Archive of Our Own

Forgettable and non-consequential or invisible girls like her never get the prince charming™. They are also never the first, second or third option for any guy. "It is a truth universally acknowledged” as her favorite book by Jane Austen’s first words declare. 

Hollywood might sell false hopes in the form of makeovers, weight loss and eyeglasses removal, but she is aware that those magic tricks  only work on unpolished but already conventionally beautiful canvases. Rose knows —for better or worse— that she’s got a forgettable face and she’ll always be a little too short and never lose that extra fat on her hips, her thighs and belly. 

In her teen years, it used to torture her when her mother compared her round and short body to her sister’s slender and tall perfect figure. Paige, always being her protector, chastised her mother over her remarks.

It’s Thursday, six o’ clock; her work shift is over.

 Finally.

She takes one last look at the table she was sketching and saves her progress while also mentally chastising herself for letting such thoughts wander during her last minutes at work. It takes two seconds for her laptop to save her progress but the hurry to get out is getting the best of her. 

When the progress bar is complete, she grabs her backpack and heads for the elevator.

Rose has made peace with that extra fat that her body refuses to lose. These days she won’t shy away from a second slice of pizza or that tasty brownie sold in a bakery near her office. It’s like an apology to her younger self, she likes to think; for denying her so much. 

25 years old, still round and friendly, immensely talented and with an eye for furniture design, she works for Resistance: a very high profile company involved in both product and industrial design. As a young product designer she did not get the job she originally intended for. She applied for the senior designer position,—best student of her class, passionate about her career, so she went for it, worked for many young white men, might have worked for her?— but they said she was too "fresh out of college," which can be translated as are still too young for this position —and that she has to have at least five years of experience in a junior position— but Rose is working hard to get there. In the meantime, she can occasionally slip into conversations that she works for Leia Organa. Yes, that Leia Organa. 

When she’s out of her work building she can see an orange sky, the sun lighting its last for the day. Today she brought her car, so at least she would not have to walk to the bus station.

By having been a Resistance employee for over two years, Rose has got a pretty clear picture of how things work there; both in the occupational and social aspects.

And like in any other shared work space, it has its pros and cons. She is good friends with Rey from I.T. and Kydel from accounts who she knows since her college days. Poe Dameron, a senior Industrial designer who always seems to be on the verge of calling her by a different name —such a nonconsequential girl with a forgettable name —but in the last second croaks a suddenly sure “R-Rose! Good Morning !'' when she greets him in the elevator, seems like a cool guy. There is also regal Mrs Holdo, Head of the Senior Product designers and also her mentor; Temmin "Snap" Wexley, who Rose has absolutely no idea what he does for the company; and there’s also Finn, who is a brilliant, fantastic and promising  junior Industrial designer under Poe Dameron's tutelage. 

And he’s also the latest guy to break her heart.

Why is on her way back home that these thoughts haunt her? — She muses as she turns the corner.

The first weeks after Finn dumped her with a sad smile, an “I’m sorry, I can’t do this any more” and a small pat on her back, she could not comprehend what went wrong with the first guy that did not make her feel like a forgettable girl. 

Finn was attentive, kind, and so very charming. He was everything she wanted in a guy. 

He watched with her her favorite chick flicks and even used to bring snacks from the hasian store across town —that’s a 60 minute car drive. If that wasn’t love, then what was it?? She could not get enough of hearing him speak about his day, or whatever he would share with her. His kisses were tender and his love making as well, she thought everything was finally going upwards in her romantic life.

She wipes a tear rolling down her cheek after parking her car and grabbing her stuff.

Under fake smiles and “Everything’s alright!!” to Rey and Kydel, Rose had been nursing a broken heart for months. Still, her friends were not fooled. Her unkempt hair and dark circles under her eyes gave her away.

After sleepless nights and ungovernable anxiety, analyzing and over-analyzing her relationship with Finn in search of the reason or reasons it did not work, when it all went wrong… she still just can’t find them.

All that blind love she felt —feels— does not give her the answers she seeks.

Her keychain jingles as she places the key to open her home.

She would kiss him boldly and rub her hand on his cock in front of his apartment door but Finn was always too shy, never showed that urgency to fuck her. If she’s gonna be honest, she kinda hoped that she would incite that hunger in him, but it never happened. And she made peace with that; it was just not part of his nature; to shove her up against the wall.

As she gets undressed to take a bath, she takes a quick glimpse of her naked body, thinking how her body and overly friendly self would never incite uncontrolled desire in any decent guy.

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While the “Love” aspect in her life is constantly disappointing, the “Work” aspect is pretty neat. Yes, she suffers every single petty inconvenience like any other no-nepotism child but Rose is still satisfied with her job and the people she works with… at least, most of them.

Since Leia Organa’s wayward son; “Ben” or “Kylo Ren” —depends on who you ask— is part of the legal team designated to verify and approve all design copyright requests, Rose can say she’s not had a single boring day at work. He and his acolytes just seem like characters out of a Billions and Suits with a bit of Downton Abbey in the side. An unholy mix of sorts; all super tall, sharp dressed and… well, very unreachable looking.

The First Order Trio, they call them; an inside joke within Resistance employees, but she’s only interacted with Kylo Ben so far. He seemed polite enough, a bit scary because of how tall and big he is — bear-sized ; Kay would say— then there is a statuesque blonde, and a rude redhead that she once asked to hold the elevator doors open for her. She was in a hurry, holding a stack of files taller than her and was like only 30 paces away, he would not have had to wait longer than 3 seconds—still, the dick pretended not to hear her, and she had to wait for the next available elevator. 

Hux they call him; full name Armitage Hux. 

What a pretentious name.

That nasty ginger embodies everything Rose hates, and not because he did not hold the elevator doors for her. She’s had the displeasure of being in hearing and sight distance of him to know he’s not only rude, he’s also cruel, cold, and looks everyone down his nose.

She makes a disgusted expression on her way to the kitchen. It's too early to have such unpleasant thoughts.

So her thoughts go back to Kylo Ben. Well, there is never a boring moment in Resistance since they have had the pleasure of dealing with him, they just milk on anything Kylo Ben related.

“They had to replace Ren’s computer. It's the third time this month.”

“He threw a chair during the meeting with the people from Endor!”

“His assistant quit. Again.”

And today, there is a new one:
“All the dudes in I.T. were so scared of him, so they sent Rey, the I.T intern? Well, let’s just say the accounts team heard their shouting from across the hall and then Ren is sporting a black eye the next day? That happened like a month ago? Funniest thing nowadays; whenever he’s got computer problems, he specifically requests for Rey.”

Rose was concerned an office rumor involved her friend and a boss of such a volatile reputation, so she spoke to Rey about it. Her friend just waved it off as an exaggeration: “That is ridiculous! Nothing is happening! You know how boys are when they are bored? They are worse than a needling circle, Rosie! It's just tittle-tattle, don’t mind them!”

Her friends' words placate her concerns, so the rest of her day goes quite calmly. Kay joins her for lunch and tells her that Mrs. Holdo came looking for her while Rose was downstairs in the storage room checking in some new materials that had just arrived. Even though Kay is from accounts and not her secretary, Holdo saw her and just asked her to let Rose know she wants to talk to her—when bosses ask you for something, specially the ones in upper management, they rarely consider if what they ask for is even part of your duties. 

The afternoon goes in a blur and she almost forgets about Kay’s message.

At the end of the day she makes her way to the upper floors and by a one in a million chance, Rose finds Ren standing in the middle of the Hallway to Mrs. Holdo’s office. She notices his gaze following Rey, who is messily eating a donna and cheetos, opening the stairs door with not a care for the world. 

As she continues her path to Holdo’s office, Rose is not so sure it’s just tittle-tattle anymore.

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As Rose makes her way to the bus stop —no car today, she’s aware of how damaging car smoke is for the planet and also gas prices are crazy high these days!— she traces back to her last minutes at work.

At how she must have looked when Mrs. Holdo informed her she would be working directly for the next few weeks with the other person in the room. Even when he was sitting on a chair right in front of her mentor, the sour faced redhead managed to look at her down his nose. 

She just hopes her distasteful grimace has not been visible.

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It’s past noon, the day is a perfect mix between sunny and windy so Rey and Kay suggest they get lunch in the cafe near their office building. They sit at one of the little tables placed outside. Both her friends look pretty pleased with  their lunch selection while Rose mounches loudly on her pretzel.

 Kay nudges her leg under the table. “You’re gonna grind your teeth to dust if you keep that up”

Rose swallows the last of the salty treat and crosses her arms, completely deflating on her chair.

 “What did he do today?” Rey asks while rolling her fork on the pasta she ordered.

No need to mention his name, they all know exactly who “he”  is whenever Rose is annoyed about something. It’s been over a month since she and Hux started working together and since the very beginning he has been a total nightmare to work with. 

Rose; nice-fun-friendly and naive Rose, who thought that maybe if she was her usual nice-fun-friendly self, Hux would eventually recede in his asshole ways and actually act like a decent normal person...

Well; that Rose was thoroughly mistaken.

He barely recognized her presence whenever she would enter his office, even when she forced her brightest smile to greet him and behaved at her politest. The very first day they started working together she arrived three — THREE! — minutes late which earned her a scold on how valuable his time is and to make sure that never happens again.  

 Her inputs on work related topics were discarded, also she had to adapt to his schedule — which meant she had unpaid extra work hours —   and if that was not enough to earn her a Nobel Peace prize, she also had to be subject to his judging looks regarding her clothing choices — Well, sorry for not being able to afford Dior pencil skirts and Louboutin pumps! I’m too busy trying to meet rent and streaming services bills every month!

She knows she’s a nonconsequential girl with a forgettable name, especially to someone like him. He doesn't not need to rub that on her face.

It was two weeks after they started working together when she gave up on ever even trying to treat him with basic manners. Fuck him and his uptight clasissit ass, it was time to bring out the guillotine! Rose decided after he had the fucking nerve to set a meeting and then just not let her know that it was cancelled because he had a last minute meeting with Kylo Ben. She was sitting in the lobby prior to Hux's office door waiting, until the front desk secretary casually greeted her and, as in confidence, made an offhand comment on how moody Hux from the lawyer's team looked when he left the building…thirty minutes ago.

What a hypocrite. He’s such a stickler for time only when it comes to his time .

 Well. Enough. Is. Enough.

 Nowadays she would set their meeting hours, talk over him when he casually dismissed her inputs and opinions, and most definitely would wear her ugliest converse pair whatever unfortunate day she had meetings with him.

“Miss Tico, this is completely unacceptable” his cruel mouth would utter when he noticed her interrupting him in the middle of a sentence, to which she replied, chin up in the air, but  trembling inside: “Well, go cry Holdo about it then”. The murderous look he gave her was so priceless, she wished she had snapped a pic of it with her phone.

And He did just that. Complained about her to her mentor. Holdo vaguely mentioned the topic to her, but nothing even remotely similar to a reprimand. Mrs. Holdo cared not one bit for The First Order Law Firm —she wanted them to be replaced by a different law firm, actually—so Rose became bolder, confident her mentor would not bat an eye if she treated Hux like fellow colleague, not someone on the food chain upper levels —as he liked to think of himself. 

She had not let Hux once step over her again.

And if she was honest with herself, it was kind of thrilling to see him all red when she so blatantly disregarded him. There was this glint in his eyes—she noticed with shame—that she liked to provoke. In her defense, that guy just brought out the worst in her… quite effortlessly.

“Well, technically speaking… he … did nothing.”

“Okay. Go on,” says Kay,  slurping the last of her pink lemonade. The noise the straw makes against the glass bottle scrapes right against Rose’s skull.

 “It's me. I did something… Remember Finn was working along with Poe on a new batch of chairs for the Chandrila airport?"

Kay and Rey nodded even though they had no idea what chairs Rose was talking about.

"Well I mixed up the folder along with the approved folders… I should have given it to Hux like a week ago… that purchase order should have been ready to sign days ago.“—Rose grabbed her head in her hands—”Ugh…I don’t want Finn to think I’m a spiteful ex-girlfriend trying to sabotage his career”. 

Both Rey and Kay made an apologetic face at that.

 “Is there a way to fix this?”—Rey asked while patting her discouraged friend.

“Yeah, beg Hugs to work on it… today ” 

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She’s been trying to keep her heart from bursting out of her throat for hours, the thought of having the absolute need to ask Hux for something was nerve wracking. She had been doing such a fine job so far proving this asshole she was competent and professional and fucking knew her shit, even though she was not  a 926 years exclusive university graduate nor had ties with the upper rangs in the Arkanis Military. Rose was an Honor community college graduate and was very proud of her hasian heritage, unfortunately those points did not count as relevant when dealing with someone like him.

 “Ms. Tico, would you stop that tapping. It’s giving me a migraine” He’s sitting on his huge chair, his back to her and even though she can not see his face, she can hear the sneer in his voice.

 Ugh. She had been bouncing her feet and had not even noticed. 

 It's now or never. She can’t find the strength to actually ask him to work on Finn’s folder, instead, she stops tapping her foot and passes him said folder, praying to whichever deity heard her to heed her plea and not let him notice the folder’s date.

“What is this?—he asks with a deadly calm voice, waving the folder in one hand— “This should have been revised seven days ago”

Of fucking course he would notice, well to late to back off now.

 “This folder got mixed between the approved ones-”—Hux cuts in by raising a hand, turning around on his chair, facing her.

 “Mixed” —he repeats, pronouncing it like it's the most amusing word in the English vocabulary—” You expect me to believe that?—he finishes while tapping a white, long, thin finger over Finn’s name.

 Involuntary, Rose gulps and his eyes narrow. An atrocious smile is spread along his sharp features.

 “You expected me to believe that” he scoffs and stands up to approach where she was sitting surrounded by pending purchase orders.

 “You know what I think is happening here, Ms Tico?”—his venom green eyes bulge to emphasize his displeasure—“That’s the truth, look-” —and he interrupts her again, this time by making a tsk, tsk  sound.

 “Stop trying to cover up for your boyfriend”

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore” she automatically corrects and his eyes glint, a cruel smile hinted at the edges of his lips.

“Then you’re more pathetic than I originally thought” he finishes looking down at her.

She can’t believe what she’s hearing. How dare he talk to her like that?

 The hair in Rose’s arms stands up, her face is boiling.

 “If you think I will stay a minute longer than I absolutely have to, just because you want me to save that boy’s arse, you are terribly mistaken" "Desperate to get back into his good graces, are we?”

“It’s not like that” She snaps, her fists curled into white knuckled balls.

 “Covering up for his unprofessionalism is not going to make him take you back,”— and Rose and can not still believe his fucking words! How fucking dare he?—“I advise you to save the last of your dignity if you ever had any, Ms Tico. ”

 And that 's it. The last of her selfstrains snaps.

 He was invading her personal space, stepping above her feelings and addressing her with a complete lack of basic manners. He was denigrating her. This fucker was fucking insulting her.

Rose’s  open hand flies fast and hard, connecting to his cheek and leaving the imprint of her fingers there.

“If you think that just because you are from upper management I will let you talk to me like this —That.. that you have the fucking right to do so…? You are thoroughly mistaken! Finn asked me for nothing! It was I who got the fucking folders mixed, you fucking asshole!”

 Now the rest of his face has turned red with rage, but the imprint of her hand is still a shade deeper. His mouth and eyes opened wide with incredulity.

Rose does not stay to appreciate the mark on his face, instead she grabs her jacket and storms away before she loses the hold against the burning liquid trying to pour from her eyes.

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The next day comes in a blur of moving pictures, she can’t focus on the outside world. She’s on plane mode, with only her basic functions operating. Once passions where down and her fucking mind was in the driver’s seat again, she finally considered the consequences of her stupid, stupid, very stupid actions. Even though he verbally attacked her, she attacked him physically. 

He would maybe get his wrist slapped for his verbal transgressions but she would totally get fired. 

 Rose was all too aware of his reputation as a spiteful person and a heartless boss and not even Mrs. Holdo will let something as serious as a slap between colleagues situation slip, so when Snapp tells her she’s requested by upper management she’s sure she’ll be an unemployed girl in the next few minutes and frantically opens her bank app to see how much money she’s got and how many months that amount could sustain her until she gets a new job.

 Her hands are sweating as she makes her way to the elevator. The bubbling anxiety has her heart on her throat while she's considering all the stuff she will have to let go to save a few dollars; none of the streaming services she uses will make it

Bye, Bye to background shows while scrolling down twitter , Spotify and that pair of combat boots she ordered last night and maybe she’ll also have to cut on the-

 “Ms. Tico”

 Rose is taken back to reality by Phasma’s stern tone. 

The statuesque bleach blonde looks annoyed and she gulps, trying —again— to hold back the tears burning the corners of her eyeballs.

At least for the next thirty minutes.

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By the end of the day she’s drinking iced tea with Rey, laughing maybe a bit too loud and people occasionally glance their way but she’s ecstatic and can’t help the relief flowing inside her in waves.

She was not fired. She was summoned to discuss a topic nowhere near that league! 

Mr. Skywalker — “Just call me Luke” — showed her a potential new project options for reading chairs and just wanted to hear her opinion on “how ergonomic and pocket friendly for young people” the new prototypes he showed Rose seemed to her.

Rey made her choke with her impersonation of Luke and Rose was varely recovering from her cough, only to be out of breath again when she makes direct eye contact with green eyes turned black from afar.

And, as if challenged to a duel, Rose holds her stare. The redhead whips around and she watches his stiff back blend in a flock of people coming and going down the street.

Why the fuck is she acting like this? —she should not provoke him further.

Still, she can’t deny how good it felt winning their petty little staring showdown.

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For weeks, she’s done all she could to avoid him; like making her stay at common areas such as meeting rooms and the water fountain as short as possible, she’s even started to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Lucky for her, her office is on the third floor so not many flights of stairs are in her path, but not even divine intervention might have saved her from this.

 That’s why, on Thursday night, two hours after her work hours are done she’s still stuck at work, more precisely  stuck in his office, revising purchase orders from different companies. 

She speaks only when spoken to and avoids eye contact. Not because she’s scared of him, because she’s not… but she’ll rather not let her impulsive self loose again around this snake. Even though she caught him looking at her several times as if asserting when it was the best moment to strike, he did not get her fired for slapping him. Apparently, he did not speak about it to anyone.

Better not create opportunities for a potential second slap.

 Rose is still a bit scared of her last experience with purchase orders; the wording in those had to be very precise… so, it is a relief she’s not doing this alone? Nevertheless, it would have been much better to have been partnered up with a different layer.

 Hux sits in a way that Rose thinks might be comfortable for only him; back ramrod straight, a leg crossed over the other, a hand holding the paper he's currently reading while the other is tapping a half smoked cigarette over the ashtray next to him. 

  What a jerk. He did not even ask if she minded him smoking in his office . She does not, but still, it's a closed space!

 The door to his office is suddenly opened and her internal cursing of Hux is suddenly interrupted by Poe with a backpack in hand and ready to go.

 “Hugs,” the ever cheerful Poe says as greeting and throws a folder. It lands unceremoniously on Hux’s desk causing several folders and papers placed there to fly . The redhead looks possitively murderous

“This one just came in”

 She could cry because suddenly they have one more folder to go through but also tries to hide the chuckles behind her hand at the redhead’s expression.

 “Hey Rose, sorry about this” —Poe finally remembered her name without stumbling on it, referring to the folder he just added — “also my condolences” he mocked, making a face in Hux's direction and closing the door behind him. She can’t help the little laugh that escapes her.

 Hux, never one to take a joke on his behalf well, turns his attention to her. 

Oh boy…

 “I wonder if you’ll still find him so funny when you catch him deep down your ex boyfriend's throat”—he finishes his sentence with a sneer and Rose pauses, processing what she has just heard.

 “What did you say?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” he says in a tone so faux surprised that makes Rose stand up.

"Dameron is the reason he dumped you” — he finishes, also standing up. His body tensed and ready for confrontation.

 “Hugs. Please. You're a liar. Why would I believe you?”

“Why would you not? He looks thrilled at not only catching her attention but also at inciting her rage. 

Rose takes another step closer. Hazel eyes narrowing.

“You think I would make this up just to piss you off? Please, do not flatter yourself, peasant. You are not worth the effort” he taunts.

The space between them now it’s barely the socially acceptable one.

 ”While I’m not into men, I have to admit that Mr. Storm chose better this time” he finishes, eyes dancing with malice from her old Chuck Taylors converse, lingering a millisecond on her breats then mouth and finally up to her messy hair.

 Humiliation hits her hard, red rage blooming from her cheeks to the rest of her body.

 Like last time; her hand is flying in the air before her brain can process what her body is doing. Unlike last time; Hux catches her hand before she can land the hit. His smirk at having anticipaed her move is short lived as she slaps him with her other hand.

As fast as a snake, his movements are blured as he grabs both her hands and crashes her flush against him. He’s fumming, all red faced and furious but also there's an expression on him she can not quite place.

And it's all very sudden and confusing because his face dips, as if is about to kiss her but in the last second he refrains from doing so and that…that makes her angrier than his venomous comments? 

If Rose was not sure that this rude and arrogant man who on more than one occasion had looked her down his nose was about to kiss her a second ago, she definitely is now as like in low motion his head dips again, tilting slightly to the side, and once again he stops before reaching her lips.

He can’t stand that he lusts after her. 

And that’s the maybe wrong conclusion to this twilight zone like situation that calls to her darker side to act. High on adrenaline and feeling the bone deep need to damage as she has been. 

And his jugular has been exposed to her, or so to say.  

Rose grabs him by his jacket lapels and kisses him. Fast, hard and enough to mark him, her teeth sinking on his lower lip, breaking skin. Rose tastes copper in her tongue. Both she and Hux are panting. 

 This darker version of Rose pushes him back; she wants to see humiliation in his eyes.

Instead she’s met with full blown pupils. 

Then she’s being trapped in long arms, again crushed against his body. He kisses her hungryly, like the internal leash of self control he had on himself finally had been let loose. 

One moment she’s been kissed and the next Rose feels being pushed back, as if he’s burned and she; fire. She’s never felt more powerful.

 “Ms Tico ” he pants and drags a hand on his chin to wipe the mix of blood and spit dripping there, looking at her like a man going mad barely holding to the last of his morals or impossible standards or whatever it is that he calls them. 

 Rose knows deep inside this all the warning she will get; and maybe she’s feeling too power drunk, horny and going a little mad too, because instead of using the escape route he offered her, she kisses him again. 

 And this time he does not hold back.

 Step by clumsy step, Rose is pushed back until her back hits the wall, its uneven surface lets her stay in a sitting position as Hux devours her mouth, her throat and she lets him, taking big gulps of air the few seconds their mouths are not interlocked. She grounds her hips against his growing erection, making circular movements and he groans her name in warning.

 “Wanna fuck you… so bad” he breathes to her ear while mimicking her hip movements and grabbing her ass.

 “Then”—Rose says, voice cruel and rasp —”earn it”— she continues, grabbing a handful of his coiffed hair, directing his sight downways as she opens her legs.

 He drops on his knees so pathetically fast and his mouth is on her center as soon as her ripped jeans are discarded and her panties moved aside, one leg hanging on his shoulder. Hux lightly bites the inside of her thigh which earns him a gasp from her, then his eager tongue is flat on her cunt, then inside; her hands messing his gelled up hair.

 It doesn’t take him long to make her come. The moment she does, he stands up.

In hurriend yet precise movements he lowers his slacks down his thighs, underwear along them and his erect cock bobs as he moves. The sound of a condom wrap being torn and the sight of her panties barely hanging on the verge of her feet is what she remembers before she is bouncing against the wall, holding onto him while strands of her hair cling to her face.

 It's fast and intense and so fucking good.

Their eyes ooze defiance and spite while breathing into each other's mouths.

When she feels Hux trying to roll up her shirt to reveal her tits she does not let him; Rose does not want him to see her belly rolls. She may be at peace with her extra body fat, but not comfortable enough to let Hux see them. She forcefully yanks his hair to get her attention back to her face. The effect on him is the desired one as he interprets her actions as a challenge and in response he fucks her even harder. 

Her back is burning and she’s sure it will hurt tomorrow, still she encourages his thrusts to become punishing. She comes again impaled on his cock and Hux follows her not long later .

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That night,  Rose’s  brain is catching up with her latest screw up… To call it somehow.

On Saturday she gets a text from an unknown number. All it says is “ Hello” but she just knows who it is from but it’s not 100% sure. She leaves the message unanswered.  

It doesn’t take her long to confirm her suspicions as she pleads with Rey, who had to work that Saturday,—while she swears to her all will be explained later— for Hux's personal information. She’s from IT, so she can easily access information like that.  There is his work number and his personal number; which is exactly the same number that message was sent from. 

As if it burned her, she lets her phone fall to the floor.

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 On Monday morning Rose is nervously gripping her messenger’s bag strap, waiting for the looks and whispers at her expense that were surely her office's latest entertainment… She had sex with Hux. In his office. Which she's sure must have at least one security camera up in a corner like every other closed office in her workplace…or if there was no camera, maybe he would be bragging about it, telling everyone how easy it was to get in her pants because that’s what a despicable man like Hux would do? Right? 

 Apparently not.

For now days have passed; the week is over and not one glance was directed at her, nor heard any break room gossip even remotely related to her. Rey and Kay not once even mentioned Hux’s name during lunch breaks and Rose was sure if her name was even whispered along his in the same sentence, both her friends would definitely mention it.

 None acted any different around her, and she kinda felt relieved at still being as invisible as ever.

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More days went by and still there were no rumors about her, the only new thing she noticed were constant, minute long looks directed her way. She was not getting those from her work colleagues though, but from the Devil himself.

She would be about her everyday activities; when making copies in the copy room, searching for her cup in the break room while chatting with Kay or Rey and even when greeting Poe in the elevator she would catch him staring at her. Sometimes when they were close enough she would notice his gaze on her mouth, on her breasts. Once Rose caught him staring and kept eye contact in hopes of chastising him. When he finally noticed that he was caught; instead of feeling ashamed or at least surprised at being caught doing something he is not supposed to do, his lips curl up slightly.

  Ha! What a delusional jerk!

 Like she would ever fuck him again.

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Since Kay went camping with her yoga friends; it’s Rey’s suggestion they go to a nightclub, but it is not just any night club. It’s one of those super exclusive places at the top of a super tall building with a pool and dancefloor and sometimes the dancefloor is placed on the pool. Rich people being extra, as always. But that's not it, you have to be invited to get in. Rose nor her friends were vip people but they got in because Poe got them included on his guest list because Rey asked him.

 This is the kind of place only the super-duper, creme de la creme VIP would frequent; she’s sure a movie star or a singer will pop up in any second. That would have been very cool but that’s not who she recognizes there. 

Kylo Ben; Leia’s son is there. All in black and bear-sized— again, intently looking at Rey. To be fair, this time she’s looking in his direction as well. There’s something weird going on between them, Rose is now 100% positive about it. But her friend has not mentioned a word about it and she’s not gonna press. Rey will share when she’s ready to do so.

 Besides, she’s not even made the smallest mention about what happened with Hux last month. Even when she promised Rey she would tell her why she needed Hux’s personal information, Rey did not ask again and Rose just let it slip by, relieved that her friend forgot she was owed an explanation. 

Who is Rose to demand to know what is going with all that eye-fucking between her friend and bear-sized Kylo?

 She’s heading to the bar when she notices another familiar silhouette near Kylo. His back is impossibly straight and his red hair flaring with the intermittent illumination of the venue, immersed in what looks like an animated conversation—for Hux’s standards, Rose thinks— with a dark haired girl with equally dark makeup that could easily be on the next Vogue cover.

The slightest pang she felt at seeing him with a much taller, slender woman is completely unnoticed. As Rose turns to scan the place, her eyes land and focus on Finn’s familiar profile.

. . . 

 She’s heard the gossip about them but to actually see Poe and Finn together… it hits her hard.

They are laughing and kissing and dancing. Rose has never seen her ex boyfriend that loose and radiant; his face glowing in absolute happiness. They dance very close, completely immersed in each other and even from where she stands with a champagne flute in hand, she can see that Finn not once looked that happy when he was with her.

And when he sees him push Poe to the back, hand in his pants, completely hungry for the handsome curly haired man, she feels like falling apart.

This nonconsequential girl with a forgettable name needs a distraction and she needs another drink.

. . . 

Her drinks bill consists of 3 Piña coladas which is all she can afford in this overpriced place without making an irreparable dent on this month’s “Budget for Miscellaneous Spending” .

The place is so big and full; the two dance floors are packed and, the pool and a dance floor with see-through floors on a pool has got people over and under it. It’s fucking ridiculous.

Third Piña colada in hand, a bit tipsy but not enough to numb her senses and drown her misery she heads for the dance floor that’s farther from where Finn and Poe are.

She’s dancing alone, hair loose and her tight sparkly black dress rolls up a bit up when she dips down in certain parts of the song. Rose is not in the mood for company nor new acquaintances, so when the second random guy who approaches her tries to grab her waist, her ass or any part of her body he feels entitled to grab without even a “Hello” first , she spills the rest of her drink onto his very expensive looking jacket.

The guy’s demeanor changes from playful to furious in a second and good. She’s itching for a fight and to claw his eyes out when this random guy is shoved back.

“Disappear” is all the newcomer says and the very-expensive-looking-but-now-piña-colada-drenched-jacket guy  who was just about to shove back his aggressor frowns when recognition strikes in and stops, spiteful eyes glancing Rose from head to toe in a dismissive gesture and backs away.

Rose groans.

“What is it with today?” “Is it “Asshole Day?”

She’s aware she’s acting meaner than necessary, after all Hux had not bothered her once after she started ignoring and pretty much avoiding him. She’s also aware she won’t regret acting mean towards him as soon as he opens his mouth.

Hux stares, unimpressed. “You haven’t replied to my text”—he accuses and she’s actually surprised he’s acknowledging that out loud, especially after weeks of silence.

“In case you have not noticed Armitage, I am ignoring you.”

"So I noticed but chose to let it slip. You were doing a phenomenal job, by the way"—  he dismisses while pretending to wipe dust of his jacket — "The company could have use for this particular skill of yours"

Rose rolls her eyes at that and while doing so, out in the corner of her eye, she catches Finn and Poe make their way to the bar, holding hands and her eyes automatically follow. Hux notices it and follows her gaze.

Realization downs— and again, that atrocious smile of his appears on his face.

“So, you finally caught up”— he mocks, dragging the word finally as it’s a 16 letter word.
“Shut up”
“That's what all this little scene is all about, huh?—he continues, unperturbed, referring to her being drinking and  dancing alone, most likely in very uncoordinated movements.

Was he… watching her?

Rose is really not in the mood, nor has the strength to take any of his bullshit at this moment, so she just flips her middle finger at his face and turns to leave. Too bad she’s not fast enough for the gloved hand that grabs her forearm, not gently but not roughly either. Just enough to keep her attention.

“How very mature of you, Ms. Tico” he tutts and then leans in to whisper in her ear; “If what you need is to let out me some… steam, instead of drinking cheap drinks and spilling them on useless daddy’s boys, why don't you come with me? ”—he pauses, pleased at the inbreath she takes as he traces a finger down her arm— ”I'm offering you a deal which might prove most satisfying for both”

It’s pretty clear the meaning behind his words, and if that was not obvious enough, the look he was giving her, sure was.

“Think about it”

She falters as he moves away from her and heads for the exit, leaving her speechless in the corner of the dancefloor.

. . . 

Her phone buzzes in her purse, it's Rey telling her she’s leaving with Kylo Ben. She offers to pay for Rose’s Uber drive but Rose declines. Her friend’s text typed in all caps switches something in her.

Drink is not enough as Hux’s offer burns bright in her mind and for once, she just might take what’s offered without looking at the hand who offered.

Rose is done giving , she’s about to start taking .

Also, he made her come twice that time in his office. Which makes his offer much, much more tempting.

. . . 

Rose texts to his unsaved number as she follows the same path that earlier, she saw him follow. 

No reply.

 Impatient, she pressed the call button and it was on the  second incoming call beep when she saw him, leaning on a sleek sports black car, phone in hand, smirking —right across the street.

“My place?” he offers as he opens the door to her, to which she replies “No, mine”— slamming the door before he can close it for her.  

His ever annoying little smirk grows wider.

There’s no way of letting this asshole take her somewhere unknown where she does not know where all the exits and sharp knives are.

.

.

.

If he does not approve of her middle class neighborhood or her little shoe box apartment, he does not show it, just remains in silence when following her indications and as he enters her place.

As soon as the door is closed, they are on each other; kissing, nipping, biting and undressing. Something glints and chimes around his neck. Dogtags . But she does not inquire about them.

Rose takes him to her room and pushes him onto the bed, straddling him as soon as he’s on the mattress. Some clothes she planned on washing are still laying randomly across her undone bed. His head lands on a pair of jeans and he moves it aside, a little twitch in his eyes while doing so.

Pure satisfaction runs through her chest, when his expression of displeasure is morphed into one of awe when she’s on top of him, her naked body  on full display now that she’s more confident in a familiar environment and the lingering alcohol in her system is making her bolder than she normally is.

“Condom?”
“Wallet. In the back of my trousers”

She moves to her side to grab the pants he had the time to fold somehow and leave on a chair she keeps next to her bed. He makes a little noise as if she just killed him when moving over him, her flesh making contact with his erect shaft.

She grabs the condom and tosses it to him, giving him a little space to roll it on.

Then she’s sliding down his length, sufficiently wet from their earlier fondling. His hands on her soft hips guide her down and hers are on his shoulders, using him as support.

She rides him slowly at first, building up her pace and speed, her nails starting to leave red marks on his freckled shoulders. Hux moans her name as she rides him, a hand now on his throat pressing lightly, his hands squeezing her tits, her thighs, fingers digging into her fleshy hips, a look of pure determination on his now pitch black eyes as he follows her fast pace.

When she comes she lets out a high pitch noise and her body slackens. Instantly, Hux moves them to a sitting position, handling her now complacent and satisfied body up and down his cock until he too comes deep inside her.

.

.

.

Rose does not look forward to catching a glimpse of Finn nowadays.

It’s been a very interesting three months since Rose and Hux started their little agreement—”Reluctant work colleagues with benefits”; as she likes to call it. 

They are each other's stress reliever and frankly it's sort of the best thing that’s happened to her since, well; Finn.

The lines between work and off work activities are still very clear and honestly, she’s happy they are.

As months went by, Rose noticed very small changes in their usual dynamics; and these are all welcome changes. Hux acts less annoying and she kinda, sorta tolerates his unwanted and unsolicited opinion on every single topic they could come across; because of fucking course he has to have an opinion and a ten minute review about pretty much anything. 

Only Rey and Kay are aware of their extracurricular agreement as far as Rose is concerned, and she tries her best to keep things that way, but sometimes… sometimes Hux likes to play with her—like a snake would play with a tiny mouse before devouring it—and that’s not good for her blood pressure.

Example: just the other day they met paths on the elevator; it was empty apart from him standing there, briefcase in hand, so Rose was a bit reluctant to get in with him there but she was in a hurry so she got in, silently.  No acknowledgement between them. 

The elevator resumed its way and two floors down Leia —Leia Organa, founding member of this company. Their Boss — gets in, she greets them both and stands behind the pneumatic doors, her back to Rose and Hux. They automatically stepped to the back of the elevator box, leaving space for the regal woman. 

Rose jumps and a high pitch yelp is almost out of her mouth when she feels her ass being squeezed while Hux facial expression remains irritatingly calm, like his hand is not grabbing a handful of her ass cheek in that precise moment. Then Leia gets off the next floor and Rose can swear hearing the older woman muttering something like naughty kids on her way out.

“What do you think of this one Rosie?” Kay asks as she shows her a cute green spaghetti straps top.

Both Rey and Kay wanted to go shopping, it was sale season so it was kinda hard to resist the lure of purchasing something that she will probably forget she owns until she miraculously stumbles upon it at the bottom of her wardrobe…a year later.

So yeah, she’s got a shopping bag with two dresses and socks in one hand and a smoothie on the other. 

Rose scrunches her nose in response. “It’s cute, but I’d like it more in a different color?”

“Red, maybe?” Kay teases, waggling her eyebrows, to which Rose rolls her eyes and her friends laughs. 

“What’s going on ladies? And why is the distinguished Ms. Ko Connix laughing like a baby hyena?” At the sound of her friend’s laughter, Rey joins them, interlocking her arms around each friend.

“Oh nothing, she’s just being silly.”

“Silly? Me? Never” Kaydel sniffs. “Rosie here gets all flustered when the color red is mentioned, that’s it.”

“Oh,” Rey pauses, then adds “What’s going on with your boyfriend?”

“He is not my boyfriend.”

“Alright Rose, no need to get your panties in a twist.” —Kay snorts at that—”What's going on with ‘He who shall not be named’ who also happens to be not-your-boyfriend?”

“You two are the worst, you guys know that?” Rose replies, taking a slurp of her smoothie.

“We do,” the reply, in a sing-song tone that makes Rose snort.

“Well, if you must know, nothing’s happened” —Rose shrugs— “He comes over when I call him, sometimes I go to his place, we do the deed and then each to their own”—she pauses, but then feels the need to add — “Like we have for the last three months.” She finishes taking one last sip at her drink.

A month later after she and Hux became “regulars” she was fine with the idea of going to his place, to change the scene a bit.

She knew he would live in a non affordable, — for her — fancy part of the city, but when he pressed the penthouse button of the elevator taking them to what seemed like a manor at the top of a building “You are so disgusting ” is the first thing that escaped her mouth. The tips of his lip curled upwards, clearly pleased at impressing her.

Hux definitely does not look like the type who would have a pet, —too much humanity required to be a pet owner—yet a posh looking fluffy orange cat was sitting on a dining table, judginly staring at her when she entered the foyer. Rose, lover of all things, immediately approaches the creature to pet it. It looked as if offended she dared to approach it. The creature hissed at her and left the room.

“Millie is much less tolerant of the proletariat class than her daddy”—Hux chuckled.

And apparently Millie is also a rude asshole, like her daddy.

“And you, what’s going on with the Prince of Darkness and you?” Kay asks, batting her eyes at Rey.

“Last night asked me to marry him. I said no” Rey says, like she’s talking about the weather not like someone just asked her hand in marriage.

Kay and Rose blink. Once. Twice. Then Rose reacts, blurting a “Whaaaat?” to her friend.

“He asked me to become his wife.” Rey supplies, unhelpfully. As if understanding the meaning of what she said before was slipping out of Rose’s general knowledge. She sends her friend an aggravating look which makes Rey sigh in defeat.

“We were having such a good time in the ring last night,” —they are both Boxing fans and Ren has a personal gym in his house, so they kinda mock-fight from time to time… as foreplay… Rose is sure of it— “And then when I knocked him down, he just laughed and then freaking stood on one knee, hand held out, asking me to bloody marry him. I panicked and I said no.” Rey finishes, her nonchalant posture gone, and now a worried one in its place.

“Oh honey. What did he say?” Kay asks, rubbing her friend's arm.

“Nothing, he just stood there, looking at me with those big kicked-puppy eyes of his… I… did not know how to handle the situation, it was too much, too sudden and… I… I just did not know what to do.” —She pauses, a frustrated look on her freckled face —” I just ran away, like an idiot ”—Rey takes a deep breath and continues— “ I love him, I really do and now I fear I fucked this over” she confesses the last part, with a sob.

Both her friends hug her, trying to give her some comfort.

“Rey. Babe” —Rose begins— “I do not think this is something that can't be talked over…I mean… the guy asked you to marry him…" "Babe, I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and honestly,  I don’t think one little panic induced reaction will ever deter him from his intentions.”

Rey sniffs at that and wipes the corner of her eyes.

. . .

The rest of her shopping spree goes smoothly, her friends and Rose actually laugh so much after pretty much anything, her ribs hurt.

Rose takes them home, first Kay then Rey. When she sees Ren’s car parked outside Rey’s apartment building she smiles and kisses her friend's forehead — “Go”—  she encourages as she passes Rey her shopping of the day. 

. . .

Rose is high on happiness for her friend, there is no other way to describe it. 

She’s whistling Madonna's Material Girl as she makes her way to her apartment at the end of the hallway when she notices water leaking out of her door.

What. the. fuck. ?

. . .

The entire plumbing system in her place was too old, rusted and needs to be replaced. Her landlord tells her. 

One week. 

It will take one week to get it replaced, and she has to go to a friend’s place while her apartment plumbing is getting fixed, he tells her. Kay lives in a place smaller than her and Rey… well… she suspects she’ll be unavailable and honestly does not want to be a stone in her friend’s shoe right now.

One week. 

What’s she supposed to do, live under a fucking bridge?

.

.

.

On Monday she leaves a flyer on the cardwood board with miscellaneous announcements they have it in the hall in front of the cafeteria at work. Her internet search showed her only very expensive and very disappointing options.

“Housing needed for one week” It’s all it says along with her phone.

Unknown to Rose, her cute yellow flyer with text written in Comic Sans is snatched and thrown into the garbage shortly after she placed it.

.

.

.

“Heard you are homeless” Hux casually chimes in, sliding up to her in the parking lot.

Rose squints —“How did you-? Ugh. Nevermind” 

“Well, if you need a roof for a week, I could help you with that. I have a lot of free space and I haven’t donated to the poor this year” he throws in casually, while pretending to inspect his glove-covered nails.

Rose just stares at him. She’s itching to bite the bait, but she needs to solve her home situation asap.

“Thanks for the offer Hugs, but no thanks.” She closes her door and starts the engine of her tiny car before driving away.

. . .

None replied to her flyer.

Hux is practically dripping smugness out of his reptilian skin when she steps out of his floor’s elevator.

“Don’t for one second think that I’m here for you to get home serviced” she says, pointing her index finger at him.

His place is big enough for both of them to live in without having to interact, besides the times when they’re both horny and in the mood for fucking.

As well with work, their living arrangements lines are pretty clear, she sleeps in the guest room, he in his. Sometimes they share common areas like the kitchen or the living room, but besides that, they barely see each other and that works perfect for Rose.

It’s not until the night of her third day of stay, when she falls asleep in his room; that her carefully drawn lines start to get blurry.

.

.

.

Hux woke her up with wandering hands over her tits and over her cunt. The old shirt with several holes she used to sleep in that last night he eyed with unapproving eyes,  this morning does not seem to deter the hard cock pressed between her buttcheeks. His day starts earlier than hers, so after making her come real quick he is gone for work. 

She wanders around the spacious Penthouse, feeling lost—Is this what Christine would have done in that theater, in her free time had she ended up with the Phantom?— in search of the laundry room and briefly winces at all that space inhabited by just one person and his cat. Must be really lonely there with all that space and none to socialize with, but then again he does not seem the type to enjoy company.  

No, he was no Mr Congeniality; more like the lovechild of Patrick Bateman and Norman Bates.

 She half opens the first door and behind it it's not what she’s looking for but the room instantly intrigues her because it’s very different from the rest of his minimalistic decorated place. She fully opens the door and finds herself in a place that looks as heavily decorated as a house in one of Hitchcock’s thrillers.  It's a studio, the second in this place that Rose notices. There is a desk, one of those huge cushioned office chairs, a sofa, a coffee table and; hanging on the walls surrounding all that are rows of books and framed diplomas. 

She checks the books in his studio and the —also—incredibly large vinyl record collection she just noticed. Scrolling through his records she finds lots of movie soundtracks from the 60’s and 70’s, and almost hidden between Ennio Morricone and Bernard Herrmann she finds… 

 Pink Floyd? 

Ok… Maybe.

But... the whole Arctic Monkeys discography?

Weird…but somehow fitting?

He likes to collect things, she notices. Vinyl records, books, old films. Also cars and plane models, these last all military like; organized by year and name.

She's turning on her heels, resuming her search for the laundry when she notices the very fancy, expensive looking wooden box with golden details, the inscription “GURKHA” on its center. 

Half expecting to find a gun or a beating human heart, she opens it.

  “Gurkha 'His Majesty’s Reserve ”—mutters Rose while turning in her hand one of the biggest cigars she’s ever seen. Very expensive looking indeed.

 Never been one much into smoking, she is about to place the cigar back in the box when a silly idea enters her mind.

 . . . 

It takes her several tries and a Youtube tutorial to light the damn thing.

 She will soon head to work and must take a bath before going so why not make the most of her everyday routine? 

Having filled the bathtub with bubbles she enters it making sure it covers her boobs but leaves her legs on full display imitating the sexy pose of a pinup model. Haughty yet sensual facial expression on, cigar in her mouth and phone in her hand, she snaps one of the sexiest selfies she’s ever taken of herself.

Pausing as she remembers past Finn’s reactions to her randomly sent sexy pics—suddenly doubt clouds her enthusiasm.

Well, Hux is definitely not her boyfriend, therefore she will not care about his reaction, she decides after 2 seconds of consideration. Rose muses over her silly actions, the pictures are sent to him with the intention of pissing him off at the sight of her smoking his very expensive looking cigars.

A full minute passes before she checks her phone.
Message seen.
She gets no reply though.

 It's immature, she knows, but still she’s pissed at getting no reaction and no reply, so she takes a second selfie. it's a close up of her tits pressed up together on full display, soap sliding between them. 

Again, she can see the double blue check under her message yet no response.

It hurts a bit, so she forces herself not to dwell on it.

 . . . 

Several hours later her shift was over and after a detour to the hasian store  to cheer her up, she returned to his place. Rose had barely closed the door when Hux cornered her. Phone in hand, all red faced and looking pissed; really angry in fact.

“What is the meaning of this?” he hisses, looming over her picture of her smoking his expensive cigars in sight. 

He’s definitely angry at her for smoking his expensive cigars.

“Oh, that.., just a silly little joke” she replies, trying to sound cool and dismissive and that seems to be the wrong answer.

“Just a silly little joke”, he repeats while grabbing her by the hips rather possessively, making her drop her shopping bags on his pristine carpet —“I had to hide bloody hard on in the middle of a bloody two hour meeting”—he accuses her and then kisses her like a man that has been deprived of water.

Turns out he’s pissed but for entirely different reasons.

Hux bites her lips and nips her neck, infecting her with his need. He does not ever bother to take all her clothes as the hurry seems to consume him. He rips her shirt open, sending two buttons flying. One of her boobs was taken out the confinement of her black lace bra and Hux sucks hard on it, leaving a spit trail and a red halo imprinted on her tender skin. He rubs between her legs; the heel of his hand is pressing her center and his long fingers ignite the bundle of nerves there that make her gasp.

The next thing Rose is aware of is that he had turned her around, flipping her skirt over her waist and sliding her panties down her thighs in fast uncoordinated movements. The sound of his belt and zipper made her bite her lip in anticipation. Then, the sound of the condom wrap being torn and then… then she was holding tight on the leather surface taking all he’s giving her.

 “You tease” he huffs when he starts to move, bringing both her hands on her back and pinning them while thrusting into her from behind. Her tits were squashed against the cold leather, she is drooling a bit and moaning hollowly. It hurt a bit when he entered her because she was not that wet yet, but now thriving on his urgency for her, Rose is dripping. She’s wetter than she’s ever been.

 “Harder,'' she demands, turning her face to the side, searching eye contact. He grabs  a handful of her hair, yanks it and brings her back to his chest— You. greedy. thing —he chastises but also complies with her request at the same time; cupping her chin and bringing the side of her face to the front of his,  sticking his tongue inside her spit coated mouth.

It was not long before he came, her name in his lips sounding like an accusation and a prayer. She followed him after a few more thrusts, a hand in her cunt and the other on her tit, along with a “Yes, yes. That’s it, luv” whispered to her ear. 

They slide to the floor together under the dim light, Hux kisses the space between her shoulders and she listens to his pants mixed with hers, both out of breath and spent; like two animals that just finished copulating in the dark.

.

.

.

Her one week stay at Dracula’s castle is about to be over, and she’s both sad and happy she’s about to leave. She’s made important advances with Millicent, who now approaches her to smell Rose’s hand and let her pet her fluffy fur before backing away.

She’s winning that little shit over and it will be a real shame to lose all that progress.

And maybe, just maybe she might feel reluctant at the prospect of leaving this gorgeous penthouse… and its owner… but only a little.

.

.

.

The entire plumbing system in her apartment building was too old, rusted and needed to be replaced. Her landlord tells her. 

One month. One whole-ass month the whole apartment building she lives in will be under repairs and it's kinda the first time she’s glad about this type of everyday nuisance happening to her.

She texts Hux to ask him to let her stay longer at his place.

He does not text her back, but when she’s stepping outside, feeling crestfallen when tapping on the uber app icon he’s already there, waiting to pick her up.

.

.

.

The lamp is the only source of light in Hux’s studio, he’s perched on the sofa in front of his desk frowning at the papers in front of him. There is that ever present annoyed look on his features as he absently drags a cigarette, —just regular cigarettes, Rose recognizes— the lit tip of it a lighter shade of orange than his hair. 

Millie the cat is sitting on the armrest next to him.

He appears not to take notice of her presence as she slides between the coffee table and the sofa placing the books he asked her to fetch for him, he had forgotten them on the living room table. She’s on her way out when he stops her —“And what is this?”—he asks as he grabs her by the waist and calmly places her on top of him, her legs straddling him. 

Mille jumps down the sofa the moment her father makes the sudden movement.

She is wearing an oversized long sleeved shirt and standard white cotton panties. She was out of clean shirts and bras, was currently waiting for them to finish drying and the first article of clothing she found was one of his long sleeved shirts hanging on the washing room’s rack. 

“Ran out of clean shirts” She shrugs.

“You look good” he praises, appreciating the sight of her; from her thick thighs spread at his sides to her face. The sound of his accent on the “O’s” is making her stomach flip.

Hux takes one last drag of his cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray beside him, the smoke dissipating gives him a very villainous look.

He starts unbuttoning the three uneven buttons she hastily buttoned. The redhead she’s straddling snakes his hands on her sides under the shirt, grabbing it and sliding it down her back leaving her tits exposed.

In the past, she would have shied away from that kind of exposure, her never flat stomach always had been an insecurity source for her. But looking at Hux’s mesmerized stare, like he would happily die right there and like she’s a work of art; made her straighten up her spine. The messy bun she tied her hair in undone with the movement.

The energy in the room turns still as he bends and closes his mouth around her left nipple. He sucks on it tenderly and Rose is hypnotized by the spit trail connecting his mouth and the tip of her breast. It dissolves once he puts enough distance.

“I want to suck your cock."

Funny, they’ve been fucking for months and she’s has never felt as inclined to go down on this arrogant man as much as she feels now. Both her and Hux are surprised at her words, though he recovered much faster.

Dragging his thumb over her parted lips, part of it touching her lower teeth row and tongue he says “Very Well” —all business like — “Then I, want come here” he emphasizes pressing lightly on her tongue “...and here” he adds removing his thumb from her mouth and placing his index finger between her breasts. 

“Do we have an accord?”

And because she’s feeling uncharacteristically eager to please him and she knows he thrives on being an authoritative figure she replies “Yes, Sir”

His dollar-green eyes seem to have been consumed by the black in their center and the smirk he gives her makes her heart stop. Rose suddenly feels like she can understand what a swimmer feels like when they see a shark approaching.

“Well then”— he adds unbuckling his belt—”knees on the floor, Miss Tico”

And slides between his parted legs, unbuttons his rolled up shirt, uncovering his slender chest and dog tags. It's not long before she’s licking and sucking him whole.  Her head bobbing as he holds loose strands of hair out her face.

Rose is taking all she can up to her throat, the rest of his dick is wrapped in her hand. She feels him twitch in her mouth and suddenly he’s pushing her back, a wet sound escapes her mouth when his length is out of it.

Hux stands up, cock in hand pumping it frantically “Open wide” —he commands and she obeys, feeling the spit and cum coated head being dragged on her tongue. A drop of cum is falling down her chin and he swipes it back up, into her mouth.

Satisfied, he takes a step back and pumps his cock faster, splattering cum on top of her tits. She feels the hot sleek seed sliding down between her breasts.

“Look at you, kitten,”— he praises once he is done and satisfied with his work, his cock bobs as he makes a little jump to put his underwear and slacks back in place, leaving the belt unbuckled—“so prettily decorated” —he finishes his sentence and Rose rolls her eyes at his words, cleaning her mouth with the back of her fist.

In the ways of a true gentleman—or at least what Rose thinks one would act like but she’s not sure because she’s never actually met one—Hux holds out a hand to help her stand back up on her feet.

She looks confused at the sudden gesture, but still she accepts his offered hand.  He helps her stand up and he leads her outside the studio.

"Let's get you cleaned up.”

And he does get her all clean, eating her out under the shower.

.

.

.

Rose was drinking tarine tea —with three honey spoons because she’s a bitter flavor obsessed weirdo— and is skip-reading a leather bound poison herb encyclopedia she took from his personal library —because he’s apparently into poisonous gardening—when she hears voices coming from the foyer where elevator doors to his floor are.

One is Hux's imperial accent and the other; one she can not recognize.

Leaving her tea and poison encyclopedia behind she makes her way to the noise source. The hoodie and socks she’s wearing help to keep away the cold in the room, her short shorts; not so much.

She can see Hux’s navy blue coated back and the guy from the entrance who opens the door for her and also sometimes helps her catch the elevator. Mitaka was his name. Rose is pretty sure he's new there because she only noticed his presence just a few days ago.

The expression on his —now whiter—face is one of shame, as Hux scolds him because of something she notices is a box in his hands with a damaged corner.  It instantly triggers unpleasant memories; she’s been in that situation way too many times and knows exactly how it feels when a boss is chewing your ears off for something that may not even be your fault. And Mitaka seems to be new at his job, and he’s been so polite to her, and her fragile heart can’t stand those chastised on the verge of crying eyes.

“What's wrong?” She interjects while deliberately taking a hold of Hux’s arm as in a pacifying gesture, placing her fingers on top of that slip of skin between his coat and gloves, making slow circular soothing movements.

Hux's reaction is instant. His shoulders relax and he stops his bellowing.

Interesting.

Rose takes advantage now that the beast has been appeased and  takes the box from his hands, faux inspecting it. 

“Oh, but this is nothing but a little torn on the edges,” she says sweetly, making eye contact with Hux who remained speechless. Seizing again the opportunity, she beams at the poor man still inside the elevator box and adds “It's alright! I can see what’s inside is intact, thanks for bringing it up here!”

Mitaka does not need to be told twice, as he nods in thanks in her direction and punches the close-doors button.

Hux is still silent but Rose swears she can almost see his little evil brain cogs starting to work again, catching up with what just happened. 

He frowns at her.

“You bought me a whole box of hasian snacks from the hasian store across town?” She almost cries when she notices what the box Hux was so flustered about contains.

“I ordered it from Hays Minor, actually” —he confesses, flushing.

Her hands are grabbing his pasty face before she is aware of it, bringing it to height level with hers and kisses him, softly. In a thank you sort of way.

When she puts space between them she can see his ears are red and an embarrassed and boyishly handsome look is on his usually unfriendly looking face.  Rose’s heart seems to be clawing its way out of her chest.

“Want some tea?” she offers, lost at what to do with her foolish little heart.

. . . 

On Saturday morning she puts on an oversized sweater, tights and running sneakers, ready to walk two hours around the neighborhood. She’s about to plug her earbuds when the front doors are opened to her and Mitaka is there, holding the doors for her. A thankful smile on his face.

“Good Morning Mrs. Hux, hope you have a pleasant walk”

And Rose stumbles, almost falling face flat on the patterned sidewalk.

.

.

.

There is just the slightest change in his posture, in the way he carries himself; he seems a bit more relaxed and in the way he interacts with others; that she likes to think it's because of her.

Their bedroom dynamics also changed, she considers spreading jelly over crackers and leaning on the kitchen island while crossing her bare black nailed toes.

What started as hurried and intensed fucking evolved into —sometimes— unhurried, and intense fucking; if that what they have been doing can be called fucking . That need to promptly satisfy their basic instincts shifted into something Rose was feeling a little scared of, because now she actually looks out for him and not just for sex.

She frowns to herself.

The lines in their sleeping arrangement —she in the guest room, he in the master room— have always been blurry. When she first accepted the offer to stay with him, she firmly believed she would sleep alone in her assigned room, of course she knew sex would be part of the deal because Hux would never offer something just out of the goodness of his heart, but she thought they would do their thing separetly after their thirst was quenched, or so to speak.

Sometimes she sleeps in his bedroom, or he seeks her out in the guest room and spends the night there. They also expanded their activities to watching tv or films; Rose was not surprised when he told her “Citizen Kane” is his favorite movie and when he made a disapproving sound when she said “Ten Things I hate about You” is hers. It was a pleasant surprise they both like serial killer documentaries though! 

She helps him cook by passing him the ingredients and cookware he requests—That’s all she can do; she's utterly useless in the kitchen!— and he sometimes even reads his cases outloud to her, after she told him those were so boring that they make her sleep instantly. She lied though, it's his voice she likes to hear before closing her eyes.  

It’s a revelation to notice they don’t only have sex these days, but when they do; its too much for her weak and starved little heart. 

He’s poison she will not drink.

Even when he looks at her as if she’s the most beautiful woman on earth and worships her body, his whole self in total submission one moment and the next as if a switch has been flipped, she's on her stomach and he’s bent over her.

“On all fours, kitten”—he would command while positioning her ass up and giving it a spank when she would not comply fast enough for his taste.

She’s seen the way they look when she’s trapped under his body, it's positively decadent. Her butt cheeks movements echoing on her back, product of his intense pounding, the squelching sound of skin against skin, both of them flushed red; white on tan and glistening with sweat. Sometimes her forearms would fail her and she would bite the pillows and ruin his pristine sheets…

Rose sighs.

Still, poison she would not drink.

It's only a few  more days and then I'll be back at my place and things will be back to normal —Rose declares mentally while biting on the last jelly spread cracker with much force than necessary.

.

.

.

There is an important, very important event to be held that weekend in a fancy hotel, in a fancy part of town. The general mood towards it’s mixed, some eager to attend in their best and others groaning because it's weekend time spent on somewhat work related stuff—it's a wedding, but still to some, it's more work related because a boss is getting married.

Rey accepted Kylo Ben’s marriage proposal—Or just Ben, as she refers to him

Rose is torn between two issues; what to wear and if she should accept Hux’s invitation to go with him. He did not actually ask, just assumed he would go with her as her plus one—“Pryde will be sitting at our table. Fucking Ren placed him there just to annoy me”— he had said, the resent heavy in his tone.

How could Ben have possibly imagined that Hux will be sitting at the Rose and friend’s table? And why is that creepy old man at Rey’s friend’s table? Is he interested in the “fine” tradition of bouquet catching and hopes to catch it for himself?

Her friend’s tale of how she and her now husband came to be seems to be out a romantic comedy Katherine Heigel, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts would have been fighting to death to play leading actress. That day after she left Rey home and saw Ren’s car parked outside her friend’s apartment building she got a call from Rey,—which was weird, Rey never calls, just texts— and her friend was weeping and Rose though something bad happened until Rey got hold of herself and announced in that little cute accent of hers —similar to Armitage’s but cuter— that she was marrying Ben.

Rose was more than apprehensive of her growing attachment to Hux. She was definitely not ready for a second emotional blow like her break up with Finn earlier that year. 

And maybe it was not the best time, but she needed to put some distance and end the growing attachment she was developing that would end up shattering her heart.

Her place was ready and Rose could move back in whenever she pleased now. Her stay at Hux’s place was long over stretched but he’s not said a word about it. In fact, he seems to have completely forgotten she has a place of her own and actually lives somewhere else. 

. . . 

It’s two days before her friend's wedding when she gathers the courage to tell him she’s not going as his plus one, nor him as hers. He takes the news, in such a calm and cold way Rose’s arm hair stands up.

. . . 

Rey looks radiant, ethereal, glowing with happiness. Ben, at her side, holds her hand, enraptured by his new wife.

The place is beautiful and so tastefully decorated, the food is amazing, the drinks delicious and everything seems to be functioning  like clockwork —If Leia had anything to do with it, which was most likely the case, then that’s no surprise to absolutely none.

Even though the pang of pain in her chest at the sigh of Armitage with a wedding date; that same girl she saw with him in that nightclub months ago, Rose is looking splending in that red dress that cost her half of her paycheck— Fuck it, it is Rey’s wedding!

She drinks, and dances with Kay as her plus one, holding her tighter when she notices Rose sight lingers on Hux and his fashion magazine cover girl date. 

“Her name is Bazine Netal. Ben told me she works for First Order, though I have not seen her in our office building once”—Rey tells her, when Kay and Rose help her change her wedding dress for a more comfortable attire. 

Rose tells her friend that she doesn't care who that woman is to which Rey and Kay just shared a look between themselves.

And she was being honest! She truly does not care! Nor will she start a mental feud with a woman she’s seen with Armitage once before. If she would start a grudge against someone, that would be against Hux himself. 

“For having the nerve to bring a date to her friend’s wedding just days later after she is the one who ended their agreement and moved out from his place?… Yeah Rose, you are not being ridiculous at all!”

They were nothing.

The had nothing besides a transaction of sorts that involved sex and that was it.

That was it, until Rose fucked it all up by letting herself get infatuated with him.

.

.

.

On Monday, she does not have the strength to go  to work. Rose fakes being sick and stays home.

On Tuesday, she does not have the strength to go  to work. Rose fakes still being sick and requests to work from home.

On Wednesday, she does not have the strength to go  to work. Still Rose gets up, even though she feels like staying at home and crying all day.

On Thursday, Rose sees Hux from afar and her wounded heart jumps in anticipation. He’s so far but knows it's him because of his hair color. There is not another redhead working there.

On Friday Rose is not aware she’s being watched as she puts on the kettle and Kay rubs her back, in a sympathetic gesture.

.

.

.

Rose is going up the stairs to her apartment floor, groceries in hand when she notices the pair of stylish men's shoes. Her head goes up, up and up; until she finds herself in direct eye contact with money-green eyes. 

She knows she looks a mess with dark circles under her eyes, messy hair, and with her torned jeans/unicorn sweatshirt combination. He looks impeccable with his tailored suit and coiffed hair except for the circles under his eyes that mirrors her own. Rose is sure, she should be alarmed that she feels small drops of joy at the sight of those.

Without a word, she motions to her door, takes her keys and lets him in.

. . . 

They remained in silence since Rose closed the door behind her. Hux was looking at her, openly analyzing her and she was looking anywhere but him.

“Let’s have it” he starts, posture tense as she has not seen in months.

“Let’s have it, what? she retorts, upset. He’s the one showing up to her place. 

Hux sighs, rubbing his temple.

“You and I”—he begins, now sliding a hand down his coiffed hair—”we had a good thing going on and then suddenly… you just ended things… —he pauses, taking a deep breath —”You just walked out on me right before Ren’s stupid wedding”

”Rey’s wedding” Rose interrupts, offended.

“I don’t care,” he snaps. Rose crosses her arms, posing her body to let this man know to take his next step carefully. He sighs tired. Defeated even.

“Look, I just need to know what I did for you to just leave” The “me” was not said, but implied. He stopped himself before muttering it. 

Her heart constricts at the sight of him like that. So vulnerable.

“We were having a nice time, yes. Too nice… If i'm being honest” She pauses and rubs a hand over cheek.

“But?” Hux prompts

“But… nothing”

Hux just looks at her like she just popped out a second head. Blinks, once. Twice.

“You’re joking”—he stammers, a fake laugh escaping him—”You’re telling me that you ended things with me because they were “too nice?” His eyes bulge when he says the last part.

“There was nothing between us, to begin with” —she snaps, her patience now dry.

“My dear, please elaborate, I'm having a very difficult time trying to follow”

At his condescending  “My dear” she grabs a nearby pillow and throws it at him.

“Because I was starting to like you, you jackass!” —she blurts out, tears falling from her eyes —”I was starting to like you so, so much! Even though you are so mean and I just can’t stand it when you’re like that and then I wanted to end things before it was too late for me and- ” Rose sobs and continues in a much lower voice—”then you show up with that perfect girl” Full tears now gliding down her face.

She’s exposing herself again, this time in front of a mean, mean man and he just stays there, frozen in place. 

Her worst fear was to live an unrequited love again, and she is going through that same hell again. Right here, right now. Because of the most unlikely man she could have ever fallen for.

“You idiot” he chastises, but there is no bite in his tone as he closes the space between them and embraces her, kissing the top of her forehead.

Rose blinks— Why is he kissing me?

“I like you too, Ms Tico” he confesses and Rose hiccups.

”Don't play with me” —she accuses weakly, so eager to be proven wrong in the following seconds.

“I’m not” he says, now kissing her nose.

“But how?” “Why?.. I don’t understand”

“Trust me, I don’t know. I just do and I made peace with that”—Hux pauses, then adds “You should too, darling, I’m tired of playing nice”

Rose puts space between them, eager to let everything that’s consuming her out.

“And that girl? That girl you took to my friend’s wedding. I saw you with her before”

Hux just laughs and closes the space between them again. Rose, indignant, shoves his approaching plucked lips from hers.

He sighs, but concedes.

“That, my dear jealous girl, it’s Bazine” Rose opens her mouth to retort at his very unhelpful answer but he is ahead of her and interrupts—” And before you ask, I took her to Ren’s wedding just because I needed a plus one. The girl is pretty and sharp and knows everything about everyone… Such an useful friend”— Rose makes a face of disapproval.

“That is so unethical” 

“Yeah, well. I wanted to go with you, but you bloody dumped me” —Rose grimaces, a little bit ashamed—“Quite heartlessly, if you ask me” he adds, before kissing her full on the mouth.

“Wait” she says after full 30 seconds of interlocking tongues

“Now what?” he half cries.

“You are such a terrible man, and exactly all my mother would have hated, I just can’t date you” —Rose blurts out, the sudden memory of her mother present now that there are no more excuses to stop herself from being with Hux. 

One last attempt to protect her foolish heart.

“What a coincidence,”— he retorts, smug expression on—” my father would have hated you as well” 

Rose frowns.

“You could help me become a better man” he suggests.

“And you could turn me into a monster” she snaps back. He plants a quick kiss to her lips and adds “We could meet in the middle” 

“That sounds surprisingly reasonable. I could do that, only if…”

“If what?”

“Only if you promise me that if we ever get married, we won’t sign a prenup”

“Quite the devious little nymph, aren’t you?” his tone is coated in pride.

“Yeah,  I’m totally keeping half your money, Millie and that fancy place you have”

.

.

.

Forgettable and non-consequential or invisible girls like her never get the prince charming™. "It is a truth universally acknowledged” as her favorite book by Jane Austen’s first words declare. 

But as Rose watches Hux, apron on and slicing vegetables to make dinner for them both, she comes to the realization that forgettable and non-consequential or invisible girls like her, sometimes get the Villain™ .

-Fin-