The Intern - SEQUEL to The Mentor

You Don't Know Me

Rey's POV

Yesterday marked the three-month mark since the accident and a month since Ben has come back home to me. He has slowly upped his level of activity to longer walks and simple lifts in the gym but I can tell it's not good enough in his mind yet by how frustrated he becomes.

The thing that has me concerned more though is how Ben has been acting. He goes to work, comes home, works out, eats dinner, and then hides in the studio by himself. He doesn't crack jokes, I haven't seen him smile much, and he doesn't want to even fool around anymore, which is frankly very unlike him. I've been trying to talk to him, and get him to go do stuff with me but it's like pulling teeth. More often then not, I go to bed alone and wake up to his back to me.

Tonight there's a staff party for the magazine to celebrate 30 years that we're going to. Ben is less than enthusiastic about it, but I hope that getting him out of the apartment will be good for his mood. Poe and Finn were here earlier today to talk about the wedding and eat lunch and Ben came out of the studio only twice to say hi and grab a beer from the fridge. I could tell Poe and Finn were concerned about his behavior and the effect it was having on me but I told them I didn't want to talk about it.

Even when Hux, Gwen, Janette, and Alan came over last night for dinner, he sat with us in the living room and on the balcony but he didn't say much, only answering questions that were specifically aimed at him. Gwen has been texting me all day today asking if he's okay and trying to help, but frankly, right now, I don't think there's much that can be done to help either of us.

"Ben, can you zip me up?" I stand in the closet door with my deep blue dress on, holding my hair back from my neck. He finishes feeding his belt through his dress pants and comes over with a sigh. After he has zipped it up and starts to head back to his dresser, I turn quickly to grab his hand and stop him. He looks at me sheepishly, waiting for me to say something, his shoulders slouched forward slightly.

"Did I do something?" I ask.

"No Rey, you didn't."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"You want to talk about it?" I rest my hand on his cheek and tilt my head a little.

"It's nothing." He shrugs and releases my hand.

I watch him with a frown as he walks to the other side of the room and puts his button-up shirt on. It's definitely not nothing.

Bens POV

I drive us to the party in my new Jeep. Due to the accident not being my fault, insurance pretty much replaced my Jeep in full so I was able to get another black Jeep wrangler with a lift. I just have to finish tinting and blacking it out like before.

I go over to Rey's side and open the door. She looks amazing as always in her blue dress, nude heels, and her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail.

The party is on the rooftop terrace of our office building, and I pray that there's an opportunity for me to leave so I won't be stuck here all night.

I make my rounds with Rey's hand in mine, forcing a smile as I introduce her to my coworkers, bosses, and some of the models I work with. The models size Rey up as I figured they would, but she seems unbothered by it as I make sure to keep her pulled close to me. While we're talking to Janette and Alan, Rey tells me she'll be right back, and that she's going to run to the bathroom. I watch her over Janette's shoulder to make sure she goes the correct way and am thankful she left me with these two because they're some of the only people I like at this party.