The Tattoo
Word prompt: "The center of this man's attention was a dangerous place to be."
Ben Solo, was a force of nature, with his inspiring presence and cut to the chase tone. He commanded the office as one would a battleship. He inspired those around him to be the best they could be. When he didn't inspire you to rise and meet his standards, He intimated those who fell behind.
It wasn't that she was intimidated by him, quite the opposite. The fact was if she tried to explain it would sound totally perverse and downright wrong. If she had to guess it would begin with his eyes and how he always held her gaze when speaking. There was an intensity there that pinned her to her spot, keeping her from fleeing. He never raised his voice with her as he did to others. At random moments during the day, she could feel his gaze on her and it never failed to send chills across her body.
At first, she thought it was the position of power he held. She soon discovered that wasn't the case as no other man had that effect on her. Whether they were in a position of power or otherwise. It was an attraction plain and simple.
He was shit at small talk. For a man who had to talk with hundreds of people, he did a piss poor job at the small talk. And yet, he silences a room with a look. It was the look a commander gave his army. She would bet real money that his look could strip many a woman's clothes off. Or, perhaps he could strip a person of all their masks. Seeing into their very being. She shuddered at the thought of him stripping off her mask. The thought of being bare to him was overwhelming. He had the bad habit of making her feel completely naked even if they were in a crowd and she was fully clothed.
She was watching him now, they all were. It was their weekly meeting and he was going over sales projections for the upcoming months. It was about to be their busy season. His focus was on getting his teams to try new approaches with their clients. He changed his stance, moving onto a new slide. She gulped, he was a vision, tall with dark hair. He had his shoulders back. Wearing a crisp white shirt that was rolled up to his forearms.
From her position in the room, front and center, she could just make out the lines at the bottom of his tattoo. As she often did she wondered what it was. And as always her fingers itched to touch it. She wondered if he would let her trace it one day. As if he could read her thoughts his eyes found hers and his top lip twitched, a tick she learned meant he was attempting a smile.
Eyes never leaving hers he said, "That's it for today, everyone, Miss Rey would you be so kind and stay to review the numbers for me?" she could only nod. The center of this man's attention was a very dangerous place to be. As the others filed out of the room, Ben's eyebrow lifted. "Did I spill something?" his deep voice asked. A blush had crept across her face at the thought of being caught staring.
"What?' she stammered.
"Did I spill something?" He asked again slowly. He began to look himself over. Her blush deepened. At least he wasn't acting rude about it.
"Always speak the truth." Her guardian's voice reminded her mentally.
"No sir, I was trying to decipher what your tattoo is," she said. Rushing her words and looking anywhere in the room but at him. Thank god they were alone.
"Oh." He said looking down at his arm as if just realizing the tattoo was there.
"I'm sorry sir," She began apologizing while gathering her things, "I shouldn't have been staring." She stood to leave. She could review the numbers from her office, far away from him. Her office where there was a fan that could help cool her down.
"Rey." He called. As always her heart fluttered as he said her name. She liked how he said it. She turned toward him.
"Yes sir?" she asked.
"I'll show you a picture sometime." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "All though I think seeing it in person would be better." He chuckled. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"A picture would be just fine.", she all but squawked at him. He continued to smile as if he knew she was about to crack.
"Alright, a picture it is." He says and turns to gather his things with the slightest smirk on his face.
She makes a break for it. When he turns back around there is no sign she was even there.
"Huh," He said out loud. He had missed an opportunity to ask if she wanted it emailed or texted.
*8*8*8*
Later when she has returned to her office, and after she had booked his numbers, she checks her email.
New message
The sender is Ben.
She doesn't freak out, this is normal. He is probably thanking her for the work she did. He has done that every time she has helped him. She clicks on it. Sure enough, he said thank you, but there was also an attachment. After clicking on it she freaks out. It was a picture of his tattoo. It looks to have been taken shortly after he had it done. The tattoo itself was odd. It looked like a combination of two symbols. It was cool, even if she didn't understand the personal reasons he had it. That wasn't what made her freak out.
He was shirtless.
She dies, red-faced, in her chair.