Inevitable, A modern day Reylo AU

Chapter 5 - Secrets

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"  Rey cursed as she hurried back to her desk.  It had been a hectic morning, filled with meetings as she tried to catch up after being away from the office for almost a month.  She still had a few emails to send before she left to meet Ben for lunch, and she was running late.  Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was 11:45; she should be leaving now.

Grabbing her phone, she shot him a quick text.

'Hey.  Running late.  Sorry – crazy morning.  Be there in a few.'

'No problem.  I just left.  I'll grab us a table when I get there.  See you soon.'  He responded.

She quickly composed and sent her emails; the most important one being to the Human Resources Department to have them start the recruiting process for a new, junior robotics engineering assistant.

One of the first things she'd done that morning, other than catch her boss up on how the work in both Seattle and Denver went, was to talk to him about hiring an assistant.  At first, he'd seemed taken aback, and wasn't supportive of the idea.  However, after Rey extoled the benefits and the potential for additional growth in the number of clients that an assistant could bring, he started to warm up to the idea.  When she'd told him that she wanted to reduce the amount of travel she was doing, and would prefer to travel only one week or so per month – two weeks maximum – he looked distinctly nervous.

"I know I'm not supposed to ask this, but.....you pregnant, Kenobi?"  He asked hesitantly.

Rey had looked at him in shock, laughing as she told him, "Fuck, no! I just need to be home a little more often than I have been lately."  He'd seemed to understand, and grudgingly agreed to allow her to hire someone to help.  Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, or so to speak, she wanted to have HR start the process immediately, before he had time to change his mind.

Finishing her last email, she grabbed her jacket and rushed out of the office.  Checking the time on her phone, she sighed.  11:53.  It was only 2 stops on the T, but she'd be lucky to get there by 12:10.  At least Ben would've gotten them a table by then.

Entering the gates of the T, she could hear the train approaching.  She quickly tapped her card and ran down the stairs to the platform, scurrying through the doors just before they closed.

Plunking herself down onto a seat, she took a deep breath to slow her breathing.  Jeez, what a morning.  She thought to herself.  With all of the catching up she still needed to do, today really was a bad day to meet Ben for lunch.  However, he'd seemed so – mysterious – about what he'd wanted to talk about.  It had definitely peaked her curiosity.

She remembered their night out just a couple of days ago and smiled.  He'd been so adamant about not dancing – and appeared to be so uncomfortably shy about it.  He was a big guy after all, and stood out wherever he went – even on a crowded dance floor.  But once she'd persuaded him to give it a try, he seemed to finally loosen up enough and really did start to have fun.  The amount of alcohol he drank had certainly helped with that.  Hopefully he wasn't too hung over on Sunday morning to function, she thought with a smirk.

Her mood darkened a bit recalling the women who had tried to catch his attention.  This time it had pissed Rey off when it happened, and like usual he was completely oblivious to it.  She was getting used to Kay not doing anything about it – but she'd be damned if she'd let any strange women embarrass or insult her friend.  It was one of the main reasons why she always felt compelled to come to his rescue.