Chapter Text
He’s panicking. He knows he’s panicking but it doesn’t make his panic lessen. His mother, on the other hand, couldn’t be more overjoyed.
“Ben I’m so happy you’re trusting us with this. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Ben grunts into the phone, the realization of what he just did slowly sinking in.
“I’ve got to go, I need to completely rethink the menu and the place settings, but oh it’s going to be so worth it!”
“I'm sure it will be great mom, she’ll love whatever you make” he sighs, rubbing his hand down his face.
“Oh I know, I'm just so excited, everything needs to be perfect. This is a big step you know” she tuts.
“I know mom, say hi to dad for me will you?” he says.
“Of course.”
Ben hums his response, about to hang up when his mother interrupts him once again.
“I love you Ben, and I'm so proud of you. You know that right?”
“Yes I do mom, I love you too.” Ben finally hangs up the phone.
___
Ben has been working at Blue Star Technologies for 4 years, 6 months, and 14 days. He has had a crush on Rey for all but 2 of those days.
2 days after he had been hired he was running late. Brushing the rain from his coat as he stepped into the elevator, a sweet voice rang out asking
“Which floor?” Caught off guard he look up and promptly fell into the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. They were round and golden, with bits of green flecked in the middle. When he was finally able to tear his eyes away from hers he saw that not only did she have a lovely heart-shaped face, strong cheekbones, and a dusting of freckles over her button nose, she was also looking at him expectantly, and a little confused.
Ben finally processed what she had asked and coughed, mumbling out “Uhm, floor 19 please.” He looked down and could feel the tips of his ear turn pink, hoping they were covered by his shaggy black hair.
“Oh, I'm headed to floor 18!” She said brightly as she punched in his floor. “You must be the new hire, I'm Rey, I work in the sales department.” Holding out her hand she looked up at him expectantly with a warm smile.
“Uh, yeah.” He stammered. “I’m Ben, nice to meet you” he forced out as he slipped his hand into hers. Feeling how soft it was, with a surprisingly firm grip. “I'm in accounting.”
As he slipped his hand from hers the elevator dinged, signaling their arrival to the 18th floor.
“This is me,” Rey said as she stepped off the elevator with a smile. “It was nice to meet you!” She called over her shoulder as she walked off.
The doors began to close before Ben could answer, as he was much too busy trying not to think about how her smile had made him feel, and what he would do to see it again.