AN: Ahhh! Another update! I have to get this story out of may head before it is too late!

Champagne

The ear splitting ring of her phone woke her the next morning. Her makeup was crusted under her eyes and her hair was matted to her cheek from the drool that pooled on the couch cushion.

Rey slammed her hand on the coffee table looking to silence her phone but answered it when she saw it was Rose calling.

"Ello," her voice was rough.

"Rey, are you okay? I've been texting since nine."

Rey looked at the time on her phone. It was just past eleven. She hadn't slept in this late since the last time she was ill. When she didn't answer the voice on the other end became more frantic.

"Rey! Answer me. What happened last night? Did he propose?"

She stifled a cry, "We broke up," was all she could muster.

"I'll be right over," and Rose hung up.

Rey took this time to drag herself to the shower. She gave new meaning to raccoon eyes as her mascara was smeared around her eyes. The warm shower felt amazing and released some of the tension that she has felt from the night before.

She donned a new pair of sweats and a few minutes later there was a knock on her door. Rose and Finn stood in her hall with coffee and a bag of bagels in hand.

"Oh, honey," Finn said sympathetically as he saw her red and puffy eyes and wrapped Rey in a hug that she gladly reciprocated. He held her tighter as she started to sob into his shoulder.

Finn gave a worried look towards Rose as she popped a bagel into the toaster.

Finally with coffee in hand and two bites of bread to soak up any remaining alcohol in her stomach, Rey was able to retell the horrible tale.

"With his assistant?" Rose asked with a confused expression on her face.

Rey just nodded.

"You mean that blond bimbo that we met out for drinks that one time?" Finn asked.

Rey just nodded again.

"What a bastard," Rose hissed.

"I should have seen it coming…" Rey started.

"No…no one expects to be cheated on. No one goes looking for this…" Finn rubbed her back in a comforting motion.

"He was working all those late nights. Not coming over when he said he would. He was preoccupied with his phone." Rey put her face in her hands, "I should have seen it," she muffled in her fingers.

Rose and Finn exchanged another look. "You should be happy," Rose tried. "He didn't like the same music or movies as you. He never understood your love of the gym. He never wanted to meet your parents…"

As Rose was listing all of their differences it was even more apparent what was lacking in their relationship. Any common ground at all.

"And he has a small dick," Finn cut in.

This finally made Rey laugh, "I should have never told you that…" and then she turned beet red, "I yelled that at him in the middle of Maz's last night."

Both of her friend's mouths fell open, "You did not," Finn asked in disbelief.

Rey just nodded which sent them into more fits of giggles. "Thank you guys, I really needed this."

"You know what else you need?" Finn asked.

"What?"

"A girls day and then a night out."

"Yeah!" Rose agreed. "We can go get massages and facials down at the Plaza and then go out tonight and celebrate your liberation."

Rey thought about this for a moment. She could either decline and mope around her apartment in her PJs all day or she could go out with her friends, get some much needed pampering and then actually try to have some fun later. "Yes," she said quietly.

"Yes?" Rose tried to confirm.

"Yes," Rey said with some more conviction.

Finn pulled out his phone, "I'll call Klaus at the Plaza and set an appointment. You," he pointed to Rey, "go put on something presentable."

Rey hopped up and went into her room, Rose followed. "Are you okay? Really?"

Thinking for a moment, Rey was heart broken, but not because her loss of Brent, but the loss of time and energy that she put into their relationship. "I am, I just feel like a fool for not seeing it sooner." She pulled out a comfortable pair of yoga pants. "And you know my past…it's just difficult to be cast aside…made to feel unworthy…."

Rose came up and hugged her friend, "You are not unworthy…if anything he was unworthy of you. You deserve so much more than a boy like him could ever give you."

Rey just nodded her head, trying not to cry again. Now it wasn't out of sadness but at the kind words of her friend. Her mother had always told her to never let a man define her and find someone who makes you happy but frustrated, passionate but steadfast, and above all gives you a love that hurts when you are apart.

She had felt none of these with Brent…well except frustration perhaps.

Within thirty minutes they were filing out of her building and into a cab headed for the Upper East Side. Klaus didn't disappoint and got them in for wraps and massages. The tranquil surroundings were just want Rey needed and she felt not only the stress of her breakup but also of her job and life in general fall away.

When they left she was waxed, scrubbed, and polished within an inch of her life. They grabbed a late lunch at a cafe and planned for the rest of the night.

"So where do you want to go tonight?" Rose asked taking a fork full of her salad.

"I don't really want to dress up again," Rey relayed, picking at her sandwich.

"There is this place that I have heard about, it's low key and relaxed, but still has the right kind of clientele, if you know what I mean." Finn winked.

"It's not a gay bar is it?" Rose asked, "Cause Rey may need to find someone to take her frustrations out on."

Rey scoffed, "I have no idea what you are talking about…"

Rose smiled, "When was the last time you let someone ruffle your feathers?"

"Brent and I…" Rey looked down at her plate.

"That man couldn't even ruffle a paper bag," Finn pointed his fork at Rey.

Rey blushed. It was somewhat true. Their sex life was often bland and never spontaneous. Thinking back over the years it had been since Law School when she had felt any sort of passion with the opposite sex. "It's been a while…" she finally conceded.

"See," Finn said as if to prove his point.

Rey looked at their check and pulled a hundred dollar bill from her wallet, "I'm not going out tonight looking to fall back in to something, but I will promise to have fun."

"That is all we ask," Rose said.

They parted ways and planned to meet up at the bar that was within walking distance from her building. That was the one good thing about living in the West Village, was that there was no shortage of entrainment.

Since the club was more laid back, Rey opted for a pair of skinny jeans, an old band tee, and her Converse shoes. After spending her work life in dresses, pencil skirts, silk, and pumps, she never missed an opportunity to dress down.

It was close to nine-thirty when they all arrived and were ushered into the bar. Rey looked up at the old wooden sign above the door, Den of Ren. It was dark inside the bar, the low lighting was accented by red spot lights that truly made it feel like a den of sin.

There were a few tables and of course seating at the bar, but mostly people were dancing to a eclectic assortment of music. They stole a booth as soon as the other party vacated and a woman with dark hair wearing a tailored wool jumper came to take their order.

Rey started out light, getting some wine and sipping it while talking over the music to her friends. The club seemed popular, a lot of people her own age were crowding the bar, young professionals that wanted to cut loose on the weekend but couldn't stand the thumping bass of the dance clubs.

After they had finished the bottle of wine they went out on to the dance floor. The DJ had called over the system that the next hour would be songs from the 1980s. Even though Rey was born in 1991, her mother never missed an opportunity to play some Cindi Lauper or Depeche Mode.

There was a group of men out on the dance floor that kept eyeing Rey and Rose, clearly being able to see by his moves that Finn was not with either of them. Rey knew they were military even though they were in civilian clothing. No man picked a high and tight if he didn't have to and she had spent most of her adolescence around these types.

The hour set of 80s music was amazing and she had a thin layer of sweat covering her brow. She moved to the bar to get a water to help cool down. One of the men from the dance floor followed her over.

There were two bartenders behind the bar. Both had dark hair, one long and one cut short. One was impossibly tall and the other average height. They both appeared to not often miss a day in the gym as their black shirts clung around their biceps. Rey leaned over the bar to get one of their attentions, but couldn't help but stare at the thin strip of creamy skin that showed as the bartender with long hair reached up to get a bottle and his shirt rode up just a bit.

The bartender with short hair saw her and walked over, "What can I get you?"

"A water please," Rey yelled over the new set of music, 90s songs if she was correct.

The man from the dance floor with olive skin and dark hair slid up next to her, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Rey eyed him. He had a cocky smirk on his face like it was a done deal. A pilot she mused, but he was attractive and it has been a while since a guy looked at her like that. "Sure," she answered with a closed lip smile.

The bartender placed a bottle of water in front of Rey and the man held up his finger, "A Rebel for me and a Finalizer for the lady."

Short haired bartended, who's embroidered shirt read Mitaka called out over his shoulder, "One Finalizer coming up."

The drink was often used by men who needed their date to be just tipsy enough to seal the deal, hence the name. While the concoction of six different liquors was used for not so savory reasons, it was popular and so it stayed on the menu. The only unwritten stipulation of ordering the drink was that the bartenders looked out for who ever would be consuming it.

When Mitaka called out the drink order, the man with longer dark hair looked up to see who it was being served to so that he could also keep an eye on her.

The girl with the tumbler filled with the pink drink held his gaze for just a moment longer as he popped the tops of two beers before setting them on the bar top. She wore her hair half up and half down, small pieces had come loose and framed her face. She was in a old Pink Floyd t-shirt and when she smiled at the man who bought the drink it was all teeth and gums but in a girlish appealing way.

She was smart and took alternating drinks of the Finalizer and her bottled water. Rey could smell the amount of alcohol in the drink and even thought it had been years since she was on a date, she wasn't dense.

"I'm Captain Poe Dameron," the man introduced himself with full rank and Rey resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

The tall bartender who had the name Ren embroidered on his shirt moved towards them and started to mix a drink.

Ren was really just trying to assess how intoxicated the woman already was. He watched them out of the corner of his eye as he filled orders from that side of the bar. She looked to be steady on her feet and her eyes were not glazed over so perhaps there was hope for this one.

"Rey," she answered back shaking his hand and avoiding giving her last name.

Poe took her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "Just Rey?"

"Just Rey," she answered almost sternly but he didn't notice.

"So I'm a pilot with the 6th, Combat Aviation Brigade out of Fort Drum…"

"Of course you are," Rey mumbled into her glass and this time she did roll her eyes because she didn't remember asking.

Ren heard the man drop rank and narrowed his eyes. He got a lot of military guys in his bar due to the many active bases in the area but none of them knew that he could have them demoted with one phone call…not that he would want to have any unavoidable contact with her…but he could…

"So what do you fly?" Rey asked.

"CH-47D," Poe said standing up straighter. Usually that gained him a confused look and he got to go into a long winded explanation of how important it was the fly the cargo helicopter.

"Oh, you couldn't pass for jets?" Rey said with as much innocence as she could muster, taking a sip from her tiny straw.

The tall bartender coughed behind the bar and Rey could have sworn that she saw him smile behind his hand.

Many times during her teen years when she had worked as a cashier at the BX she would hear pilots complain about not getting a high enough score to fly jets so they would be stuck with helicopters.

Poe looked slightly insulted before he plastered his face with a forced smile, "Here's to having a bird in the sky." He held up his drink, thinking that if he couldn't impress her with his occupation then at least the infamous Finalizer would take hold soon.

Throwing caution out, Rey threw back her drink and downed it in a few deep gulps. She would be at the bar for another few hours and had no intent in going home with Captain Poe. "I think I'm going to go dance with my friends," she called over the music. "Thanks for the drink Captain."

Ren called out, "Miss," and when she turned back towards the bar he pushed her bottle of water towards her and winked.

His eyes were dark and a constellation of freckles dotted his face. His features were sharp and his skin wrinkled as he smirked at her. Rey gave him a toothy smile and mouthed Thank you before going back out on to the dance floor with her friends.

About ten minutes later the drink that she had chugged hit her and her legs and arms felt lighter, she closed her eyes to keep the spinning at bay and she swayed to the music. She danced close to Rose and Finn but their group had also melded with the group of Army Officers out for a bachelor party.

Finn was taking full advantage of Don't Ask/Don't Tell as he rubbed up against a shorter solider of Asian decent.

Poe nodded his head to one of his buddies as he started to dance closer to Rey. The friend left the group and walked to the bar.

Ren had been watching the group on the dance floor and started to see flushed cheeks of the girl as the alcohol content of the Finalizer finally hit her. A man from the battalion came up, "Two sex on the beaches and two beers," he called over the music.

Preparing the drinks he had a suspicion that one was for the petite brunette, but his job was to make drinks, not pass judgment.

The soldier paid for the drinks and with large hands carried all four out on to the dance floor. As he thought, the pilot handed a drink to the brunette and the other was passed to her friend. Ren was now on alert for this girl.

Rey took the drink and sipped it down, feeling thirty after all of the dancing. She felt her self dancing closer to the pilot, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and he helped her hips move to the beat of the music.

There was another full hour of 80s music playing and Rey looked around her. Finn was no where to be found and Rose was lip locked with a beefy dark skinned soldier. She had finished her drink and was feeling very tipsy but had to admit that Captain Poe was a good dancer and charming once she could get past his cheesy pick up lines.

"I'm going to go grab another water," she called in his ear.

Poe nodded and followed her to the bar. Rey lost her footing and just caught herself on the edge of the bar before she completely went down.

"You okay?" Mitaka asked as he set out a napkin on the bar top.

"Yeah," Rey said as her cheeks flamed even more red. "Can I get a water?"

Mitaka nodded and pulled out another bottle of water as Rey slid a five across the bar. Her eyes were starting to droop and the room was spinning again now that she wasn't moving with it. "I think I'm going to go home."

"You want me to take you?" Poe asked wrapping his arm around her waist.

"No I think I can get a cab."

"I insist," Poe started to pull her away from the bar.

"Ren!" Mitaka called out to his partner and pointed to the pilot pulling the girl towards the exit.

Ren nodded and jumped over the other end of the bar with ease and headed the couple off at the door, "Hey soldier boy, I just need to ask the lady a question."

Rey looked up at the dark haired bartender. She reached out and poked his shirt where his name was printed, surprised to feel the firmness underneath, "Ask away, Ren." She had squinted her eyes to be able to read the three simple letters.

He took a moment for her to focus back on him, "Do you want to go home," his eyes flicked to her companion, "or do you want to go home with him?"

Rey's eyes moved from the bartended to the pilot before a very dissatisfied expression came across her face, "I want to just go home. He's an Army helicopter pilot. My father would never approve." She patted Poe on the chest as she started to stagger out of the bar.

"Bro!" Poe said in outrage at being cock-blocked.

"Sorry bro," Ren shot back. "You heard the lady. I suggest you go back to your unit."

Once Poe reentered the crowd of bodies Ren turned and walked out on to the street where he saw the girl trying to wave down a cab. "Hey Miss, I'll get you a taxi." He used his height to wave his hand around at the oncoming traffic.

"Thanks for the save back there, but I can take care of myself," Rey said, the night air helping to sober her up along with the bottle of water that she had just chugged.

"I'm sure you can," Ren said as he smirked down at her. Another cab passed them by and he mumbled, assholes, under his breath.

"It's fine…about the cab. I don't live far from here. I can walk." She turned and started to walk west. She didn't hear the footfalls until he slowed his jog to be in stride with her.

"I'll walk with you." When she gave him a discredited look he threw up his hands, "My mother would be very upset with me for not making sure a lady got home safe."

Rey narrowed her eyes again at him, "Okay, Ren. If you are going to playing my Prince Charming for the night the least you can do is offer some polite conversation."

Ren laughed, dipping his head causing his hair to fall into his eyes. He pushed it back with his right hand and was all too eager to oblige as she linked her arm with his.

AN: Thank you to my amazing readers! You all are truly what inspire me...well you and some pretty awesome music.

I always love your comments/reviews/feedback...they make me write faster. :)

Chapter Title Song: Niykee Heaton - Champagne