Chapter Text
The meeting with Ben's mother was predictably frustrating. She wasn't wrong about anything, which made it so much worse. Everything she outlined needed to be done and it was, factually, his job to get it done. Not for the first time, he questioned his choice to get involved with Organa Entreprises, even if it was simply as a consultant. It was a well-paying gig, not unreasonably so for the work he did but Ben knew there was a certain amount of nepotism going into his paychecks. Glancing at himself in the reflection of a nearby window, he surveyed his unruly curls critically. He'd tried, against his better judgment, to look nice today and had worked in a little of the scented hair product Mom had given him last year in a vain attempt to tame the stubborn waves in his black hair.
"Ben if you're not going to pay attention, why even show up?" Leia sighed, leaning against her desk. She'd been standing just a few feet away from her son when she noticed that he wasn't paying the slightest concern to the matters at all. While being dismissive and disrespectful was certainly within Ben's wheelhouse, he'd made remarkable strides over the past few years! Flicking her eyes over from him from head to toe, she frowned a little. He was dressed rather nicely for an office meeting. While Leia always preferred to wear a well-tailored and custom made suit, or something else on that particular level of formality, Ben usually skipped actual suits. He'd wear slacks and a comfortable button-down in a dark color, sometimes he'd add a tie and call it a day. Very occasionally, he'd throw on a blazer. Today he was in a black three piece suit with a white shirt and a crimson tie. "What the hell are you dressed up for, anyway?"
Ben contemplated trying not to answer her but if the stupid device was correct, she was going to find out soon anyway. Giving up, he sprawled out in an ungainly fashion in one of Mother's uncomfortable office chairs. Sighing unhappily, he let his head fall into the palm of one hand while raising the other, showing his mother the slim SoulMate band she'd given him five years ago. The things worked pretty well, by all accounts, and counted down to when you'd meet your special person, or persons. The only catch was they weren't cheap and they only worked if both people were wearing one. His had been blank, meaning Ben's match wasn't wearing one, for years. Until last night. It was counting down, and the timer only had minutes left.
"You're finally going to meet your soul mate and you want to look like you're going to a funeral?" She snorted, folding her arms but couldn't repress her smile. By that timer, she was going to get to see her son meet his soul mate!
It had been a shock to see the timer start so quickly, and show a countdown of the very next day! Rose and Poe had tried to style Rey's appearance a little bit but she'd rejected the fashion tips - the instructions in the box were very clear that you were supposed to just follow your usual patterns and if you didn't, you might end up adding time and delaying the meeting. That said, as she nervously checked the narrow, clear band with a cheerfully lit countdown, maybe that wasn't a bad idea.
She'd only gotten one because Organa Enterprises offered them free to all employees. Your usual employee benefits started day one but additional perks opened up over the following three to six months. She'd had the misfortune to be browsing the newly unlocked six month perks on her smartphone while hanging out with her friends. Once they realized all Rey had to do was send an email to get one of the SoulMate bands, they hadn't stopped hounding her until she'd sent in her request. And then, when she tried to delay actually putting it on, they insisted.
The whole thing was… ridiculous and probably a scam, Rey tried to bolster herself as she paused at her desk to check the files she was going to be handing over. And she was going to be laughing in a few minutes when her 'soulmate' either wasn't there at the magic beep or was some impossible person that she'd never live with, no matter what some stupid little bracelet said!
Still… she did take a moment to examine her appearance in the camera app of her phone. Rey's long brown hair was pulled back into a tidy burn with an elastic that blended into her tresses. A simple cream sweater paired with a soft colored, sandy brown circle skirt that stopped at her knees and her usual off-white flats, and just a touch of barely tinted lip gloss. It was professional, expected and… nice, right? Well, if anyone was actually her soulmate, they wouldn't be expecting her to show up in full contouring and ridiculous stilettos, Rey scolded herself as she checked the band again. 30 seconds. She was supposed to be handing over the files to her boss' boss' boss. What was her soulmate doing in Leia Organa's office?
Leia and Ben had abandoned their usual combative pretexts and were both riveted on the SoulMate band and the closed office door. Who would be coming through it. Would they be one of Leia's employees? One of Leia's other appointments, showing up early? A delivery service? It could be anyone and the suspense was killing them both. Ten seconds. Eight. Five. As the last seconds rolled over, disappearing like grains of sand in an hourglass, the door finally opened.
"Miss Organa, I've got the reports you… requested…" It was unmistakable. A little buzz on both wrists with delighted, electronic bells to celebrate the two finally making eye contact. Neither of them were what the other was expecting, from the raised eyebrows and awkward shifting of weight - her standing and him still in the chair during that long moment wherein they seemed to be assessing one another.
Ben, for his part, really wasn't complaining though he'd expected his counterpart to be more… flashy. A red lip, stylish heels or statement jewelry that couldn't be ignored. Like Mother. That was a realization to discuss with his therapist…
"Thank you, Rey. Have you met my son, Ben, before?" Leia stepped forward with an amused smile, taking the folders from her employee. It was almost like watching her and Han meet for the first time, both quite unsure as to why they were supposed to be bonded together!
"No, ma'am, I haven't." She was rooted to the ground, why couldn't Rey move her legs? This was insane. Unacceptable. Her soulmate couldn't be her CEO's son! That was simply… impossible! For so very many reasons! And he looked like he was getting ready to take out a hit on someone! He was handsome though, with full lips that were starting to quirk up into a pleased smirk, as though he liked what he was looking at. Which probably ought to be reassuring but only flustered her more. Huffing a bit, hoping to get the attention off her, she gestured towards him, "Do you always dress like that?"
"When I'm meeting someone important," Ben's smirk grew a little more, his eyes dancing. Her name was Rey, and she had a bit of a bite to her. He liked that, someone too nice and they'd never survive his strange family. "Looks like I'm buying you dinner tonight."
"Absolutely not," internally, Rey was panicking. She wasn't ready for this, she'd only gotten the bracelet yesterday! She hadn't thought it would go off so soon, Rey hadn't considered meeting her soul mate and all the things that went along with that. Did she want kids? Did she want to get married? Could she do the working mom with kids thing? Would Ben expect her to stay home? He was already talking like things were set! Too much, absolutely too much, she should have taken the band off immediately. "I… have to go, pardon me!"
"Wait," Ben protested, pushing himself out of the chair quickly but Rey had already spun and was all but running out of the office, letting the door close behind her and leaving her stunned soulmate behind her. That… didn't happen in the commercials, and Ben didn't know what to do. People liked confidence, right? They usually responded to him well when he -
"I raised an idiot," Leia groaned, reaching out and lightly whacking her son upside the head with the folders Rey had just handed over. Did he actually think that would work? G-d, he was just like his Father, the fool probably had. And even worse, he was just staring at the door. "Go apologize, now!"
"All I did was - " Ben protested but his Mother whacked him again, a little harder.
" Go , Ben!" Leia leaned back against her desk with a frustrated sigh, watching her son take off after his soulmate. The kid wasn't too bad, as long as he didn't overthink things or shove his foot in his mouth. Ben was always his own worst enemy when it came to any type of social interaction!
Rey hit the button for the elevator once, then twice, and once more for good measure. She needed it to be here already. What was taking it so long? It wasn't lunch, people weren't moving up and down throughout the building much! She just needed to get outside, take a deep breath of fresh air, maybe touch some grass, yank this stupid band off and throw it in a river! This was stupid. It was just… a really clever algorithm or something. It wasn't actually…
But… he had been cute. That and, evidently, egotistical was all she knew about him. He'd dressed up to meet her, called her important. Well, he hadn't actually said it was for her, just that he was meeting someone important today, but it was a heavy implication! As the doors to the elevator opened, Rey shook her head to try and clear the conflicting emotions from her mind. She'd take some personal time, get her head on straight, look into how accurate these stupid bands even were! Sighing, she hit the button to close the doors. Then held it down as though her life depended on it, because she could see her supposed soulmate darting through the cubicles and towards the elevator.
"Rey, wait! Rey!" Ben literally threw himself through the closing doors, the rubber bits meant to keep the doors from crushing people smudged dirt and grime all along his expensive suit jacket, but he was simply glad to get inside. Doubly glad that they were alone, even if he was panting a little from the sudden sprint. "I'm an asshole, ok?"
"I noticed," Rey remarked dryly, trying to get past him to hit either the open door button or the panic button, whichever one she could get to first! Ben gently redirected her hands and hit the lobby button instead.
"I'm not good at this shit," he confessed, trying not to loom over her too aggressively. Ben was attempting to make amends, not coerce her! "Let me take you out for lunch, or just a nice coffee - to apologize for assuming, not… not anything else."
"Just a coffee?" Her green gaze looked him over suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest and Ben was actually grateful for her clear annoyance. He knew how to handle it when people were pissed at him. It was other emotions that were harder to deal with.
"Just a coffee. We can figure out anything else from there, if you want," Ben promised as he extended his hand towards her. She didn't reach back for it and he swallowed hard. He hadn't really ruined everything with one stupid remark, had he? Letting out a shaky breath, he reached out a little further, "Please?"
In only a few seconds, Ben seemed to have changed from a cocky son-of-a-bitch (apologies to Miss Organa) to a pleading, desperate man. What actually hit Rey, though, was the emotion in Ben's brown eyes, how wide they seemed to be as he met her gaze and looked nowhere else. All the while, business at Organa Entreprises was moving ahead as though Rey's world hadn't upended itself several times in a row in less than ten minutes!
"One coffee. At the little cat cafe," exhaling slowly, Rey reached out and lightly put her hand atop Ben's. The feel of his warm, strong fingers curling around her own was surprisingly sweet. As was the relieved grin that crossed his handsome features. And, regardless of how this went, spending some time at the cat cafe with their tasty-but-expensive drinks (priced to help pay for the vet bills of the cafe) would be soothing.
"Whatever you want," Ben promised with a relieved grin. As the doors opened to the lobby, and this new chapter of their lives, he braced the doors with his free hand - just to make sure that they wouldn't try to close on Rey. And while he didn't know how, exactly, he was going to charm her, Ben was going to do his damnest. If that meant brushing cats in his nicest suit, then he'd do exactly that! Whatever kept her talking to him, because as long as she was talking to him, things were fixable.
"... Maybe lunch. If you like Mexican. There's a place I like nearby." She was blushing, Rey could feel the warmth in her cheeks. But Ben squeezed her hand gently, and it felt almost like a kiss.
"Mexican sounds great," and Rey could hear further relief in his voice. He was happy she was willing to spend time with him, even though she'd panicked and dashed out. He'd really be within his rights to be pissed at her for that… Squeezing his hand back, she offered him a soft smile that was quickly reciprocated. Maybe there was something to this SoulMate band after all.