'So how did your date go?' Rey asked the next morning.
'Good,' Rose said with a gentle smile.
'Hux cut open his thumb and there was blood everywhere…'
'And that's your definition of a good date?' Rey asked incredulously.
Rose laughed.
'Okay, that part wasn't so good, but the next part was…' she trailed off and let out a dreamy sigh.
'We fed each other pizza in front of a roaring fire and he read all of my favourite sonnets.'
Rey smiled at her.
'You really like this guy, don't you?'
'Yeah,' Rose said with a blush.
'Maybe he might even be the one?' Rey asked excitedly.
Rose opened her mouth to respond just as Finn came flying through the doors and nearly fell into them. He was panting and sweating.
'Finn! What's wrong?' Rey asked.
'Have you, have you seen this?' Finn pointed to the newspaper in his hand.
'No we haven't,' Rey told him.
'The article is out,' Finn said.
'Oh good!' Rose exclaimed snatching the paper from his hand. 'Is it good?' She started searching through the paper for a mention of the store.
'Rose wait! Just listen to me for a moment first,' Finn pleaded.
But it was too late.
Rose frowned as her eyes settled upon a picture of herself and Armitage holding hands.
'What's this?' she said before her eyes settled on the headline:
Fraternising with the enemy?
Rose Tico, small beautique bookshop owner has been seen out and about with one of London's most eligible bachelors, Armitage Hux.
Apparently unconcerned with the threat the First Editions empire poses to her livelihood, Rose Tico has been enjoying a series of dates with the son of the the world's third richest man.
Our own writer Beaumont Kin was the first to confirm that the two were a couple having spotted the two of the canoodling at Rebels Retreat earlier this week...
Rose stopped reading and dropped the newspaper.
'I tried to tell you' Finn said softly.
'What's going on?' Rey asked.
Finn picked up the paper and passed it to her. Rey read it quickly.
'Oh my God,' she said.
Rose sat down in the store's armchair.
She had been dating Armitage Hux. The son of the owner of First Editions. The CEO of the company. Her sworn enemy. The man who was going to put her out of business. Had he been laughing at her this whole time? Was this a game to him? Why was he doing this? How could anyone be so cruel?
Her eyes filled with tears and she started to shake. Rey and Finn came towards her.
'What can we do?' Rey asked.
'Can you, can you two run the store today? I think I need to go home.'
'Of course,' Finn said squeezing her hand.
Rose smiled and stood up slowly. She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
She took one last look at Rey and Finn's worried faces.
'I'm fine. Honestly. I just need a little bit of time to digest all this.'
She left the store and headed up to her flat, she waited until she was safely inside before she let the tears fall down her cheeks.