Old books remind her of the orphanage she grew up in. There was a small collection of books there, mostly ones that were donated. Some of them had pages missing or smeared with peanut butter. When she wasn't busy fighting off other kids who liked to steal what little things she had, Rey would read. When she finished all the books at the orphanage, she moved on to the local library. She's twenty-two now, but the smell of old books still brings her back to her childhood.
The used bookstore, Second Story Books, also happened to be where her best friend Finn worked.
"You know, you spend so much time here I should just get Poe to hire you." Finn suggested.
"You know I already have a job, right?" Rey stopped alphabetically organizing the books in the kids section.
"Yeah, but working here is much more fun than working in retail." He leaned across the counter.
"I know. But if I worked here, I'd have to drive an extra ten minutes." She shrugged. "Besides, I just like hanging out here."
"You're impossible." He huffed. Rey just grinned at him.
"I'm going to go look for a book."
"Good luck. I don't think there are any in here." She simply flipped him the bird as she walked deep into the store.
Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier. It had to be here somewhere. Rey knew that she saw it in the non-fiction section last week. Ah, there it was! On one of the shelves that were just out of her reach.
"Fuck." She cursed when she noticed how high up the book was. It's not like she was short. She was 5'7"! The shelves in the store were just impossibly tall. There was no one in the aisle to help her, and Finn was the same height as her. The step-ladder was nowhere in sight.
Rey reached up, practically flattening herself against the bookshelf. Her fingertips only skimmed the spine of the book. She tried jumping, but it was wedged too tightly in between the other books. Too preoccupied with getting the book, she failed to notice the man behind her. He leaned over and pulled it out of the shelf.
She turned around in surprise. Wow, he was attractive. With dark messy hair in messy waves around his face and dark brown eyes, he was definitely her type. His impressive height also factored into her attraction for him.
"Thank you." She smiled up at him.
"No problem, it's an interesting read." Attractive, and he liked the book she liked? Rey was starting to like him more and more.
"I'm Rey."
"Ben." His voice was deep, causing Rey's heart to beat just a little faster.
The clock in the shop chimed, signalling another hour in the day passed. Crap. She had to be at work in fifteen minutes. There was no time to flirt.
"Uh, can you just hold on for a minute?" She rushed to the front, ignoring Finn's questions while hastily scribbling down her phone number. Hurrying back to Ben, she handed the piece of paper to him, and took her book back.
"Here's my number. We should get coffee sometime because I think you're hot, but I have to get to work now. Sorry!" Rey wasn't even sure he understood her at the rate she was speaking at, but she really didn't want to be late.
She went back to Finn, tossing him the book. "I'll come back for it later. I have work, bye!"
After two hours, Rey finally went on her break.
Ben: So does that coffee offer still stand?