The Business Engagement

Tell me no lies

Ben looked pale.

'I lied to you, I didn't force you into this engagement to get my mom off my back or even to get Tallie out of my life. I did it to try and rid myself of Snoke once and for all.'

'So Tallie isn't the ex girlfriend from hell?' Rey asked.

'She's a piece of work and she didn't want to accept that things were over between us, but no she isn't dangerous.'

'Ben! I was ready to claw her eyes out at the party! You should have told me the truth.'

Ben looked forlorn.

'Rey, I'm so sorry. You're right. I should have told you everything from the start. No wait, what I should have done, is never have pulled you into this whole fucking mess in the first place.'

Rey was mad but she also couldn't stop her heart from going out to Ben. Her love for him refused to be silent.

Stupid heart.

'Yes well, I'm here now and we can't change that. The least you can do is make sure I know everything so I'm prepared if Snoke decides to make another move against me.' She insisted.

'I swear Rey, he won't harm you. He likes to play with people. Fuck them up in the head. He's been doing it to me for years. Now he thinks he can do the same to you, but you're so much stronger than me. The way you stood up to him right now, you were amazing. Whenever I'm around him, I just revert back to being a scared little boy.'

Rey looked at Ben sympathetically. He sat down on the sofa and put his head in his heads. Rey sat down next to him and rubbed his back gently.

'Tell me everything.' She coaxed.

'When I first met Snoke, I was fresh out of uni. I was young and naive. He offered to take me on as an apprentice of sorts. Teach me everything he knew. I was flattered by his attention and I learned so much under his tutelage, but it was after he announced that he wanted me to become his heir that things got...intense.

I always thought he saw me as the son he never had, but it's more than that. It's like I'm a possession to him, some way to continue his legacy even after his death. I never wanted his fortune, I didn't and still don't want any of it, but I was afraid to lose my position at the company. I was so scared of being a nobody again, that I just avoided the subject. Such a fucking cowardly move.

He wanted me to live with him, I refused. His compromise was he wanted to know where I was every minute of the day, he despised my family, said they were holding me back. He has constantly tried to get me to cut all ties with them. He would tell me I could be truly great but I had to learn to let go in order to achieve that. I was torn between my desire to succeed and my growing hatred of Snoke. I see my job as a prison now, an extension of the control Snoke exercises over me, that's why I hate it so much. I realised with horror that I was starting to slip away, I thought perhaps I might never be myself again and then...'

'Then what?' Rey asked, hanging on his every word.

'And then you came into my life and everything changed.' Ben said turning to look at her.

'From the moment I first met you, little pieces of the Ben I used to be flew back into place and I felt...like me again.

When you got that ring stuck on your finger, an idea burned brightly in my mind and I saw it as my chance to be free of Snoke once and for all. I thought to myself maybe if he thought I was seriously involved with someone he would back off.

I told him that same day that I was set to marry you and that you wanted me to leave the company. I handed in my notice. He objected of course, but I held my ground. I know it sounds silly but I felt stronger knowing I had in my corner, even if I had backed you into it.