Step by Step

Chapitre 5

Lying on her sofa, warm under a blanket, Rey watched the end credits of Episode IX appear on her television, clenching rolled-up tissues in her fists.

"No way, it can't end like this..."

Her eyes were red and she was upset, frustrated, and angry.

The day before, under an overcast sky, she had arrived at the Damerons' at nine a.m. with a good bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers for Kaydel. After chatting over coffee, the trio had settled comfortably into the living room to begin their "Galactic Wars" marathon. They had watched the first movie of the sequel trilogy, discussed the film while eating a delicious lunch prepared by Poe, then immediately went on to the next movie, which was - a revelation.

Action, emotion, lightsaber fights, and space battles ... Episode VIII was a marvel. Not to mention the sublime and heartbreaking relationship between Kylo Ren, the character played by Ben Solo, and Kira, the young heroine.

Like many people, Rey had, of course, heard of the most famous movie saga of all time, and she had a vague sense of the plot of the previous two trilogies, but she'd always thought that this kind of thing was reserved for children and fanboys like Poe, great big eternal teenagers.

Back home that evening in her small apartment, she'd gone to bed with epic scenes playing out in her head. And on this Sunday morning, right after she got out of bed, she'd loaded the brand new Blu-ray that Poe had loaned her into her player, ready to finally find out what would happen to the Resistance, Kylo, and Kira. She'd made herself a nice cup of tea, settled back in her cushions, and witnessed the rebels' victory against the New Order, the redemption of Kylo Ren and his sacrifice to save the life of the one he loved.

Rey finally threw her tissues on the table, grumbling.

"What is with this new trend of killing off all the likeable and interesting characters?!"

So she had lunch, tried to soothe her disappointment with a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with caramel sauce, and decided to tidy up and clean her apartment a bit. But as she finished dusting, she realized that something was troubling her much more than Kylo Ren's tragic fate.

And that something was Ben Solo.

She remembered having seen him in small, insignificant roles, but she had to admit that here, in a starring role, the actor had appeared to her in a completely different light: his acting was incredible. The way he had completely embodied his character was amazing, and the young woman's curiosity was definitely piqued.

So she went back to her couch with a fresh cup of steaming hot tea and opened her laptop. She typed Ben Solo's name in her Google search window and a whole Wikipedia article about him appeared on her screen:

Benjamin Organa Solo, American actor, born November 19, 1988 in New York City.

Son of Leia Organa-Solo, politician and senator from New York State, and of Han Solo, photographer at National Geographic, who died in 2015. Also grandson of actor Anakin Skywalker, very famous in the 1970s, who died at the of a drug overdose, aged 35.

Ben Solo attended New York Law School after high school, but decided to abandon his law studies to study acting at The Juilliard School in 2007. He graduated in 2011 and then went on to audition for parts. He appeared in episodes of the police series "The Unusuals," "New York: Law & Order," and "New York: Special Victims Unit," as well as making his big screen debut in the biopic "Hoover," directed by Flint Westwood. He became known to the general public in 2012 after joining the cast of the TV series "Hannah's Friends," in which he played the role of Adam Baker. After separating from his agent and uncle, Luke Skywalker, he began to be given more important movie roles...