A/N: So! This is another Ben chapter. The stories will converge soon again. I wanted to spend a bit of time to explain how the four months went between them for Ben. For Rey, it was just work, work and more work. But for Ben, it took some adjusting and I wanted to explore that a bit. But it will get back to converging again. This chapter will be about getting used to SPD and stuff. And interactions in time with the workers. I'm starting to wonder if this story will be a few chapters longer than Rey's... hm. We will see! Also, there are new characters in here. I got lazy with the names. But now that I look back at it it was kind of clever lol Hope yall catch it.

Definition of irksome: annoying, irritating, exasperating, tiresome

Idiot: Ben

Chapter 5: Irksome

No peace. Absolutely none. Since he left Luke, Phasma had been blowing up his phone, along with Hux. He'd talked to Hux once before and he couldn't stand the man. There was something about him that made Ben instantly hate him. He'd been avoiding everyone for a few days since his spat with Luke, even Rey. When she called, he wouldn't answer. He wouldn't return texts. He wouldn't do anything. No doubt, she was worried, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to her yet. He needed to work past his animosity towards his new responsibilities. He knew he needed to step up, and soon, but the death of his father and the funeral was a lot for him to deal with. He was stronger than this, which was why he was so upset with himself. He should have been able to withstand all of these roiling emotions, but he couldn't. They overwhelmed him even when he was doing well. He brought his phone to his ear with an aggravated sigh. "Yes, Phasma."

"Mr. Solo. I've been trying to reach you-"

"Yes, and I've been annoyed with every second of it. What is it?" he bit out angrily.

She hesitated for a moment. "I need you to come to the office. The lawyers are here to make everything final. They just need a few signatures. Please come today."

Ben sighed and knew he had to stop avoiding things. "Fine. I'll be there soon. Call a meeting with the employees for after the meeting with the lawyers. We'll have a staff meeting, and attendance is mandatory."

"Yes, sir. Lawyer meeting is at two. Would it be feasible for a staff meeting to occur at four?"

Ben thought for a moment. "That's fine. See you soon." He hung up the phone and looked at the time with a heavy sigh. He needed to head over soon. He quickly dressed and made his way to his car, driving off toward headquarters. He dialed Rey's number with a sigh.

"Hey, stranger. I didn't know you were still alive," she said with a slight bite.

He flinched. He deserved that... "Sorry... I-"

"Had to work things out alone?" she asked, disbelief evident in her tone. She knew him so well that it was scary. "Ben, you don't need to hide yourself away and torture yourself. You can call me, remember?" He frowned at her image on his phone. He clicked the video call button on his phone hanging on his dash. When she came on, he saw her take in his appearance. "Nice suit. You getting married?" she asked nonchalantly, but could still tell there was something off in her voice.

He chuckled. "As if that would ever happen. I pity the girl that would be willing to put up with me that long." She shot him a warning glance at the self-deprecating words. He only snickered. "I have a meeting with the lawyers to finalize everything, then a staff meeting afterwards..."

"Staff meeting? Sounds official."

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what I'm doing, Rey..."

"You'll do fine. You just need to get a feel for them and see who's going to be the trouble makers."

"Easier said than done..." She was quiet again. For too long. His eyes snapped over to the phone, only for him to turn his head to look at her, seeing her looking at him with a quirked brow. "What?" he asked as he looked back at the road, slightly embarrassed, though he didn't know why.

"You'll do great, Ben. Stop doubting yourself. You're the boss now. Just do what you need to do for the sake of the company's advancement and you'll do fine." She smiled softly at him. He glanced over at her and parked in a spot at headquarters. He took his phone off the dash and looked at her. She was working, too. She had the phone at an angle as she tapped away at the computer idly. She glanced over at her phone and saw his attention on her now. She stopped what she was doing and paid attention to the phone. "You're different than your dad, Ben. You're going to run things differently. You just need to make sure everyone's on the same page."

Ben smirked at her. "You're right." She smiled at him again. "I need to go. Thank you, Rey."

Her cheeks turned the slightest tint of red before she laughed and shrugged. "Talk to you later, Ben."

They disconnected the call and Ben had a lot more confidence than before. He sighed to himself. He made his way inside and looked around headquarters. No change. What was he expecting anyway? He walked past the front desk, earning the receptionist's attention. "Uh... Mr. Solo!" the young girl called. He turned on his heel and looked at her curiously, hands in his pockets nonchalantly. She seemed timid. He hadn't met her before. Was she new? Was she dad's new hire before he died? "I-I'm Alexa. I-I'm the new receptionist here... C-can I help you with a-anything?"

He could tell she was nervous. He thought about what Rey said. Advancement of the company. First things first. Boosting employee morale. "Actually, there is..." he said as he walked back to the desk, taking in the girl's appearance only momentarily. She was short, had to have been nineteen or so. Blonde hair, green eyes. Freckles on her cheeks that reminded him of Rey's. He stood at the desk and looked down at her paperwork. "First week?" he asked, earning a nervous nod from her as she avoided eye contact. "All right. First thing you can help me with is to not be so nervous. I won't bite."

"Y-yes, sir!" she said nervously as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "S-sorry. It's my first job out of college..."

Ben nodded. He remembered being nervous when his dad first hired him, too. "Well, the job is fairly straight forward, I think. It's all about customer service. So... when someone comes in, try to have confidence. Don't be so nervous. The more nervous you are, the less confident they are in the company."

Alexa blushed, eyes wide as she gasped. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to reflect badly on the company!"

Ben only grinned and shook his head, waving it off. "Everyone has room for improvement, even me. So... your job for this week is to develop confidence. Get comfortable with your responsibilities and confidence will follow." He looked at the time. "I have a meeting now. See you at the staff meeting this afternoon, Alexa," he said as he walked off, leaving a very stunned receptionist behind. He supposed he did good with her... Maybe he came across as too flirty. He hadn't intended that. He wasn't trying to pull the Solo charm on her. He just wanted to try to help her be more comfortable. He knew it wasn't easy being the face of a company. There was a lot of responsibility on her plate. He made a note in his phone to look at her company file before the staff meeting. Maybe if he could find out whey these people were hired, he would be able to figure out their strengths and weaknesses and correct company placement for them.

He walked through the building, looking at it again from a different perspective. Usually, he took a right to the warehouse. Today... he was taking a left to go to the offices. The corporate side. He sighed as he walked through the door, mentally preparing himself for all the responsibilities that awaited him. It wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be, he supposed. It was just a job change. More responsibilities. He could hire and fire. He could do a lot now. He had to do a lot now. He walked through the conference room doors and saw the table of lawyers and Phasma awaiting him. Leia was there, too. The lawyer collected the papers, stamping them against the table to organize them neatly. "Mr. Solo, so good of you to join us. Please. Have a seat." He sat next to his mother, at the head of the table. He felt oddly uncomfortable here. "Mr. Solo, first off, I'd like to start with offering my condolences for the loss of your father. He was a good man."

"Thank you," he said curtly, not really wanting to explore that at the moment and recognizing it as a formality.

The lawyer man nodded at him before looking over a paper in his hand. "My name is Jhed Council and this is my associate, Mr. Rezis Tance. We represent Council and Tance, the lawyers your father and mother have used for almost a decade. We will be there for you as you need us, just as we have been for the family all these years. So please reach out to us if you should need anything." Ben nodded. "Now, down to business. These are the forms that Miss Phasma was talking about. We need you to sign them for us, if you please. The first is a Certificate of Amendment, just changing your name to the owner of Solo Parts Delivery. Since you were already included in the LLC to begin with, it's easier to transfer ownership this way to you." Ben signed the form after reading it to make sure he wasn't getting tricked into anything. The form was passed to Leia and she signed it, too. "Since she was married to your father, the business naturally falls to her as second, so she had to sign as well to make it official." Ben nodded again, glancing at his mother to confirm. She only nodded to him.

"Second, Release of Information form. Your father had special passwords that will be divulged to you as soon as you sign this form."

"Passwords?" he asked skeptically.

Rezis spoke up this time. "Passwords for access to company files. He only provided the passwords to us for safe keeping. These passwords will fall to you once you sign the release. Another formality, we assure you." Ben glanced over at his mother and she nodded again. He hesitantly signed the form after reading it again. So far so good, he supposed. The forms kept coming and he was done after a few moments. He'd signed too many to remember and he'd read over the new agreement to keep the lawyers for the company, ultimately deciding to go with that also. Now that all the formalities were taken care of, he sighed as he was handed a laptop by Phasma. She instructed him of the password to get into the computer and showed him around the sites that his father frequently used to take care of things. Once she was done, he helped himself to get used to the employees before the staff meeting as Phasma took her exit. His eyes roamed over the names of the staff list. Armitage Hux. He looked at his father's notes and sighed to himself as he read silently.

"Armitage Hux. Supervisor. Qualifications: leadership skills, customer service, persuasiveness. Notes: Indignant personality. Doesn't like to be told what to do. Deems his authority superior to anyone else's. Be careful about him. Untrustworthy. Constantly goes against orders. Misses staff meetings. Written up several times for disobeying direct orders. Does his own thing. Ren brothers barely respect him. Gets along well with Phasma. Interoffice dating?"

Ben rolled his eyes. Nice notes, dad... He sighed as he continued to flip through the names.

"Phasma. No first name given. Human Resources. Secretary. Multi-role employee. Qualifications: highly professional, customer service, can work alone, thorough. Notes: No problems in all the years she's been an employee. Very respectful. Does as she's told. Respected by all employees, even Ren brothers. Suspicion level low. Unsure about her loyalties. Interoffice dating with Hux? Dependable when organizing meetings and memos. Frequent communication."

Ben figured that much out about her from the get-go except the Hux thing. He decided he'd keep an eye on her. After all, she and Hux were in the perfect positions to overthrow things. He worried about management... Sometimes they let it go to their heads and thought they were better than everyone else.

"Enric Pryde. Public Relations. Advertising. Qualifications: goal-oriented, determined, no-nonsense, gets the job done. Notes: Success with bringing in investors and new clients. Helps company tremendously. Advertises to bring in more clients, with high success. Smooths out any delays and keeps clients, despite worst circumstances. Works alone. Usually good at communicating. Frequently gone from office on PR/advertising runs. Does not work well with Hux; keep away at all costs. Stated he will remain loyal to company, so long as it's run by a Solo. Has respect for Ben's work ethic."

Ben blinked several times at Pryde's file. Was he really reading that correctly? Apparently, Pryde appreciated him...? Interesting... Could be useful to have allies. Shaking his head, he continued on to the famous Ren brothers that his father had so many issues with.

"Ap'lek Ren. Laborer. Qualifications: Hard worker, strong, punctual, can work alone. Notes: Doesn't complain much. Sticks to his own work. Hard worker. Comes across rough when first speaking to him until he gets to know you, then he's not so bad. Has expressed willingness to learn other jobs in the company. Excellent memory! Remembers shipments from a month ago while still focusing on current jobs."

Ben made a note of his own, making sure to take note of how he interacted with the others. He sighed to himself as he palmed his eyes, feeling his eyes cross. He turned his attention back to the files.

"Kuruk Ren. Delivery driver. Qualifications: Punctual, attention to detail, excellent time management, determined to get the job done at any cost. Notes: Refuses to work laborious position. Handles multiple orders at once and gets them all done according to deadlines, sometimes even way ahead of schedule. Seems to not get along very well with younger brother, Ap'lek. Suggested to keep them both at a distance with little to no interaction. Multiple fights have broken out in warehouse, Kuruk being the instigator."

Ben quirked a brow. Great... trouble-maker with immunity... He sighed and shook his head. The Ren brothers seemed rather interesting. He wondered how he would fare with them...

"Cardo Ren. Maintenance/Repair for machinery and other vehicles. Qualifications: Cost-efficient repairs, knowledge of multiple vehicles/machinery, efficiently repair items on schedule, quality workmanship. Notes: Little to no complaints. Seems to get aggravated with Kuruk and Vicrul, for obvious reasons. Makes a point to stay away from those brothers. Works well with Ushar, most of the time, but gets along the best with Trudgen."

"Trudgen Ren. Customer Service/Phone Technician. Qualifications: Meticulous, persuasive, customer service proficiency. Notes: Most mild-tempered Ren brother, in my experience. Very detailed, almost borderline OCD. Able to do his job and still have time to help out other Ren's. Very reliable. Never had a sick day in eight years. Great rapport with clients."

Ben skimmed through those notes and sighed to himself. Seems harmless... He did make a note on Trudgen though. It was good to have a reliable Ren brother.

"Ushar Ren." Ben quirked a brow at the scratched out job titles. Originally put on phones. Taken off to work with Cardo as mechanic assistant. Taken off of that to be put into labor. He shook his head. Troublesome worker... "Laborer. Qualifications: Versatile, excellent work ethic." Ben quirked another brow. Not many qualifications... But then again, what could be said with someone that's been hopped from one position to another? "Notes: Picks at brothers incessantly. Difficult to find a position where he works alongside someone peacefully. Seems to work with Ap'lek the best. Very sarcastic all the time, to everyone. Terrible customer service. No respect for Hux or management. Seems to test people with their patience level. Noticed that when he pushes, he tries to find a boundary and if you keep your cool, he respects you, which makes him back off of the hard picking. The calmer you stay, the more respect you earn. Unsure of Ushar's motives for picking."

"Because he's a jerk?" Ben said aloud with a roll of his eyes.

"Vicrul Ren. Laborer. Qualifications: Finishes tasks on time. Notes: Likes to think he's part-time, but he's full-time. Multiple issues with him working full-time. Threatened to dock pay, but doesn't work. Someone in company is overriding pay distribution. Investigation has come up empty. Terrible communicator. Doesn't return phone calls. Lazy."

Ben sighed in frustration. If he was so awful, why keep him around!? He flipped through the pages again and frowned when he got the answer he was wanting. "Note: If any of the Ren brothers are fired or laid off, the rest will follow. If prepared to fire one, be prepared to lose all six." He slammed the file shut and sighed in aggravation. What the heck... So these brothers were untouchable unless he had six more employees waiting to replace them. That just made his job a heck of a lot more annoying. He felt his phone buzz at his side and sighed as he picked it up.

"From Rey

How is everything going?"

He let his lips curl into a small smirk. He quickly texted back with another sigh, really not wanting to be here. "Fine. Researching employees for staff meeting in 20."

He looked at the clock and sighed to himself. What was he going to do... Her words echoed in his head. Do what you need to do for the sake of the company's advancement. He glanced down at the file again. He would. He wouldn't let his father down. He wouldn't let this company fall. He was just meeting the employees and he was just getting a feel for everyone. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. This meeting would reveal the people's dispositions, which would give him a clue to how to talk to them. He had to introduce himself as the new leader of SPD. So, then, why was it so hard!? He realized he was too concerned with what they would think about him. That was a problem. As long as the employees were happy, and it wasn't bad for business, then they would do fine. He just had to keep in mind that company advancement was linked with employee morale.

A knock at the door startled him as he sat at the head of the table, staring out the window. He turned his sight to the door and saw Phasma entering, her hair pulled back into a ponytail as she nodded her head respectfully. "Mr. Solo. Everyone has been notified of the staff meeting as a reminder."

"Thank you," he said as he turned his attention back out the window.

"However..." He turned his sight back to her, a bit annoyed that his silence had been broken. "There are a couple of employees that are not able to make it at this time..."

Ben felt his brow twitch in aggravation. Didn't he say it was mandatory!? Already, there's defiance. "Then alert them that their pay will be docked if they will not at least call in by telephone," he said as he turned his attention back outside.

"Sir-"

"Is there a legitimate reason why they are unable to show up?" he asked, not making eye contact with her.

"Yes, sir," she said flatly. He looked at her, urging her to continue. "Mr. Pryde is away securing another contract. He is not due to fly back until tomorrow," she informed him, earning a nod from Ben. He remembered the file, but what was stopping him from calling in? "And Kuruk is out on a delivery."

Ben debated this for a moment. "I see no reason why either one of them can't call in. Call Kuruk and I will call Enric." Phasma nodded and excused herself. He dialed Pryde's number with a sigh. "Pryde? Ben Solo."

"Ah, Mr. Solo. What can I do for you?" His voice came across so professionally.

"There is a staff meeting in a few minutes. I understand you are too far away to make it back in time." It was a statement, rather than a question.

"Yes, sir. I am securing the Kryze contract as per your father's request."

"I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Pryde. However, it is important that you attend the meeting. Since I was able to get you on the phone, I am assuming you are in a place where the reception is sufficient to attend the meeting over the phone."

"Yes, sir. Not a problem. I am not due to meet with Ms. Kryze until seven so the telephone conference would work adequately."

Ben nodded. "Good. Please hold while I transfer you to the office phone."

"Of course, sir."

Ben tapped a few buttons on his phone and forwarded the call to the company phone. He placed the call on hold while the employees started to file into the conference room. His eyes landed on the employees that entered. Phasma led them all. Alexa came in afterwards, nervous as usual, but smiling timidly at Ben relieved some stress. He nodded to her as she took a seat. Behind the girls came five men. They all looked similar. He assumed they were the Ren brothers. They matched up with the file pictures. The brothers took a seat around the table, Vicrul lounging at the farthest seat near the door. How nice of him to actually show up today. Ben scanned over all of the employees and his brows furrowed. There was someone missing... He looked at Phasma. "I have Kuruk on the phone," she said as she merged the on hold calls. "Pryde? Kuruk? Everything coming across clear?" Phasma asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yep."

Ben looked at Phasma again. "Where is Hux?"

Phasma shook her head. "He was notified."

Ben heard snickers and he raised his sight to see Ushar laughing. "Something amusing?"

"Always, boss man. Huxy has a bad habit of... ditching," Ushar said with a grin.

Ben nodded and stood up straight, arms behind his back. "Phasma, call Hux. Tell him if he isn't here in two minutes, he will be fired." Phasma's eyes widened before she hurried out of the room to call him. Ben surveyed the room before sighing to himself. "All right. While we're waiting for those two... Everyone is already pretty familiar with me, but for those who aren't, my name is Ben Solo, son of Han Solo. I am now in possession of SPD. This was originally supposed to be an orientation of sorts, but with the new developments, I think it's only fair I use this time to notify you of the changes to be made." He paused as everyone exchanged glances. The only one that didn't look interested was Vicrul, who wore a bored expression.

The door opened and Phasma returned to her seat, followed by a red-haired man with a scowl on his face. Ben's eyes landed on him and he glared for a moment. He then smoothed out his face to indifference. "How nice of you to join us, Hux. I trust you won't be late to another mandatory meeting again?"

"No, sir," Hux bit out as he took a seat.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, changes will be made now that management has changed. Now, I don't know how my father ran the company, but from what I've read in your files, some of you need to make some changes if you wish to remain at the company. And do keep in mind that..." He turned his sight to Vicrul and Hux. "No one is untouchable here." Vicrul sat up straighter and looked at Ben as if he were sizing him up. Hux simply glared. "Now that I have everyone's attention... I expect everyone to show up on time to work. If you are late more than once a week, you will be written up for tardiness. After the second write up, you will be suspended without pay. After the third time, termination." Ben looked down at his notes then. "I do hope it will not come to that and that we can work together peaceably." He slid his finger down his notebook. "For the next month, I will be supervising everyone to analyze strengths and weaknesses and decisions will be made accordingly."

"Sir, if I may-"

"You may, Hux. What is it?" Ben asked, narrowing his eyes at the redheaded menace.

"What decisions?" he asked.

"Position reassignment and termination." Hux stared hard at him. "Any further questions?" Hux shook his head. "Right. I look forward to working with you all. If you should have any questions, please call me. Phasma will hand out my cell phone number. Dismissed."