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sevennsw-blog · 7 years ago

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MODERN AU . first chapter . chapter list

“Y-You…” Breathing hard Rey struggled with her choice of words. “You were horrible to me. You made me walk out of your life.”

Poe let out a dry laugh. “Well, you completely broke my heart.”

Part 9 - Pizza new occupation and people, snap wexley and pizza.

“Jessika!” Rey snapped, stopping outside the studio’s front door. “Please, for the love of God woman, shut up.”

“I love you!” Jessika cheered before Rey hung up on her.

This was it. First days were horrible, so Rey was already prepared. There was no dress code, which Rey would be eternally grateful for, so she was dressed in dark skinny jeans and a blue button down under her coat. Black boots and a few bracelets made Rey look like, in her opinion, someone who could work at a recording studio. Her outfit was stylish, but professional.

She walked inside and was warmed by the heat. A large oak front desk was in the middle of the room surrounded by waiting chairs and countless of artists album covers decorating the walls. A few stood out to Rey, and she smiled, knowing that maybe she could possible meet some of those musicians one day.

“Can I help you?” the older woman sitting behind the desk asked.

“I’m Rey Niima, it’s my first day,” Rey walked over, putting on her best smile.

“We’re ready for you, let me take you back to meet Matthew.” The woman stood up, taking her headpiece off. “I’m Marylyn by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rey shook her hand before following her through the sliding glass doors to their right. Marylyn led her down two hallways before coming to a large wooden door off to the right side. Rey thought this was where Marylyn would leave her but the woman turned to her and put both hands on her shoulders.

“This man is wonderful; I promise that you will love him as long as you get your work done and on time. Just keep your head down and be smart, got it?” Marylyn’s eyes stared directly into Rey’s.

“Oh, I’ll do my best,” Rey nodded. With a smile and a pat on the back, Marylyn opened the doors and pushed Rey inside.

Entering Matthew Jennings’s office, Rey was instantly struck by all the bookshelves lining his walls. They weren’t filled with books however, but thousands of records of all sizes and genres. His desk was clean, save for a few papers and his two monitors that a laptop was hooked up to. There were four album sales pieces behind him of whom Rey could only presume were his favorite clients.

Matthew himself was around forty years old and had been in the underground world music production since he was seventeen. He never wanted a big-time studio, although countless ones tried to woo him yearly. Dressed in dark trousers and a grey button down with the sleeves rolled up he looked young at heart and kind. Rey didn’t even have to meet him to already know she liked him.

“Hold on Robert, this young woman just walked in… Well she’s either my new assistant or she’s going to try and pitch her demo to me… She doesn’t look like a popstar…. Maybe a Florence in the making… I’ll get back to you,” Matthew was smiling over at Rey as he spoke. When he hung his phone up, he pushed his chair back to walk around.

“Rey, right?” he asked reaching for her hand.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Jennings,” Rey smiled.

“Okay, none of that now. It’s Matt, unless you want to be called Miss. Niima?” Matthew laughed at Rey’s grimace. “I thought so. Did you make it alright?”

“Yes, just fine. I’m sorry I’m a bit early but I just wanted to make sure I had enough time,” Rey reasoned.

“That’s right, Snap said you’re not close,” Matthew nodded.

“It’s okay, I like early mornings on the tube,” Rey shrugged.

“Okay, well let me show you to your desk,” Matthew touched Rey’s elbow to get her to follow. He led her out of his office and around the corner to a large mahogany desk off to one side. There were more posters of musicians and album sales around the wall and a large window overlooking the park next door. It was enormous and something Rey was not expecting.

“This is mine?” She asked, shrugging her purse off her shoulders.

“Is this okay? Marylyn said we had room on the next floor up but I wanted you close to me so you weren’t walking up and down,” Matthew said, walking around to where Rey stood.

“No, it’s just so big. It’s completely fine though.” Rey placed her coat over her chair and smiled at the new-looking iMac on her desk.

“Good, listen I hate to do this to you on your first day, but I’ve got a meeting across town for lunch and I won’t be coming back. Are you alright to fend for yourself? I mean… I didn’t really plan anything for you today but you can go ask Marylyn if there’s something you can do for her?” Matthew offered.

“Okay, do you need me to do anything for you while you’re gone?” Rey asked, reached for the pad and pencil on her desk.

“Um, I’ve got a few people I need to call back to confirm appointments and then there’s a two o’clock that needs to be shown to studio C. Marylyn can show them but follow her so you’ll be ready for the next one,” Matthew explained as Rey took down the notes. “And, you can go home after the band gets here because they booked it till one am.”

“Really?” Rey hoped she didn’t sound too hopeful.

“Yeah,” Matthew waved her off. “You’re sure you’re okay here without me? I’m sorry I can’t be here on your first day.”

“Completely, and if you need me to do anything while you’re out just call me…” Rey looked around for her phone.

“Oh, let me get your mobile, that’s how I want us to communicate.” He walked over to her taking his phone out of his pocket. “This isn’t creepy to you is it?”

“No, not at all,” Rey took his phone and typed in her number before calling her own so she would have his. “Is there anything else?”

“No I think that’s it. Tomorrow and Wednesday I’ll be here so we can officially start then; today just… tour the place and meet the others, relax a bit and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Waving, Matthew turned and walked back around the corner to his office.

Rey was certainly not a mechanic anymore.

“Hey stranger,” Snap Wexley’s face popped around Rey’s corner.

“Hey,” Rey rose up from her seat and gave Snap a big hug. It was nice after the quick morning introduction of her new boss to see a familiar face.

“So, nice digs Niima,” Snap said as he looked around.

“Where’s your office?” Rey asked.

“Up on three,” he replied, leaning against her desk. “Have you had a tour yet? Where’s Matt?”

“He had a meeting across town and won’t be back today, I just got here really,” Rey said smiling.

“Well come on, let me introduce you to everyone,” Snap tugged her close and led her back around.

She met Brian, Steve and Danny who worked the soundboards in each of the four studios. There was Lesa and Ella who worked PR for the studio as a whole. Thomas, Michael and Aaron were part of the business development team along with Eric who went with Matthew to his lunch meeting, Stanley and Oliver were part of facilities and two of the friendliest guys Rey had ever met. Finally Snap introduced her to Stephanie and John who were agents like himself.

“This one here is going to surpass us all soon,” John clapped Snap on his shoulder.

“It’s nice to meet one of Snap’s actual friends, we thought he was making you all up,” Stephanie laughed as she shook Rey’s hands.

“This guy?” Rey asked. “Nah, he’s the life of the party.”

“And Rey here is the sweetest, trust me guys she’s one of the good ones,” Snap smiled.

“So what made you want to get into the industry Rey?” John asked, settling back down at his desk.

“I needed something different. I used to work with cars, so what’s more different that this?” Rey replied standing next to Snap.

“Bet you have a nice car then, right?” Stephanie asked excitedly.

“Sadly no, there’s not really such a thing as a mechanic discount,” Rey laughed.

“What kind of music are you into?” John shook his head at Stephanie, clearly wanting to stay on topic.

“A little bit of everything I guess,” Rey glanced at all three. “I mean I like those bands that no one knows about, but I can probably sing every song on any of the countdowns if I think about it.”

“It’s good to have a wide taste,” John nodded.

“Okay, before he starts to bore you with logistics, I’ll walk you back to your desk,” Snap pushed Rey out of the room while the other two called out goodbyes.

“Thanks Snap,” Rey said once they got back to her desk.

“No problem,” he shook it off. “Do you have lunch plans?”

“I was just going to wander around until I found something,” Rey shrugged.

“Nonsense, we’ll go over to Orlando’s. It’s a local marketplace that has a little of everything. We all usually go there,” Snap explained.

“Sounds good, I have to be back by two to let some band into one of the studios… C, I think,” Rey glanced at her notes for confirmation.

“I think that’s one of mine… so I’ll be there with you to greet them. Marylyn has the keys so we can tell her on our way out to lunch. You good until then?” he asked, taking a step back.

“I think I can manage two hours on my own,” Rey nodded, waving him off.

The band with the two o’clock booking turned out to be a young looking group of boys. They were doing a writing session together and couldn’t have been any older than Rey. They were dressed a bit on the gothic side but at least were polite when Rey and Snap showed them into the studio. The boy’s managers and agents were with them and promised to keep the room exactly as they found it.

“Wait, you aren’t staying with us?” one of the boys with curly hair asked Rey.

Looking confused for a second she said, “No? I work on the office side of this building.”

“Oi! None of that,” Snap barked, dragging Rey out the door with him.

“What was that?” She asked once they were out of earshot.

“He wanted in your pants, is what that was!” Snap spoke loud enough so anyone within a mile radius could hear him, making Rey smack his shoulder.

“Stop it,” Rey hissed as they made it to the stairs. She thought it was peculiar that the recording studios divided the building’s offices until Snap told her at lunch that was because they expanded the company after building the studios and Matt wanted to keep his and his partner, Geoff Courtney’s office where they were. Geoff was usually based in their New York office now and rarely came back over.

“You off for the day?” Snap asked when he reached his landing.

“Yep, Matt said I could go after we showed them the room,” Rey smiled.

“Hey, uh…” Snap glanced around making Rey narrow her eyes. “Hey… Call Poe would ya?”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, please?” Snap whined.

“Why do I need to call him?” Rey asked.

“Because he wants to know how your first day went,” Snap rolled his eyes.

“Why can’t he call me?”

“Because you’re freaking him out Rey, you don’t get that?” Snap laughed. “The poor lad is confused this side of Sunday what to do with you and whatever you two are.”

“What are you talking about?” Rey stepped back down so they were even.

“Just call the poor lad, alright?” Snap placed his hand on Rey’s shoulder. “As a thank you to me for showing you the ropes today.”

“I could have figured out the ropes myself ya know?” Rey crossed her arms.

“Woman, will you just-“

“I’ll call him!” Rey held up both hands before quickly wrapping them around Snap’s middle. After giving him a tight squeeze she hurried back up her floor to collect her things.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Marylyn,” Rey said, walking past the older woman.

“Have a good night dear,” she smiled and wave.

Pushing open the doors, Rey reached for her phone to fulfill her promise to Snap.

“… and then I went back up and got my stuff. Matt said I could leave after we showed the band the studio,” Rey finished just in time for her bus to come alongside her street.

She had been speaking with Poe for the past twenty minutes about her day. Rey hadn’t realized just what all she took in until she had to replay it back for someone. What surprised her the most was how Poe had remained silent the whole time. If it wasn’t for his occasional hums and snorts she would have thought he’d gone to sleep.

“Well, you’ve clearly had a day,” he replied.

“That’s all you can say?” Rey laughed, opening the door to her building. “I’ve had more than a day! It was incredible to see the behind the scenes part of a world I only know from buying albums when they come out on my computer.”

“You sound like you enjoyed it,” Poe mused.

“It was a good first day. I can’t wait to see how Matt really is though. He was so nice, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with him,” Rey paused to take a breath from walking up her stairs. “But I know I already like him.”

“Well, keep it professional.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rey stopped from walking into her place. “He was being professional Poe. Oh god, don’t tell me you think he’s some pervert.”

“I didn’t say that, just remember he’s your boss and you’re a young-“

“I’m twenty-three.”

“… person who needs to watch out for things like that,” Poe sighed.

“Things like what?” Rey argued.

“Creepy guys hitting on you,” Poe snapped.

“He wasn’t hitting on me, he was being nice. Don’t ruin my first day please,” Rey sighed, shutting her front door.

“I’m sorry… I’ve had a pretty shit day is all,” Poe grumbled.

“What happened to you?” Rey asked, putting her coat and purse down.

“It’s nothing,” Poe mumbled, making Rey frown. “Just people not doing what they promised.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey said as she sat down on her couch. BB jumped up, begging for attention. Rey smiled at her puppy and scratched under his chin.

“Don’t be, it wasn’t you so you shouldn’t have to apologize.”

“Hey now,” Rey cooed. “What happened?”

“Rodger Stones, he’s a producer over at Sony, wanted to meet with me for a potential offer but it fell through in the last second,” Poe sighed. “I knew it would. I trust him about as far as I could throw him.”

“A potential offer for what?” Rey asked.

“Just to work together,” Poe answered dryly.

“Work on your stuff together, or another artist’s?” Rey could tell by Poe’s tone that this was eating at him. His work was the most important thing to Poe. He was always extremely professional and polite and it killed him when others weren’t the same. Unfortunately, this was the music industry and there were only a handful of people who were actually decent human beings.

“Mine.”

“Poe, don’t worry about him. He’s obviously stupid and can’t tell real talent when it’s right in front of him,” Rey reasoned.

“You haven’t even heard my stuff,” Poe let out a small chuckle.

“Well I’ve heard what you’ve done so far. And let me tell you, Poe… you are an amazing songwriter, one of the best ones, even though I don’t really know any others personally. But you’re the best songwriter I know,” Rey sat up straight, nodding her head to prove her point.

“Thanks babe-Rey,” Poe choked out a cough at his slip up. “Thank you, it’s nice to hear.”

“S’all true,” Rey whispered, ignoring the heat on the tips of her ears. She cleared her throat before adding, “Well, I’m going to find something to eat and then take a bath. I’m exhausted mentally from this day.”

“Order a pizza,” Poe suddenly said. “Extra cheesy and greasy so you can just relax.”

“That sounds amazing,” Rey nodded, reaching for the flyer she kept in a basket on the coffee table.

“And invite me over to share it with you.”

She almost didn’t catch that last part while she was trying to find the number on the back of the flyer. She paused, scrunching her eyes and trying to see if she heard Poe correctly. The silence on his end told her everything she needed to know. “Poe…”

“What? It was my idea. Can’t I share it with you? What’s the harm in that?” he asked quickly.

“Because I shouldn’t be sharing a pizza with you, at my place… at night,” Rey argued.

“So you should share it with me at my place during the day? Come on Rey, you know that doesn’t make sense,” Poe’s smug tone irked Rey.

“Stop,” Rey pleaded.

“Stop what?”

“Stop acting like we’re newly dating,” Rey barked back.

“I’m not,” said Poe stubbornly.

“Yes you are,” Rey tossed the flyer on the table. “You’re acting just like you were when we started to date. You’re being all nice and sneaky with me again. We can’t do this Poe, okay? We’ve been really good so far and I want to keep it that way.”

“What do you think I’ll do to you? I’m not going to try anything on you,” Poe hissed.

“I believe you kissed me in front of my building the other night.”

“That was… completely in the moment. I’d never do something that you didn’t want,” Poe sounded insulted.

“I know you wouldn’t,” Rey was quiet for a moment. “It’s me I’m worried about.”

“What are you worried about?” Poe asked, intrigued. “Would you try something on me?”

He was joking with her, but Rey was pretty sure she wasn’t. Over the last few weeks, being in close proximity with Poe either led her down a path of worrying herself about him, or quite frankly, wanting to jump him. The other night at the pool game, with the flashback replaying in her mind constantly, Rey was pretty confident that had Poe asked her to go home with him she would have. Rey couldn’t do this though, she had to be smart and keep thinking straight. She was slowly getting to a decent peace of mind in her life and she wasn’t willing to throw that away.

“I don’t fully trust myself around you right now… alone.”

“Alone? What are you talking about?” Poe asked.

“You, I don’t know… I feel like I might do something I’d regret if we were alone.” BB had abandoned his quest for attention from Rey. She waited, watching his tiny paws pad their way across the room.

“Rey… do I, turn you on?”

“Oh my God, Poe!” Rey groaned, lying down on the couch. His laughter was loud in her ear, her face turned bright red. She knew this was coming. Poe would never be serious over things like this and it had always driven her crazy.

“You can admit you’re still attracted to me,” he snorted.

“I’m hanging up the phone,” Rey snapped even though she had no intention to do so.

“I’m being serious Rey.”

“Are you? Or are you just playing with me again?” she argued.

“Rey, we are grown adults who can admit we are attracted to each other. We have history; I won’t lie to you and say I don’t think about you like that,” Poe breathed.

“Please don’t think about me like that,” she begged.

“I’m thinking about you like that right now,” Poe lowered his voice remembering how she once told him it made her insides turn to mush when he did.

“Stop, please I’m begging you,” Rey laughed out loud.

“I like when you beg,” Poe couldn’t hold up the façade any longer and joined Rey in her laughter. After a few moments Rey swiped under her eyes, her stomach aching slightly from her giggles.

“You always were horrible with dirty talk,” she hummed, leaning into her phone.

“I was excellent at dirty talk, woman!” Poe argued. “You however, not the best…”

“Because I hated doing it!” Rey huffed. “That time you made me try it, I was so humiliated.”

“You had fun,” Poe chuckled. “It made you feel like you had the upper hand, admit it.”

“What? No!” Rey rolled her eyes.

“It did, well… also probably because I made you ride-“

“That’s enough of that!” Rey laughed. “Can we stop talking about this please?”

“What, you don’t enjoy talking about our sex life?” Poe asked.

“Does anyone enjoy talking about their sex life with a previous partner?” Rey reached for the flyer again.

“Previous?”

“Last,” Rey snapped her head back up. “Last partner.”

“Much better,” Poe’s smug tone settled over Rey’s shoulders.

She looked over the pizza options and thought about the repercussions of inviting Poe over tonight. It was only a little after five right now, he could be here by six along with the pizza. They could eat and then she’d kick him out before eight. After a quick bath she could be in bed by ten and Rey wondered why she was even still thinking.

“Would you like any specific toppings?” she asked, holding her breath.

“Really?” Poe sounded like a kid on Christmas morning.

“You’re out by eight though, okay? I want to take a bath and go to bed early,” Rey pointed out. “I’ve got to be coherent tomorrow for my first official day with Matt.”

“I can be there around six?”

“I’ll see you then,” Rey nodded, hanging up the phone. A small ‘woff’ came from her feet. She leaned over and saw BB circling her legs, hungry. “I’m an idiot BB.”

“One large pizza with black olives, mushrooms and garlic?” Poe called out after Rey opened her door.

“I’m starving, come in,” she laughed, allowing Poe to pass by her.

They settled down on Rey’s couch with the telly on some show in the background for noise. Rey brought out some paper plates and a beer for Poe. She had one ‘left over’ and she was never going to drink it. Grabbing two pieces, Rey curled her feet under her and leaned back against the couch.

Poe wore a plain shirt and jeans, leaving his sneakers by her door. BB jumped onto the back of the couch and sat close to Poe’s head. Poe looked tired but happy as he opened his beer and took a long sip. Not bothering with a plate he mirrored Rey and took a bite. She noticed his curls seemed curlier than usual, reaching past his shoulders.

“Your hair is majestic,” Rey mentioned, fingering her own hair. The waves she had tried to put in this morning had long since flattened out against her shoulders.

“Always has been,” Poe mused, swallowing his bite. “But you said you liked it like this, remember?”

“I think I simply asked you what you were doing with it and you took it the wrong way,” Rey rolled her eyes and took another bite. “It’s different.”

“Was that what happened?” Poe asked.

“Are you feeling better about your day?” Rey asked, still a bit worried from earlier.

“I’m fine,” Poe nodded. “It’s something that happens all the time in this business unfortunately.”

“You’ve never broken a promise though, have you?”

He looked up at Rey and smiled. “No, unless I was never told that I did.”

“Because you’re a good person,” she nodded, glancing at BB walking across the back of the couch over to her side.

“I try to be, most times,” Poe shrugged. “Some people might disagree with you.”

“Well, they don’t know the Poe I do,” Rey stopped chewing and looked down. Sometimes she needed to keep her mouth shut.

“What ‘Poe’ do you know?” Poe asked with a smile. Rey looked back up before rolling her eyes. Setting her plate down on the armrest of the couch, she dusted her hands off.

“Poe, I know we’ve had some rocky moments lately,” Rey ignored Poe’s eyebrow that rose up. “But I want you to know that I never thought of you as a horrible person. I never hated you, even if I couldn’t get that point across clearly. You should know the person I was most upset with was myself.”

“I think we’ve both been a bit…” he paused trying to think of a word.

“Heated?” Rey offered.

Poe nodded. “Maybe…confused? I know I have been.”

“What are you confused about?” Rey asked. Poe finished off his slice of pizza and took another sip of his beer before placing the bottle on the table.

“Rey, you scare the hell out of me.”

“Snap told me,” Rey said softly.

“My mates need to stop telling you things,” Poe groaned even though his face didn’t give off the intention that he was upset. “But yes, you do.”

“Why do I scare you Poe?” Rey had been curious ever since Snap had mentioned it in the stairs this afternoon.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, leaning his head over so he could see her fully. “Maybe it’s because I’ve never been hurt like I was by you.”

Rey’s eyes grew in size. This was something that had haunted her since that night. She knew she had hurt him in ways that she couldn’t quite fathom. The look on his face alone when she left was enough proof of that. Hearing the words come out of Poe’s mouth made it all the more real and heartbreaking.

“Stop blaming your actions, I did it to myself,” Poe shook his head. It scared Rey sometimes, the way Poe almost knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Did it to yourself? Poe, I walked away from you. I made you feel like that,” Rey felt a prick behind her eyelids.

Poe surprised her by smiling. He shook his head softly while looking over at her. “That’s what happens when you’re in love with someone Rey.”

“Poe,” Rey felt a tear roll down her cheek. Poe was quick, reaching over and stopping it with his thumb. He held her face gently for a moment before lowering his hand to hold hers. Rey grabbed on tightly, covering their joined hands with her free one.

“When you love someone, you give over every right you have to them to hurt you. It took me almost a year into our relationship for me to do that with you.” Poe’s voice was rough as he paused to take a breath. “It was the night you told me about your father and you were crying. I never told you but I hated myself for not being able to comfort you.”

“Y-You did, Poe you were wonderful to me,” Rey shook her head, scooting closer to him. His body was warm and Rey wanted nothing more at this moment.

“I knew that I wanted to never make you feel like that, ever. I knew that was it for me and you were all I ever wanted, I never wanted you to hurt again and I thought, in my mind, that I could protect you from that,” Poe reached over, holding on to her waist. “But then… Jessika’s engagement, and your father… and Unkar… it all happened so fast and I c-couldn’t do anything for you.”

“N-No one could…” Rey leaned her forehead against Poe’s. “B-But you were so good to me. I see that now, you were trying to do whatever y-you could. I was just too hurt to see any of it.”

“I never wanted to belittle you or make you feel like I was better than you,” Poe whispered. “I just wanted you to smile again; I wanted my Rey back again.”

“I know,” Rey shut her eyes, trying to control her emotions.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you,” Poe’s voice made Rey’s heart ache. She opened her eyes and let go of Poe’s hand to reach up and cup his cheeks.

“You were the best thing to ever happen to me, I promise you that,” Rey found what little strength she had to speak those words.

“I love you,” Poe croaked out leaning into Rey’s hold on him. She looked into his eyes and felt her breath leave her lungs all at once. It did not feel like the first time he had uttered those words to her. This was completely new and it scared the shit out of her. Rey did the only thing her simple brain to think of.

She kissed him.

AN: I've been having such a crappy time lately so if you have anything to share that might cheer a very sad author up feel free to give me a link or whatever. ---- > I know it’s been a long wait for this chapter but I promise I’m back now :’)

#damerey #damerey fic

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