Rey took a shaky breath, she concentrated on staring at her hands throughout the carried back to her place with Ben sitting next to her.

She wasn't sure what to feel or think as his arm brushed against hers. She hadn't been in such a close proximity to him since she ran away from him at his wedding ten years prior.

Rey had wanted to forget about hi. It would have been easier for him if she never saw him again. Then she wouldn't have a constant reminder that he hadn't chosen her. That he had an opportunity to tell her that he reciprocated the feelings that she had for him. He hadn't even let her say it. He didn't even let her tell him that she loved him that night.

When she did get to tell him and he told her he loved her, it was too little too late. Rey wasn't even sure if he said it because he meant it or if he said it because he was trying to hold onto her. Hold onto what they had, without giving his whole self to her. Not being able to give himself to her. She didn't want a piece of him, a slice of his heart. She had wanted to have all of him.

It was his wedding day and Rey had known the best course of action was to walk away from him. Even if that decision would haunt her for eight years.

She didn't want a constant reminder of her long time crush not wanting her and telling her that he was marrying someone else. Someone who had worn her soul down by their constant bullying. For Rey, this had been a double betrayal.

After eight years that pain had slowly faded. Being with Finn helped to ease the crack in her heart. The crack that was starting to be repaired by knowing that someone loved her back, wanted to be with her and wanted to marry her.

Finn had stuck by her side for those eight years that she lived without Ben Solo in her life. She was going to marry Finn and move on with her life happily.

Then Ben had the audacity to barge back into her life just before her wedding. To be so close to her. To smile at her and use his charm to make her smile back.

To smell as good as he stroked her hand gently with his finger as they shared the cab back to her place.

He had the audacity to be as handsome as the day of his wedding.

She wished that he just left her alone. She had gotten over him after not having his presence in her life for so long. She had grieved his absence for several years. She had healed and forgotten how much his rejection had hurt.

Now he was forcing that grief upon her again.

A single teardrop ran down her right cheek. She didn't feel the tear as she had fallen asleep during the car ride.

Ben gently nudged her arm with his shoulder as the vehicle came to a stop in front of the brownstone apartment building. As he opened up the vehicle's door the glare of the sun blinded her temporarily.

"Hey sleepyhead, we are here", he stated.

Rey shook her head, trying to wake herself up. She shouldn't have had any wine during the lunch, she thought to herself.

She was glad that Gwen didn't expect her back in the office the rest of the day. She could work from home to make up the rest of the hours that she needed.
Ben got out of vehicle first and then extended his hand out to her.

She grabbed it and swung her legs out of the door and onto the pavement. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. She shook her head again, trying to clear the fog.

Ben pulled her close to his body and whispered in her ear, "Are you feeling ok Rey? Do you need me to escort you inside?".

Rey felt and heard his breath against her earlobe before he pulled away from her.

She shook her head. "No, I am fine. I can make it back up to my place on my own. Thank you for the offer though.", she answered.

Rey caught Ben's expression for a moment, she couldn't quite read it. He looked maybe regretful or sad. However a few seconds later he grinned and leaned forward to give her an awkward, sideways hug.

Rey's senses were overwhelmed again and she once again felt dizzy.

The scent of his cologne was a combination of musk and sandalwood, inhaling it brought back a flood of memories. Memories of him hugging her as a teenager while they hung out in Kaydel's room or argued at Maz's Cantina, where he stepped so close to her she thought she would faint if he got any closer. Those memories came back all at once.

His wool suit was tickling her cheek as she leaned against his firm body. The pressure from his fingers pressed just below her ribs.

"I'll see you soon again Rey. I look forward to working with your company on our new project. It was a pleasure to have lunch with you. I'm glad it wasn't weird for you", he said.

The truth was, it was weird for her. He overwhelmed her senses and made her head spin just being within a close proximity.

Rey nervously nodded at him and watched as he walked away and got back into the cab.

She bit her lip and waved slightly as she turned around to run up the stirs to her and Finn's apartment.

Finn. She didn't know what to tell him about the events of the day. She wasn't sure if what had happened was really significant enough to warrant telling him. She didn't want to open up a can of worms.

They were happy, planning their wedding. She could tell Finn almost everything and felt completely comfortable sharing all of her trauma from her childhood. Finn always provided a sympathetic ear to Rey and a shoulder to cry on.

She met with her past high school crush, which was now a client and had lunch with him. They chatted and drank wine and then he accompanied her home in a cab and bid her farewell.

That was all that had happened and Rey didn't feel that she needed to burden Finn with the confusing feelings that she had as she sat at her desk, staring at a laptop screen in an empty apartment.

She decided that she would hold off on telling Finn about Ben.

Finn came home after 8 pm the night. He looked exhausted. His jacket was slung over his shoulders and he threw his messenger bag, went over to kiss Rey gently on top of her forehead as she sat at the kitchen table before collapsing on the couch.

Finn let out a sigh.

"Rough day?", she questioned. She walked over behind him and started to massage his shoulders. She typically did that when she knew that he had a long, exhaustive day at work.

He nodded. "Yeah, Poe and I had to stay late again at the office to finish up on the Keystone research project. The good news is that we are almost done the project and will just need to finish the write up for the findings to be published.".

Rey sighed. She didn't like that Finn was always working late. The Keystone project had dragged on for months and he had initially told her it was a 3 week project. When he came home he was too tired to discuss wedding plans. If Rey got a peck on the cheek in the bed before he rolled over and fell asleep, she counted herself lucky.

"Oh don't worry Peanut. I promise that the storm is about to clear and you'll have me all to yourself soon. Before you know it we will be sipping on expresso's in a quaint café in Paris after we get married".

He pulled her arm after she stopped kneading his shoulders and she went over to sit with him. She relaxed in his arms.

"How did your day go?", he asked.

Rey grinned. "Oh, you know, just the usual. Phasma had me take a new client out to lunch at some fancy restaurant downtown".

Finn noticed the small grin spread across her face. "Oh so she had you wine and dine him?", he questioned.

"How do you know it was a him and not a her?", Rey asked.

Finn's eyebrows raised. "Oh come on Peanut. That grin on your face wasn't for nothing. I guess I should get used to Gwen using you to wine and dine handsome, rich men. Its your job to woo them to doing business with your company after all.".

Rey smacked him with her open palm playfully. "That's not my only task. I have an important job. I do other things I'll have you know".

Finn kissed the top of her head and held her tight in his arms. "Oh I know that you do. I just had to put my jealousy aside awhile ago. Those hoity toity rich clients don't get to have you in their arms. I am the man you are going to marry soon anyways, not this rich, handsome man that you are grinning about". He said laughing.

Rey closed her eyes and snuggled into his arms. Finn was her reality that she accepted even if Ben still haunted her dreams.

Rey walked into her office on Wednesday morning and immediately stopped walking to her desk once she saw Gwen Phasma walking out of her office beside none other than Ben Solo.

Ben's face lit up as soon as he laid eyes on Rey. Rey gave him a sheepish smile in return.

"I have wonderful news, my dear", Gwen began. "Mr. Solo wants you to draft up several designs of print ads for his new ad campaign. He was very impressed by your ideas at the lunch date and wants to discuss those ideas further with you. You guys can use the boardroom. Its more private and has more space than your cubicle or my office", she stated as she gestured Ben towards the board room.

Rey walked behind him into the boardroom and closed the door behind her. She felt like her legs were frozen to the spot. He on the other hand was already sitting down at the table with a manila folder clenched in his hand.

Rey cleared her throat nervously, "Ok so I'd love to see the ideas of the designs that you have in mind for the campaign", Rey told him, stretching her arm out as she sat down across from him at the table.

Ben tapped the folder with his forefinger. "Ok, I'd love to share them but I thought before we did that you'd like to come get a coffee with me", he said as he pointed in the direction out the window of the fancy coffee shop across the street. It was a fancy coffee shop, where the milk foam was swirled into designs.

It was the type of coffee shop that Rey would avoid because she couldn't imagine paying more than 3 dollars for a cup of coffee and she had seen the menu boards outside the shop state it was $5 for an "Americano" and just went up from there. Rey liked to think of herself as a simple girl with simple tastes that didn't need to spend $5 on a cup of coffee in a fancy ceramic cup just to experience the ambiance. However, she was always curious about the shop and would imagine herself sipping a cup of steaming hot latte. Finn had suggested going to the fancy cafes and coffee shops in Paris but sometimes Rey grew curious about experiencing such luxuries in the here and now.

"'ll take the folder with me and show you my ideas and you can take a look there", he exclaimed.

When Rey entered the coffee shop , she had to take a deep breath. It was more magnificent outside then it was on the inside. Italian marble counters and sold gilded black wood panel walls with fancy paintings of French café's hung on the wall.

It was the type of place she'd imagine gong to with Ben when she was a teenager pining after him as she lay in bed and finished her homework.

It was the type of place that Finn had never taken her before. If she was lucky, he'd stop at McDonalds and bring her home a McCafe cup full of steaming hot coffee on his way home. Rey always thought it was sweet of him to make the effort though. She tried not to discount every small gift from him because she knew most of their savings were going towards their wedding in Paris.

Ben caught wind of her expression and grinned, placing his hand on her elbow to guide her to the counter. "Get whatever you'd like, it's my treat", he insisted.

After they had sat down, Rey started to sip on her caramel macchiato and nervously twirled her diamond ring around her finger.

Ben looked down at her finger, "You do that a lot don't you? Am I making you nervous? I'm sorry Rey, I know this is awkward. I'm not trying to make it awkward for you. I know we have history between us that I know that I shouldn't bring up during a professional meeting. It's not appropriate. I do want you to know that I am sorry….sorry for all of the pain that I caused you. I was sorry then and I am sorry now", he exclaimed.

Rey had to admit that his apology was making their meeting very awkward.

"I'd rather not bring up my foolish crush on you right now. Its in the past. You got married and what happened, happened.", she exclaimed.

He looked at her. Rey felt like Ben's piercing gaze could see through to her soul. "I've been divorced for a while Rey. I made a mistake and let others influence my decisions and others dictate my life for me", he said.

Rey was stunned at this admission at letting others control him. Rey thought of his Mother instantly but didn't want to say it. She didn't want to rehash the past in the trendy coffee shop.

Rey grabbed onto the folder on the table.

"Lets take a look at that folder", she said, hoping that changing the topic would clear the air and make the tension between them.

Rey opened the folder and stared at the contents. It was empty.

Rey raised her eyebrows at him. She wasn't sure what game he was trying to play.

Ben looked at Rey with a sheepish grin and embarrassment reflected in his eyes. "Ok, you got me. I don't have any real ideas and that's why I thought that I could just let you know what I was thinking and you could draft up some rough draft prints for me".

Rey bit her lower lip and looked into his eyes.

"Ok, sure what were you thinking?", Rey asked

"Well this years theme of the September issue of the magazine we are contracting with was fashion and race cars. I was thinking that maybe we could combine models wearing colorful dresses with black race cars, like a Lamborghini", Ben responded.

"Oh ok, so Lambos and ladies, got it. I can draft up some sketches and meet with you early next week to get your opinion on it then?", she told him.

When they got up, Ben took her cup, Ben led her out the coffee shop with his palm resting firmly on her lower back, guiding her to the door. Rey didn't jerk away from his touch. It was comforting and familiar. When he started rubbing his hand in circles , she smiled up to him.

"So I guess I'll see you next week", she told him.

He grinned. "If not before that". He winked at her as he walked down the sidewalk towards where his vehicle was parked.