"Rey, this a great opportunity!" Finn gushed as Rey stuffed some fries into her mouths.
"I zhou zite?" Rey replied.
"Please don't speak with your mouth full."
Swallowing down the fries, Rey mumbled a sorry at Finn.
"I'm glad your boss made you stop about this Jedi thing." Finn says, taking a bite of his sandwich. Rey pouts at her friend. "What? Don't look at me like that. Rey, do you know how dangerous it was for you to go snooping around the lower districts? It isn't safe down there."
"I can handle it. I mean, I survived Jakku, didn't I?"
"That's the thing Rey. This isn't Jakku. Yeah Jakku was a hell hole, but it was a small town where the people were just plain shitty. Here, in Alderaan there are men who wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes."
Rey looks at the concern written all over Finn's face and feels a bit ashamed that she made her friend worry like this. "I'm sorry that I made you worry. But there is a story here Finn. I don't know why Luke won't let me pursue this." She stuffs more fries into her mouth, thinking about how no one is supporting her in this.
"Maybe because this is a story that is likely to get you killed? Specially if it sounds this absurd. What even is a Jedi?" Finn asks.
Rey stares at Finn with her mouth wide, fries still in her mouth as if Finn just told her he was sacrificing virgins to the devil. Taking a sip from her mojito, she swallows her fries. "What do you mean, what is a Jedi!? How can you not know what a Jedi is?"
With one eyebrow raised he replies, "Am I supposed to?"
Rey gasps. "How could you not? Finn, the story of the Jedis is a really popular tale." Gleaming with excitement in her eyes, Rey starts to tell the story to Finn. "In ancient times, there were people who had the ability to use these powers called "The Force". The force is pretty much like telekinesis and telepathy actually."
"So what? They could read people's minds?"
"Pretty much! And the people who used these powers for the good were called The Jedis. The ones who used it to do bad deeds were called The Siths, Jedis enemies." Animatedly Rey tells Finn all about the battles that were fought between The Jedis and The Siths and about how archeologists found many scriptures evidencing such battles from ancient tombs.
"They were heroes, Finn! Heroes!" Rey tells Finn.
"Wow, you nerd. I have never seen you so excited about a topic like this."
She sticks out her tongue at Finn. "It's just happens to my favorite story of all time."
"Exactly. A story. So you need drop this Rey." He tells her with a serious tone. "Anyways, enough of this. Let's talk about the gala. We need to find something for you to wear tonight. Isn't that why you called me?"
Rey drops her forehead to the table and groans. "Can't I just wear that dress you bought me last year for my birthday? You know how much I don't like shopping."
Her best friend grimaces. "Rey, as much as you would rock that dress, you are going to a really big event. Not a damn club and as your best friend, I cannot let you commit such a faux pas."
Rey groans again but then looks at her friend. "Will you be there tonight too, Finn?" Finn was an assistant lawyer at Ren Enterprises' Headquarter.
"Of course not. I haven't climbed the social ladder that much yet that they would invite me to one of the biggest event of the year." Finn tugs on his suits shirts collar. "But they will eventually." Finn grins at Rey smugly.
Rey giggles at that. "I bet they will." Finn was one of the most honest and hardest working person she knew. One day, she knows that Kylo Ren himself will recognize what an asset Finn is to his company. "So? What is Kylo Ren like?" Rey asks sipping on her drink. She knows Kylo Ren as the city knows him but she wants to know if his employees have the same perception.
"Scary." Finn replies with a bit of fear in his voice which causes Rey to frown.
"What do you mean? Everyone in the city loves him though."
"You haven't seen him when he is in his work mode Rey, versus when he is in his public appearance mode." Rey opens her mouth again but Finn cuts her off. "I mean, I have only seen him handful of times myself Rey, but when he comes inside the building there is this aura around him. An aura that is intimidating and powerful, people literally just part ways and try to avoid him when he enters the building."
"Is he mean to his employees?" Rey asks again with curiosity laced in her voice.
"Well he has quite the temper from what I have heard but no. People equally fear and respect him."
"They respect him out of fear then?"
"Not exactly." Finn tries to explain. "He is a great boss actually. We have good pay and great bonuses. He even sends out messages to employees on their birthdays and such. It's just people are wary of him. He is a powerful person and ruthless when it comes to business. The last thing you want to do is be on his bad side, if you know what I mean."
Finn then starts to talk about places where they can go shopping for a gown but Rey is half listening as she sips her drink, Finn's explanation about Kylo Ren on her mind.
Sitting cross legged and shirtless, Kylo Ren is meditating in his gym. He feels The Force flowing from inside him and around him. Initially, his powers had been a pain because it fluctuated with his emotions. He also heard voices inside his head, thoughts of the people around him which had almost drove him nuts. Eventually, he had learned to block his minds from the straying thoughts of others.
When he got angry, his powers went out of control. It wasn't easy but he had managed to keep his power in check when in anger. Then he had went about learning everything he could about his powers, went through every stories about The Force he could find and tried to learn what his powers could do.
His powers could do a lot. His personal favorite was the Jedi Mind Trick which could make anyone do anything with just the right suggestive tone. It helped him when his board of directors were breathing down his neck. Bunch of pricks. But he had also realized that it didn't work for everyone, only those with weak minds. That time when he had tried using it on his assistant Phasma was a very humiliating day for him.
He wasn't fond of all of his abilities though. It was convenient to move objects with his minds but he loathed entering minds. He never did unless it was absolutely necessary.
Opening his eyes, Kylo stood up and took a stance with his right hand in front and his palm tightly open. He started doing few taichi exercises as he tried to inhale and exhale with his motions while he thought about the first time he tried to enter someone's mind. Threepio had volunteered to help him and so Kylo had tried to reach into his mind with his powers. Even until this day, Kylo wishes he never had done that.
Reaching inside someone's mind was a painful process for both parties. He remembers how both Threepio and him had collapsed on their knees, panting with tears out their eyes. A few minutes later, he had hugged Threepio so hard as he cried on his shoulders and kept repeatedly apologizing to him. Kylo never knew how much hurt Threepio had hidden inside that always cheerful nature. All those emotions he felt going inside him during the process were Threepio's. He clung to Threepio for three hours that day feeling so guilty about invading his mind.
Getting inside people's head wasn't only exhausting because he could feel all their emotions but it also left him feeling disgusted with himself. It didn't sit well with them. Reaching inside the minds of criminals made him want to wretch every time. It always left a bad taste.
Using too much of his powers also left him feeling as if he just had a wild night with too many tequilas.
A soft knock made Kylo snap out from his thoughts.
"Master Kylo, its time you started getting ready or else you shall be late."
"Yeah sorry Threepio, lost track of time." Kylo picks up his discarded sweatshirt from the floor and exits the gym. Once he reaches his room, he throws the sweatshirt into the laundry basket and heads inside his bathroom.
Stripping off his clothes, he enters into the shower enclosure and turns the shower knob to the right temperature. Kylo feels the hot water ease his muscles. As the hot water pours on him, he stares at his hands. He was the master. He is the one in control. He will not let it control him.
Rey looked at the large building looming in front of her as she stared at all the lights in awe. The entrance of the city hall probably illuminated the whole city tonight. She looked at the people around her entering the hall, wearing the most glamorous gowns she had ever seen. Rey felt a bit self conscious when she looked at her own dress. Finn had picked out a black sleeveless gown for her which was simple in design. It had a circular neckline and the top part hugged her perfectly while the lower part flared like a skirt, reaching till her ankles. She had put on a pair of black pumps to complete her get up. She wasn't fond of heels but Finn had insisted that she had to wear one so she had chosen one with medium length heels. Finn had also braided her long hair and pinned it into a bun.
Taking a deep breath, she enters the building and shows her invitation card as well as her work ID card. The security guy checks his computer for a few seconds before nodding back to Rey. Entering inside, Rey cannot stop gawking. The whole hall was decorated in various colors of pink. It was so pretty.
Rey looked at the people around her. She saw important ministers to celebrities and super model. She even saw Ewan McGregor! He was a theater actor and was in the Star Wars theater plays, plays about The Jedis. Rumors were that they were making a film series too and Rey was so excited about it.
'Would be weird if I asked for an autograph from him?' Rey thought just as Rey's eyes caught on to something in the middle of the huge room. 'Oh my god, is that a chocolate fountain?' Coming closer, she saw that it was indeed a chocolate fountain. Eyes wide with her hands against her mouth, Rey was beyond amazed.
She saw that there were biscuits and wafers surrounding the fountains, and saw a guy beside her grab onto a wafer and dip it into the fountain before taking it into his mouth. She looked at the various assortments of biscuits before choosing one herself and dipping into the chocolate fountain. As soon as the morsel touched her mouth, Rey knew she had gone to heaven. She had never tasted chocolate this good! She took another biscuit, a different one this time and dipped it into the chocolate. She thinks she moaned this time as she chewed into the tiny piece of heaven inside her mouth.
"Do you always get this excited over chocolate?"
Rey jumped as she came back to the world of living. She turned around to tell the person that it was none of his business when she saw who had addressed her.
Kylo Ren was looking at her with a smirk. Rey stood there mouth gaping until a few seconds later she closed it. Right before her was Kylo Ren looking at her with an amused expression while Rey looked at her chocolate covered fingers, her face heating up. She looked at the man in front of her and said sheepishly, "Well its really good chocolate."
Kylo laughed lightly and replied, "Well I'm glad you are enjoying it then." That laugh and his voice did something to Rey, she could feel a warmth forming in her belly as she took in the tuxedo clad millionaire. Even with heels on, her head barely reached his chin. Suddenly Kylo Ren's eyes narrowed and she saw something in them that she couldn't point out. He reached his hand toward her face and slowly rubbed her lower lip with his thumb. Rey's breath hitched in her throat.
"You had a bit of chocolate there." Kylo says as his gaze continues to be on her lips.
"Sir, it's time for your speech." Both Rey and Kylo broke their gazes from each other as they are interrupted by a female voice. Rey looks to her right to see a really tall and gorgeous blonde lady. She was wearing a scarlet red dress with a plunging neckline. Rey wondered if she was a super model.
Kylo Ren nodded towards the blonde lady before looking back at Rey again. After a few seconds, he stalked off leaving Rey with her heart pounding in her chest and her face burning.
"What the hell was that?" Rey muttered as she tried to calm her beating heart.
Kylo doesn't know why he did that but he was about to blow a fuse because as soon as he entered the building, he was accosted by Joseph Thomson, one of his company's stockholders. He kept talking on about his daughter to Kylo, trying to play match maker between Kylo and his daughter. Kylo was this close to force blasting him across the floor. All around him, he could feel the aura of greed and it disgusted him when he felt something else. An aura of almost childlike excitement. He felt that the aura was coming from the center of the room, near the chocolate fountain. Agitated with the man still talking about his daughter, Kylo had enough.
"You feel hungry so you will go eat dinner now."
Joseph Thomson's speech quickly came into a halt and repeated the words with a dazed expression. "I feel hungry so I will go eat dinner now." As Kylo watched the man leave, he went towards the source of the aura and he came upon a woman dressed in black, dipping biscuit into the fountain. Kylo saw her tongue dart out to capture the chocolate covered biscuit and heard her moan which stirred something primal in him.
She had her eyes closed when Kylo reached her and asked, "Do you always get this excited over chocolate?"
He had surprised her as she jumped and could feel the annoyance of her as she turned towards him likely to tell him off when that annoyance turned into shock. Kylo couldn't help but be amused as she stared at him with her mouth open. His eyes took in her face, she was pretty. The natural sort of pretty. She was wearing minimal make up compared to the rest of the women in this hall but he could tell even without make up, she would be turning heads.
He laughed at the reply she gave him as she radiated a sort of innocence he hadn't felt in a while. Then he felt something else, lust. His eyes narrowed and darkened. His gaze went from her hazel eyes to her lips. He doesn't know what prompted him to do what he did as his thumb brushed against her lower lip to remove the smudge of chocolate that was left behind.
The spell between them was broken when Phasma interrupted. With one quick look at the woman who had sparked something in him, he made his way toward the podium on the stage.
Taking his place behind the stadium, he called the attention of the crowd.
"First and foremost, I want to convey my gratitude to each one of you for contributing to a huge cause. The research would not have been possible without any of your help." Kylo couldn't help but use his powers to pin point the location of the woman in black and saw her watching him intensely, her back against a pillar. With a quick glance, his attention went back to the crowd. "The research is coming along greatly and the findings could really help save a lot of lives."
In between his speech, he couldn't help but to glance at her. Focusing his powers to only feel her, he felt a sudden spike in attraction which had almost made him falter in his speech, and what else was that he felt? It seemed like curiosity.
Rey looked at the tall figure on the stage. He addressed the crowd so naturally, his deep voice ringing throughout the hall. Kylo Ren was an enigma to Rey. Rey shivered as she recalled what transpired.
She couldn't help but stare at the man who just moments ago had made her heart want to leap out of her chest. The multi-millionaire was indeed pleasing to the eyes in real life, just as he looked in social medias and newspapers. Most of the female population were head over in heels for him and Rey couldn't deny that she also had a tiny crush on the man. His photo book was a secret guilty pleasure that she hid in her room's drawer.
Three years ago, Kylo Ren had published a photo book titled "KR" and all the profit from the photo book would go into his foundation "Homes for Street Children". Rey secretly had pre-ordered the book which had sold out in just a day and the publication house had to publish more because there was still demands for it. She had blushed as she had gone through the sixty page book filled with amazing shots of him. His eight packs were definitely drool worthy.
Her personal favorite one was though a close up shot of him as he stared into the camera. Rey could see it. The loneliness in his eyes. She knew of his history, his history of when he was a young boy named Ben Solo who had lost his family members one by one. That loneliness, she had felt it too when she was in Jakku. When she had no one and had to survive by herself.
Like her need to persevere, Kylo Ren also had risen from the ashes of Ben Solo but unlike her, there was still so much anguish in him.
She felt his eyes meet her's. She blushed as their gazes locked against each other. She didn't know why but she wanted to know more about the man who held such loneliness in his eyes.
*Few things about how the force works here.
*Also few restrictions on how the force works here because I don't want it to be convenient for the /
*Honestly, I don't have a formal plot line at all. I'm just writing as it comes to me. I hope this doesn't come biting back me in the butt later.