass.

Rey was struck by the opulence. She might’ve even been impressed, had she been there under different circumstances.

“Your daughter broke the copier today.” Mr. Ren’s deep voice broke the tense silence.

“I’ve just heard. My sincere apologies, Mr. Ren.”

“I hadn’t realized you had children, Dameron. I’ve never seen her around here before, nor your wife at the Christmas parties.” He sounded disapproving.

“Ah, yes, well. She’s my adopted daughter, sir.” Poe said matter of factly.

Mr. Ren’s face was indecipherable.

Good, Rey thought.

She hoped he was beginning to feel like a right jerk, which he was.

Poe cleared his throat. “As for the copier, sir, maybe we can arrange for some of my wages to be garnished to cover the damage?”

Mr. Ren waved a dismissive hand.

“That won’t be necessary. She fixed it, as well.”

Poe looked at Rey in confusion. She hadn’t gotten the chance to explain herself before he dragged her upstairs. She opened her mouth to elaborate now, but Mr. Ren demanded Poe’s attention once more.

“My secretary Maz said she spoke with your girl…Zelda?”

“Zorii, sir.”

“Yes, Zorii. Well, she informed me Rey is looking for some work experience.” It was a statement but they knew Mr. Ren was looking for an explanation.

Rey could sense the man was annoyed with her, but she didn’t understand why he had to say her name like that. Hadn’t she already done enough in recompense?

“Yes sir, Rey’s interested in attending Chandrila’s business academy next year. I figured she might pick up a skill or two around the office today.” He gave his sheepish response.

“Hm. Well one day can’t possibly be enough time to make much of a difference, can it?” The serious man furrowed his brow.

Rey could tell Poe was starting to feel foolish for having brought her, and something about this man making her adoptive father feel ashamed made her see red.

“No, I suppose not, sir.” She knew he was just trying to appease his boss, Poe was nothing if not a die hard optimist.

“If you’re trying to give your daughter a leg up, why not find her a real job here? You’re a department head Dameron, surely you could pull a string or two.” Mr. Ren sat back, legs crossed and his arms resting on the back of his stately leather chair.

“That wouldn’t sit right with me, sir. Nepotism isn’t something either of us would feel comfortable with.” He gestured to Rey. “I believe in the merit of hard work, and I’d like to teach Rey the same.”

“How honorable.”

Rey wondered how much trouble she’d be in if she reached out and slapped the man across his face for mocking her father. She would’ve done it, but Poe was in enough trouble as it was. If he didn’t lose his job from this, that’d certainly land him on the street.

Rey huffed.

Mr. Ren noticed.

His face lifting into a deceptive smile, Mr. Ren leaned forward.

“You know, it just so happens that my secretary will be away on vacation for the next week.”

Rey froze.

“Even once she’s back, Maz has been saying she’s in need of an extra pair of hands to help her around the office.”

He couldn’t possibly mean -

“What if I hired her?” Mr. Ren asked.

Poe’s dumbfounded face said it all. This was too good an offer to possibly turn down.

“Wow, that’s… a very generous offer, Mr. Ren. But, what of her classes? She couldn’t be here until the afternoon, at the earliest. I worry that may not be enough time to get the day’s work finished, sir.”

“I was planning on going on without any help until Maz got back. As I see it, a few hours of help is better than none at all.”

Poe breathed a disbelieving breath.

“Certainly, but it’s just…Rey can’t drive yet, sir. I haven’t had the time to…Anyway, I’m just realizing that with taking the train and the bus, it’d be about 4:00 by the time she got here. The office closes at 5.”

“I provide transportation for my assistants. I’ll send a car for her. That should cut her commute into a quarter of the time. Plus, I’m not altogether convinced we have to wait until the school day’s end. Do you have any core classes in the afternoon, Rey?”

Unsure as to what he could mean, and cajoled by the encouraging look Poe gave her, Rey answered.

“No, sir. Only my electives.”

“Well then, there should be little issue with getting permission to end your day early." He smiled to Poe.

"My mother is very well acquainted with the schoolboards of the surrounding districts. I think any superintendent would want to support an internship like the one I’m offering. It’s not everyday you get to say your student works directly under the CEO of a major corporation."

What a smug jerk.

Leaning back in his chair, Mr. Ren clasped his hands in his lap. "I think it’s fair to say, for a girl who’s interested in attending a business program, that’s something far more valuable than…” He looked at Rey.

“French, sir. As well as Home economics and…poetry.” She felt small and embarrassed under his gaze.

“Precisely. The only skill you might wish to keep practicing is your french. Command Group even has offices in France. Perhaps you’d be useful on those trips.” He was doing his best to compliment her, though it certainly didn’t sound like one.

Rey suddenly knew exactly how to get out of this farce.

“I’m afraid that’s my last class of the day, sir. Madame Cordé would be terribly upset if I abandoned my studies. I’m already five years in and she’s taught me the very same thing - French is a valuable skill, especially in business nowadays.” She gave a smug smile.

“You can hire her a tutor for the weekends, can’t you Dameron? ‘Be a shame to let an opportunity like this go to waste.” He gave a self-satisfied smile right back at her.

Rey was livid.

“Well…yes, yes I suppose I can!” Poe was all aboard the Mr. Ren-hiring-Rey train. She knew she had lost.

“How wonderful.” Mr. Ren answered, his smile widening as he looked at Poe.

“But what about cheer, Po- I mean, dad?” Rey asked, searching for anything she could think of to get out of having to spend another second around the man.

“Rey, I know your team practices during your physical education class, and games are only ever on Friday nights or the weekends. I’m sure Mr. Ren could make an exception so you don’t miss out. Don’t you think, sir? She only just made the team, and every serious applicant to CU has some kind of sport on their record. I don’t think she can afford to let that one go.”

Mr Ren coughed suddenly, reaching for his coffee to clear his throat.

“Pardon me,” He took another sip.

Rey hoped he’d choke and die on the spot.

"Yes, if you give me proper heads up, I think we can accommodate your cheer requirements. But, how long you stay on is up to Maz. It may not come to that.”

Poe was beaming.

“Gosh, this is incredible. She’s applying to start in the fall, you have no idea how grateful I am. She could really use something like this to help her stand apart from the other students. Thank you Kylo. This is more than I could’ve asked for, even if it's just a few days.”

Kylo.

What an ugly name.

Her father pressed a hand to her shoulder blades, moving Rey a step forward and urging her to say something, anything.

“What do you say, Rey?”

“Thank you, Mr. Ren.” She forced herself to say. She didn’t mean it, but she didn’t want to embarrass Poe.

He gave her a sideways look, raising his eyebrows for her to continue.

“I would like that very much. I hope I can be useful.”

“You’ll start next week.”

Chapter Text

There’s little to hear from way up on the 31st floor. The occasional siren or blaring horn from far down below will sometimes float its way up. But mostly, there’s quiet.

On rare occasions, when there were large decisions to be made, one could make out the nervous tapping of a pen against a table’s edge. The same kind of rhythmic tapping that was currently drifting into the reception area just outside the office to Command Group’s CEO. Only, sitting at her desk there, Maz couldn’t remember there being any pressing business for Mr. Ren to attend today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo sat hunched over his sizable mahogany desk, head perched in one hand as the other rapped a Montblanc in steady tempo.

What was he doing?

Proving a point to a…a teenager?

“Get a hold of yourself, Ren.” Kylo whispered to himself as he waited in his office, his eyes glued to the clock.

1:30 PM. Dameron’s meeting should be ending.

He did need to have Poe’s review, that much was true. But both he and the tenured financial lead knew this was an unusual way to conduct it.

There was just something about the way that girl had argued with him. The way she had pursed her lips in defiance, looked up at him in anger.

Rey.

Kylo ran a hand through his hair, letting out an audible sigh as he sat back in his decadently upholstered chair.

Frankly, she aggravated him. And, damn it, if he wanted to exercise his right to be a tyrannical ass then by God he would do so. Being the head honcho had to count for something.

Besides, no one in the office particularly enjoyed him. What did it matter if he came across as a ‘Grade A’ dick?

The only time anyone seemed to show much interest in him was around the holidays. He’d mingle at the customary events, say hello to the wives then pass out a decent bonus. They’d all shake hands and he’d leave with a curt nod or the obligatory “Merry Christmas”.

Liked? No. Respected? By the ones that mattered. Even tempered? Not unless you consider a baseline of ‘disgruntled’ even. Feared? Without a doubt.

Whether that was because of his leadership or his family name, Kylo couldn’t say. Either way, it was fine by him.

Kylo did what was needed to keep the company afloat, pulling the occasional late nighter and sleeping in the office. When work concluded at a reasonable hour and he could rest in the comfort of his own bed, he’d slip out the garage’s private exit to his chauffeur at the day’s end. He had no intention to fraternize with his employees, and even less interest in funding the lifestyles of underperforming staff.

Indeed Kylo had trimmed the fat early on, terminating more than one beloved manager in that time. It painted him in an unfavorable light, he knew, but he was committed to doing what was needed to keep from failing. He’d given plenty of people reason to hate him and he could live with that. What he couldn't live with was being a failure or watching his family’s business go belly up.

Maz opened the door, a blanched Poe standing behind her.

“Mr. Dameron, sir.”

Really, the only person he hadn’t given reason not to like him was Dameron. Maybe it was time to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dameron’s review was uneventful at best. The man was organized, delivered his reports on time, kept thorough records and cross-checked the work of his team. Kylo had no notes and he knew it left Dameron on edge. It was clear, there was only one thing left to discuss.

“You may bring your daughter in now.”

Taking in a slow, steadying breath, Kylo reminded himself that someone had stepped out of line at his company. At the end of the day, he had to teach her a lesson. His grandfather would’ve done exactly the same thing. It didn’t matter she wasn’t an employee and he certainly wasn’t going to go easy just because she had begged him to.

Rey slipped quietly into the room to stand beside her father, and Kylo felt his jaw tighten. He could see the glassy look of her eyes as she fought to keep from crying. He expected she might.

Well, good. She should be remorseful, the inconsiderate girl.

He wasn’t the type to feel antsy, but Kylo was ready for this to all be over with.

“Your daughter broke the copier today.” He informed the man.

“I’ve just heard. My sincere apologies, Mr. Ren.” Dameron shifted nervously on his feet. Kylo wondered if Poe had heard by way of Maz or if the daughter in question had owned up to her actions. He glanced her way.

But she wouldn’t look at him.

Typical, immature behavior. He didn’t know why he expected anything else. Really, she was no different than all the other gremlins running around here today.

Kylo wondered if Dameron had more ill mannered offspring at home.

“I hadn’t realized you had children, Poe. I’ve never seen her around here before, nor your wife at the Christmas parties.”

He felt it awfully unprofessional that someone as senior as Dameron didn’t make an effort to show off his family at company events like all the other department heads.

Poe’s face was predictably nervous and Kylo anticipated the man would soon start grasping for the right thing to say. He would have humored an excuse, though it would’ve pissed him off. What he hadn’t expected was to feel regret for asking in the first place.

“She’s my adopted daughter, sir.”

Shit.

Adopted? He certainly hadn’t expected that.

Well, he hadn’t been wrong - exactly. It was like he had initially thought, the man wasn’t married. Kylo tried to reassure himself that he was only halfway unobservant when it came to the men running his company.

But adopted? What do you say to something like that? That he was sorry?

He hadn’t said anything wrong, not really. He was just stating the facts. But now Dameron was asking to pay for the damages, and Kylo really couldn’t allow himself to get wrapped up in a pity party.

Besides, she had fixed the thing - the clever girl.

Kylo told him as much, successfully distracting Dameron with the gossip he had heard from Maz. If there was one thing he had learned from working in an office, it’s that parents always love talking about their kids getting into college. But his own mind couldn’t shift its focus.

She must be an orphan.

He was reminded of his father’s recent passing, and his grandfather’s not long before that. When they were alive, they both had strained relationships with Kylo. He found it strange how death makes you want to do right by the people you never liked in life. Stranger still how the loss of a parent lives on as a cold, dark patch embroidered to your chest.

He supposed he could relate to the girl, though he still had his mother.

Ah, yes. My socialite mother: consistently ‘too busy’ devoting her time to the city’s galas and fundraisers.

Whenever he had a chance to see her it was always, “Chandrila doesn’t care anything about Some-Far-Away-Country’s people, they’re just after their uranium” or oil, or opioids or whatever resource was the buzzword of the day. Of course, his mother was right. But he could admit to himself it’d be nice if she would ask him about things at the company since dad died, or even how his love life was going.

Not that he had time for one.

But that was fine by him, sometimes he even liked the resulting solitude. At the least, it certainly never bothered him. If anything it meant he had no family obligations keeping him from his own small pleasures during the little down time he had. Plus, now that he was running things here, it was probably for the best that he was single - no courtships to distract him from his career.

But he had to wonder, for her to be so alone, how could someone so…small bear it?

Kylo’s eyes flashed to the girl once more, taken aback by the wave of relief that washed over him when she finally met his gaze.

Of course, she was still mad. But there was something else in her eyes. She looked embarrassed.

Maybe he had been too harsh.

Maybe he could help her.

Then again, why wasn’t her ‘father’ helping her? If she wanted to get into Chandrila U, all he had to do was offer her a job or introduce her to any number of people at Command Group with sway at the university.

Someone like himself.

No. No, it wasn’t his place to do something like that. He’d only just met the girl.

Poe gestured to Rey. “I believe in the merit of hard work, and I’d like to teach Rey the same.”

“How honorable.” Kylo replied.

He meant it when he said it, but he hadn’t expected someone in such a senior position not to abuse his power. His tone must’ve given him away.

Rey gave a huff and Kylo’s eyes jumped back over to her.

The brat.

Maybe he ought to teach her a lesson, after all.

He supposed he could ban her from the premises, make an example of her. Or maybe he ought to keep her here to help the janitorial crew in the evening.

Some distant voice in the back of his mind told him the latter was the better of the two choices. He even considered catching a glimpse of her cleaning the windows of his office against a backlit skyline.

He rationalized the desire to see such a sight was simply to witness her punishment. But he wondered if the quiet dark of an empty office would offer them the opportunity to talk, to relate to one another.

No, that wouldn’t do. What was there for the two of them to talk about, anyway? Dead parents?

Surely there’s a task around here that would serve as proper retribution…

But then Kylo remembered. He was in need of a stand-in while Maz was away.

Now there was an idea.

Kylo knew it at once, a fiery spirit like Rey’s was exactly the kind of temperament he liked to keep around. Maz was a prime example; she was not an easy woman to dissuade and it proved a valuable personality trait for someone who guarded something as exclusive as his office. Her placid expression and no nonsense voice kept just anyone from scheduling an audience with him. He could see Rey doing well in a position like Maz’s.

And he knew she’d hate it.

He smiled.

“What if I hired her?”

What the hell did he just say?

He hadn’t planned on offering her a job when he asked them up here. In fact, he had set his mind to making Dameron, and his daughter, his latest enemy. But the idea had come to him with unexpected enthusiasm and he had said it before he could stop himself.

Kylo felt an exciting tickle run along his spine as he realized Poe was in no position to refuse him, nor was she. They needed something, and he held the very key to the door which led them where they wished to go.

Huh. So this is how it feels to do something charitable.

He was starting to understand what kept his mother so busy.

When Rey tried to weasel her way out of the responsibility, out of a real job, Kylo felt a surge of satisfaction.

Fuck charity, this was the best sort of payback he could have ever handed out.

He’d need the extra help while Maz was away and Rey would hate every minute of being there. It was a win-win. Not to mention the pressure of working for her father’s boss would keep her in check. Rey would have a lot to live up to, and no choice but to do well. The irony of it all was too delicious.

When school was brought up as a valid obstacle, Kylo could have easily backed down. But he worked too hard not to have a little fun. Making his employee’s troublesome daughter squirm for a week - and for the benefit of her college career - was the least he deserved. Besides, it was her senior year, what would she be missing out on?

Just as he figured, a bunch of silly electives. Though he was pleased to hear of her French class.

Kylo had been to France several times now, not counting his time in the war. It was always such a pain, taking those trips, and he couldn’t speak a lick of the language. It seemed Rey was far along in her study thanks to this ‘Corday’. Maybe with her by his side he’d have an easier time navigating the stress of being abroad.

He even wondered if she’d like it.

“You can hire her a tutor for the weekends, can’t you Dameron?”

Best to keep that skill in practice. Better still to keep her torment alive on the weekends. This really was turning out to be fun.

“But what about cheer, dad?”

Kylo felt his throat dry out. Cheer? There’s no way he heard her correctly.

“Games are only ever on Friday nights or the weekends. I’m sure Mr. Ren could make an exception?”

Huh.

He hadn’t pegged her for the Ra-Ra type. Smiling big, her hair in pigtails, standing in front of bleachers full of boys. He remembered being that age. Everyone liked a cheerleader.

They were practically strangers, but it was hard to imagine such a mischief-eyed weasel like her jumping about, skirt dancing around her, a cheeky look on her face as she smiled into the crowd, at him…

Kylo’s breath caught in his throat, choking on his next words. He sputtered out something about obliging her time away for the sport.

Jesus, Ren, get a fucking grip. Longtime bachelor or not, this was no time for that kind of folly.

Kylo reminded himself the only thing he was looking forward to was antagonizing the girl, nothing more.

And it’d be all too easy.

He’d have someone to grab his coffee while trusty Maz was away, and he’d blow off some steam at the expense of an extra errand or two on her part. The girl’s exasperated looks would simply be the cherry on top. Afterward, if she deserved it, he would make good on his word and do what he needed to - to help her, and Dameron.

Then he’d send her on her way.

He didn’t have time for such boyish fantasies and, even if he wanted to, he certainly wouldn’t have time to get to know her very well.

Again, that far away voice was whispering to him.

Unless she’s good at it. Unless she wants to stay…

“I would like that very much. I hope I can be useful.”

Useful.

He liked the sound of that, and so did the snickering whisper in the back of his mind. Even if she didn’t mean it.

“You’ll start next week.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phys ed on Monday was one of the few times Rey remembered being the center of so much attention.

She should’ve known better than to wait to tell Rose about last Friday. If she had been smart, Rey would have phoned her friend as soon as she had a free moment over the weekend. But there never was one. She and Poe spent the next two days mapping out a list of skills she’d need to learn on the job, and then came the whole issue of finding a French tutor.

Poe made Rey phone newspaper adverts for three hours on Saturday before they found someone they liked. Then by the end of church, dinner and homework, Monday had come. Now she’d have to tell Rose everything while surrounded by other students.

“How’d father-daughter time go?” Rose huffed out, running beside Rey during their morning laps.

“Terrible. I got a job.” Rey nearly cried.

Rose’s round, beaming face let out a disbelieving laugh. “You what? At Poe’s company?”

Rey only ran on in angry silence.

Mrs. Holdo had pulled Rey into her office before the first bell that morning to congratulate her on the ‘distinguished opportunity’. The academic advisor quickly reviewed the changes they made to her class schedule, explaining Rey’s day would now finish at 11 AM after which point she would be shuttled off to her new ‘job’.

Rey knew the man was powerful, Poe had shared enough tales about the communications heir over the years, but even she was surprised by how quickly Mr. Ren had pulled the necessary strings to grant her early dismissal. Sure, he had said she’d be starting sometime this week, but first thing Monday? Even Poe figured he meant Tuesday at the earliest.

“I’m sure he’ll give us a day to prepare,” he had said.

But then Mrs. Holdo sent her to calculus, and Rey had to power through the day knowing she hadn’t prepped at all to start work that afternoon. Her outfit wasn’t exactly the kind of thing the women around Poe’s office wore.

Rey looked down at the blinking face of her friend, frown evident. Rose’s expression shifted into a skeptical smile.

“How’d you secure a gig like that? There’s no way it was Poe’s idea. He hardly lets you out of the house as is.” The shorter girl curled an eyebrow up at Rey.

“No, it wasn’t Poe. It was… his boss.” She grimaced.

“His boss? Kylo Ren?” Rose’s mouth was agape and her voice had grown louder in excitement. “You got a job working for Kylo Ren?” She all but screamed.

In a matter of minutes Rey was surrounded by teen girls, each asking if her new boss was as rich or as handsome as his reputation let on.

She wanted to say no, and she did. But Rey never did like lying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When 11:00 rolled around, Rey’s stomach had sunk as low as it ever had in anticipation. Thinking she might have a bite to settle her stomach, Rey realized her pick-up time coincided with her lunch hour. She guessed she’d have to remember to pack something from now on. Assuming the driver would let her eat in the car, that is. Poe never did, said it was improper.

As she made her way to the school’s exit, Rey half wondered whether Mr. Ren chose this pick up-time just to make her life that much more difficult. She decided he had.

What a clyde.

Standing outside, Rey felt the wind pick up and watched the sky darken under a blanket of clouds. Looking about to assess the changing weather, her eyes swept over the windows behind her and realized she could make out the curious faces of students looking back at her. She figured the news of her elite position had traveled fast.

‘Elite’ her foot, she had made an enemy of the man and she knew from the second he smirked at her in his office that she was going to be put through the ringer for her snafu in the copy room. This was nothing less than punishment and she knew it.

Rey caught sight of Rose waving from one of the chemistry room windows. Shoulders slumping in defeat, she gave a half-hearted wave back and watched as Rose’s jaw suddenly dropped. Rey tried to read the girl’s reaction, but Rose’s dumbfounded face simply remained and soon the rest of her chemistry class was standing to run and look alongside her. Rey’s worried eyes followed their gaze and turned back to the school’s drive.

Mr. Ren’s chauffeur had finally arrived.

The long, black body of the hood-ornament adorned car was impressive enough, but the flashy sedan-limousine was polished to high heaven. Even under cloud cover, the glinting light bouncing off its reflective paint made for an entrance that was hard to ignore. Rey immediately understood what had caught her classmates attention. Heck, even if highschool girls didn’t have a penchant for spreading information lightning quick, she would’ve stood to take a look too.

There was no denying the car stood out among the muted blues and browns of her suburban town. But Rey knew all eyes were on her and, though she tried, Rey couldn’t keep the blush from simmering on her cheeks as she felt everyone stare.

Two boys passing across the lawn whispered to themselves in awe as the car approached.

“Woah, a Phantom V...” One said.

“Rey, your boss is seriously flush!” The other called out to her.

She didn’t know either of the boys, or a thing about cars, but hoped she could request a less attention grabbing ride going forward. If she had to do this, the least she could be afforded was a less humiliating pick-up.

In true form to her luck as of late, the sky opened up just as the chauffeur reached the curved drive abutting the stairs of the school’s entrance. With no umbrella, and not enough patience to wait for the driver to help her in, Rey opened her calculus book and ran. Holding it overhead, she hurried through the rain. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Rey was distraught to find it did little to protect more than her hair.

“Ah, allow me, miss Rey.” The driver had only enough time to open Rey’s door by the time she had reached the car, an unopened umbrella in his hand.

“The name is Bespin, miss. Do let me know if you need anything during our drive.” He tipped his cap and closed the door for her before climbing back in the driver’s seat.

Now drenched, Rey sat dripping onto the expensive leather.

It’d be a thirty minute ride into the city. She wondered if she'd be dry by then, or any less hungry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo fought to keep his eyes from tracking the ticking arm of the clock above his door.

10:44 AM.

Any other Monday, it would have been for the strict purpose of keeping to his schedule. Kylo liked to start his week with a timeliness that prevented extra work from piling up so he could relax fully come the weekend. But today was different and there was no ignoring it.

It felt like his collar was beginning to choke him. Wedging a thick digit between his neck and the fabric in an effort to tug it away and cool his skin, Kylo cleared his throat.

He didn’t know what this feeling was, but he assumed it had something to do with missing his morning coffee.

When an unexpected knock sounded at his door, Kylo froze. His eyes fixed to the back of it for a moment, then another.

Was she early?

No, that was unlikely. She wouldn’t be permitted to leave until 11, and then there was the commute.

So who the fuck was it?

“Come in.”

“Good morning, Mr. Ren. Maz left me a note of things to try and do for you between my usual duties. She didn’t put this on there, but I always noticed her grabbing coffee for you around this time.”

It was Kloda’s secretary, Ms. Netal. She held a cup of coffee, and she was hours behind Maz’s schedule.

He didn’t appreciate the interruption, or the gesture, and he knew Maz would’ve known that. But he stifled the urge to command her to leave, giving a polite nod instead. He had enough to deal with today.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure! I’m surprised the strict old thing didn’t find you a replacement while she was away.” She placed the pale coffee on his desk.

Milk. He just hoped there wasn’t sugar.

“Honestly, if she had asked, I would’ve been happy to volunteer. It’s always such a pain having to deal with temps, don’t you think? You know, it’s probably better to send one to Mr. Kloda so that I could lend you a hand, instead.” She gave him a toothy smile.

“I doubt Kloda would agree.” He took a drink. It was sweeter than the soda his father used to buy him from the corner store.

She laughed, harder than was justified. He hadn’t meant it in a joking way, but even if he had, she sure was putting on a show. If she hadn’t been so easy to read, Kylo might not have felt so assured in his opinion. But she was clearer than a pane of glass, and had an established reputation around the building.

He knew what she was after.

“I’ve found a replacement, myself.” He sat the sugary elixir down, scooting it forward.

“She should be here within the hour, in fact. You needn’t worry about me any further, or my coffee.”

Her smile quickly dropped.

“I see.”

“But since you’re here and you offered, I think I heard something about Gunray needing a girl while his is out having her baby. Should I give him a ring for you?”

Kylo didn’t have the patience for niceties, especially not this morning. He had a feeling mentioning the near ancient advisor might send her scampering. And he was right.

“Well, like you said, Mr. Kloda probably wouldn’t agree. Anyway, I should get going.” She replied, a fake smile pressing her lips nearly flat.

“Good day, Ms. Netal.” Now he was the one forcing a smile.

“Sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they arrived, Bespin dropped Rey off curbside to the main entrance of the immense building. The rain not yet letting up, Bespin moved to help her out.

Mr. Ren’s chauffeur had been pleasantly chatty the whole way there, and it helped Rey to forget a moment just where they were headed. Grateful for the conversation and thinking it awfully unfair he should have to get rained on just to help her open a car door, Rey dodged the man.

“That’s alright, Mr. Bespin, I’ll hurry inside. I’d hate for you to get rained on any more than you already have. Thank you!” She had opened the door before he could protest.

“Careful, miss!”

Running inside, Rey found whatever water had managed to dry during her ride was quickly replaced.

This was turning out to be a miserable start to her first day.

When she had come here with Poe, they had parked in a hidden garage which held only one elevator. Upon entering the lobby, she found the gallery here hosted six. Yet there were no signs explaining which to take.

How is it possible not a single part of this day could go easily for me?

Seeing a younger woman at the front desk, Rey adjusted her bag and made her way to ask for directions. As she moved closer, she noticed another woman talking to the receptionist and heard a familiar name.

“Mr. Ren seemed to really appreciate the coffee, thanks for the tip Ooda.” The two women laughed.

Rey couldn’t imagine the man being appreciative of anything.

“Excuse me,” She interrupted them.

The woman behind the desk gave her an impatient look.

“Yes?”

“Do each of these elevators lead to Command Group’s offices?”

“That depends, hun. Are you on the guest list?”

She hadn’t thought about how she’d get inside without Poe.

“I - I think so. Rey Dameron?” Rey didn’t use Poe’s surname very often, but this was where he worked. It probably made the most sense to try his name first.

“Hmm. No Dameron on my list, sweetie.”

“Oh, sorry. Could you try Rey Palpatine, please?”

The woman gave her an annoyed raise of her brows, but started skimming through her list once more.

“Hm. There you are.” She looked back to Rey before ticking off something on her sheet.

“Looks like you’re cleared for access to every floor...That’s unexpected.”

Rey tried not to take the comment too personally.

“Do you have any identification, Miss ‘Rey Dameron Palpatine’?” She put a hand on her hip.

Identification?

“I’m still in highschool, ma’am. My adoptive father works here, if you’d like to call him…or, can I show you my school I.D?” Rey shrugged her leather satchel from her shoulder.

“Oh, Ooda, leave her be. I’ll vouch for her.” The deep voice of the woman next to Rey said.

“What harm can she do? Besides, I’ve heard of Mr. Dameron before. I’d love to make his acquaintance.” The other lady smiled at Rey, but she noticed it never met the heavily made-up woman’s eyes. She stood leaning against the front desk, sporting a vibrant outfit which clung to her hips, a sharp face and a dark updo. It was the kind of dated hairdo some of Rey’s teachers still wore.

“Fine by me.” The receptionist pressed a firm stamp onto something on her desk.

“You can take either of the two elevators in the middle. Bazine here can show you the way. Here’s your visitor’s badge.” She handed Rey a name tag and safety pin. “Attach that to your blouse once you’ve dried off.” The woman stifled a laugh and met the eyes of her friend as though they were sharing some inside joke.

“This way.” Bazine hummed as she pushed away from the counter and made for the gilded elevators.

A uniformed attendant greeted them as they stepped inside. Nodding to the older woman he spoke, “Ma’am.” then turned his attention toward Rey.

“Which floor, miss?”

“Oh - um, the 31st, please. Sir.” Rey lifted her badge for his approval.

The so-called ‘Bazine’ gave Rey a quick sideways look before she let out a breathy scoff. Rey knew she looked a mess to be riding to the top floor, but felt the treatment was a little excessive. She guessed it was a bit surprising someone like her might be going to see Mr. Ren.

He probably preferred his secretaries to dress like Bazine.

Rey was beginning to feel even more self conscious than she had this morning.

The three rode in silence, Bazine picking at her nails and Rey looking down at her shoes.

“Miss Palpatine, was it?” The colorful woman suddenly asked.

“Yes, that’s right.” Rey answered, bracing the rail as the elevator slowed to a stop on the 28th floor.

The woman moved to step out, but not before one last glance. Giving a sway of her head Rey heard her mutter, “How much harm, indeed.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“Well, let me know if you need anything, won’t you?” Bazine spoke up.

She supposed it was a nice offer, though she’d probably go to Zorii for help first.

“Good luck.” The secretary said, giving a small laugh as she shimmied away from the elevator and down the hall.

Rey wondered if she walked like that because her skirt was too tight.

The attendant only shook his head, like he was used to her antics, and pressed the lever to ascend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The telltale ding of the elevator alerted Kylo to his new secretary’s arrival before the quiet rapping of her fist sounded on his door.

“Enter.” He barked, placing the phone back to his ear.

Of course she would show up as soon as he was busy. He had planned on greeting her properly. It was the decent thing to do, after all.

Kylo watched as the wooden door slowly opened to reveal her to him, her fingers prying it open just enough so she could slip inside. The girl kept her eyes to the floor and, once inside, turned to close it after her.

Shutting the door, Rey turned to face him, holding her hands in front of her, and finally showing the recognizable hazel he had been waiting to see.

Waiting…Whether it was out of impatience or anticipation, he couldn’t discern - and that concerned him.

She looked miserable, just like he thought she would.

Good.

He met her eyes and was amused to find them already throwing daggers. He admired her scrappy nature, and was pleased by how headstrong she was: angry but ready to face her punishment.

But then he noticed something else.

She was soaking wet.

“I’m going to have to call you back.” He replied distractedly, blindly reaching to place the phone back on its rest.

“Good morning, sir.” Rey said, all manners and no enthusiasm.

“Rey.” His back teeth clenched together as he swallowed hard. He’d have to get used to the taste of her name on his tongue.

Lowering his chin to look over his glasses, “You’re dripping wet, you know.”

“Yes, sir. It’s raining.” She bit back.

The left corner of his lips turned up in amusement.

“So it is.” He watched as a rivulet dripped down her neck.

His eyes followed it to her soaked cream button up, down to where it was tucked into her gray and red checked mini skirt, then to her legs. She wore tall socks, as she had last week, and the same strapped loafers.

It really wasn’t the sort of get-up he’d expect her to wear here, or at school for that matter.

His eyes looked back up to her. Her cheeks were starting to blotch a soft pink from what he guessed was the uncomfortable silence.

“I didn’t realize Republic High was a catholic school.” He said, plain faced but removing his glasses.

“Wha? Oh.” She looked down at herself and shifted in her soggy mary janes.

“Girls aren’t allowed to wear pants at my school, Mr. Ren.” She unclasped her hands, one moving up to grip her opposite forearm - a subtle way to hide herself from his gaze. The gesture made him want to laugh.

“All the girls at my school dress like this. It’s what’s trendy right now…”

He didn’t mean to come off so disinterested, but the fabric of her blouse was beginning to stick to her stomach and it distracted him from what she had said. It wasn’t like him to stare, but it was something the movement of her hands made him take notice of.

Unnerved by his lack of response, Rey continued, “I didn’t realize it was going to rain - or that when you had said I’d start ‘next week’ you meant today. I’ll be more careful next time and…well, my neighbor is an archivist. She’s recently retired. I’m sure she’d let me borrow some more appropriate clothes.”

Kylo thought it laughable the school wouldn’t allow trousers, but they’d allow someone like her to sport a skirt which hid barely an inch of her legs. With everything soaked through, it was difficult not to notice that they were quite long. He really needed to stop staring.

“Hm.” He stood from his desk, watching as Rey took half a step back. Kylo had to fight to keep his smile from showing.

There was something endearing about the way she was clearly afraid of him.

Everyone was, but it felt different from that.

Brave face aside, she couldn’t keep from showing the little cracks in her confidence. He knew it would be times like these when he’d most relish in her torment.

This is already turning out to be fun.

“Your school clothes are fine, Miss Palpatine. No need to make you a target for teasing by having you dress like a librarian. I remember highschool.”

Kylo continued his approach and soon stood in front of her, hands heavy in his pockets. Rey blinked back, her fierce little eyes shining.

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” She looked up at him, her glare softening a bit.

From this close, he could see that she was shivering.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Didn’t my driver offer you an umbrella?” Mr. Ren asked, his brows starting to draw together.

Oh no.

She hadn’t considered the trouble Bespin might find himself in by looking like he hadn’t been attentive.

She also hadn’t thought to ask for the umbrella herself.

“He did! I-I refused. I didn’t realize how hard it was raining. Thought I didn’t need it.” Lying always did make her blush. At least, that was the only explanation she could think of to explain away the heat growing on her cheeks.

“Mhm.” He continued to stare, then nodded at her. “You’ll catch your death dressed like that.”

Oh great, he was starting to sound like Poe.

Only, when Mr. Ren said it, it lacked any of the concern. Rey thought it sounded more like a wish than anything.

If only he’d stop looking at her.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Rey was fighting to control the way her body had begun to rattle from the chill of the office blowing against her damp clothes. Mr. Ren only held his disapproving stare.

“...Is there something I can do for you, then, sir?” She finally asked.

“You can stop dripping onto my carpet.” He replied, serious eyes on his serious face making her feel seriously ridiculous.

God, he’s annoying.

She got it, she was wet and ruining his lavish furnishings. But what could she do about that? She had no time to go and buy something else to wear, let alone any money or knowledge of the city. Did he want for her to admit she was foolish?

Fine.

“Yes, sir. I’ll try to find a…towel, or something.” Rey pressed out. It was admittance enough that she was ridiculous, unprofessional.

Maybe if she cried he’d let her go home early.

“Go and dry yourself off, best you can.” He nodded to the door off to his right, his eyes still locked squarely on her. Rey looked and realized it was his private lavatory. When she looked back, he had taken a hand out of his pocket to check his watch.

Sighing, he continued, “Then you can make yourself at home at Maz’s desk outside. Someone should be by to show you the ropes. I’ll call for you when I need something.”

Looking back to her, the two stood in tense silence. Rey wasn’t certain if he meant to wait for her or ask for something else, and it didn’t help that his eyes had a paralyzing effect to them.

Unsure what to do, she simply waited for direction. Watching for a sign, Rey noticed Mr. Ren’s fist had returned to its pocket and pulled out a handkerchief - his knuckles gone white from the force with which he crushed it in his palm.

“I’d like to leave my office now, Miss Palpatine.”

“Oh, right.” Rey scooted to the side, moving from blocking his path.

Mr. Ren made his way to the door, only to stop beside her. He was holding the crumpled handkerchief to his face now, his fist moving it from his nose to speak.

“Maz usually leaves an extra sweater in her bottom side drawer. You may borrow it, so long as you return it freshly laundered.” He gave her another once over, then looked through the doorway, kerchief back to his nose.

She wondered if he was coming down with something.

“I’ll be back in an hour. If the phone should ring, let them know I'm away.”

Departing without her reply, Rey watched as Mr. Ren walked briskly away with the same heavy footing she witnessed last Friday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo wasn’t sure why he left. He had no meetings today, and he didn’t like making himself seen around the other floors more than was necessary. It scared the employees and forced him to mingle, neither a desirable outcome.

But he had to get out of that room.

There’s no way she could work like that, drenched to the bone, her shirt sticking to her collar bones, to her skin as it prickled against the air conditioning, to her…

And the smell. Her smell.

He hadn’t realized the way rainwater, warmed by someone’s nervous skin, amplified the flowery scent of a person’s soap, or perfume, or - god forbid that was her natural scent.

It filled the room almost as soon as she walked in and, partnered with the restrictive pressure of his damned collar, it was suffocating him.

Maybe if she dried off some, changed out of her wet blouse and sat outside at Maz’s desk...then maybe he could carry on undisturbed. Until then, he had to get away - at least six floors down.

He pressed the button to the elevator and quickly hid himself inside.

It didn’t help that the small metal box still held the lingering smell of her.

God, he needed a drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Direct as ever.

Mr. Ren had been predictably curt with her, but Rey was glad he was in a hurry to leave seeing as she couldn’t.

Her first day was looking like it would go exactly the way she thought it would - Unbearable.

At least he’d let her dry off.

Rey found herself in the connected bathroom not long after the surly man left, carrying Maz’s sweater in with her. She thought it was a little bit revealing that Mr. Ren knew enough about his secretary to know she kept an extra sweater in her desk drawer. It was also a bit unexpected that he was polite enough to offer her the use of it. For a moment, she was reminded of the mature secretary’s words.

“He’s not as big and bad as he seems.”

But then she remembered his concern for the carpet, and his sadistic smile when he offered her this job in the first place.

Whatever.

She’d already promised Poe she’d do a good job, she knew it was important to him. Though she resented it, she knew it was important to her too. She really did want to get into CU.

Rey was left wondering how to go about handling something like receiving calls for a prominent CEO.

Has he forgotten I’ve never worked a day in my life? I suppose he likely finds everything about me forgettable.

She decided that it could be worse. At least Mr. Ren wasn’t breathing down her neck, and he seemed to trust her enough to leave his phone at her disposal. Maybe, just maybe, she could get through this with minimal interaction with the intense man.

There was hoping, anyway.

Probably best not to leave the phone unattended for too long, though.

Setting to warming herself and shedding her wet clothes, Rey was surprised by the stylish washroom. The building was clearly from about forty years earlier. Its ornate tiling and porcelain sink a dead ringer for the fancy hotel she stayed in with her classmates when they visited Coruscant last year for their Politics class. Only, this one had clearly been used exclusively by a handful of people over the years and the fixtures were far nicer.

The look was one thing, but she had to admit she was more surprised by the distinct smell of it.

Its scent felt familiar to her, like cigarettes and leather, rosemary, honey and cedar. Equally smoky, sweet and herbaceous. Rey was comforted by the way it wrapped her up, then found her nerves set alight by the realization this was the smell of him.

How can such a despicable man smell so good? Well, he is filthy rich. He probably wears some high end fragrance.

When she spotted the amber bottle of Mr. Ren’s signature scent sitting open, its lid laying haphazardly next to it, Rey made a mental note to remember its brown saddle logo. Unsure how she’d put that information to use in the future she filed it away. It was probably a pointless thing to remember, but it felt important. Maybe it could be a good christmas gift for Poe, or a future boyfriend…not that she’d want to be reminded of Mr. Ren in that way. He just had good taste in cologne.

Looking about, she recognized the same vermillion bottle of aftershave that Poe used on the other side of the counter. Rey wondered why someone might shave at work, then realized a CEO like Mr. Ren likely spent a lot of time in his office. She would’ve pitied him, if he wasn't so insufferable.

Rey grabbed for one of the embroidered hand towels which hung nearby and worked to ring out her hair. Thankfully her skirt was the least wet thing on her, so it remained. But she quickly divested herself of her soaked shirt and socks. After wiping her shoes dry and slipping on Maz’s sweater, Rey felt a small semblance of comfort return to her.

Catching herself in the mirror, Rey realized just how grotty she had looked. She had been worried her original outfit wasn’t up to snuff. But now… Though she was dry, the matronly sweater wasn’t doing much to help her appearance.

Rey set to hanging her wet clothes to dry in the shower, wishing she had made a better first impression.

Not that it mattered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo had popped into Ushar’s office down on R&D, putting on a look of interest as he stole a glass of whiskey from the man’s private bar. Thankfully the technical engineer’s monotonous way of speaking helped re-center Kylo, reminding him exactly why he needn’t leave his office more than was demanded of him.

When he returned upstairs, the calming effect of the elixir had soothed his nerves some and the smell of the paneled corridor walls preceding his office had filled the space once more. With wary steps, he made his way down the hall to the room which hosted Maz’s desk, and now the distracting nuisance who’d fill her spot.

He could see Rey had changed into the thick knit sweater that Maz left behind, as well as that she had failed to register his approach.

Incompetent little thing.

In his slow approach, he continued to watch her and the way she struggled to pin her visitor’s tag through the chunky material of her new top. Bulky as the garment was, Kylo noticed the outline of Rey’s lithe frame was still uncomfortably evident.

He assured himself the only reason he noticed was because he found it unbecoming for a work environment. Though, he reminded himself it wasn’t her deliberate choice. His ears burnt hot and his collar was starting to feel tight once more. He supposed it was still better than looking at the fabric of her drenched blouse sticking to her skin.

Kylo made his way to just before her desk, meaning to ask for any missed calls in a loud enough voice so as to bring her back to reality, but his lumbering steps gave him away before his stern voice could.

Damned bum leg.

Looking up to him, Rey opened her mouth to greet him.

“Sir - ah!” Kylo watched as she quickly recoiled her hand, wincing in pain and looking over her finger to assess the damage. He realizes she’s pricked herself a moment too late, and she’s wrapping her lips around the little pad of her finger just as he’s made it in front of her.

She looks up at him, her finger still in her mouth as he peers down, a thick swallow making its way down Kylo’s throat.

Jesus.

“Any calls?”

She quickly removes her finger with the tiniest ‘tut’ as her lips break their suction, shaking her head.

“No, sir.”

He can’t meet her eyes so he looks at her sweater, but that’s no good either. So he looks off to the side, or at his door. Anywhere but at her.

“Good. Go and grab me a coffee, black.” Just as terse as when he had left earlier.

She’s stood by now, scrambling to pick up the pin and tag from her desk.

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t worry about the name tag!” He’s more frustrated with himself than with her, but he’s yelling all the same.

Pinching the bridge to his nose, “Just leave the damned thing. You won’t need it anymore.”

“Yes, sir.” Rey quickly rounds the corner of the desk and makes for the elevator.

The last thing he needs is her bleeding on Maz’s favorite sweater, or any other distractions. He’d be calling the lobby’s front desk to grant her permanent access as soon as he made it to his phone.

Shutting the door behind him, Kylo realizes the light smell of her has returned, drifting toward him somewhere from the left.

Walking hurriedly to the bathroom, he catches sight of her white socks draped over the edge of his sink and her translucent blouse hanging in his shower. A crumpled towel lays in the corner.

From out in the hall, Rey can make out the sound of a door slamming shut.

Chapter Text

Mr. Ren’s coffee is delivered in record time by a panting Rey.

Worried the coffee would be too cold because she had gotten turned around on her way, a rushing Rey was soon all but sprinting to make it back in a timely fashion. Judging from the way Mr. Ren had lost his temper with the badge, Rey wasn’t sure he could handle another upset like cold coffee.

Having run the length of Poe’s floor, to their breakroom and back, she hardly has the breath to announce her return. To her luck, Mr. Ren is thankfully on his phone again when she enters his office and he takes the drink from her hand without so much as a glance.

His fingers brushing against hers in their hurried attempt to snatch the drink, Rey nearly drops the cup altogether. She swears her life flashed before her eyes, and the brief moment of contact left behind what could only be described as a burning heat.

The kind of heat that Rey imagines acid leaves behind, or touching something equally awful.

Like a cockroach.

Now seated safely at her desk, Rey allows herself a moment to get collected. And wallow.

She was just as incompetent as Mr. Ren had expected: clumsy, under dressed, unable to pin her visitor’s tag…

Her head in her hands, a groaning Rey welcomes the silent privacy - though her thoughts make for poor company.

Augh! This day is such a colossal failure.

Therapeutic as it is to moan over her missteps, Rey’s brief reprieve is quickly interrupted by the alarming sound of the phone.

Her first call, Rey is left at a loss for what to say. But, dreading the shrill tone will carry its way into Mr. Ren’s office, she reaches to answer quickly, muscle memory kicking in before she can stop herself.

“Hello?” She asks.

“...hello?” replies the confused voice on the other end.

“Uh, ah- Mr. Ren’s Office!” She clears her throat, “How may I help you?”

Rey’s palm is crashing into her forehead in self-admonishment before she’s finished responding.

“Who is this?” The voice asks in a, thankfully, amused tone.

“Rey Palpatine, sir, I-I’m subbing for Maz. Um, Mr. Ren isn’t available at the moment but I can take a message for you. May I ask who’s calling?”

A laugh rings out on the other end, followed by a barely audible “click.” For a moment Rey thinks he’s hung up, but is relieved to hear his laughter continue.

“Well, Miss Rey, if you’d please tell Mr. Ren that Hux from down on Business Development - Oh, that’s the 12th floor if you ever want to come down and see me - needs to get his eyes on something and I’d appreciate a call back from him by the end of the day.”

The voice sounds young. As young as Mr. Ren, anyway.

“12th floor, business development, call Hux by end of day.” Rey repeats as she takes down her notes.

Wait a minute. Come and see him?

Rey can’t be sure, but it sounded like the man was flirting with her. It makes her nervous and the peevish face of Gerald appears in her mind.

“Y-yes sir, understood. Is there anything else?”

“No, Miss Rey. I think you got it all. See you around, huh?” He laughs to himself as he hangs up the phone.

Rey was glad she wouldn’t have to reply, frankly she wasn’t sure how to. But the flirtatious energy of the caller, and the absolute absurdity of her day, makes Rey laugh for the first time since last week.

Holding the phone as she settles, a giggling Rey notices the disconnect tone never returns. Still, she makes sure to set it carefully back on its rest.

Odd.

“Office phones must work differently than the ones at home.” she theorizes.

The phone planted squarely on its base, Rey stares a moment before the dread begins to set in. What if she had broken it somehow? Who would she even call to fix something like that?

Are there manuals for everything in secretary desks?

Reaching to begin her search, the elevator dings just feet away. Rey’s half expecting to see the mysterious man from the other end appear, but finds she’s met with someone far more comforting.

“Rey, Honey!”

“Zorii!”

“Congrats on the cushy gig,” she winks at Rey, walking toward her desk.

“Mr. Ren asked your father to send me up and have you take the same exam each of us girls had to take. Then I’ll walk you through a thing or two so you’ll be ready to fly solo come tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Rey’s uneasy face was clear for Zorii to read.

“Sorry, hun. Mr. Ren’s explicit request. He’s a busy man, not much time for a learning curve I guess. But I bet you can manage it!” Poe’s secretary had wasted no time pulling up one of the waiting chairs to Maz’s - now Rey’s - desk.

“Right, ok.” Rey sighs, “But, Zorii, actually - could you help me with something?”

“Sure, sug. What’s the matter?”

“Could you check my phone for me? Do they normally not make the noise-” Rey lifted the phone off its hook, and held it out toward her father’s secretary. Yet, even there with the phone an arm’s length away, the dial tone rang out clearly.

Huh.

“Hm, seems fine to me! Here, let’s start with the exam.” Zorii places a freshly printed form in front of her.

The questions make Rey grimace.

“Do I have a natural flair for organizing the activities of others? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
No

“Do I smile readily and naturally? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
I’m not sure I know what that means?

“Do I make friends easily? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
Not here, anyway.

“Am I fastidious about my appearance at all times? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
This is just rubbing salt in today’s wound.

“Do I refrain from making sarcastic remarks? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
…

“Am I thoughtful and considerate of the feelings of other people? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
Oh, one where I can say yes.

“Is my voice pleasing and well modulated? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
What?

“Can I talk to the boss as easily as to the office boy? No [ ] Yes [ ]”
I’d definitely prefer to talk to Hex or whatever his name was from the 12th floor, so far…

Rey moves to mark the first question No [x] when Zorii clears her throat.

“Remember, dear, it’s 4 points per ‘yes’. You need a score of 80 to pass, we only want ‘good personalities’ here.” She smiles at Rey, and lifts her eyebrows - her suggestion clear.

By the end, Rey has fudged the numbers so she hits the 80 point minimum. But not without marking a few choice questions ‘no’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yes, Dameron, she’s doing…exceedingly well. I’m happy to have her.” Kylo hoped the forced enthusiasm came across genuinely.

“Right, right. Yes, well, I was calling to ask if I might borrow your girl…Z- ah, yes, her. If I might borrow her for a while today? Your daughter would benefit from a crash course with her, and it would certainly help Rey along her way. Great, that would be much appreciated.”

Thank god. He could hear the girl sitting out there, shuffling around in her chair. He knew she hadn’t a clue what to do with herself, and he dreaded having to sit through explaining even the simplest task to her. As for coffee, he could only drink so much. But who wants to be tossed a scalding cup of coffee by someone whose hands were as clumsy, or soft, as hers?

Soft? That glass of whiskey must’ve been especially strong.

Kylo’s only just set the phone down when it rings.

Once. Twice.

“Christ’s sake.” He sighs, reaching to pick up the phone himself.

Whoever was calling was about to receive a terrible shock hearing his voice instead of Maz’s, or hers.

But the ringer goes silent as his fingertips meet the smooth body of the phone.

“Hm.”

I really ought to give her a chance to handle it, it’s just a phone call. What’s the worst that can happen?

But the worry of having Rey misdirect an important call makes Kylo lift the phone from its cradle, press the appropriate switch, and quietly place it to his ear.

Let’s see how she does. Just in case.

There was no mistaking the chortle on the other end. A flash of copper ran across Kylo’s mind before it faded, his professional curiosity along with it. A new, personal curiosity sprung up in its place.

“Well, Miss Rey-”

Miss Rey? The fucking nerve of this guy,

“Oh, that’s the 12th floor if you ever want to come down and see me”

Incredible. The snake is wasting no time on the girl. Thank goodness she’s too smart to fall for any of that-

But then he heard it. A sound that made him feel a way he wasn’t sure he ever had before. It wasn’t angry, or sad - though, perhaps a little of both. He felt full of energy but stuck in his seat. He was terrified, overwhelmed, furious and, for the first time in a long time, insecure.

Rey laughed.

She laughed, at Hux. At Hux’s pathetic attempt at flirtation with her - someone she’d never even met.

How could she be so naïve? So stupid? So easily entertained? Was it that easy to make her happy? Hollow sweet talk? How could she take something, someone, like that seriously - let alone enjoy it? How could she, how could she…

She had laughed.

And Kylo Ren was jealous.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour passes by the time Zorii has shown Rey how to appropriately answer the phone, and where to catalog her notes or find one Maz may have filed away. She walks Rey through how to read Mr. Ren’s previously set agenda and make changes to it, as well as how to turn away anyone who might show up unannounced to his door.

“There you go, chicken, you’re a natural! Now all that’s left to do is put it into action. Why don’t we accompany the team meeting together so you can watch how I take notes, and you can show your work to Mr. Ren after?”

The prospect was equally comforting as it was terrifying.

By 2:00, the three are huddled together as they take the elevator down to their meeting. Rey tucks herself into the corner while Zorii makes polite smalltalk with Mr. Ren. Rey sneaks a glance or two while her new boss stares straight ahead, sniffling into his handkerchief all the while.

Must be seasonal allergies.

The meeting is as boring as she expects, but with Poe present Rey knows she has to look interested. It proves a difficult task knowing her schoolmates would be finishing their day soon. She wished she could go lay on Rose’s bed and read magazines or ride their bikes to the church. Rose had gotten into the habit of sneaking a cigarette, and Rey loved the one moment of unchaperoned freedom they were allowed.

But this was important, and she’d prove she could do it. No matter how poor of a start she’d had.

Rey does her best to jot down timelines and big takeaways, she notes the questions Mr. Ren asks and the commitments each person provides him. She even makes a point to memorize a few names. It’s altogether much easier than she imagined, although she doesn’t quite understand all the jargon.

Best of all, most everyone seems to ignore her save for a few curious looks. In fact, the only person who made a point to smile at her other than Poe was a red haired ringer for a young Steve Mcqueen standing opposite the conference table.

Rey gives a polite smile back before a shifting Mr. Ren catches her attention. He seemed to have noticed the ginger haired man’s acknowledgment and, though it was near impossible to tell, she swore his frown had worsened. Then again, he had caught her being distracted.

Rey makes sure to keep her nose in her notebook the rest of the meeting.

Its end comes in due time and she quickly learns that Mr. Ren is an in-demand person wherever he goes. He waves her away when a circle of older men in suits approach him, each vying for a moment of his time.

With Zorii tied up going over some spreadsheet with Poe, and nowhere else to turn, Rey backs herself against a nearby wall busying herself with rereading her notes.

She hopes they’re legible.

“I hear your father works here.”

Peering up from her page, she sees it’s the red haired man from earlier.

Rey gives a curt smile, and nods. She’s not sure if it’s a good thing she was helped along because of Poe’s connections, but there’s no use lying when her father is literally in the room with them.

The man gives a toothy smile in return.

“Mine too. Or, he used to.” He chuckled. “Hux. We spoke before.” He extends a hand from his pocket.

Oh.

He was certainly no Gerald.

“Rey.”

Reaching out to shake it, Rey places her hand in his but finds herself startled when he twists it up to his lips, placing a kiss to her knuckles.

“It’s a pleasure. Say, you haven’t had a chance to pass my message on to Herr Ren yet, have you?” He moved to lean on the wall next to her.

It’s impossible to fight off the small yet pleased smile that spreads across her face. Finally, someone she could relate to.

Mr. Ren really does seem like an autocratic sort of person.

She laughs and turns to face him, her back to the door and Mr. Ren.

“Oh, no. I haven't, I'm sorry! It’s been a busy day. I’ll inform him as soon as he’s free-”

“There’s no need to butter up my girl just to get a message to me, Hux. What is it?” A heavy hand dropping onto Rey’s shoulder catches her off guard, and she’s startled into looking up at the young CEO who’d snuck up behind her. His returning look tells Rey she’s no longer needed.

Oh, hell.

“Not at all, I trust she would have gotten it to you even if I wasn’t charmed by her. It was nice meeting you, Miss Rey.”

She would have to run it past Rose to be sure, but Rey was feeling a great deal more confident that this was exactly what flirting looked like.

“Uh, yes, you too.” Rey replied, pausing to nod to Mr. Ren, “Sir” before running to join Zorii and the other remaining secretaries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charmed? Charmed?? And the fucking prick kissed her hand. Doesn’t he realize who she is? Whose daughter she is? Whose secretary, whose girl she was?

He was getting ahead of himself.

All the men around the building acted like that with their secretaries.

But they wouldn’t with her.

He would make sure of it.

When Rey had scurried safely away, Kylo added. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off my temp. She’s got more than enough to handle for me without that kind of distraction.”

As if she’d really be interested in such a slimy, sweet-talking jackass like him. But a faint laugh echoed in his mind.

“Ah, come on Kylo. This job is such a drag without the…perks.” He smirked. “If we’re going to fill our fathers’ shoes then we may as well keep up with the womanizing. Hell, your dad was worse than mine from what I hear.” And that smug smile Kylo had known most of his life was plastered on Hux’s face.

“....I’m too busy for that shit. What do you want?”

“Nothing, really, but I heard you got a new girl so I…”

Of course it was nothing, it was always nothing with Hux. The guy’s job had extremely loose expectations, flexible deadlines, and worst of all: the flake delivered when it counted.

Kylo couldn’t stand the idiot.

Grandfathered in under a wing of nepotism that made it hard to cut the red haired man off, Kylo mostly dodged him once he realized he couldn’t fire him.

Hux likewise knew Kylo had it out for him, and took every opportunity to make the CEO’s life as difficult as possible. Their fathers lifelong rivals, the two carried on the tradition with ease.

It was why Kylo knew Rey was just an easy target for the man - a tool he could use to get to Kylo. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have worked. But Hux was about to find out just how willing Kylo was to fight for what was his.

It didn’t matter if no one else knew it, if Rey herself didn’t know it. But he knew it, and Hux would know it.

Rey belonged to him.

“Stop wasting Rey’s time -my time.” He leaned in toward the man, instructing in a cold, clear tone, “If you actually need something, have your girl talk to mine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A dismissive “Gentlemen,” sounds from across the room as Mr. Ren brushes his way past the endless line of suits waiting to speak with him.

Hearing it too, Zorii motions for Rey and the two follow quickly after him, a winking Hux waving them off as they go.

Back in the elevator, Rey notices Mr. Ren’s handkerchief is nowhere to be seen, yet his empty fists are just as white as when they had held it before.

The three were greeted by an attendant who was markedly younger than the one from earlier, and seemingly new to the job. Something Rey gathers by the way he asks Mr. Ren where he needs to go.

The imposing man simply blinks back at the boy before Zorii cuts in,

“The top floor, please.”

Rey can tell he’s made the attendant nervous.

Just before they reach the top, Zorii asks to be let off on Poe’s floor and Rey halfway considers reaching out to beg her to stay. She must notice Rey’s distraught look because she gives Rey an encouraging rub to her shoulders before stepping off.

“Great job today sweetheart. Give me a ring if you need anything. I think she’ll be a great stand-in, Mr. Ren. Good day.”

Despite Rey’s pleading face, Zorii’s gone in a blink, and the two are left alone for what should’ve been a short ride - but ultimately feels like a lifetime.

Poe is a gentle father, but Rey knows what it looks like when he’s holding something in. His face does this thing where it’s both blank and tense at the same time. The occasional twitch of the eye makes its appearance. It was exactly the same way Mr. Ren looked standing next to her there in that little metal box.

Better to leave it alone.

But his vibrating energy proves impossible to ignore.

Perhaps it is better to apologize, instead.

“Sir?”

Mr. Ren’s head snaps to the side to look down at her, her voice likely unexpected and his temper clearly too foul to reply.

“Did I do something wrong?”

In an honest feat, Mr. Ren’s permanently furrowed brow manages to lower deeper. He breathed heavily from his nose.

As far as Rey’s concerned, that’s his way of saying yes.

At least I'm learning how he communicates.

“I forgot to tell you Mr. Hux called, I’m sorry. He wanted me to ask you to see him on the 12th floor-”

“I know.”

She looked back to him with a confused look.

He knew?

Mr. Ren caught her look and must’ve known she didn’t catch his meaning. He ran a hand over his temple, sweeping back his hair.

“He’s always asking me to come down there. As I’m sure you’ll come to learn.” He sighed.

Oh, of course.

The ding of the elevator approaching the top floor sounds, and Rey lets her clammy hands release the rail to disembark.

It was a silly thing to ask if she had messed up, and even sillier to expect an answer.

But the new attendant, shaken by Mr. Ren’s cool look and the pressure of shuttling the building’s highest ranking official, brings them to a jumpy, rattling stop before the doors can open.

Losing her balance, Rey fails in her footing a moment and watches the floor draw nearer. Her body lost to the sensation of near zero gravity, she braces herself for the fall - as well as the humiliation.

Too quick to register, Mr. Ren’s hand is suddenly gripping Rey’s forearm, and the floor is static once more.

With a warmth that leaves a tingling bloom across her arm, Mr. Ren has steadied her with a single, solid yank. Though she’s soon upright and bracing herself against him, a moment passes before she registers her hands against his chest, or that Mr. Ren has let her go.

Stepping away quickly she whips her hands from his shirt, and holds them close to her heart.

“Th-thank you,...sir.”

He doesn’t answer her, nor does he chew out the apologetic attendant. He only straightens his jacket and storms past the elevator door, toward his office in an annoyed huff.

Somehow his quiet reply is more unnerving than when he’s shouting, and Rey knows she won’t be seeing the new attendant again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had felt her against him, held her there.

He was lost in thought about the way Hux had spoken to her, touched her, when his own hand shot out and wrapped itself around her arm.

“Did I do something wrong?” She had said.

Yes. He wanted to say.

Don’t look at anyone who isn’t me. He wanted to say.

But then again, no.

It was Hux who kissed her hand without her permission. Without his permission. It was Hux who was taking advantage of her as an obvious means to inconvenience him. She hadn’t done anything wrong at all. Really, he had been the one to screw up..

He should’ve kept a closer eye on her. Kept her as close as he held her right now.

No, you fool.

He lets her go, frustrated with Hux, with her, with himself - with the damned attendant. Today had been more tiresome than he had imagined, and his ambiguous feelings were fast becoming clearer. Clearer, but far more troubling.

But he had yelled enough, and he had upset her somewhere along the way, so he’d say nothing now. Or maybe ever again.

All he wanted to do was retreat to his office, down a glass of gin and loosen his God damned garrote of a collar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Ren must have a habit of slamming doors, Rey thinks, watching as the ones leading to his office rattle on their hinges once he’s hidden back inside.

“I should give him a minute.” She says aloud, to no one but herself.

Rey figures it’s best to allow time to let the man simmer over whatever it was that had got him going in the first place.

That’s what Poe always does when I get upset.

But Rey knows she has to run her notes by Mr. Ren for approval, and soon. The day was fast reaching its end and she had to be ready by tomorrow.

She waits a minute, then five, then twenty. Ultimately, she sits awkwardly on her chair for nearly an hour before the silence of the reception area drives her mad.

Enough, Rey. Just get up and do it!

Mr. Ren doesn’t respond when she knocks on his door, but she knows he’s not on the phone. There were no calls she had to answer, and if he had placed one she’d hear him from out there, for sure.

It’s probably ok.

She knocks again.

“Mr. Ren?”

Still no reply, but Rey can see no reason to wait.

If he’s going to be a fuss then so be it, but I shouldn’t have to wait for a man like him to cool off. He’s the one making me do all of this in the first place.

She huffs.

Opening the door, “Mr. Ren? Zorii asked me to run my notes by you-” But she freezes.

Mr. Ren is sitting in his chair, crisp white shirt undone, his undershirt showing through and necktie loosened. His head had fallen back over the headrest and his eyes were fixed to the ceiling.

“I’m so sorry, i’ll come back-” She squeaks out.

“No, Miss Rey.”

It’s the first time he’s called her that, and it worries her that this could be the sort of thing parents do when they use your full name.

I knew it. I did do something wrong.

“Come in.” He orders, voice dark and calm. It makes a chill roll along the length of her spine.

She halts, her hand already on the doorknob, but she lets it go and turns back to, hesitantly, approach his desk.

“Zorii says I have to make sure you’re satisfied w-with my…my notes but-” She hesitates.

He’s a terrifying sort of man, and she’d never been around anyone but her girlfriends in the state of dress she had found him in just now. There was no doubt the appropriateness of the situation was ambiguous at best, yet she felt provoked to ask,

“But - can I get you anything, sir? Are you not feeling well? I noticed your handkerchief-”

“No.”

Her voice dies in her throat.

“Just show me your notes.”

He’s lifted his head, his long hair tousled about in a way that makes Rey’s skin prickle. His piercing gaze is obscured by heavy eyelids, and Rey feels herself take a sharp breath in. A warmth floods over Rey’s cheeks, and somewhere deep beneath her ribcage she feels something like butterflies.

It was not a sensation she expected from someone like him.

“Yes, sir.”

Rey inches over to his desk, close enough to reach out her notebook but as far away as she can manage.

Standing there, her arm outstretched, Rey tries to ignore how taut the fabric of Mr. Ren’s undershirt is across his chest, or how she knows the way his collared shirt feels against her hands. She tries, but fails.

Her eyes unable to break away from the sight of him, she realizes his chair is pushed back far enough for his outstretched legs - but it’s assuredly not safe to look there either.

She hadn’t taken notice of the gray fabric of his pants before, but now, seeing how it wrinkled at the seams, bunched up from the way his muscular thighs fill each leg when he leans forward to take her book, there’s no missing it.

Unlike the coffee, Mr. Ren slowly removes the notebook from her hand.

“Hm.” He leans back, still holding and looking at her notes. “These look half decent. I’m surprised.” He lets out a deep breath. “Hell, I’m surprised you came at all.”

She knew the last part was said more for himself than for her, but how could she ignore it? Couldn’t he see she was trying?

“How do you mean, sir?”

He made the sound of a breathy laugh through his nose, but he certainly didn’t seem happy.

“Well, why don’t you answer that for yourself.” He tossed her notebook on his desk, and looked at her.

She wished he wouldn’t.

“Why did you show, today? You admitted you weren’t prepared. No one forced you to get into my car. So why are you here?”

Rey’s confused face pinched together from the frustrating question.

“I’m here to do what’s been asked of me, sir.”

“Is that right?” He almost laughed.

“Yes. You’ve convinced my father this is a suitable way for me to be granted admittance to CU, and so I’m here. I’m here to learn what I have to do in order to send in my applications with your stamp of approval. And if I’m honest, I think I’m doing a-”

“And you think you deserve it? To attend CU, for me to give you my referral?”

Insufferable, pretentious, exhausting man.

“Of course I do. Why else would I be here?”

Today was an awful example, she thought. But she believed what she said.

Mr. Ren must’ve agreed because he took his time to reply.

Seemingly unimpressed but yielding to her confidence, “You’ll just have to prove it.”

“....yes, sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo leaned slowly forward to pick up his pen and return his attention to his work. Anything to distract from the fact she had found him in partial undress, or that a band of pink was growing across her nose and cheeks from the sight.

So innocent.

He tried to give little thought to the way she said “yes sir” when he challenged her to prove herself, to convince himself he simply liked it because he liked obedient staff. But the words continued to ring in his ears, and shadowy figures of imagined scenes he tried not to envision fought for his attention.

“Sir?”

God, he wished she’d leave.

He looked to her, his silent gaze his only reply.

“I was just wondering, what time does my day finish?”

The figures gained more clarity in his mind. A girl’s figure in front of his window at night, against his window…

Christ. Why had he thought gin was a good idea?

“Pardon?” He asked her.

Didn’t she want to go home? There was no way she’d want to stay late…

“I noticed your aftershave, so I assumed maybe you stay very late some nights. My day starts around noon, which is already four hours behind everyone else. Am I to stay late, too? To put in a full day’s worth of hours?”

Ah, of course. It was ridiculous of him to consider the alternative. Stupid, even. Laughable. Yet,

“Would you like to?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey stood in stunned silence. She knew it, he would make her stay late.

Her lips parted in disbelief.

What would they do if there was no one else there? No meetings, no calls? She hardly had enough to keep her busy today…

“It was a joke, Rey. You may leave with your father. At 5.” Mr. Ren returned to scribbling away at whatever he’d been working on.

It’s not a very funny joke, she thinks.

“Yes, sir.” Her stomach grumbles.

Rey grabs her belly, embarrassed and trying to stop the noise as quickly as she can, to no avail. Mr. Ren is peeking up at her once more.

“Speaking of, doesn’t that man feed you properly? I’ve been hearing that thing all day.” He asked her, taking a swig of something clear in his crystal glass. Rey could tell it wasn’t water.

She stuttered at the realization her rumbling stomach had been that noticeable. Embarrassed wasn’t a strong enough word for how she felt.

“Your- your driver, Mr. Bespin, he picks me up during my lunch hour. So, I…”

He sat his glass down, fingers strumming its side. He looked angrier than before.

She assumed it was the annoyance of her noisy stomach and, for a moment, she felt half tempted to starve herself if only to inconvenience him more. But remembering why she had come, Rey resigned herself to being Poe’s dutiful representative.

“I’ll be sure to pack my lunch so I don’t disturb you again, sir.”

“And have to listen to the crumpling of a paper bag for thirty minutes? I don’t think so.”

So he really does want me to starve.

Rey was busy figuring out the math behind waking up early enough to eat a bigger breakfast when Mr. Ren spoke again.

“We’ll lunch together from now on.”

We’ll what?

Standing, Mr. Ren undid his loosened tie and slid it from around his neck. Tossing the black silk to his desk, Rey watched it land haphazardly and slide down the edge to the floor before looking back to her boss.

“What do you mean we’ll-”

Rey froze.

Mr. Ren had picked up the receiver before Rey could react, buttoning his shirt as he spoke into it. The movement of his hands feeling terribly intimate, Rey couldn’t keep from turning nervously to the side.

“Send for Bespin.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where are we going?” Rey calls after Kylo.

Walking to the double doors of his office, he hears her quiet footfall follow behind him and opens one for her to pass through before him.

“Somewhere I can tolerate the food.”

Kylo would tell himself later he simply hadn’t thought to ask the restaurant downstairs to make him something he liked. Then again, his mother always said it was tacky when people ordered off-menu.

But he could admit, they had gotten off on the wrong foot. Her notes were already far easier to read than Maz’s, and that alone deserved some sort of praise. Maybe it was the gin talking, but taking her to a nice lunch - to several nice lunches over the coming week - might be enough to make up for their rocky first day.

It was the only way he knew how to say sorry, and if Hux could make Rey laugh with some half-assed flirting, Kylo was sure he could do far better. Lunch was only the start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let’s go.” It’s not a request, and Rey obediently follows behind. To where, she’s uncertain, but the promise of food is altogether too good to pass up. Even if it means sharing a table with Kylo Ren.

“Miss Palpatine.” Bespin is successful in opening the door for her this time, and she and Mr. Ren share the back seat. What Rey once considered to be a spacious part of the car now seemed ridiculously small with the towering CEO next to her.

Their knees bumping as they went, Rey leaned heavily against the window to keep as much space between them as possible.

“Cedrian Terrace, please, Bespin.”

“Sir.”

When Bespin gets to her door after their arrival, Rey nearly falls out with how closely she’s sat to it.

Stumbling out of the car, she recognizes the restaurant as the one she and Rose always see in the background of tabloids when celebrities come into town. They had promised to go there together one day, after they graduated college and had swanky jobs.

It’d have to be a swanky job, it was the most expensive restaurant in Chandrila.

“Mr. Ren I can’t accept this, I don’t have enough money to afford something like this.”

She didn’t have any money at all, actually.

“Consider it a perk of the job,” He replied, walking in front of her while the host led them to their table. A marveling Rey trailing closely behind Mr. Ren, she realizes his disinterested looks mean he’s clearly been there before.

“Or a reward, if that makes you feel better.” He’s holding out her chair, waiting for her to snap out of her trance and sit.

“Oh, th-thank you.” Her voice is small, but she’s more excited than perhaps she should be given her situation. Certainly too excited to refuse, and hungry.

No sooner has Mr. Ren taken his own seat when two steaming plates are placed in front of them.

Not only has he been here before, he’s a regular.

Somehow, Rey had forgotten just how prominent Mr. Ren’s family was.

Cutting into his steak, her usually chat-averse boss continued, “You did alright, for your first day.” and took a bite.

Was that….a compliment?

Sure, it was half-hearted and indirect, but Rey was eating the best steak of her life and that meant a poor attempt at a compliment from Mr. Ren was just as good as a wonderful one from someone she actually liked. Maybe she’d feel differently after she had eaten, but for now she was more than content.

“Anyway, I’m sick of the food from the cafeteria.” His eyes still cast down on his plate, Mr. Ren continued, “It really is terrible. This gives me a good excuse to eat elsewhere, and I can’t rightly send you home hungry. Can I?” Taking another bite he chews, finally lifting his eyes to look across at her. “Your father would kill me.”

Another joke?

Rey refuses to smile, but gives a slight nod of her head.

“Yes, sir.”

Being fed out of obligation suddenly makes the steak taste like any other she’s ever had. But Rey was taught to always finish what was on her plate.

It’s a strange experience, eating opposite a man as particular as Mr. Ren. Staff flutter nervously around to wait on his every whim, but he asks for nothing, and says very little. Really, all he does is eat, and look at her occasionally.

Rey does her best not to gawk, at the ceiling, the walls, the clean uniforms of the servers or at the suddenly very real man sitting across from her.

At Command Group, Mr. Ren seemed foreboding to be sure. But realizing that he continued to exist outside of the office suddenly made Rey keenly aware of the power this man possessed, and how subtly dangerous an aura he carried with him.

He was handsome, rich, well educated, well connected, and terribly terribly spoken. The world was his oyster, and at his command - and she would be the closest person to him for the next week.

Rey was starting to consider that she had greatly underestimated him, as well as this job. Watching him eat, eyes down to the table, Rey swallowed hard.

Mr. Ren’s unnervingly blank face lifted his eyes to her, a slow chew moving his jaw as she met his gaze.

What does he have, some kind of supersonic hearing?

She swallowed again, but looked down to her own plate as she pierced the bit of meat left for her to finish.

It took her until her 16th birthday to finally feel normal eating in front of boys, but now… That unignorable awareness of the movement of her mouth was returning, sure she could feel Mr. Ren watching her eat.

Judging my table manners, more than likely.

Clearing her throat and looking back to him, Rey confirms his dark eyes are trained firmly on her. Trying not to bristle, she makes a poor effort to distract him.

“You must come here often, they didn’t even ask our order.”

“Sometimes.”

It’s about as much of a response as she could expect, and again he’s back to watching her like she’s the subject of some new-age experiment.

Still, as she sits opposite him picking at her shrimp cocktail and trying not to move her lips more than she can help, it crosses Rey’s mind that - to an outsider’s eye - they might look like two people out for a meal together. Not like boss and employee, but rather…

Rey tries not to cough all over their dessert as it arrives. He had let her pick it out, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her smell is barely noticeable, yet overwhelming to Kylo in the confined space of the car.

There’s no fighting it.

His body wound tight until this point, Kylo finally lets himself take a breath and slumps into the back of the seat. His legs slacking, the relaxing exhale makes his already widened stance grow wider still and his left knee brushes gently against hers.

He sees the way she withdraws a little, can practically feel the way she stiffens. But he won’t surrender an inch to her.

If Hux got to make her laugh, kiss her hand, he would allow himself the right to keep his knees spread in his own car. Brushing against the skin of her leg was almost just as good as making her laugh, or imagining pressing her hand to his lips. Almost.

Besides, seeing her shrink away was amusing in its own right. The shy thing.

He peers down to her knees and finds the angle of them, their smoothness, annoyingly enticing. He notices they’re not quite bony, but certainly small enough to wrap his entire hand around. It’s beyond him to resist wondering how that would feel, to grip her there. He envisions letting his hand find its way to the seat, next to her hand which rested there, entwining his fingers with her own, until he felt brave enough to slide his fingers across her knuckle and up to her knee. He’d let it rest there quietly in the back seat, test the give of her flesh and press gentle reassuring fingers into the meat of her thigh, slowly wandering up…

He remembered her stockings, long and white and drying in his sink.

Kylo’s pinky twitched.

“Mr. Ren I can’t accept this, I don’t have enough money to afford something like this.”

Kylo snapped out of his haze and found Rey standing outside the car.

The simple girl didn’t expect him to make her pay, did she?

Perhaps she has little experience with things of this nature. With being taken out… to eat.

Then again, he hadn’t even thought to ask her if she’d like something like this. Maybe that was her way of saying this spot wasn’t to her liking.

But one look at her wonderstruck face put that worry quickly to rest.

It’s pleasing, he thinks, to elicit that kind of expression from her. He wonders if she’s ever seen a Kyber crystal.

Kylo has to physically shake himself out of his thoughts, reminding himself there are appearances to keep up. It’s easy enough, but he shoots the waiter a searing look so that he can grab Rey’s chair himself. It might be out of the ordinary for an establishment this fine, but that’s what any well mannered gentleman ought to do. Naturally.

Her surprised thanks is enough to make Kylo smile as he stands behind Rey, but he wipes it from his face before he takes his seat opposite her.

‘Your father would kill me’ he’d say, even though he knew damn well the man was blinded by the prospect of Rey’s admittance to CU. Dameron wouldn’t interfere unless he had reason to. Unless a line was crossed…

But this was just lunch. A business lunch, at that. Nothing to worry about. For now.

Or ever, his doubt whispers to him.

Rey could ‘be his’ in his mind all he liked. Her wanting the same, well…

The answer is an obvious and resounding ‘not in a million years’, even from those troublesome voices who normally encouraged Kylo’s reckless behavior.

The realization is enough to kill his mood, the dour look that usually lived on his face quickly returning.

Kylo felt pathetic and defeated. And drunk.

Maybe he would stop drinking at work.

“You must come here often, they didn’t even ask our order.” She says, catching his eyes resting on her.

Oh god, you’re staring.

So maybe she didn’t feel drawn to him the way he felt drawn to her. But perhaps he could be the type of person who she would come to want something like that from. Someone who could compete with Hux’s manipulative charm. Someone who could compete for her laughter.

Don’t come across as haughty, be humble.

“Sometimes.”

She doesn’t seem to like that answer.

I’m fucking terrible at this.

Compete with Hux? The jackass was a cad for sure, but Kylo couldn’t string a sentence together around her. What a joke. Rey was his? More like his to watch from afar. To think he could ever be ‘her’s’.

Her fairy godfather maybe.

Yes, he’d help her get into a good school and pull all the strings needed to ensure she had everything she could ever want while there. Even after.

Now that he knew her, she would have whatever, and whoever, she wanted. But that would never be Kylo.

When the waiter returns with coffee and a dessert menu, he notices Rey’s interest.

If she wanted dessert, she would have it.

Her response is hesitant, but cheerful, and it nearly brings him out of his depressive thoughts.

She likes this.

When they leave, she stands next to him as they wait for the car, the chill of early evening blowing down the sidewalk.

It’s not often he struggles to get out his words, but Kylo starts and stops twice before he manages to say,

“I’d like it if you picked the place, next time.”

“Tomorrow?” She looks up to him with raised brows.

“Right, yes. Tomorrow.”

She doesn’t smile, but her eyes seem brighter and he detects the littlest curl at the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve only ever eaten in the city once or twice. I can’t even remember where. I’m not sure I know of any recommendations.”

He’d have to change that.

“Then maybe I’ll choose the next, but I’d like you to pick at least once, before you go.”

Before she goes. The thought is one he tries to forget.

“Yes, sir. Thank you. That sounds nice.”

To his surprise, it actually sounded like she meant it.

He grabs the door for her when Bespin pulls up, waving him off.

She watches him with curiosity the entire way as he rounds the car, then smiles with uncertainty, almost shyly, when he joins her in the back.

Allow someone else to have those eyes looking up at them when they close her car door? Allow someone else to take her out, help her see the city, the world?

No.

She was his.

No one else was good enough for her.

Certainly not fucking Hux.

It could only be Kylo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Ren seems like a different person after lunch. He helped her in and out of the car, asked her to pick out a place she’d like to eat. It was all very unlike the person who shouted at her to get coffee, or told her to stop dripping on his floor.

Sometimes I get angry when i’m hungry too, Rey laughed to herself. Finally, she had found something they have in common.

When they return from lunch, there is only an hour left in the day which quickly whittles away to just minutes. 15 before 5:00 Mr. Ren emerges from his office, car coat on.

“I often leave a few minutes before, to dodge the people who wait til end of day to ask me something, and so Bespin doesn’t get caught at the gate with everyone.”

“Oh, alright. Is there…anything you need from me?” Rey stands and asks.

“...No, I suppose not.” She felt like he had something to say, but Mr. Ren wasn’t the type of man to hold his tongue. She must have been mistaken.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Rey.”

So she would be Miss Rey to him, from now on.

Of course, there had to be a logical reason for his choice. It was probably just because it was shorter than Miss Palpatine. Surely.

Still, she kind of liked it.

“Actually, there is one thing.” He turned back to address her, one hand in his pocket and the other held out in thought.

“Oh?”

“The men in this office,... men like Hux. They may do well at their jobs but, and it might be a poor reflection on me to say this, but they’re not the sort of person that you - Well,”

Rey was almost concerned to see the composed man falter with his words.

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, “I think it’s best you avoid….fraternizing with anyone during your time here. If anyone gives you a hard time…That is, I know they can be a handful when it comes to the other women in the building so, if anyone gives you any trouble I need you to let me know.”

His avoidant gaze which looked off to the wall, the ceiling, finally met her eyes.

Other women? Did he see her on the same level as someone like Zorii? Like…Bazine?

She felt embarrassed, and a little like she was being scolded for something she hadn’t done.

“You have a fairly level head about you, I know you’re sharp as a tack, but…just in case. I can’t protect you otherwise.”

Protect? Is he worried about me?

“And your father would never forgive me”

Ah, there it is.

“I wouldn't forgive myself either.”

A shocking bolt of self awareness ran through Rey. Maybe he could see how hard she worked after all, maybe he could see her.

“I understand. Thank you sir.”

Giving a small shake of his head, “Goodnight.”

“Oh, Mr. Ren!” She called to his broad back, “Just a moment,” and Rey ran into his office.

Kneeling to grab the silk tie he had left behind, she fished around for a moment, snaking her body around his chair and backing out from under his desk. Standing to turn, she found herself face to face with the dark eyes of her boss, his looming presence suddenly feeling very different to how it had most of that day.

“Y-You forgot this, It…seems expensive. I didn’t want it to get lost, or caught in the cleaning crew’s…vacuum.” She laughed nervously, “It’s too pretty to lose.”

“Hm. It is.” He replied, his thumb and finger running over the draped end falling from her hand before returning his eyes to hers.

“Wh-what?” She breathed, forgetting immediately what he’d said.

“Expensive.”

“Oh”

“Thank you, Rey.”

Not Miss Rey, but Rey. Just Rey.

It sounded good when he said it. When did it start to sound good?

No, this was Mr. Ren. This was her boss, her father’s boss!

She let go of the tie.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Ren. See you tomorrow.” She would have taken a step back if his desk hadn’t prevented her from lengthening the space between them.

“Right.” He blinked for what seemed like the first time since they entered his office, and moved aside to let her leave.

She made it only a few steps before she heard him call,

“Rey.”

She stopped in her tracks, looking over her shoulder, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t forget your clothes.”

He walked to the door, catching up with her, and bent down closer to her ear. He kept a respectable distance, but Rey was certain she’d never forget the feeling of his breath on her skin.

“You left them in my bathroom. Wouldn’t want the cleaning crew to find those, either, I think.”

She was glad Mr. Ren left before he could see the wide eyed look he left behind, or the rush of blood that flooded across her cheeks.

It’s only minutes later when Poe comes to fetch her, but Rey’s well in the mix of thinking over exactly what kind of person Mr. Ren is. Distracted by the unsettling emotions from her memory of him buttoning his shirt, wanting to protect her, telling her not to forget her clothes, Rey’s blind to her surroundings until a snapping hand is waving in front of her.

“P-Poe!”

“Hey kid! How was your first day?” He wraps an arm around her shoulders as he presses on his hat.

“Ready to hit the road?”

Yes, she really was.

Chapter Text

Driving through the dusky streets of Chandrila, Rey was helpless against the thoughts mingling with her daydreams. Her eyes glazed over, she was blind to the world scrolling across her passenger door window. Yet her mind was racing a mile a minute.

Plagued with snapshot images of Mr. Ren’s open shirt, her hands on his chest in the elevator, his mouth near her ear, her cheeks burned hot.

“You left your clothes in my bathroom…”

She shifted in her seat.

“So how’d it go today?” Poe asked from the driver’s side, pleased to have company on his usual commute home.

“And where’d you get the sweater?” He eyed her.

“It was fine. I got rained on. Maz had an extra sweater in her desk.” Rey blinked out toward the blurring streetlights, but she wouldn’t remember having passed a single one.

“That’s not like you, hon’. Getting rained on.” Poe chuckled, reaching to roll down his window and light a cigarette.

They had come to a stoplight on the outskirts of downtown, a darker stretch of highway laying ahead of them in wait. Rey usually hated it when he smoked, but she was too thankful for the cool air on her face to complain.

“By the way, did you say thank you to Zorii for helping you today? She said you did great! You know, I think that Zorii is a real stand-up woman and…”

Poe’s voice had faded in Rey’s ears before the light turned green again, her replies short and distracted until they made it home.

“Yes, Poe.” “Mhm.” “Oh, that’s funny.”

Slightly more lucid by the time they’d parked in their drive, Rey had decided that she wouldn’t be telling Poe anything about that day.

Mr. Ren had simply been nice to her. Sure, it was unexpected, but probably not so uncommon if he had been someone with a friendlier disposition.

And…It wasn’t like Mr. Ren had made her uncomfortable. The drive home had even made her realize it kind of…thrilled her to be taken to an expensive lunch. She had kind of liked the way he had talked to her before leaving. It was definitely an improvement.

So what was there to share, anyway? It wasn’t a big deal.

Except Rey knew from the unease in her stomach that there was something worth hiding, something she knew to keep secret. She was certain some of the thoughts, some of the feelings, she’d had throughout the day were severe enough to be considered ‘clandestine’, and there’s no way she’d tell Poe something like that.

Imagining it was almost too embarrassing to bear.

He’d passed the responsibility of having ‘the talk’ with her onto Mrs. Tico, and any mere mention of a boy from class was always met with a stern “No boys!” from Poe.

Rey could only imagine the kind of reaction he’d have if…

But Mr. Ren was no boy.

Precisely why Poe needn’t worry, she reasoned.

Halfway through dinner, Rey decided she could no longer pretend to care about idle talk nor stomach the feeling of keeping something from Poe. She worked to eat as quickly as she could in an effort to escape his fatherly ramblings.

“Rey, you’re gonna make yourself sick if you eat that fast-”

Cleaning her plate, she stood still chewing her last few bites and walked to the sink.

A disapproving Poe huffing behind her, Rey scrubbed her dishes clean before pushing in her chair and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for dinner Poe. Long day, I'm gonna head up!”

His own mouth full, she knew it was the perfect way to avoid being cajoled into watching tv together. Monday night was when they’d sit for their usual episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, and she liked the bit of tv time Poe allowed after dinner.

But Rey couldn’t wait another minute. She had to get out of her clothes.

Dashing to the shower, she peeled the borrowed jumper from her body as soon as the door had shut behind her. Waiting for the water to warm, she took a deep breath.

Though the garment had been removed, she was distraught to find the itching sensation crawling across her skin hadn’t stopped. Rey had thought it was the material, but now…catching a glimpse of her reddened face in the foggy bathroom mirror, she worried the symptom might be permanent.

Stepping into the tub, and with a sputtering sigh, Rey was relieved to find the steaming water finally dulled the buzzing on her skin.

Luxuriating in the caressing streams of water, she took careful measure to glide her hands gently across her body as she washed. Usually the type of person to rinse quickly, her normally thorough, clumsy hands now scrubbed with delicate fingers that left behind a tingling she much preferred.

Have showers always felt this nice?

Lathering her hair, Rey noticed the distinct feeling of the large suds trailing down her body, from her neck, over her chest, her hips.

“Rey…you’re dripping wet.” Echoed a rumbling voice.

She let out a soft gasp.

It must be the steam, getting to me. Yes, the steam.

She gave the knob a desperate turn to allow cold water to flow and hurried through washing.

Brushing her teeth and shouting down goodnight to Poe, Rey padded across their carpeted hall to hide in her room. Hoping it was somewhere she could finally afford a moment of quiet to recall the details of that day, she let out a deep breath and collapsed onto her bed.

Even in private, her thoughts were too much.

Rey buried her head into a pillow and gave a muffled cry of frustration, confusion and embarrassment.

What in the world was she to make of Mr. Ren’s behavior?

He was just being nice, wasn’t he?

Rolling over, she stared at the ceiling a moment before reaching to grab for the book wedged underneath her mattress. Reading usually worked to get her mind off things.

Village Nurse.

It was a book that Rose had given her with a sneaky smile - one that hinted it was probably best Rey kept the paperback hidden.

Sure enough, it told the story of a woman living and working in the countryside as a small village’s beloved nurse. Wanting to see her married and with kids of her own, the townspeople conspired to have her match with the new, apprenticing doctor in town. However, to the village’s disappointment and worry, a dark, shadowy stranger showed up in town just as the young doctor was being introduced. The entire plot riding on who would win her affections, Rey found the whole thing very exciting.

Her face was always red when she finished a chapter, but tonight it was worse.

Where before Rey had thought to root for the young doctor, she now found herself craving passages about the stranger.

She wished they’d kiss: the nurse and this mysterious man. Who cared if Dr. Hux was polished and well-to-do? The tall stranger had an irresistible air of mystery. Of course someone like the nurse would find him alluring. And anyway, who were the townspeople to judge this nurse for wanting someone like Mr. Ren?

Oh. Oh god.

Rey threw the book into her closet. She’d fish it out when her head was a bit clearer. Later. Much later.

The knowledge of its whereabouts taunting her from across the room, Rey stood from her bed and stumbled over her shoes as she reached to shut her closet door. But, seeing the hanging items inside, she hesitated. Cringing at the memory of how unruly her hair had been, how frumpy Maz’s sweater had looked, she resolved to make a better impression the next day.

Laying out the options on her bed, Rey thought carefully about the clothes she’d wear come tomorrow. Standing in front of her dressing mirror, she held an ensemble up against her nightgown.

For the second time that day, Rey felt butterflies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning, Rey spent an unusual amount of time on her hair. Brushing it slowly until it gave a satisfying shine, she pinned one side behind her ear before giving an uncertain but satisfied smile in the mirror. Her coiffing out of the way, she reached to open the drawer to her vanity, carefully extracting the unused item she thought would make a valuable addition to her routine.

Poe had never let Rey buy makeup. He had said it was ‘unsightly’ on the wrong girl and ‘too much like paint’ on most others. But her addition to the cheer team had gotten him to budge, if only a little, making her the recent owner of a little red box.

“Mrs. Kyrze from church recommended this to me. She says it's appropriate for a girl your age. Don’t go too heavy handed with it, though. I know that’s ‘the look’ and all, but it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.”

She was surprised when he presented her with the small gift.

“The other women of the congregation disagreed with me, when I told them I disapprove of makeup.” He had crossed his arms in annoyance, giving a fed up look. “Everything’s so damned politicized nowadays, turns out not wearing makeup is somehow a bad thing. Still, I think we’ll just start with this.”

Housed inside the package was a small pad of brown mascara and an even smaller mirror, which Rey currently held at an awkward angle in front of her.

Dabbing the brush to her tongue, she did her best to swipe the bristles over her lashes, aiming to copy the defined styles she’d seen in countless ads. Though she combed and combed, her stubborn lashes lay just as they had, neither longer nor more pronounced than when she started.

She gave an aggravated cry.

Wiping off the tacky pigment in defeat, Rey stared back at her smudged eyes and thought it wise to practice a bit more before she wore it out of the house.

Poe would be glad for that.

At school, Rey decided not to tell Rose much about her first day. There was too much doubt, and confusion, to let her friend in on any of the thoughts she’d been having about Mr. Ren. Not just yet.

Thankfully, the parts about Hux gave them more than enough to talk about. Though she made sure to leave out the part about Mr. Ren’s warning.

“Men in this office…men like Hux.”

Mr. Ren had made the man seem like a playboy. Made all the men in the office seem like playboys.

She wondered if he was one too.

“So you’re just surrounded by hunks all day, is that what I’m hearing?” Rose teased.

“Is that why you look so good, today?” Rose laughed as Rey gave her a playful push.

“Oh stop. I just want to make a good impression.” Rey lied. “It’s important that I dress the part.” She added, her voice gone meek.

“Right, well, Poe’s definitely a bit of a snorefest. But… he doesn’t have to know everything, you know?”

Hoping to boost Rey’s confidence, Rose offered a blot of her new color changing lip balm.

“And if he says anything just tell him I forced you! You’ve got to look good when it’s an internship as life changing as this one.” Her friend winked.

The small writing on the little bottle claimed it created a natural hue, and Rey waited by the bathroom mirror for a good five minutes to see what would happen. To her disappointment, it was not only ‘subtle’ as Rose had said, but near undetectable.

Rey sighed.

It wasn’t the bold red the women of Poe’s office wore, but it would have to do.

Though her grooming was more involved and lengthier in its process, Rey’s day was, in many ways, identical to the last.

She brushed off her cheer mates during gym class in the morning and did her best to avoid any blush-inducing questions about Mr. Ren. Then, when 11:00 rolled around, she made faces at Rose and the onlooking eyes of her schoolmates while she loaded herself into his outrageously expensive car.

The ride was as rainy as the day before, but Rey had remembered to bring her own umbrella and allowed Bespin to lend a hand more than she had Monday. It was all very much the same, except for one small, almost unnoticeable, difference: the telling quiet of the drive.

Yesterday, Rey had been nervous and chatted with Bespin to distract herself. This time the two were comfortably silent, Rey gazing out the window all the while.

She still hadn’t figured out why, but there was no hiding it. She was looking forward to going to work today.

Shame it wasn’t a feeling that lasted long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning passed quickly, Kylo’s schedule busier than the day’s which had preceded it.

Sleep had set him straight, yet he felt exhausted.

What the hell had I been thinking?

He’s avoidant come the afternoon.

“Rey. Coffee in an hour.” Is all Kylo says when he passes her on his way downstairs. She’s only just settling in, and he’s caught her unprepared.

“Oh, y-yes sir!” She shouts down the corridor as he moves quickly past her, his steps purposeful.

Somewhere deep down Kylo knows it - that he’s trying to outrun the way he’d acted, the things he’d said, when he saw her last. Thankfully, his devotion to punctuality would be a convenient excuse were his speed ever questioned.

“Am I supposed to follow you sir? Maz’s planner says you have a meeting with-”

“No.”

He lets the elevator doors close in front of him, quick enough to cut her off but slow enough for him to catch her fading smile.

There was no reason to talk with her more than needed. No reason to look at her either.

She’s no different than anyone else in the building, and that’s precisely how I treat the rest.

It was almost true, except it was different with her. She was different, to him.

The perplexing feeling of unease that followed from giving Rey the cold shoulder left Kylo second guessing his actions for the first time in recent years. It was a feeling he was quickly coming to resent, and one that forced an aggravated sigh from him in the quiet of the elevator. His hands flexed, coiling back into newly tense fists.

Hell.

When he returns, Rey doesn’t greet him - only stands to wordlessly hand him his coffee.

Such a quick learner.

“Hm.” Is his simple reply.

Perhaps she would make getting through the week….well, not easy. But as easy as it could be.

Working alongside her there, near his office or in meetings, could be made to be tolerable if he stayed busy - if he was careful. As for any other time they had to spend together…

You idiot.

Why did he have to tell her to eat with him? Was she really so charming?

Holding the warming beverage, Kylo finally let his eyes focus. Til’ now he had been looking through her, willing himself to ignore the details of her form or anything party to its movements. Then suddenly, with a single blink, Rey was standing solidly in his line of vision.

Her dress was as short as yesterday’s skirt but the print, while still plaid, was darker and the fabric - blessedly - thicker. Her hair fell loose in the same way as when he had first seen her, only this time there was no headband in sight.

Kylo could tell she was trying her best to appear more office appropriate, more mature, and her efforts came dangerously close to lifting the corners of his mouth. It was obvious she had given her appearance some thought, and he found the idea of her resistant, little self caving to the pressure of ‘dressing the part’ just shy of endearing.

In a way, she had succeeded in her task. Her outfit was no doubt a marked improvement from her look yesterday. But her innocent face, her pouting lips and the youthful flair with which she carried herself betrayed her. Kylo finally understood what it meant when someone called a girl ‘cute’.

He looked away.

So she was good looking. What of it? Lots of good looking girls around the floors of Command Group. That couldn’t have been enough of a reason to find himself backed into the corner where he currently stood.

It must’ve been her tale of woe that made him get so carried away. Sure, that was it. A good looking, clever girl left parentless in the world. It was kind of touching that she’d found her way under his wing. And lucky.

What a success story she’ll paint for herself someday.

Someday, when she’s out of this office, and off of his radar. Which she definitely would be.

Kylo grimaced.

Yesterday’s thoughts were wrapped in a whiskey induced fog, but he remembered the gist of them. To his horror, and a sweat-inducing panic which hit him once he awoke, he remembered them so well they had made their way into his dreams.

In them, he stood outside on a snowy quad, his attention grabbed by someone shouting his name.

“Kylo!”

He turned to find Rey exiting a set of heavy oak doors, and watched as she bounded down a stack of stony steps. Even now he could see it so vividly, the collegiate building behind her, her nimble legs carrying her to him, the wind whipping her hair as she ran toward him.

He recognized the area as CU almost immediately, and knew right away what it meant. Rey was enrolled there, and she was the top student in her business economics program - something she proudly told him as she threw open her arms and nuzzled her way into his chest, his own arms inexplicably wrapping around her….

No.

He wouldn’t check in on her, and he wouldn’t interfere. He’d humor Dameron’s updates at company events, and that’s as far as his insight or interest into her life needed to be after she’d left.

Easier said than done, perhaps.

For now, his best course of action was to avoid her as much as possible.

Their first day was awful enough for Kylo to decide Rey had fulfilled her punishment. She had suffered enough, and (more accurately) so had he. Now their agreement really would just be a way for her to get into college. He'd sign a letter of recommendation at the week’s end, and be done with it all.

After that, he wouldn’t think of her and he definitely wouldn’t miss her.

Or her looks, or attitude. He wouldn’t miss the way she stuttered around him when they locked eyes, wouldn’t think about how she held onto his tie a moment longer than she had needed to, and he certainly wouldn’t remember her smell or the way it wafted into his office - and his dreams.

His dreams where he embraced her, buried his nose into the top of her head, felt her hair and noticed the way it carried her scent. His dreams where she looked up to him in his arms, cheeks red from the cold and smile beaming. His dreams where she was happy to see him, where she laughed, where they were alone together, where they were together -

No, no. There was no reason to be alone with her. Not yesterday, not now, and certainly not in whatever fictitious reality had bled into his dreams.

Though.

He had told her to expect to take her meals with him. Having little time to spare, today’s lunch would be a challenge.

Perhaps he could get out of it.

Then again, he couldn’t really say no.

Just last month their largest competitor had been ordered to pay out a hefty sum for denying their workers the right to a break. Those sorts of things were happening more and more in recent years and he’d explicitly told Rey not to pack a lunch.

He didn’t see her as putting up much of a fuss over being spared his company, but what of her father? Dameron always seemed infallibly ‘by the book’, and even if he weren’t, it would be foolish of Kylo to test that theory on the man’s own kin.

Not that he couldn’t afford to settle ten times over. But what a hassle court was.

Fine.

Some moments between him and Rey would be unavoidable, then. But he really was short on time, and he wouldn’t subject himself, or her, to the cafeteria. He needed something quick, and casual. Fortunately, he knew just the place.

Good. Something short, less formal. Nothing that would seem untoward.

Because it wasn’t.

“Rey, call Vicrul. Tell him he’ll have to reschedule our meeting.”

She sat with a huff, opening her notes.

“Alright. Should I tell him why, Mr. Ren?”

“No. Only that I have a prior engagement.”

“Yes sir.” She did little to hide her annoyed looks.

If she had been anyone else, that kind of response would have irritated him. But it made him think. Though he’d never admit it, it made him hope.

Was she expecting something else? Was she perturbed he wasn’t as talkative as he had been at yesterday’s end?

Redundant questions, he reminded himself.

Pointless to worry over what the girl thought of him.

As for yesterday, he had only acted that way because he had overdone it with the liquor. Today he knew better, would do better.

At least, a little better.

“When you’re done with that, grab your coat.”

Her surprised looks helped make the annoyed ones tolerable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Mr. Ren barked at her only moments after she’d sat down her pack, Rey knew the little progress they’d made the evening before had vanished during the night.

Or worse, maybe she’d drawn some kind of conclusion that hadn’t really been there at all.

Just yesterday she had gone home thinking maybe Mr. Ren was nice - or nicer than she originally judged.

“Not as big and bad as he seems” Maz had said, and Rey was convinced for a total of 9 waking hours that maybe she could see what the older woman had meant.

He had told her to watch out, and that he’d keep her safe - or something like that. It had seemed like a nice thing to say at the time, however it was meant. His words were certainly enough to cause a fitful sleep. But now Mr. Ren wouldn’t even look at her, hadn’t cared to notice how nice she looked. He didn’t even say hello, just demanded his coffee and disappeared.

“Well, fine.” Rey huffed, puzzled by the feeling of something akin to betrayal. Sitting by the phone until it was time to fetch his drink, she mulled it over a while.

The utterly confusing jackass.

He had probably wanted her to go home and tell Poe how nice or thoughtful he had been to her.

For a while he had her going. But no. She had been mistaken.

Mr. Ren was not nice.

Now that she thought about it, it was so obvious everything he did, everything he said, after lunch was all in an effort to save face at the end of (what could have only been described as) a disastrous day.

That’s it. He just wanted to end on a high note so I wouldn’t go home and complain to my ‘father’.

As if she were that kind of girl.

Rey scoffed to herself.

You dummy. You’re only here as punishment, remember? To think, a single compliment and free lunch was all it took to get you this excited.

She makes sure not to say a word to him once he reappears an hour later.

When she hands him the fresh cup of coffee, he doesn’t say thank you. Rey knows it's an absurd thing to get mad over, even a little unreasonable to expect someone like him to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. But her lips purse against her will all the same.

“Rey, call Vicrul. Tell him he’ll have to reschedule our meeting.”

She sits, nose pointed to the ceiling, and does little to hide her annoyance. She was annoyed - he was being annoying!!!

“Alright.” She rolls her eyes, “Should I tell him why, Mr. Ren?”

Rey hopes he’ll go suck a lemon if she’s less than amiable, huffing and puffing and asking him questions a better behaved secretary probably wouldn’t ask. But it seems to have the opposite effect and, for some reason, he lingers.

“No. Only that I have a prior engagement.”

“Yes, sir.” She replies, her voice heavy with disinterest.

She expects him to hide away in his office, give a disgruntled noise of annoyance or ask her to run some kind of time consuming errand to free himself of her presence. But he doesn’t.

“When you’re done with that, grab your coat.”

Despite her resolve to be willfully defiant, Rey’s curious eyes lifted to his face.

“We’ll lunch together from now on.” He had said just yesterday. But that couldn’t be it, could it?

“Should I call for Bespin, sir?” She asked, cautiously testing the idea.

“We won’t need him this time.”

Huh.

With his sour mood she hadn’t expected him to follow through.

Well, at least he’s not making me wait until 3 to eat.

Rey allows herself a small smile as she reaches for the phone, brushing her hair behind an ear. Her mood suddenly improved, she justifies it as being the result of the promise of food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hushed lull that falls over the lobby when Mr. Ren steps out of the elevator is immediate. Following out closely behind him, Rey’s eyes search to understand the sudden quiet.

A quick glance at the faces of those milling about makes it obvious to her that their CEO must be a rare sight. Seeing the way people whisper to each other, scurry away or freeze in their place, Rey is struck by the realization that she’s probably talked to Mr. Ren more than any of these people. And she’s only worked there for 24 hours.

Not that he’s said much.

Mr. Ren sets their course for the front entrance, slowing in his steps as Rey struggles to fasten the cord loops on her coat. He makes it a few, long paces ahead, giving not one smile to the staff who watch on, before he’s stopped fully to turn back to her.

“Rey.”

“Coming!” She’s managed the last closure, and runs to catch up with him. “Sorry.”

By now, most people have started to take up their conversations again but a dozen sets of eyes remained fixed on the pair. It’s a feeling Rey finds more than a little uncomfortable, and she begins to understand what might keep Mr. Ren from showing face more often than he does.

Walking across the marble floor, Rey does her best to fix her posture and keep her eyes forward. The length of the lobby feels endless, and being watched makes her suddenly very aware of the movement of her steps.

Am I bending my knees too much? Are my ankles too loose? Am I flopping my feet? God I can’t wait to get out of here.

Halfway to the entry Rey spots ‘Ooda’ from reception. She notices how the dismissive woman makes a point to stand as they pass her desk, Rey’s brow lifting in confusion. CEO and secretary now side by side, the receptionist smiles at them. Though, really, Rey knows it's only at Mr. Ren.

Is this what power looks like? Respect? She wonders.

If it was, Rey knew it wasn’t for her. But, remembering how Bazine and the woman had made fun of her sorry state just yesterday, it did feel an awful lot like karmic payback to be seen next to the person whose family name was plastered across the top of the building.

Lifting her chin, Rey walked alongside Mr. Ren with a bit of a chip on her shoulder. After all, she had full-floor access - no visitor badge needed.

She hid a smile.

Mr. Ren held the door for her as they left, all eyes watching as they went. Glad to be out of there herself, Rey could practically feel the sigh of relief they collectively let out once the door had closed behind him.

“This way.” Her dark eyed boss breezed past her.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, it was apparent that fall was in full effect. The rain from that morning had stopped, but a crisp wind was rattling the few trees along their route and the sun remained hidden behind a gray haze. It was as if Rey’s daunting week had triggered a foreboding shift in the weather; one that was equally moody as she had been.

She just couldn’t place her finger on how she felt about everything.

The work itself was boring but structured, and it had proven simple enough - so far. Mr. Ren was smart and respectable, but short tempered and demanding. He had complimented her on her first day and offered to buy her lunch, but couldn’t make small talk to save his life. He yelled at her sometimes, ignored her often, but told her to be careful in the office. Of course that didn’t matter anymore since he was back to being a dismissive, miserable crank.

But she had to ask herself: Did she like working at Command Group, or was it as bad as she had believed it would be?

And then there was the whole exchange around Mr. Ren’s tie…

Rey snuck a glance at her boss striding next to her along the concrete.

It was just as she had feared: though she was sure she loathed him, she still found him handsome.

She had found him handsome the first time she met him too, but his pompous air and ice cold demeanor made him decidedly unappealing just a few days ago.

Then yesterday…and for some reason, even now….

She allowed her head a quarter of a turn to better look him over.

A few years back, Poe had forced her to go to the movies with him. He wanted to see some Italian film about Hercules. Every girl in the building screamed in delight when the star appeared on screen - the titular character’s defined muscles gleaming and his sheer size astounding.

Poe had taunted her about how ‘dreamy’ he bet she thought the actor was, but she had said he wasn’t her type. In fact, she mentioned how odd it was for someone to be so big.

Now, well…She had a feeling Mr. Ren could give that man a run for his money. She also had a feeling Poe had been right.

Hulking as he was, - huge by all accounts, really - Rey begrudgingly found Mr. Ren’s posture stately. He commanded your attention with his size, his presence, and though his gait was heavy, his movements held no clumsiness. Strutting down the sidewalk, Rey felt as though he were simply walking through his home with how much uncaring ease he navigated the loud, busy streets.

It made her sick to her stomach.

He wasn’t just attractive, but carried himself with the assured swagger of an older man. And while unexpected, it worked for her in a way that felt…natural, though new. His confidence drew her in like a moth to a candle, and she realized her situation was beginning to feel equally dangerous.

What is wrong with me?

Sighing, she tore her eyes away from him.

Rey hadn’t found many boys appealing over the years. She’d fumble her words and blush back at upperclassmen when she had the rare occasion to talk to one, but the embarrassment of looking like an idiot immediately killed any interest she’d temporarily held before.

It had been a miracle that she’d gotten this far without falling apart in front of someone like Mr. Ren. Thank goodness she’d learned how to hide it - a little.

Not that I like him.

Certainly not. Anyone who looked at the man would say he was handsome, scar included. Women went nothing less than crazy for the scarred smile of Augustin Lara. So, of course she found Mr. Ren attractive.

But no, there was no reason to fumble in front of Mr. Ren. Having those kinds of thoughts or feelings about someone like him - someone of his caliber, his wealth, or his relation to herself - was ridiculous to consider. As if he’d even waste his time on someone like her if she did feel that way.

If that weren’t reason enough to keep those feelings hidden, Rey remembered that his temper ranked equally high as his looks. He’d probably send her home if she clammed up any more than she already did - and she didn’t even like him.

No, nothing good to come from thinking too hard about how defined his chin was, or how piercing his gaze on the rare occasion he actually looked at her. Or how he said things like “don’t forget your clothes.” No good at all.

But it was hard to ignore.

She felt it the first day at lunch, sitting across from him in Maz’s sweater.

Everything about him made her self conscious. Walking together there, though no longer drenched or in clothes that weren’t her own, Rey worried about the kind of image she portrayed when compared to the stylish man next to her. What did people see, when they saw her with him?

She guessed it was a vain thing to worry over. She had nice things, as nice as Rose’s things. Sometimes even a little nicer.

It made sense, Dameron was paid almost as well as someone in his position ought to be paid. It meant something, that his office was just one floor below Mr. Ren’s. Though, if he were from anywhere other than the jungle dense country of Yavin, he’d likely be paid more.

Was walking next to Mr. Ren one of those times someone could tell she didn’t have as much as others?

She remembered the one occasion Poe shared his resentment over it, when she’d cried over not being taught to drive like her classmates once she turned 16. He’d scolded her about being selfish, about needing to understand that it didn’t matter he was educated in Kijimi like his peers, like Zorii. He was ‘different’ when it came to corporate settings, though not different enough to be shunned.

He had to put in more hours than the other department heads, and that meant he didn’t have time to teach her to drive, nor the funds to pay for private lessons. She needed to understand that what they had certainly made them fortunate, others had far less, but they still didn’t have as much as many of the people in their neighborhood.

She couldn’t believe how naive she’d been. She rarely asked for things before, but she made sure not to after that. Then again, she never really wanted to. She and Rose kept to themselves, and they were both focused on getting into college lately. Most things that concerned girls their age didn’t bother them too much. Like clothes, or their hair, or having their first kiss. Until about 48 hours ago those types of things hadn’t concerned Rey at all. But now…

They passed by a glossy storefront whose mannequins donned colorful prints on satin fabrics. The dresses were tailored to show off their curves, waists defined and the necklines straight and low, sleeves gracefully resting just off the shoulders.

Rey looked down at herself.

She had opted for a brown plaid pinafore with a black, long sleeved turtleneck underneath.

She peeked back at Mr. Ren, and frowned.

They matched.

Her brown dress, his brown coat. Her white socks, his white shirt. Her navy coat, his navy slacks and blazer.

She wondered if it helped, or hurt, her cause to not stand out.

All his clothes were custom made, hers were a half size too large from the clearance rack. She probably looked like a knockoff of the kind of person who ought to be standing next to a man like Mr. Ren.

Well, if anyone was looking at them, they were probably too busy noticing him to care about her. He was practically Chandrilan royalty, who’d care to give much thought to a nobody like her?

Rey tries to distract herself from the crushing self comparisons by focusing on the blustery downtown weather. Trailing behind her surefooted boss, the smell of cold, wet pavement fills her nose and the sound of taxi wheels sloshing through puddles helps center her mind.

Is this the sort of walk I’ll have often, once I get into nearby CU?

Her wondering is cut short when Mr. Ren stops in front of her, his back a mere inch from her nose. They’d arrived at their lunch spot for the day.

“After you.” He opens the door, the one polite gesture Mr. Ren always seemed to remember.

It’s a small corner store shaded by a slightly tattered awning, cured meats hang in the window.

Walking inside, Rey notices the chipping red paint on the doorframe as the little bronze bell above gives a jingle. The dimly lit deli is opposite to yesterday’s location and she’s a little surprised Mr. Ren knows about somewhere so seemingly unassuming. And cheap.

Crowding inside, they stand among the jumble of people waiting in front of the counter. Their elbows squished together, Rey decides there’s something about this place she likes more than Cedrian’s Terrace.

A leathery faced woman peers over at them from the counter, waving away the people holding their tickets in front of her. She nods toward Mr. Ren.

“Afternoon Reseros.” He calls.

“Stai zitto!” She swats away the hand of an elderly capped man before turning back to Mr. Ren.

“Cosa vuole mangiare?” She shouts at them.

“Turkey on rye, please. Two.”

“You got it, tesoro.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re 18?” Kylo asks, brow furrowed. He’s concentrating on the slow movement of his jaw as he chews. He’d already choked in front of her once before and had no intention to do it again.

He knew he shouldn’t talk with his mouth full, and he normally wouldn’t, but this was important.

Rey shrugged as she fiddled with the parchment wrapped around her sandwich. “I fell behind when my parents passed. Spent a lot of time out of school, so I’m a year behind.”

Kylo feigns ignorance, like he doesn’t know why this conversation feels dangerous. There’s a place in his mind running marathons at the news.

“I see.”

“They offered to let me skip a grade once they realized I was more than on par with the other kids my age, but I chose to stay. I had made friends and, - well, I made a friend. So, Poe figured being one year behind wouldn’t be so bad. It hardly makes a difference in the grand scheme of things. There are a couple kids in my class with early birthdays, so they’re 18 too. I blend in just fine.”

Did she not have friends, and plenty of them? She was smart, and beautiful, surely she was popular. And who was this friend? A boyfriend?

“Sure.” He crumpled up the empty wrapper of his sandwich and dashed it to the corner of his tray, lips tight. Suddenly the conversation was of less interest to him.

Rey snuck a glance up at him, then back down to her food.

“Rose, my friend, she wants to get into CU too. She’s the reason why I want to go there, honestly.”

A girl. He couldn't stand how the tension melted away from his shoulders.

“Is that right?”

“Mhm. That, and their business program is one of the best. I want to have a job like Poe’s. Rose already got in on early admission, so I’m doing what I can to secure a spot.”

He admired her tenacity. He didn’t know a single woman with a job like Poe’s.

“Well… at least you’ll have a roommate picked out once you start there.”

She smiled.

“If I get in.”

How could she doubt it?

“But Rose’s parents are pretty strict, I’d be surprised if they let her live on campus. I’ll probably have to room with someone else.” She picked up the pickle spear from her plate, gave it a bite, then set it back down further from her food than before.

“Though, I hear there aren’t many girls in the program I'm applying for. Maybe I'll luck out and get my own room.” She tittered.

He’d see to it that she did.

“Did you live on campus?” She asked suddenly, looking at him as she wiped at her mouth.

“What?”

“When you went to CU. I saw the diploma in your office.” She blinked back at his lowering brow.

“Is that rude of me to ask? Sorry, I suppose you wouldn’t have needed to live in a dorm. You…probably have an apartment close by, or something.” Her gaze lowered back to her tray.

“I do.” He said, looking at her avoidant face.

She met his serious eyes, and for a moment the voices which egged him on spoke up from the depths of his mind. “Does she want to see it?”

He cleared his throat.

“But I didn’t when I was in school. I lived on campus, like everyone else. Came here to eat often, when I did.”

She seemed genuinely surprised.

“Why that look?” he asked.

“I didn’t think someone like you would live in a dorm. It’s…kind of hard to picture, honestly.” She laughed again.

He wrinkled his brow.

“And why is that?”

“Well, your car costs as much as our house.” She stated, taking a swig from the green-hued glass bottle in front of her.

She had a point.

“I don’t think I’d choose to live in a dorm if I had the option,” She said.

“Hm. Living in a dorm can be good. Can even be a good way to network, your peers might become your coworkers after college.”

She gave another smile.

“How predictably business-y of you. But you’re probably right.”

Huh. She’s taunting me.

“Where would you live, if you could choose?” He asked and reached over to take her pickle. Surprised again, Rey's hands paused as they held the sandwich just inches from her smiling lips.

“Maybe in an apartment, nothing too big. By the botanical garden.”

“Gladean Gardens?”

“Right. That’s the one. I saw it in a magazine once. Seems quiet, like you could go and sit there for a while and no one would bother you. Doesn’t hurt that it’s beautiful.” She took a large bite of her sandwich.

Kylo was very familiar with those gardens. He wondered how much it’d cost to rent them out for a day, what it’d cost to have a wedding there. Wondered if she’d like to see the conservatory at his family home.

“Be nice to have some big windows that show the sidewalk, remind me I’m in the city. But still have that shady kind of light that filters in through the trees. Poe says the uneti trees that surround the garden are hundreds of years old. Isn’t that incredible?” She shared, her eyes wide and earnest.

“And I love the pink flowers that bloom in spring. If I had a place to live like that, I think I’d be very happy.” She smiled big, her cheeks full.

It strikes him how similar she is to himself. How she described so accurately the very reason he spent his weekends alone in those gardens, seeking quiet. How the fresh spring blooms were the one thing he looked forward to with the onset of warm weather.

He wondered if she’d ever smelled the incense made from those petals. He wanted to ask, but could only think to say one thing.

“It’s unladylike to speak with your mouth full.”

Her face falls in an instant.

“Yes, sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week passes quickly, even with the odd tension of Kylo tightrope walking the line of civility. But then lunch would come, and he’d slip from that narrow path.

Rey has a way of bringing down his walls, and it makes keeping up the appearance of never seeming too friendly as challenging as ever. She’d open up to him in surprising moments and throw him off his balance, one foot landing on the side of intrigue where he’d find himself probing into her life. After he’d trip, Kylo would follow with a hop to the other side of this unspoken line, where he’d overcompensate with hostility.

“Do you always make so much noise with your utensils?”

“How can you stomach such a combination?”

When they try french food, Rey jumps at the custom designed plate of snails.

“Try to be civilized.”

Despite his insults, each one said in an effort to camouflage the warring feelings stewing inside him, Kylo manages to learn a little about her, and share slightly more about himself.

He shares his interest in calligraphy and language, including his hopes to decode ancient Chandrilan. He learns she likes bread and animals, as well as puzzles and reading. She has an interest in history and a natural curiosity to understand things. It explained the copier, and would later explain why he caught her reading the manual to the typewriter more than once. The third time he sees her with it out, he finally caves and asks,

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“With what, Mr. Ren?”

“The typewriter, miss Rey.” He tried not to be short with her, but her twinkling eyes and the way she always repeated what he said frustrated him to no end. Charmed him as well.

“Oh, no, I was just…” She always caught the knot forming between his brows “...reading it sir, sorry. I’ll just… sit here, instead?”

She didn’t mean to sass, but was too smart to idle her time away. It was a quality trait, but god did he have a hard time letting it slide.

“Good. I’m not paying you to become a small appliance mechanic. Mind the phone.”

He heard her huff.

“You’re not paying me at all, Mr. Ren.”

The little hellspawn.

Those lunches were making her far too comfortable.

“And thank goodness for that.”

He made sure to bring something to read for their meals going forward, a decent distraction to keep from being too chatty with one another. The Evolution of the Typewriter, a book from the turn of the century. Outdated, for sure, but a comprehensive history of the machine’s beginning - and an excellent mode of mental warfare.

She noticed immediately, and the glares started not long after.

By Thursday morning he’d finished it, and left it on her desk. Tucked inside the front cover was her first, and would be her only, paycheck. $125, fair for a week’s worth of help.

To the book’s side sat a small parcel resembling a box of matches, but its scent hinted at the cones of uneti blossom incense packed carefully inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday night Rey sits crossed legged on her bed, the window open to allow in the cool air of early autumn. Coils of white smoke dance from her nightstand and out to the clear sky, when she’s hit with an unexpected feeling. Something like remorse, but different. There’s an ache low in her belly, and her throat feels tight. Tomorrow would be her last day.

She thanked Mr. Ren as soon as she’d found the book, and the incense. It was a lovely gift. The only gift she’d ever received from someone other than Poe, or Rose. But he brushed her off in his usual fashion, read again during their lunch, and stayed on the phone with SoroSuub most of the day.

It felt odd, even for someone like Mr. Ren, to be so distant. To seem so distracted. But then Rey remembered how much weight fell on his shoulders at work, and that she’d been unreasonable thinking he’d afford her more attention than a dry “You’re welcome.”

Still, the one perk of being the secretary to someone as unapproachable as Mr. Ren meant there were few calls to vet between meetings, and that afforded her more than one quiet lull to fill with her thoughts.

Turning the little box over in her hand, and sniffing at the seam of its tray, Rey had noticed something there in the office. But now at home, with a cone nearly burn out, she was sure.

There was something familiar about the smell of uneti blossom smoke, and Rey thinks she knows why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo’s nightly routine was one he held fast to for the past ten years. He’d spend some time in his building’s gym, the only one there, followed by a swim to decompress after work. He’d shower and dress, then stroll to his cafe of choice. There, he’d read the paper and sip in obscurity before heading home for dinner.

In the summer he might make a stop at the gardens, but now the sun was setting sooner and sooner, and there was no time for that.

But this particular Thursday evening, Kylo found his feet carrying him past the corner which led him home and toward the walled greenspace. Undeterred by the damp autumn air, he felt the need to sit there under the yellowing unetis, and allow himself to think. To breathe.

It worked, for a time, and Kylo felt his quickening pulse calm itself in the cool of nightfall, until a young couple passed by him on their exit, the garden nearing its close. Seeing the young girl hanging on the arm of her beau, he was tempted to allow his mind to wander, but Kylo resisted.

As if on queue, a single pink blossom, streaked with decaying grey, floated down onto his lap. The last blooms of the season.

Rey.

Standing abruptly, Kylo let the flower fall to the ground, crushed under his step as he briskly made for his way back home. It was an unusual break from his routine, but not completely out of the normal.

Still plenty of time to get back on track.

At home he ate in silence, jazz ghosting its way to the dining table from a record player in the other room. He was looking forward to the occasional cocktail on his terrace, and had donned a sweater in preparation to sit and read awhile as he imbibed.

But then the brassy voice of Ray Charles had to go and ruin it all.

“I’m gonna love you, like no one’s loved you”

And there she was again. Rey.

He’d done his best, keeping his distance today. But he knew it was because he didn’t want to face the reality that it was nearing the time he’d have to say goodbye.

Kylo sighed, and let his eyes close.

At home he could let his guard down, could think of her, could wonder.

Wonder if it were possible: to love her better than anyone else has. She had Dameron, but that man worked nearly as much as Kylo did.

Was she lonely, like him?

His fork stilled midway through skewering a meatball, and Kylo’s face shifted from one of sullen disappointment to angry certainty.

He could.

But he wouldn’t.

“You’re gonna love me, like no one’s loved me, come rain or come shine.”

And neither would she.

The clatter of his chair falling behind him as he stood didn’t faze Kylo. Stomping towards his room he tore the sweater over his head and dashed it to the floor.

His bedroom door slamming, the sound of an unbuckling belt could be heard from the foyer of his empty penthouse, the metallic clinging of a belt thrown aside in its entirety. Then moments later, the desperate gasps and singular plea of a broken man.

“Rey.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday arrives sooner than either can anticipate.

That morning, Mr. Ren isn’t in his office. It’s something that Rey knows, yet she’s stood outside his door, hands shaking in nervous excitement.

She knocks once, then again, before peeking inside.

“Mr. Ren? I’m here.”

Nothing but the ticking of his clock reaches her ears.

His agenda has him in a meeting with Investor Relations for another 20 minutes, but Rey doesn’t dawdle.

Letting the door open, she steps inside, and gives the office a thorough once over. It’ll likely be the last time she gets to see the glamorous room.

Or Mr. Ren, she remembers.

The door to his restroom, where she’d changed and left her clothes to dry that first day, sat ajar. It was the last obstacle that might’ve dissuaded her from prying, promising herself if it was closed she wouldn’t go in. How true that was, she’d never know, because now there was no way she’d stop.

Rey walked as quickly, and quietly, as she could toward the porcelain filled room.

Rey still hadn’t found one of her socks from that first day. If Mr. Ren should show up suddenly, it would be more than enough reason to justify her presence. She was just looking for her lost sock.

In reality, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and it had nothing to do with the missing garment. Flicking on the light, and looking to the sink, she spotted it.

The little glass bottle and its brown lid, saddle logo facing out.

Pulling out a small square of cloth, Rey hesitated.

Why was she doing this?

It was pure taboo, there was no more denying it. But if ever she allowed herself the folly of being ridiculous during girlhood, it would be now.

She’d never been compelled to act like this before but she was sure of something, just needed to prove it. If she were right, she’d be able to free herself of some of the heavy dread that took up its home in her stomach.

The thought of being without the memory of him, his sneer and his judgmental comments included, of being without the soft smell of him that lingered everywhere he went, pained Rey more than she knew it ought to. It pained her more than she understood it to. So no one had to know, and when it pleased her, she’d have this little memory to pull out.

Strange, no doubt, but harmless.

Feeling time slipping away from her, she moved quickly, reaching to remove the cap. Spritzing the handkerchief with the cologne, she brought it to her nose.

She knew it. The smoky part of Mr. Ren’s scent, charred uneti blossom.

It seemed a weird coincidence, but what did it matter? It was a thing for her to know, to enjoy, and maybe he had realized it too. It thrilled her to think it was like an unspoken secret shared between the two. Of course, she knew better. He probably hadn’t the slightest idea.

Stuffing the cloth back into her pocket, she makes her quick exit, carefully closing the doors behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl isn’t at her desk when Kylo returns from his morning financial brief with her father.

“Rey?”

He shouldn’t have expected she’d be eager to see him. She was probably off saying her goodbyes to the other girls, maybe even Hux. His mouth tasted bitter.

When he enters his office, he’s expecting to distract himself with corporate strategy to roll out in the new year, but he’s hit with the smell of his cologne.

Had he applied too much that morning? He gave his cuff a sniff.

No, he could hardly smell it on himself now.

Walking to the restroom, he wonders if the damned bottle has fallen to the tiled floor below and shattered at some point in the day.

Only, there it is, just where he’d left it. But not exactly how he ‘d left it.

The cap is off.

And someone had sprayed it, recently.

At first he thought it was his own mind playing tricks on him. He had been thinking of her more and more these past few days. But no, it was there.

He could make out the faint smell of honeysuckle mingling with the musky perfume.

It was Rey.

But why?

Sitting at his desk his mind is dark and loud, buzzing with thoughts.

It was her last day.

He decided not to do anything special. He was giving her a guaranteed acceptance to her first choice, and had already given her an unexpected paycheck. Anything more would be excessive, no matter how much he wanted to.

And he wanted to. Last night finally broke the dam, and his spirits were at their lowest knowing she’d be leaving. Her angry looks, her blushing cheeks. But she had been unexpectedly good company, a fair amount of fun to tease, and a quick learner.

Maybe she’d come in to waste his cologne because he hadn’t made a kind gesture on her last day.

Maybe she was just exploring while she could, the wicked thing never did want to sit still at her desk.

Maybe she wanted to smell it. Noticed the way he smelled. Maybe she liked it, found his scent unignorable as he had hers.

Lost in thoughts of her, his hand drifted to finger the latch of a drawer. Peering down to it, he pulls it open, just enough, to catch a glimpse.

Folded inside was a little white sock.

He needed a smoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey has only just returned from rinsing away the evidence of her theft from her fingers when she notices the lingering smell of cigarettes.

Mr. Ren was back, and he must have someone in his office.

Sitting back at her post, Rey busies herself with looking inconspicuous and pulls out the book Mr. Ren had gifted her.

It really was touching that he’d left it to her. Even if he did taunt her with it first.

Opening its cover, a slip of paper flutters out, twisting in an unpredictable pattern on its descent to the ground.

Retrieving it, Rey realizes what it is.

A check.

Then, she realized how much he had made it out for.

Bursting through his door, Rey yells,

“Mr. Ren! This can’t be right-” before she remembers she’s interrupting his meeting.

But there is no one there. Just him.

Mr. Ren held a cigarette between his lips, casual, uncaring. His feet were propped up on his desk, and he was leaning back in his chair. Jacket off, hair a bit mussed.

She thought he looked like James dean, but she never knew he smoked.

Staring at the way he held the cigarette in his mouth, she wasn’t sure she minded it, either.

He noticed her eyes on it.

“I never used to smoke.” Her eyes snapped up from his lips. “I’d give my ration to a platoon mate, or whoever had something worth trading.”

He lit it, its ember dying as they stared back at one another after her outburst.

“But they weren’t only in our field rations. They’d send us Camels at the hospital. Packs of them.” He took a puff. “Got hooked waiting for my leg to heal, despite my best efforts. Boredom is a hell of a gateway drug.”

She wondered if his injury was what made him walk so heavily. She always thought he just had a penchant for stomping, perhaps in an effort to work out his anger. She guessed she had been wrong.

“What do you want?” He took a drag.

No. She had been right. He was just a grump.

“I found my check, sir. I didn’t realize it was there until… anyway, it’s too much sir. I think you made a mistake.”

“Why’s that?”

“Sir it’s…you made it out for $1,250.”

A normal response would’ve been shock, maybe even laughter over the mistake. Perhaps even a ‘thank you’ for being honest instead of cashing it. But Mr. Ren was endlessly working to prove to her that he was not normal, and this instance was no different.

He smiled.

“So I did.”

“But it’s, it’s too much sir-”

“It’s my mistake. I guess that means I have to live with it.” He took another puff.

“And so do you. Put it to good use. Like toward that apartment you were talking about.” He looked at her through the light haze of smoke.

What could she say? She knew she should refuse, but.. he sounded so sure he wanted her to have it. And she really didn’t want to live in a dorm.

Breathless from the shock, Rey hesitantly accepted.

“Thank you,sir.” She slid her foot back and forth across the rug in front of his desk. It didn’t matter that he was being coarse, she couldn’t fight the shy feeling that had overcome her. He had just changed her life, and she had a handkerchief doused in his cologne hidden in her bag.

“It’ll come in handy when I need to buy books for school. Thank you, sir.” Now she was holding back tears. Guilty tears, and excited ones too.

She looked at him, then back down at her feet. His eyes were more direct than ever, and he was quietly observing her with an ease that put her on edge.

“You earned it.” He finally says, that dark edge to his voice that made everything seem like a threat.

She couldn’t believe he was being so nice.

“Rey. I have a question for you.”

All traces of joy and gratitude disappear the instant he speaks.

Oh no. There’s no way he knows, is there?

She wouldn’t wait to find out.

“Wait! There’s…something else I wanted to say.” She interrupts him.

He blinks back at her.

“I-I thought maybe I’d buy lunch today, as a thank you. You said I could pick, once.”

Mr. Ren took a deep inhale, then moved the cigarette from his mouth and stamped it out on the glass tray on his desk.

“Where did you have in mind?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Two of the usual, please, Resoros.”

“-To go!” Rey cuts in.

Kylo gives her a questioning look.

“I was thinking we could take it to the park, to eat. Gladean gardens.”

He stared back at her, and could tell she was certain he was going to refuse.

But there was no way he’d say no to an invitation anywhere from her.

Nodding, “alright.” He turned back to the waiting Resoros. “To go, Ma’am.”

The walk to the park is agonizing for Kylo. He can’t think of what to say.

Did she spray his cologne, and why? Did she really want her first time at the garden to be with him, or was it a convenient excuse to see it?

When they sit, she finally speaks, and he sighs a little in relief.

“I think I’m going to miss this”, she hands him her pickle.

This?

It’s unbearable, the hope and good humor that finds its way to him.

Why can’t she just leave him be? Why does every moment with her have to make him ache worse than the last?

And though he knows it’s only drawing out his own torture, he’s joking with her.

“Having someone eat your pickle?” He takes the spear from her.

She rolls her eyes and bumps his shoulder with her own. It’s the friendliest they’ve been and Kylo feels somber, thinking how much this feels like a date. He knows it’s not.

“I meant that I’m going to miss work. School seems so boring now that I know what it’s like in the real world.”

He looks down, and for the first time, he really smiles. It’s small, closed lipped, but it’s real.

If she’ll miss work, then will she miss…
“Hm. You’re certainly capable. Plus you only have a little while left before you’re out there on your own.” he mutters, then takes a bite.

“Do you think-” She stops herself, brows furrowing. “Nevermind.”

“Do I think what?” He asks, hooked but hesitant, lifting his head away from the unraveled parchment in his lap.

She rolls her lip between her teeth. As if he needed a reason to notice her mouth.

“Do you think, after I graduate, I could work here again? Work with you?” She asks, turning to face him with her last question.

She wants to work with me again?

“I mean, interview to work with you, if you’re hiring. I just, I think I would like working for Command Group, for real. Your company has done a lot for Poe, and… I think you’re a very good person to work for, Mr. Ren. Challenging, but good.” She held his eyes, searching them for a moment, before she looked down and smiled softly to herself, the lightest pink dusting her cheeks.

“People would probably say that’s crazy. You’re really scary, you know?”

She takes a small bite of her sandwich.

“But I really like you, sir. - er, working with you.”

It’s too good to be true. But there she is, sitting next to him on her final day thinking about - no, not thinking. Asking to come back to him.

The last ounce of reservation Kylo has shatters, and he’s decided before she’s swallowed her last bite.

Rey would be his before the end of the school year.

“We’ll see.” He replies in a daze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening Kylo presents her with his signed recommendation, and stands stock still when she offers him her hand.

Reaching out slowly he takes her palm in his own, and notices how cool to the touch it is against his burning skin, how smooth and beckoning, and how completely dwarfed it is by his own. Savoring the feeling, he places his hands in his pockets, offering a nod to Dameron who expresses his endless thanks and accompanies her out.

And just like that, with a small peek over her shoulder as she left, she was gone.

Over the weekend Kylo gives much thought to the feel and size of her little hand.

He looks at his palm, rubs his fingers together in his absent daydreaming, and compares the size and grip of his own hand to how he imagined hers would be in his more vulnerable moments.

Then, there in bed, even after he’s spent himself, he can’t shake her from his head.

He spends countless minutes laying there, trying to fall asleep but wondering if she’s burning the incense he’d given her. Wondering if she’s reminded of him, of his cologne. When sleep does find him, he dreams about her again, in her apartment, in his home, in their home.

Come Monday, she sticks in his mind still.

Opening his office door, he calls out,

“Rey- Sorry, Maz, could you…”

He liked Maz. Truthfully, he even cared for her. She did an exceptional job, and he worried about her in the way you do for any aging family member who lives on their own.

But this just wouldn’t do.

He had to get her back.

But what of his trustworthy assistant? She’d been loyal, and she had few other prospects beyond her current position here. Honestly, she was probably the best person for the job.

He listened to her fuss over the sales contracts sent up from downstairs,

“These young idiots have barely cut their teeth in the professional world. When will they stop sending me these half-assed reports to run by you? If I wouldn’t approve it, what makes them think you will? Honestly.” She huffed, already marking up the changes they’d need to make.

And it gave him an idea. He did still need a new head of sales.

“Say, Maz?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week behind everyone else, Rey knew it’d feel odd joining her classmates again. But she didn’t expect to be so disinterested in a class she usually enjoyed.

Mrs. Lars was going over how to sew a pillow when Rey started to think maybe she’d regretted signing up for Home Ec. Mastering a hand stitch and making perfectly browned pancakes was something she’d learned ages ago. Even after this class, all she had to look forward to was lunch where….well, today the cafeteria had meatloaf and mash.

There was nothing wrong with it, she supposed. But she wondered what Mr. Ren was eating.

Interrupted from her memories of vichyssoise and turkey pastrami, Rey heard the telltale static of the overhead announcement system turning on. Its jarring “beep” sounding suddenly, everyone paused to listen.

The crackling voice of Principle Mothma’s secretary droned out “Miss palpatine to the main office, please. Miss Palpatine to the main office.”

“Ooooooh” The usual jeers sounded out as she stood from her desk.

Yep. She hated this class.

Walking to the office she wondered, who could it be? Had she forgotten something at home? Maybe Poe was bringing her lunch!

Lunch.

Could it be…

Her footsteps quickened as she anxiously threw open the school office door.

But it wasn’t the frame filling figure of who she had hoped it to be.

It was Maz.

Of course, she had forgotten to return the sweater. Rey wasn’t even sure if Poe had gotten a chance to take it to the cleaners yet. They hadn’t wanted to ruin it in their small washing machine at home, and she could only imagine the stink Mr. Ren would create if she returned it two sizes smaller from being laundered incorrectly.

“Mrs….Maz!”

What was her name anyway?

“It’s Mrs. Kanata, dear. But you may call me Maz.”

“Right, sorry. You’re here for your sweater. I’ll have Poe bring it back to you by tomorrow-”

The hearty older woman interrupted her with a laugh.

“You can keep it.”

“Then why-”

“How would you like to stay on a little longer?”

Chapter Text

If she had to choose a word, Rey supposed it would’ve been ‘agony’ to describe how the day proceeded after seeing the gardens with Mr. Ren.

When they returned to the office, she saw almost none of him for the remainder of the day. He had been genuinely busy with calls and an impromptu meeting, but the resulting silence left Rey feeling insecure, and like something had taken a tight hold of her heart.

“I really like you, sir. Er- working with you.”

Wincing to herself, she realized it had been an unprompted fantasy to think he’d return the compliment - or invite her to apply.

As if he’d want me.

When the clock struck 5, she held out hope for a heartfelt goodbye at the least. He stayed the full day instead of making his early exit, so surely she could expect that much.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Mr. Ren appeared in his door and Rey thought he looked as though there was something he wanted to say. But she had forgotten Poe had come up only moments before to fetch her, and Mr. Ren seemed almost taken aback to find her guardian standing there next to her.

But again, she was being silly. Silly, and foolish, getting her hopes up like that. What would there be for him to say to her, anyway?

When he didn’t move from in front of his office, Rey approached, her leather bag hanging from her shoulder. It was over before she could say anything much herself.

“O-Oh. Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Ren quickly handed her his letter, like he was anxious to get rid of her. But Rey wouldn’t let that slide. She had put up with enough, and given it her real effort, so she stuck her hand out in wait.

The least he can do is shake my hand.

She watched his eyes look at it, then to her own, before shaking it even quicker than he had handed her the document, moving on to chat with Poe without a single word for her. She could tell at once that it hurt her feelings, though she didn’t know why.

Rey knew she was prideful, at times, and she knew this shouldn't have been one of those times. But it hurt her feelings, and she couldn’t keep from looking back at him one last time as they made their exit, Poe’s hand guiding her back toward the elevator. Some distance away, she was still able to meet Mr. Ren’s eyes with her own pitiful, hopeful, wounded ones.

But He didn’t say a word, didn’t even smile at her. Just pressed his lips together and worked his jaw.

She never did know what that meant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laying in bed the Saturday after, Rey twirled the uneti blossom she’d stolen from the garden bench between her thumb and forefinger. Her body warmed by the afternoon light cascading into her room, a small slow smile grew on her face.

Maybe, if she were lucky, she’d run into him again one day. Perhaps it’d be there, at Gladean Gardens.

He seemed familiar with the park’s layout - well enough to know where to find that bench. It’s possible he goes there from time to time, she thinks, and she had to admit it’d make for a dramatic backdrop. She hoped she would run into him there again, someday.

The hand which lay on her stomach slid upward toward her face, revealing the folded handkerchief concealed in her palm.

God, I’m a deviant.

She thinks, giving the cloth a gentle sniff before letting her fisted hand fall off the side of the bed.

But the scent is effective, and the clear image of her grumbling, high strung, handsome foe is conjured in her mind.

Yes, maybe when she’s attending CU and living in her chic little apartment (one whose first year would now be paid for in full, thanks to him) she’d run into him. She’d be older, technically. Better dressed, too - hopefully. Maybe he’d find her interesting then, ask her to have a coffee with him.

Rey’s smile widened.

Better than having to fetch one for him from the break room on Poe’s floor.

She laughed.

Maybe she’d be brave enough to make a move, more sure of how to speak to men. Though, Rey knew Mr. Ren was unlike any other man she’d ever known.

Or maybe she wouldn’t have to make a move. Maybe it’d be like the movies. She’d be too beautiful to resist, he’d be too surprised to know what to say.

Rey giggled to herself.

They’d look at each other’s eyes and just know it.

“Rey,” He’d say, awestruck, dumbstruck, and blissfully happy.

“There’s so much I want to say,” She’d fawn.

“Words can wait.” He’d step toward her and grab her, tugging her to him into a passionate, tender, desperate kiss.

Her lungs forced a sudden burst of air, the sound of a short, quiet, raspy pant slicing through the general calm of her room.

Shooting up to a seated position, Rey groaned.

Why was she thinking about Mr. Ren this way? Feeling this way?

No, she - she couldn’t have a - it wasn’t a…did she have a crush on Mr. Ren?

Rey stood and rushed to shut off the radio.

Stupid Kitty Kallen.

Well…she’d have a while til then. Humiliating as it was, for now, it was just girlish fantasy.

Or so she had expected, before the grandmotherly Maz made her unannounced appearance.

“How would you like to stay on a little longer?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo wasn’t sure Rey would say yes, when he sent Maz to inquire about keeping her position.

She already had his recommendation in hand, she didn’t need to come back. But he hoped what she said had been true: that she could tolerate him enough to work with him. That school just wasn’t challenging enough to hold her interest now that she’d been exposed to a 9-5. Or 12-5, in her case.

He hoped it was true that she liked the work, or that she could at least tolerate it, because that meant she could tolerate him.

It was a pleasant thought, a warming one, even. Something that reassured him in those moments when he felt his mental clarity pulled taught by the eyes, and expectations, of everyone else in that damn building.

But more than that, the dark voice that rang out everytime Rey was around - anytime he thought of Rey- was giving a rumbling laugh from some unseen corner of Kylo’s mind.

It told him that a small crack in the door, like Rey simply putting up with him, was all he’d need to wedge it open and find his way inside. The voice’s pleasure was too obvious, its grin undoubtedly toothy - and hungry. Perhaps Kylo was too.

“I really like you, sir. Er, working with you."

He smiled to himself, looking up at the clock. 11:30AM.

By 12:15 his scowl was back, and his stomach had dropped.

She wasn’t coming.

Of course she wasn’t. He knew there was valid reason to doubt it. Thank goodness he could ride out the wave of grief and embarrassment of her refusal from the privacy of his office. Thank goodness he hadn’t gone himself. He had almost gone himself.

He groaned.

Yes. It was better this way.

But then there it was. He thought for sure he was mishearing, but it was too recognizable to mistake: The telltale shuffling of someone sitting at the desk outside.

Soft, quiet shuffling unlike the unabashed settling in of Maz who opened and closed her drawers to hide away her things and start her day. But rather, like that of the young lady who’d been sat out there all last week.

It was her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming back was an odd feeling. It’d only been two days, but a weekend’s worth of convincing herself she’d never be back had done the trick. Now the wood lined walls outside Mr. Ren’s office felt alien once more.

She wondered if it was Maz’s idea to bring her back, or… his.

She had told Mr. Ren she’d liked the work. She even told him she liked him. Working with him, she had meant.

She’d said all of that, and he barely reacted. She had said how she felt and how she’d like to work there again one day, but all she was met with was a disinterested ‘we’ll see.’

Rey may have been an orphan, but she knew that when Poe or Rose’s parents said ‘we’ll see’, it was just a nice way of saying ‘no’.

It wasn’t like Mr. Ren to be thoughtful. But at least he spared her feelings, if only that one time.

When he appeared from his office doors not long after she’d taken her seat, he was his usual self. He breezed past her little desk without much acknowledgement, save for a turn of his head as he went, and a nod.

“Rey.”

No, it couldn’t have been his idea to invite her back.

Only, it was a little different than usual. This time, he looked at her when he said it, held her eyes a step or two as he moved.

And while it was absurd that it struck her as unusual, he had given a small, sly, knowing smile as he acknowledged her.

She wasn’t sure he had ever smiled at her. Except that one time in his office with Poe. But that had felt something close to evil. This time it felt…different.

Was he…happy to see her?

Then again, Mr. Ren had mentioned to Poe, and to her, that Maz had been asking for help.

They both assumed the week she was away would be all the time Mr.Ren could stomach having someone as inexperienced as Rey around. And it probably was.

Anxiety taking hold as she and Maz arrived at the building earlier that day, Rey stopped by Poe’s office so he’d know to wait for her after work that day - and so she could buy herself a few extra moments to steady her nerves. When she told him about Maz’s visit, he had been unsure at first, but the more he thought it over the more convinced he was that Rey just had to do it.

“That’s wonderful Rey! Looks like I’ll have someone to drive home with more often than I thought! It is a bit unconventional, what with school and the like….no doubt.” He nodded to himself, silently arguing the case in his head.

“But, this kind of experience is invaluable.” He was looking off to the corner, convincing himself rather than her. Hands on his hips, he focused his attention back on her and caught Rey’s panicked look.

“Well, that’s just my opinion. The most important thing is how you feel about it, sweetheart.” He was rubbing the back of his neck.

“It caught me off guard, I guess. Mr. Ren already gave us the recommendation letter and…well. I thought he seemed glad for my…internship (punishment, she thought) to be over. I’m a little confused. I do like working here, it’s just. Why do you think they’d invite me back?”

“Hm. Mr. Ren is a sort of closed off person, can’t argue with you there. But I don’t think he was glad, hon’. He told me more than once how good a job you had done.”

He had?

“Though, it’s worth mentioning that it’s every secretary’s responsibility to find their replacement. What with Maz’s promotion, I imagine she’s the one who really took a look at your work and decided you were the best fit for however long they need someone. Did she say how long you’d be staying on?”

“No, she didn’t.” She paled.

“Hm, well, she still picked you, didn’t she? And what a complement that is! No one would know better than her, don’t you think? I wouldn’t worry about what Mr. Ren thinks, Rey. I’m sure he liked you just fine.” He sat a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Right.” She replied. What good did it do to wonder, now? She was already there, and it all but confirmed her suspicions.

It had to have been Maz’s idea to ask her back.

Rey tried her best not to feel glum when Poe had said it, and she tried even harder now as she watched her boss flee to whatever meeting room required his attendance. It was twisted the way she was still glad to be there once again.

At least she wasn’t at school. At least she could see him again.

“Mr. Ren.” She replied, her lips twitching into a half hearted smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylo’s thoughts distract him the entire meeting.

She was back.

She’d come back - to him.

Oh, and he’d do it right this time.

Lost to the memories of the week prior, Kylo’s eyes flicked unwillingly to the fiery head of Hux a few chairs away.

He almost laughed thinking back. It was Kylo who Rey wanted to work with, be close to. Not to mention he had made himself clear to the annoying ginger. Hux was hardly anything to worry about anymore.

But a secretary had come in sometime during Kylo’s internal gloating, arms carrying cups of fresh coffee for everyone in the room, and she had stopped next to the bothersome man. Her eyes trance-like as she looked into the rakesome gaze of Hux, she giggled and held fast to the cup she placed into his waiting hand.

Kylo felt mild disgust for realizing it, Hux was the last person to take inspiration from, but something about his interaction with the girl gave him an idea.

“Poe, I saw your daughter outside your office earlier. Is she here to stay?”

“Oh yes, she’s been asked to help out a little longer. Can’t tell you how proud I am!”

A familiar voice sounds from the opposite corner of the room. Hux hears it too, and looks over his shoulder toward Kylo, smirk ready to go and brows giving an interested raise, before returning his attention to the fawning girl.

Perhaps he hadn’t made himself clear enough.

He’d be careless not to consider Hux would continue at his games with Rey, if given the chance. The man was hardly competition, but Kylo was determined to beat his nemesis to her affections. He wouldn’t accept any other outcome.

And he’d start today.

In disbelief he’d gotten the material from the man himself, Kylo knew exactly how to do it too. He’d start with a small gesture.

He’d bring her a coffee.

Does she even drink coffee?

He never saw her with the stuff.

Tea then.

The other men in the room would recall the unexpectedly contented face of their usually stony eyed boss for a surprising duration of the meeting.

Marching back toward his office, Kylo prided himself, it was the perfect opportunity to get in her good graces. Completely unassuming and unabashedly thoughtful. Perfect.

Until he sees Rey with a cup in hand, sitting at her desk, and has clammed up as soon as he’s stepped off the elevator.

He hadn’t asked her to get him something.

It must be for her.

What an idiot, he thought.

Now he’d be stuck with this tea.

So much for trying something new. Fine, then. He’d simply Invite her to lunch, like before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he returned, he held a coffee in his hand. She was disappointed her efforts would go unrecognized, she had prepared one for him, just in case.

“Keep it.” He said, walking past her and seeing her set the cup down.

“Oh, sure. Thank you,...sir.” But she failed to hide her hesitancy, and he picked up on it.

“What is it?”

“Po- my father doesn’t let me drink coffee, sir. I don’t have much of a taste for it, anyway. It’s not important, I’ll take it downstairs and see if any of the other girls want it.”

“And tea?”

“Sorry, sir? You’d like tea?” She asked, puzzled but standing to retrieve some.

“Do you drink tea?” He clarified, frustrated with her thickness - no doubt.

“Oh! Yes, yes sir. I do.”

It was true. She wondered if it made her sound any more like the others in the office, now that he knew she didn’t drink coffee.

“We’ll trade, then.”

He reached around her to grab the cup to her side, eyes dipping from hers down to the cup as he went.

Then placed his own in her hands.

She stood speechless. Looked at the perfectly clean lid. Had he had some already? Would she be placing her lips on something his had just touched?

“Lunch in an hour. How does Italian sound?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been perfect, after all. So much better than having brought her something unprovoked. It was better to fly under the radar, better to be subtle. He was beaming, albeit internally.

He managed to surprise her with a nice gesture, a happenstance, and now he’d be taking her to lunch. Completely normal, and she seemed to really like them as of late.

It doesn’t take long for the conversation to start flowing as it recently had, though the topic is one Kylo hadn’t prepared himself for. And with the growing list of things he’s had time to contemplate, it’s a feat in itself she manages to catch him off guard.

“Where’s maz?”

Oh shit.

“How do you mean?” He feigns ignorance.

“I thought you said all your secretaries eat with you?”

He gave a small cough.

She’s too clever for her own good.

“Right, that’s true.” He grumbles, nearly caught in a lie.

“But Maz isn’t my secretary anymore. You are.” He dares to lift his eyes from his plate to her own. It’s true in its own way, he could mask the nerves for now.

“What?” He notices the way she sits a little more upright, her fork halfway to her mouth retreating back to the table.

Good. He liked it better when she was the uncomposed one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a permanent position?

Her look gave away her thoughts.

“Didn’t she tell you?” He almost laughed, and it made Rey feel suddenly far less ‘grown and in the city’ than these lunches usually made her feel.

“I - Well, no. She didn’t. I know she got promoted, it’s just that I thought I would only be covering for her.”

It was always hard to hold his gaze. But she forced herself to pick up her eyes from her fork.

“Until she found someone she liked to stay on permanently. Someone you liked.” She blinked, emboldened by the rapport they normally had only at these lunches. But blushing all the same. She could never forget it, it was Kylo Ren across from her. And he was infuriatingly sharp.

He interpreted her look in less than a millisecond.

“You’ve gotten on my nerves the least out of any of the other stand-ins.”

Bewildered at how he could feel that way, and with her other obligations, Rey couldn’t keep from arguing. It was stupid really, almost as if she didn’t want to be back despite owning up to the fact in the car ride there - bathing in the way his musk filled the vehicle once again - that she really, really did.

“But what about-”

Seemingly reading her mind, he never let her finish.

“I can handle the mornings just fine. And…I’ll be glad to have you, for as long as you’re able to stay.“ He hesitated.

Was this the first time she’d seen him less than anything but obnoxiously certain?

“As long as you want to stay….I understand next year you’ll likely be too busy with school. But we’ll cross that road when we get to it.”

It was Rey’s turn to beam, but she was undeniably worse at hiding it than he was.

“Thank you, Mr. Ren.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey couldn’t believe he’d offer her the chance to stay. It didn’t make sense that he’d offer her to stay. But she kicked her feet in girlish delight as she lay in bed Monday night, and come Tuesday morning, she all but ran out to Bespin.

Bounding out of the behemoth car curbside to Command Group, Rey catches the knitwear donning figure of Maz, and waves to her slightly tottering form as they meet just in front of the building’s entrance.

“Goodmorning, Maz!” It was this moment when Rey realized she might benefit from toning it down a bit.

“Well aren’t you the spoiled thing.”

Rey gives a confused smile. It was an odd joke, and one she admittedly didn’t follow.

“What?” She laughed.

Maz met her with a teasing smile and a nudge, “Getting to ride around in that fancy boat. It must drive you crazy, I know I hated riding in it on the rare occasion Mr. Ren made me. My neighbors never let me hear the end of it. I can’t imagine what your class mates say!” She gave a sympathetic but humored shake of her head.

“Oh? But I thought Mr. Ren picked up all his secretaries?”

“Pssh, no, no.” She shook her head a bit more emphatically. “I took the bus mostly. Bad weather, or special events, Mr. Ren was good about having Bespin take me home or come get me. Like I said, fine by me from time to time, but… that car is a little too flashy for my taste.” She chuckled.
“Though! The sign on bonus for this position was more than generous. I’m thinking of having my sister take me to go look at cars this weekend! I’m thinking a corvair.” She gave a devilish grin.

“Oh, how nice.” Rey smiled back.

“Hehe, thank you angel. Anyway, maybe it’s best you’re not on the bus like the rest of us. No place for a young girl, especially in the evening.” She gave a disapproving nod.

“Really it’s the proper thing Mr. Ren takes care of your commute, he’s always been a gentleman in that way. Mighty fine of him, now that I think of it. Shall we?”

They had reached the elevators, and Rey gave a polite nod and thanked Maz. The older woman had a point, but it itched at her.

Why had Mr. Ren lied about that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She never did work up the courage to ask him. Maz was probably right, it must be a safety thing, and he probably lied about it to keep her from feeling embarrassed.

Not that he spared her that feeling often.

Besides, there was something else she knew she had to ask him, so maybe it was better to pocket that question for later - if ever.

She waits til wednesday, at lunch to ask.

They’re having soup, the weather particularly bitter that day, and their quiet sipping makes for ample (awkward) lulls.

“Mr. Ren, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“I know it’s short notice, but I didn’t expect to actually plan this far in advance since my internship wasn’t supposed to -”

She was blabbering on, and his intense stare could only mean she was annoying him.

Best to just get on with it then.

“This friday is the first game of the season and I’m expected to-”

“Ah, right. Your cheer obligations.”

“...yes, sir.”

“I see. So you won’t be here Friday?”

“Well, I- I suppose not, sir.”

“That’s a shame. We have a big meeting that day, I was going to need your help. Perhaps we can ask one of the other girls to assist me that day. Zorii, maybe, or even that Bazine-”

Rey felt her stomach drop. She remembered the lacquer red lipstick, and the curve hugging skirt, the sway of her hips as she walked. Anyone but Bazine.

“What if!”

He looked at her, brows drawn together but curious to hear what she had to say.

She knew he thought she was being ridiculous, but this time she didn’t care.

“I didn’t realize it was an important day. I need to be at school by 5. I could stay, and help sir, if maybe it’s possible that, and if it’s not a bother for him to - well, if Bespin could take me back? If I end my day a little early?”

He blinked at her, lips pursed a bit and blinking as though she was forgetting something. And she was.

“Oh, but then…how would you get home.” Her face dropped, and feeling embarrassed was starting to feel familiar to her once again.

“I’m sorry, that was a stupid idea.” She admits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t know he could walk there, and he supposed it hadn’t dawned on her that there were taxis. Maybe she thought he was above taking a taxi. She also didn’t know he drove himself on many occasions.

But that was all fine by him.

“That’s a great idea, Rey.”

“R-really?”

“It’s no trouble at all, for Bespin, and I appreciate you being so eager to attend that day. That’ll really help make my day easier.”

“Oh, g-good. I’m glad.”

“We’ll share the car. I’ll have Bespin drop you off, before he takes me home.”

“W-what. Wait- Mr. Ren I couldn’t ask you to -”

Perhaps he was being selfish. He had said he’d make time for her to get to these events. He really didn’t have to ride along with her.

“Traffic is unpredictable that time of day, though. Even if we leave at 3, when the meeting ends, you may only just make it there on time. Perhaps it’s better that you don’t come in that day.”

He was testing her now, hoping she’d want to prove herself the hard worker, hoping whatever he was detecting beneath her sudden enthusiasm to pitch in was what he thought it was. Could only dream it was.

Jealousy, that unseen voice giggled.

“Bazine has been filling it quite a lot lately, I really doubt it’d be much of a bother for her. She even offered her services just before you came on-”

“What if I - Could I change here if, if that’s alright? As long as i’m ready once we arrive, then I think it should be fine. I think we could make it on time, and then you won’t have to go out of your way to cover for me. That way I won’t miss anything.” She was looking at her shoes, doing that thing where she tucked her hair behind her ear.

God was rewarding him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Rey couldn’t stomach the idea of Bazine taking her place, even for a day. She didn’t exactly admire the woman, but there was no ignoring the way men watched her as she went and, well.

It was ridiculous that she should feel any kind of protectiveness (or was it possessiveness) over Mr. Ren. But that woman oozed trouble, and -

Rey shuddered.

What if they hit it off, and Rey had to see her all the time, on his arm at the end of the day, rump zigzagging its way out the door next to her boss.

Or worse, what if she did a good job and Rey’s position ended up being temporary afterall. She wouldn’t even get the privilege of watching pathetically as the stern, stubborn, handsome man she’d come to constantly daydream about, leave with another woman.

Absolutely not. She’d make it work, somehow.

“If I change here…”

She thought he’d reject the idea, his position on proper dress abundantly clear from that first day. But it seemed to put him at ease, and he agreed.

Well, of course he would. Anything to keep from adding on to his already full plate, I’m sure.

She was pleased with herself the rest of the day, and even most of Thursday. That was until it came time to lay out her uniform and pack it into her school bag so she could change at work.

They wore a white knit, mock neck short sleeve knit for indoor practice, with their dark-red collared cheer vest over top. This week had been awfully cold for early fall, but the team agreed they’d wear their gray sweaters as well, the red and white Republic High cheer logo just below the neckline. A true red, the bordering of the logo matched perfectly to the pinstripe running along the hem of their pleated mini skirts, the hidden pleat the same dark red of her collar.

Everyone on the team wore matching red bloomers, a red ribbon in their hair, and white ankle socks with their usual white and black saddle shoes.

Rey rather liked their uniform. It was feminine, and a little flashy, but not as frilly or frumpy as some of the other school’s uniforms. Their school was pretty strict on skirt lengths, so we was surprised to find their cheer uniforms so modern, and leggy. Some schools still made their cheerleaders wear knee length skirts.

She felt confident when she wore it now, but the early days on the team definitely had her pulling at the hem. Thinking on it now, she wasn’t sure she’d feel so confident come the ride back to school tomorrow night next to…

She’d be sure to shave her legs particularly thoroughly tonight. Maybe practice her mascara a bit more first though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday passes as it always does. No one wants to work, everyone’s itching to end meetings early, and Mr. Ren stays locked in his office most of the day.

It’s a relief to Rey. The less she’s reminded he’s there, that he’ll be there to drop her off, makes getting up to change at 2:40 the littlest bit easier. She’s fishing out the pad of mascara before she’s reached the restroom on Poe’s floor.

Stepping out, Rey feels surprisingly like she’s pulled it off. Her hair it pulled up into a half pony, tied off with a thin red ribbon secured in a bow. Her mascara is almost perfect, and gives just enough lift to enhance the near cat-eye like look she’d always wanted to wear. It would be as close as she’d come until Poe let her use eyeliner.

Speaking of, she thought she ought to check in with her father while she had the chance. Hurried in her efforts, she had a few minutes before she needed to meet Mr. Ren and call for Bespin.

Peeking inside the window framing Poe’s door, Rey knocked as she opened it to lean against its frame.

“Hiya sweetie, look at you! Your first real game!” Poe stands to give her a hug.

“What are you doing all dressed up now though? Game’s not til 6, I thought.” He looked to his wristwatch, glasses falling to the tip of his nose.

“I have to be there at 5, and Mr. Ren said with traffic we ought to leave around 3. But you’ll be there right?”

Poe quirked a brow at her, “We?”

“Mr. Ren is having his driver drop me off.” It’s the truth, though she feels a hot flush threatening its way to her cheeks from the half lie. Bespin would be there, but so would someone else. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to admit it.

“Ah, I see. Well, yes, definitely honey. I’ll be there. Mr. Ren might be right about the traffic though. Will you hate me if i’m a little late?”
Rey laughed, “No. Just be there in time to pick me up so we can eat together after?”

“You got it kid. But don’t delude yourself, I’m gonna be there in time to see you dancin’ your little butt off, camera in hand. It’s my parental duty after all.” He gave her arm a gentle punch.

“Oh god. Just don’t let me see when you do it ok?” She groaned.

“Yeah right, I’m gonna be hootin and hollerin’ all about which one is mine. I’ll be sure to yell your name every time a take a picture too, real subtle like.” He joked.

“Ha-ha.” She deadpanned. “I’ll see you there, Poe. I gotta go call for my ride.” She tried to make it sound so cool and non-chalant, a gag that she even had something she could call ‘my ride’. But Rey was panicking a little now, her quickening pulse obvious in her chest.

“Cya there kid.” He waved her off as he settled back at his desk.

It was time to see Mr. Ren.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus.

He thinks, eyeing the small frame of the girl in front of him.

It’s worse than the first day.

Her skirt is shorter, her hair is different, and her uniform. He couldn’t keep from the sudden intake of air that hit him when he opened his door to the soft rapping of her knuckles.

“I’ve called for Bespin sir. It’s 3:05.”

He knew exactly what time it was, his ears perked the moment he heard her chair scoot back minutes ago to change, and his eyes hadn’t left the clock since.

“Ah. Very good. I’ve just finished for the day as well…” He lingered a moment, fully distracted by the details of her. The pops of red, the sultry way her eyes peered back at him, not so different from how they always looked, but he was familiar enough with makeup to know she’d put some on.

Her legs unblemished, almost shiny with how smooth they looked. God he couldn’t wait to be crowded in the car next to her.

“Ahem. Should we make our way, then?”

“Yes sir.”

He was nearly giddy on their walk to the front of the building, until a certain red haired bastard showed up and ruined it all.

“Oh, Republic High! Go Roundels!” Hux shouts at Rey with a pump of his fist. He’s stood talking with some nameless suit, but Rey smiles and waves back in her own sheepish way.

What a creep, Kylo thinks, urging the two continue their exit, but the damned pest excuses himself from his previous conversation to jog over.

“Hey Rey, Ren.” The green eyed man smirks at Kylo. “I had no idea you went there Rey. My nephew goes there too. Actually he’s on the football team.” He laughs, “I’ll be there tonight to cheer him on, and now I guess you as well.” He smiled.

“Oh. I don’t know any Hux’s at my school.” She says, the polite thing.

“No, no, that’s my sister’s name. His name is Pryde.”

“Oh, Eric! I know him just a little. We had a class together last year.”

How could she smile at this uncouth rat.

“Yeah, that’s the one! Small world. Well I guess I’ll see you there, good luck tonight!” Then cocking his head he turned his sights on Kylo.

“Leaving early Ren?”

This fucking prick.

“Not that it’s any concern of yours, but I’ve finished my duties for the day. And as you so apparently know, Rey’s got a game she has to get to. Let’s go Rey.”

He placed a hand on her mid back, pushing her toward the door.

“Goodbye Hux.” He glared.

“See you in a bit Rey!” He shouted back, shit eating grin big as ever.

As far as Kylo was concerned, Hux was dead. Or he soon would be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their attempts at small talk for the ride to school are dismal at best, Kylo still steaming at the thought of Hux lurking in the crowd, no doubt bound to have his beady eyes trained on Rey all night.

Closing his eyes, he gave a deep sigh. He’d think about that later.

“So you…like cheer?” He finally breaks the silence.

“Oh, so far. It’s my first year.” Rey looks at him briefly, then back to her knees.

“Pretty unusual to join the team during your senior year, don’t you think?” He asked

“....Yes, I…I suppose so.” She admitted. “But it usually looks good on your transcripts, or…so Poe tells me.” She was rubbing her knees together, her thumbs twiddling along with them.

“So I thought I’d give it a try.” She shrugged.

Why couldn’t he just shut the hell up.

“I see. Yes, that makes sense.”

More silence follows, and it’s fucking unbearable.

“Did you-”
“Have you-”

They both start at the same time.

“You first,” He offers.

“Did you play a sport?”

“Oh yes, most of my school career. Fencing, and polo.”

He recognizes immediately they’re the kind of sports elite children play, and he’s set her up to contribute nothing to the conversation, doubtful she knows much about either.

“Oh… I think my school has a water polo team.” She offers.

He can’t help but laugh quietly through his nose.

“Oh, yes. It’s a great sport. I’ve played it a time or two in my day. Though, surprisingly, the only thing the two have in common is the name.”

“Sure, right because polo has….horses...” She trails off.

It’s torturous the way their conversation goes, but he can’t help but think how adorable she is.

She’s keeping her knees tightly together in her short skirt, her body pressed up to her door as she always is.

Kylo capitalizes on the next bump in the road to allow his own stance to widen. Eyes locked on her exposed legs, he can see how her skin prickles into gooseflesh from the unusual chill.

His brain jumps immediately to the thought of spanning his palm completely over her small, supple thigh, it’s warmth transferring to her needing flesh. He could take his coat off, lay it across her lap. Slip a hand under it, away from the gaze of Bespin as he checked for cars in the rearview mirror…

He’d punch through his side of the car if he didn’t get to feel her pressed up against him at least once before they got there.

In an unlikely twist of fate, luck so rarely on his side, Kylo’s chance comes sooner than he expected. A careless student careening past them in a wide turn with a car full of highschoolers screaming and laughing cuts them off, Bespin swerving to avoid the dangerous car.

Jostling the two passengers in the back, Bespin avoids colliding with them, and Kylo instinctually grabs hold of Rey, his arm warped around her shoulders, pulling her against him.

“Terribly sorry sir, there were children behind the wheel.” Bespin scoffed.

“No apology needed Bespin, you kept us safe.” He nodded to the driver, grateful the conversation allowed him to hold onto her a moment or two longer, his thumb unconsciously rubbing at her shoulder.

Looking down to her, he could see her body was tense, her right knee pushed up over her left slightly as he crushed her to him. And though her eyes stayed trained to the floor, and her hands firmly in her lap, he could see the scarlet blush that had set in on her cheeks.

He thinks to ask if she’s alright, but she answers him without him needing to.

“I’m alright, thank you sir.” She assured him, feeling his eyes on her no doubt.

“Of course.” He let her go, slower than he needed to by anyone’s measure.

To no one’s surprise, the reckless driving signaled they were close to the school, and indeed they had pulled into the curved drive as soon as they’d return to their initial sitting positions.

“Is here alright, miss Rey?” Bespin asked.

“Yes, thank you Bespin. Here’s great.” Rey nearly leapt from the car, grabbing for her pack and brushing her skirt before Kylo had time to open his own door and see her off.

“Thank you again Mr. Ren, for helping me get here on time. And Bespin.”

The driver nodded his head.

“I hope you can make it home quickly. See you on Monday. Um, goodbye!”

She’s turned to hurry inside before anyone can say anything, and the two watch her leave.

“She never does let me get her door.” Bespin shakes his head, shifting the car back into drive.

“Where to, sir?”

Kylo stared out the window after Rey, observing the way she met up with a few other uniformed girls at the school’s front. He watched as a short girl with dark hair came running up from behind to give her a hug. Saw as she waved to a uniformed football player with a dark complexion.

The boy gave her a smile and jogged to meet up with the group.

Now who the fuck was that-

Kylo stopped himself. Children. These were children, by most accounts. Nothing to worry about. At least not yet.

He could hear the thud of the stadium lights turning on in preparation somewhere from behind the school, and as Bespin began to pull away, Kylo watched the stream of highschoolers leaving campus for the weekend, excited to come back later for the game - Something that made him think.

He could come back, in his own car, undetected. Sit amongst the crowd of parents, Rey’s peers. Perhaps on the opposing team’s side, where she couldn’t make him out. But where he could definitely, unmistakably, make out her form.

But he wouldn’t do that.

If he was going to watch her, it was going to be up close.

She was going to know he was there and he was going to force that darling blush from her cheeks more than he knew the autumn wind already would.

He was going to be there, because she was going to invite him.

His leather gloves creaked as he worked them into tight fists atop his thighs.

“Home, Bespin.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They lose their first game, but Rey couldn’t care less. All she can think about it the caging arm of Mr. Ren wrapped tight around her, pressed safely into him in the back of that car. The smell of him no longer secretly held under her nose, but right up against her in the way she’d started to think about at night when she lay awake.

She remembers vaguely running into Hux and Eric on her way off the field with Poe, but not much else. They say something along the lines of “We’ll get them next time” and the season still being early. But she doesn’t need to remember anything, she had plenty to preoccupy her thoughts the rest of that night.

Saturday morning she’s a little less distracted, and she and Poe finally get a moment to catch up over breakfast.

“Say, Rey. You never did tell me. How much longer did Mr. Ren say they’d need you?”

“Oh…until the end of the school year.” Rey expected shock, even doubt with such a long commitment, but Poe didn’t miss a beat.

“See, aren’t you glad I made you find that tutor? One week was a lot to catch up on, imagine if we had waited? Plus, now you’re set for as long as you need!” He was still thrilled. “We should celebrate. Pizza for dinner?”

She was starting to feel excited too, there was no denying the prospects of an opportunity of this kind were good - murky as her feelings were about the whole thing, and procured recommendation aside.

But pizza was on the line, so how could she be anything but enthusiastic.

After tutoring, and with no good pizza spots having made it out to their suburb yet, the two went downtown to their favorite spot. It was a small haunt, hot as hell and humid too for some reason. But the crust was perfect, thin and crispy with the littlest bit of doughy bite, and it sat across from some fancy theater that always had swanky people showing off their clothes and cars.

That night was no different, and it seemed some kind of particularly newsworthy event was happening. Bright bulbs and snapshots seemed endless, limousines birthing men and women pulled in one after the other, and Rey and Poe delighted in mocking their over the top fashions.

It felt nostalgic to have a night like this, especially when so much had changed recently. And as if the thought of the cause of all that change willed the universe into materializing him all on its own, a towering figure suddenly stood out among the rest.

It was Mr. Ren.

Staring, though she knew she shouldn’t Rey watched her boss in secret, Poe not seeming to have yet noticed.

He was straightening his jacket and surveying the crowd, the line of paps, when a short, older woman with graying hair piled on top of her head made her way to him. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as she reached up and wiped her lipstick from his own.

His mother.

It made Rey smile.

Though it lasted only a moment.

Turning back to the limousine door he’d exited, the frame of a woman rose out from inside. Taking his hand, the glamorous woman held the skirt of her floor length pink, satin dress and gave a slight curtsy to Mrs. Ren, before being embraced fully by the older woman.

Her boss’s hand rested gently on her back as he introduced the two.

And he was smiling.

Rey felt sick.

“Quite a commotion happening across the street tonight. Oh, look honey! That’s Mr. Ren, isn’t it? Huh.” He took a bite, and noticed her abandoned, half eaten slice. “You gonna finish that?”

The next day she couldn’t escape it either.

After church, Mrs. Tico let Rose have her over, and the two locked themselves in her friend’s bedroom as soon as they could. Rey flopped onto Rose’s bed, head hanging upside down over the edge as Rose lay on the floor, reading magazines as they always did. It was a nice distraction, if only for a moment.

“Oh my gosh.” Rose blurted out.

“What?” Rey sets her magazine on her chest to eye her friend from her awkward angle.

“Isn’t that Mr. Ren? Is he dating Neena Minos?!” Rose flipped onto her stomach and held her open tabloid for Rey to see.

“What?” Rey likewise spun around to look at the page upright.

There, in a two page spread, was a large black and white photo of her boss, side by side with the local superstar, and rumored mafia plant. Her long brown hair and slender eyes gave her a ‘devil may care’ look that rivaled Francoise Hardy. Rey couldn’t stomach looking at the two a moment longer.

Flipping to lay on her back once again, she blinked up at the ceiling and licked her lips, trying desperately to steady her suddenly shaky breathing. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she asked anyway.

“What does it say?”

“Long time family friends, Miss Neena Minos and Mr. Kylo Ren attend the young chanteuse’s breakout role in little known Italian director Iden Versio’s film, ‘La ragazza con il vestito’.”

Family friends, that’s all. That’s why his mother gave her such a big hug, and why he seemed so at ease. Rey convinces herself.

“Many rumors surround our hometown heroes Miss. Minos and Mr. Ren, including ties to syndicate crime groups, business partnerships between the two, and even whispers of a secret engagement.”

Secret engagement?

“Seeing these two dressed to the nines left no doubt in our reporter’s mind. Who would make a better match than these two Alderaanian big-shots? We predict the sound of wedding bells will soon be heard across our great city of Chandrila no later than this spring!”

“Wow.” said Rose, “I guess that makes sense-”

“I have to use the bathroom” Rey says, ignoring her friend as she rushes from the room.

“Rey?”

The door to the restroom flies past her on her way down the hall. She doesn’t say goodbye to Mrs. Tico who’s cooking them dinner on her way to the front door, either, her feet already set on home.

She’s walking quickly as she can down the sidewalk, doing her best to remember where the roots of established sycamores lift and jostle the already uneven slate stone slabs as her eyes blur from the tears.

She’s rubbing them against the sleeve of her sweater when a lopsided sidewalk corner catches her toe. Stumbling forward she catches herself, but her knee has caught a rough patch of fractured stone, the cleavage digging into her skin and leaving behind a raw spot just above her shin.

“God.” Rey sighs, sitting to examine the little bloodied scrape. It stings more than it hurts, but she knows that’s not why tears are rolling down her cheeks.

Crushes were dumb. She was dumb. At least she felt that way.

Was it really all in her head? The way he treated her, the way he touched her, the way he helped her. Why did he act the way he did?

It takes her all night to come to a conclusion, sleeping not a wink. It’s one that breaks her heart, and fuels a never ending tug-of-war with her emotions. She knew what she had to do.

Come Monday, Rey is so checked out, she doesn’t even notice the man taking up her every thought has come to stand directly in front of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The start of the week always jumps off with meetings. The last one before he can retreat back to his office, say goodmorning to Rey, Kylo’s stopped by Hux on the way out.

“Good morning Ren.”

“Hux.” He deadpans.

“Say, what are the odds, my nephew at Rey’s school. You know I saw her off that night, spoke to her father a bit, made sure to introduce Eric more properly to her. You know, gotta have your inside man.” He winked.

“Actually, he told me something interesting. Your little Rey has a bit of a reputation for being a shy little thing. Gets lots of attention from boys though, but seems like she’s a prude - as Eric put it.” He lifted his hands in his defense. “That Poe keeps her under lock and key, apparently.” Hux sniffed, and Kylo was flirting dangerously close to the idea of punching the man in the face right then and there.

“Doubt that’ll last for long though. Think I’ll be seeing a lot more of her going forward after all, my family is pretty tight knit. Wouldn’t miss a game, Eric’s got his eyes on a full ride to Chandrila U. It’s his dream to go pro you know.”

That smug smile is enough to make Kylo lose it, but the implications of his words take it to an entirely new level.

Kylo couldn’t give two shits if anyone heard him openly threatening the man, but in the interest of making himself abundantly clear, he leans in near nose-to-nose before calmly saying his peace.

“If you, or your shit faced nephew - or any of his friends, for that matter- come within six feet of Rey, I’ll be sure the last time your nephew sees a football is on a television set from inside his home while he lives the rest of his miserable life confined to a wheelchair.”

Kylo delights in the way he’s offended the man, his equally red brows lowering in a sneer.

“Don’t worry though, his every wish and whim would be paid for by his very generous and loving uncle, no doubt. A considerable sum left to him in your will after you mysteriously go missing. Well, most of you.”

“Oh fuck off Ren.” The man storms away, and Kylo knows his phony threats (or were they promises) are only a temporary fix to the Hux problem.

Still, the whole thing is enough to sour his mood. It’s worsened more when he hears the incessant ringing of his phone when he steps off the elevator, wondering where Rey has gone off to. But she’s sat there in her usual spot.

“Rey, are you going to get that?”

She’s staring at something, but he can’t see what.

“What the devil…Rey! Hello?”

He’s closed the space between them and thinks to answer the phone himself for a second. Her eyes are locked on a packet left for him from Maz, but she’s not reading it. Just staring.

“Rey. What has got you so distracted?”

Kylo watches as she blinks back the fog.

"S-sorry, what?”

“The phone, Rey.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Ren. It’s nothing.” Like that, she’s back to normal, picking up the ringing phone and carrying on like she wasn’t completely unaware of his words to her just moments ago.

Kylo can’t ignore it even if he wanted to, and he doesn’t want to. Something’s wrong.

She’s unusually glum, and uncharacteristically even toned. When she hangs up the phone, he doesn’t wait to pressure test her.

“I’m not buying it, what happened?”

“Nothing, sir.” She stands and moves to hand him the packet. It’s then that he notices the scratches on the heel of her palm.

”Maz’s secretary brought this for you.”

She must realize he’s seen her scrapes, withdrawing her hand quickly. It only makes him more suspicious.

“Rey, stop it.” His rising temper catches her attention, and he’s grabbed her wrist.

“Knock it off, tell me what it is. You’re not acting like yourself and it’s…distracting me.” Concerning was more accurate.

“And what happened to your hand.” He demands.

He expects her to apologize again, admit she injured herself at the game and that some silly concern was bothering her. Something about school, or possibly work (If she even mentioned the name Hux he’d have the man fired in under ten minutes), or the worst possible outcome - boy trouble.

Instead she breezed past him, a small tug releasing her wrist from his hand.

“Everything’s fine sir. I haven’t been sleeping too well, I think that must be it. I’ll be better rested tomorrow.”

As she sits, he can see her scabbed knee. He can’t play it cool a moment longer.

“Rey, jesus. What happened to you?” He takes a step forward, and watches as her eyes come back to life.

“Wha- oh, I fell. It’s just a scrape.” She tugs her skirt the littlest bit down. “My neighborhood has bumpy sidewalks.” Her sheepish remarks are more like her, but something still feels off.

“Why aren’t you being honest with me?”

Was it the truth? Or was it…could it be, Dameron? He sees red.

The man didn’t seem the type. But why else would she be acting this way?

“Rey.” He kneels to take her hand, and ten thousand different ways of maiming whoever was responsible for her injuries played in his mind.

“Did someone do this to you?”

“What? No! No..” But her eyes go to the floor.

Time stands still and a moment passes of uninterrupted quiet, the faint ticking of his clock muffled behind his closed door, the only sound around them before she lifts her eyes to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were engaged?”

What?

“What do you mea-”

“I know.” She says, and her voice quivers the littlest bit.

He had never known such happiness, never been so glad someone was so misinformed. Never so glad to think that she was sullen because he was engaged.

“Rey, I’m not-”

“I know you don’t usually pick up your secretaries, and I know you never eat with them either.”

So she had figured it out, he pales. Unsure if he should feel panicked, or relieved.

“I don’t appreciate being toyed with like this, Mr. Ren.”

Well, she was right. He could have been more forthcoming with his feelings once he knew she didn’t despise him, but surely she’d see the sincerity in it. She was still here after all, that meant something, didn’t it?

“And I don’t think Miss Minos would appreciate it either.” She met his disbelieving look with her own furious one, and that’s when he knew something was seriously wrong.

“Miss Minos? Rey, that’s just paparazzi-”

“I know you hate me, but when Maz invited me back did you even consider that maybe you could’ve stopped? Obviously not, because you continued embarrassing me with the pick ups, and forced me to eat with you - presumably so you could make fun of my table manners.”

It’d been a while since he’d seen this side of her. He took no joy in her being cross with him, but he had to admit it. He missed watching her be a little spitfire.

Still, he wasn’t sure if it were better to interrupt or let her get it all out at the risk of a slap to his face.

Though if it were from Rey, he might bear it.

“At first I thought it was just who you were, some rich guy who doesn’t know better than to hold everyone to the same high standard your parents probably held you to. But I realize now that you’ve been doing it on purpose, and it’s not just some ‘rich guy quirk’ like I thought. Worst of all, not only did I think it was a front, but I thought I saw past it all and that I liked you! The real you, the one hiding under all that pretense of being mister perfect. What a joke.” she scoffed, her cheeks blazing red.

He didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help but do it. She was so incredibly wrong, and -unbelievably- jealous? It was all he could do to keep from jumping from joy, so instead: he laughed.

Rey’s insulted face only made him laugh harder.

“Rey, I’m not engaged.”

Her uncertain brows lifted a moment before falling again to scorn his reaction.

“And I don’t hate you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What was he saying? And why the devil was he laughing?

“You hate me.” Rey repeated, angry enough to keep from crying and certain of it now.

“And I won’t stand for it. I quit.” She stood and rushed past his still kneeling form nearly keeled over from how hard he held his side as he laughed.

“Re-aha ha - Rey, wait. It’s - a hehe - not what you think! - hooo.” He wiped away the tears in his eyes.

But his words fell on deaf ears and, bag in hand, Rey had made her way to the elevator.

“Oh, Rey, c’mon.”

Standing, Mr. Ren must’ve realized how serious she was, because his voice was returning to his usually deep timbre. It scared her more when he was laughing, but she was too mad to be frightened.

“Rey. Come back over here, please. I’ve had enough kidding around.”

The ding of the approaching elevator sounded, and Rey kept her eyes forward on the closed doors as she fought the wiggle of her chin. She hoped Ooda wouldn’t see she was crying as she left.

“Rey! I’m not joking,” His thunderous steps started approaching, and she turned to look at him.

Still the length of the short hall between them, Mr. Ren’s face was morphing into a stormier version of his typical angry scowl, and far more determined. Her skin going icy, she realized perhaps she ought to be afraid.

Never looking away from her advancing foe, Rey stepped inside the elevator the moment she heard them slide open, disappearing without a word to her now ex-employer.

“The lobby, please, quickly.” She pleaded to the attendant.

“Rey!” She heard him shout as the doors closed to his bellowing voice, but she had tucked herself safely in and readied herself to let out a tense sigh of relief.

It was a sigh that ended caught in her throat, as the thick hand of the giant chasing her wedged its way just between the almost closed gap of the doors.

The gilded entryway bouncing against his muscular palm, Rey watched in horror as they opened again to a panting Mr. Ren.

“Out.” He commanded the equally panicked attendant.

“Yes sir!” He squeaked as he stepped out to the empty hall of Mr. Ren’s floor, the doors closing behind Mr. Ren as he stepped inside, locking the lever in place.

“Why didn’t you stop?” He huffed.

She knew she was trapped in a cage with what was essentially a wild animal, but Rey couldn’t help herself.

“Because I didn’t want to.” She seethed.

He breathed heavy back at her as they descended slowly toward the lobby.

“Why did you follow me?” She asked, unsure what to do but too angry to shut up.

“To correct you. You said I hated you.”

“You do hate me.” She hissed.

He had to hate her, he had basically said as much. He hated the way she dressed, the way she looked at him (telltale looks, the way his mouth hardened or he avoided her, dismissed her) and he clearly hated her enough to continually confuse her. Shame her, publicly and privately. He was playing with her, because he knew what she thought about him.

He must know, elsewise why would he toy with her so? Why did he love to torture her like this? And now, when she finally had enough, he couldn’t just let her go. He had to chase her, to make it worse. To punish her again.

“Oh, I don’t hate you.” Mr. Ren takes one long step toward her, crowding her.

Could it be,

Rey swallowed.

Was he going to?

She hoped, even as her feet backed her as far into the corner as they could go.

Were it not for the support of the walls, she was sure she would faint.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, he could take her right there. The jealous, hot tempered little girl in front of him, shaking in fear and backed into a corner, but eyes pleading something he knew she didn’t yet understand.

But he backs away instead.

It’s too soon. She’s too confused and, this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.

Kylo blinks away the urge to confess.

“Sorry, I’m frightening you.”

She breathes heavy panting breaths in reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You silly thing. I’m not engaged, Neena is like a cousin to me. It’s just gossip.”

She blinked, and felt her face heat from embarrassment.

“O-Oh.”

“And I don’t have Bespin pick you up, or take you to lunch with me, because I want to make you embarrassed, or.. Ashamed, or uncomfortable.”

Then, why?

“If anything, it’s the opposite.”

He held her gaze, and took her hand.

The opposite? She wondered, her mind overloaded with the possibilities, her own emotions running high. He could only mean one thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That doesn’t mean i’m not a fool, sometimes. Because you’re right, maybe I do hide behind a wall of dinner etiquette. But I think you do see past that, see me. And I’m grateful for that. Because I think I see the real you, too.”

Did she understand what he meant?

“I see.”

He was overjoyed.

“So, we’re…”

Yes, yes!

She was going to say it, so he wouldn’t have to. Any of the dozens of answers would suffice: perfect for one another, the only two people who can understand the other, destined to be together-

“Friends?”

Kylo’s world came crashing around him as the elevator reached the lobby.

Friends?

Kylo’s mind was darkened by a sudden storm, and the fang bearing voice in his head was riding in on the first cloud.

They could never be friends.

He smiled. “Of course.”

Friends.

God was punishing him after all.

Hm.

It was a setback, for sure. That just meant he would have to try harder.

The elevator doors opened to a small crowd of people waiting to ride it up. But Kylo gave a cold look to the group, closing the doors to ascend back to his office.

“I - I see.” Kylo watches Rey lean against the wall, reality setting in.

“I feel so ridiculous.” She’s holding her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry Mr. Ren.”

“Don’t be sorry. It was good that we had this talk. I’m glad we could get on the same page.” He lied.

“I feel awful I made you feel like I hated you. We got off to a rocky start, I know. And I can be a real ass. I let things frustrate me more than I ought to. But I value your hard work Rey, and I meant what I said.” He gave her the gentlest look he could muster despite the rage, passion, and steadfast determination he felt to make her his.

“Let’s not let this ruin our day. We’ll get lunch in a bit, nothing’s changed. Don’t worry.” He gave her a small smile as she peeked through her fingers.

“Alright. Thank you sir.”

But Kylo knew exactly what had to happen now.

It wasn’t often his department heads left town, but it dawned on him suddenly. Poe would need to be sent on a business trip. And soon.

“It’s nothing. And Why don’t you call me Kylo? We’re friends after all.” He tries not to grit his teeth so hard when forming the word.

“Oh, r-right. Thank you, Kylo.” She sniffed away her lingering tears.

The chuckling voice hiding in the shadows of his mind faded away, but its impish presence there or not, Kylo’s intentions were the least pure they’d ever been.