"Good Evening." Came a voice from behind her. His Voice. She was startled and made a cough to cover it up, quickly wiping at the food on her mouth.
"Hello." She replied.
"Is this seat taken?" He asked. She shook her head. He folded his large frame onto the bar stool. Once settled he turned to her, " I wanted to say thank you for helping out Zori. I would have been there a few more hours if we didn't have you." He gave her a small smile. His eyes conveying the gratitude he felt. At least that's what she assumed, as his eyes never left hers.
She was a little confused. He was thanking her for doing her job?
"I -I was happy to help." She stuttered, losing focus as he moved closer.
"In my book, that means I owe you one." He smirked.
"No, that's okay. I was just doing my job." she replied. She couldn't help but wonder if he was flirting with her, and if he was she knew exactly how she wanted to be repaid. She could not help but fantasize about how, where, and when she would call in that I.O.U.
"Staying a full two hours after we have closed goes above and beyond "Just doing your job." He pointed out. He sounded determined to win this debate.
"I" She began but didn't have a comeback. His triumphant smile was dazzling. They were interrupted as a waiter came over to take Ben's order.
"What can I getcha?"
"Sprite and Tequila," Ben answered quickly barely taking his eyes off of her. The waiter turned to walk away. Only for Ben to add, "And an order of street tacos." as an afterthought.
"Chicken, Pork or Beef?" The waiter asked, annoyance beginning to show.
Ben looked over Rey's plate. "Pork." came his reply. With Ben's order finally taken and the waiter's job now complete the waiter walked away.
Now without the buffer there she started dipping her chips into her rice, bean and salsa mix. She waited, hoping that by him sitting down next to her meant that he wanted to share her company. His actions even got her hopes up that he would talk to her.
"Jyn and Cassian know how to dance." He commented. She breathed a sigh of relief as he broke the tension. Then turned and watched as her friends danced.
Cassian spun Jyn in her arms. They would turn away from one another only to return and spin or dip. Jyn chasing after Cassian. The claps and snaps from the band held Rey captive. Watching them look at one another, with all their love in their eyes, stole her breath. "Is that a Tango or -" She began.
"Paso Doble," They said together.
She turned to him to find him smiling."You know your dances." He stated, cocking his head and looking at her in interest.
She debated on whether she should correct him with her actual knowledge or leave it be. Or did he mean it to be a compliment? Undecided she smiled and turned back to watch Jyn and Cassian.
After a few more moments his food arrived, he dug in. She tore her eyes from the dancers to notice his table manners. The napkin on his knee, fork and knife placement, his elbows far from resting on the bar top. Even his drink was placed at the one o'clock position in front of him, a drink that went untouched.
What a strange concoction she thought before asking, "How is that?"
He looked up at her puzzled. It was kinda out of the blue. She indicated a hand towards his drink. As if he had forgotten he had ordered it he picked it up and drank the whole thing in two large gulps. "Is it not an odd combination?" she prompted.
"My favorite." He said in a way of answering. His tongue darted out to lick at the corner of his mouth and Rey's mind went blank. She was instantly aware of how close they were and the amount of heat coming off their bodies. If he noticed her fascination he didn't comment simply said, "A touch of sweetness." She blushed furiously and turned back to the dancers. He was gonna kill her. The appearance of his tongue sent her imagination running.
As the dancers finished the last few notes of the song everyone clapped and cheered. The band thanked the dancers and vice versa. "We will be taking a five-minute break." The singer announced as he exited the stage.
With no live music to dance to Jyn and Cassian began making their way around the room to say their goodbyes. The jukebox switched over to a popular hip-hop song, breaking the spell live music held.
When Jyn made it to Rey she hugged her. "Thank you for all that you do. You have made my department a brighter place." Rey blushed once more, she needed to lay off the drinking. It gave her away. Jyn's words touched her. It was so different for her, having managers saying thank you for her hard work. Her previous employers never showed gratitude, said thank you or good job.
"Thank you," she said sincerely, "It is a pleasure to work for you."
"How is the new apartment coming along?" Jyn inquired, she was engaging in polite small talk. Ben should take notes, Rey thought a smirk appearing on her face.
"It's coming along. I found a sturdy shelving unit so I can unpack a few of the book boxes," she said, informatively.
"That's great!" Jyn encouraged. "Moving, what fun!" She had been in Rey's shoes recently having moved with Cassian. As if the mere thought of him summoned him Cassian appeared at Jyn's elbow. "Moving is horrid." He added.
"Hello, Ben," Cassian said, giving the other man a sharp pat on the back. Ben, who had his last taco halfway to his mouth, looked disgruntled. Half the taco's inners had fallen back on to the plate. There was a slight pout to his lips now.
"Andor." He greeted, inclining his head. Using his fork to scoop his taco innards. "That was some dancing." He complimented.
Cassian looked taken aback. Jyn beamed turning. "Thanks, Solo. The lessons were a wedding gift from your mother." The fork, halfway to his mouth, paused for a brief moment. If Rey hadn't been paying attention she would have missed it.
"She had great ways of bringing people together." Came his soft reply. All through his tone implied that this was the last thing he wanted to talk about.
"Well," Rey began drawing attention back to herself before the happy couple caught on to Ben's change in tone. " He's right the two of you looked lovely."
"Thank you." Said Jyn.
"Perhaps you could join us for a lesson," Cassian suggested.
"Yes!" Exclaimed Jyn. " Next week we start learning the Tango."
I would love too," Rey started. "But I already know how to dance the tango." Seeing their falling faces she quickly explained. "The foster home that Finn and I grew up in, well let's just say we always wanted to escape from it. Our public rec center held all sorts of classes and one summer it was all dancing lessons. So we learned how to Waltz and Foxtrot and the Tango. It was a fun summer.''
She smiled as they smiled, they knew a bit of her past so there were no looks of pity. From them. Ben, however, snapped his eyes to hers as soon as she said foster home. She tensed under his gaze. It wasn't pitying in his eyes. It was something else. Understanding perhaps?
"Well, if you want to learn any other ballroom dances let us know. We'd love to introduce you to our instructor." Jyn's voice dropped conspiringly. "He's handsome."
Rey dropped her voice to match Jyn's even though both Cassian and Ben could still hear her. "I'm not interested." The couple laughed and Rey watched as Ben looked at his plate, a smirk on his lips.
While she appreciated their goodwill and concern, she wasn't looking for someone. "No peanut, It's because you have a huge crush on your boss's boss." Her ever-helpful inner voice said to her.
Jyn laughed while Cassian smiled. They bid their farewells. As they left, Rey began looking around, wondering if she should leave as well. She noticed there were only one or two people from the company left. She looked for Finn, Poe, and Rose on the dance floor, not finding them she grumbled to herself. "Could have said goodbye."
The band had reappeared and were doing small warm-ups for their next set.
"Rey," came Ben's voice, breaking into her thoughts. She turned to him eyebrow raised in question. It didn't escape her attention earlier when he had used Cassian's last name.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Would you like to Dance?"
***** Jyn and Cassian's dance inspired by this scene in the Mask of Zorro: watch?v=6ihqI2RVZzo