Rey was the one in charge of opening the bar that Friday. She had to pass through the kitchen which was a bit creepy when she had to go through it alone, but she steeled herself and made her way through to the main room.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she got through the kitchen. She didn't like it when she got scared for no reason, she didn't like it when she was scared period.
Rey shook her head and turned on the lights. She had to mop up and set the seats off of the tables. Basically she had to set up the whole bar by herself.
"Damn you Poe," she complained to herself.
Poe was the other bartender on duty that night. He was supposed to be opening the bar with her, but he called her earlier and told her that he'd be late. His dog, Beebee, had gotten sick and Poe had to take the poor thing to the vet.
Rey turned on the lights and got to work. She had no one to blame but herself for accepting the task for setting up the bar alone. But Beebee was the cutest little thing, so she couldn't say no.
When she was almost done, a knock sounded at the door.
Rey looked up and glanced out the window. She contained her scowl. It was one of the members of their Friday night regular band.
That band never came in at the same time. Usually it was the drummer, Phasma, who arrived first. But it was just Rey's luck that it had to be the bass player Ben.
Rey let him in, despite her personal dislike for the guy she let him in.
"Hey," he greeted as he passed her.
Rey didn't understand it. From what she saw, Ben was quite sociable with the other members of the staff at the bar. It was only Rey that he seemed to dislike and she didn't know why.
"Hey," she replied.
Ben looked around the room. Seeing nobody else in the room, his eyes narrowed.
"Am I the first one here?" he asked.
"Yes," Rey said, barely keeping herself from saying 'obviously'.
"Uh, right," Ben nodded.
They stood there in awkard silence. Rey looked at him in question.
"I guess I should set up now," Ben said, motioning to the area they usually played in.
"I think you should," she nodded.
"Right," he replied.
But he didn't move. Because of that, neither did Rey. He looked at her expectantly.
"So," he exhaled. "Do you need help?"
"I've got it, thanks," she said.
"Right."
When he still didn't move, Rey cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Was there something else?" she asked.
"Uh," he stammered. "No. No there isn't."
"Good."
She went off to do the rest of her work. For a moment he just stood there and stared at her. After a moment, he went and set up his instrument. It didn't take long. Setting up a bass and an amplifier was easy enough. He couldn't start tuning until Hux arrived anyway.
He sat there and stared at Rey.
Rey could feel his gaze and was uncomfortable. The guy hated her, why on earth would he keep watching her? Unless he thought that if he didn't watch her, she would do something awful to him.
She made sure to watch him from out of the corner or her eye. If he was planning something, she'd see it.
He stood from his seat and made his way to the bar where she was wiping down glasses. He slid into a bar stool and just sat there watching her.
"What is it?" she asked, trying to keep calm.
"I…" he trailed off.
"Yes?" she bit out.
"Can I…?" he said slowly.
"Oh just spit it out!" Rey exclaimed.
"Can-I-buy-you-a-drink?" he spat out.
"I have no idea why you keep watching me!" Rey said, clearly not hearing him. "You're nice to everyone else but me! I don't know why you treat me differently. Why are you so creepy? Why—wait, what did you ask?"
"I'm asking you if I could buy you a drink," he said, blushing and not looking directly at her. "I'm sorry if you think I'm creepy, I'll just go."
He stood up and turned to go back to his guitar. Rey stopped him with a raised hand.
"What did you say?" she clarified.
"You think I'm creepy, I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Not that," she shook her head. "That bit about you wanting to buy me a drink. Why?"
"Because you're beautiful," he shyly said. "And you're amazing. You're a competent bartender, you've got an awesome smile. I mean…"
Rey didn't think it was possible, but she could swear that he blushed more. She snorted. This was ridiculous.
"So you've been outright rude to me because?" she prompted.
"I'm not good with people," he admitted. "Hux and Phasma have known me for years."
"I see," she nodded. "So you're telling me that you're socially awkward and had no idea how to talk to me, so you were rude the whole time?"
"Pretty much," he shrugged. "I'm sorry."
"You wanna know how to talk to me?" she asked.
He nodded, causing her to smile.
"Just be yourself," she advised. "And try smiling more."
"Right," he nodded. Giving her a small smile. "So… can I buy you a drink?"
She giggled.
"Maybe next time," she said as she gave him a wink.
Ben smiled as Rey walked away to clean glasses. He knew that he should probably go and sit where the band should stay. But he stayed on the stool and watched her work. She gave him a look over her shoulder and shot him a smirk.
It was going to be good.
Oh and Ben plays bass rather than drums bc I think female drummers are awesome (hence Phasma) and that the stereotypical lead guitar is charismatic (so Hux).