Chapter Text
"We've got a problem!" came a shout from the front of the coffee house.
Rey exchanged a confused glance with Poe before dropping the mugs she was cleaning into the sink and heading out of the kitchen. "What's going on, Finn?"
"First Order is closing in," he said hurriedly, brandishing a newspaper. "Look." He spread the paper on the counter for the other two to see. The headline read "First Order Coffee Shop Moves into the Neighborhood."
"You're shitting me," Poe groaned.
"We knew this would happen eventually," Rey said, hoping to keep everyone calm. "It's just one location. We can manage."
"Read the article," Finn remarked, exasperated. "It's gonna be a flagship location. Three stories and a terrace. You know people love drinking coffee on the roof!"
"When is it gonna open?" Poe asked.
"Article says Fall of this year."
"So we make a game plan," Rey said authoritatively. "We've got time to drum up some more regular business before then. Start thinking of stuff we can do." The bell above the door chimed and Rey began to head to the register. "We'll have a staff meeting about it soon." She left the two men chatting at the other side of the counter while she waited on the college students who had just walked in the door.
She really couldn't blame Finn for panicking. First Order was the biggest coffee chain in the world. They had their name on practically everything to do with coffee, and people crossed oceans just to try their wildly popular seasonal monstrosities. She wasn't a coffee purist by any means - she liked a pumpkin spice latte as much as the next person - but it was clear some of their drinks only became popular for the picture-perfect looks and not the taste. But maybe she was just being bitter. After all, they were trying to encroach on her turf. Her business. She wouldn't go down without a fight, and if that meant she had to play a little dirty she absolutely would.
The Caf was her lifeblood. When she had arrived in the city, with nothing but the clothes on her back and the few bucks left in her pocket, The Caf had been her shining light in the darkness. At the time, the little coffee shop was run by Maz Kanata, the kindest, most eccentric old lady in the neighborhood. She had taken one look at 17 year old Rey and knew exactly what the girl needed. A home.
Rey was an orphan. She had been bouncing around the system all her life. When she finally got a job scanning groceries, she decided to save every bit of money she made and use it to get to the city. Her foster parents at the time were so preoccupied with being deadbeats that they didn't care. The trip had been long and used up almost every last bit of money she had. She hadn't been willing to wait and save up more, though. She needed out. She needed freedom. She needed to be more than a meal ticket to someone.
When she had ducked into the coffee shop to find some shelter from the storm raging outside she never expected it would give her everything she wanted. Maz had taken her in, given her a job, and even let her stay in the little apartment where she lived above the shop. Maz was the family Rey had never had. The Caf was the home she had always craved.
And now, only four years after she had found it, First Order was threatening that home.
~~
Rey flipped the wooden sign on the door to "closed" and turned to the other two. "Ok. You can start talking now." She walked to the table where Poe was already pulling a chair out for her.
"How are you not more worried about this?" Finn asked.
"Rey's an optimist. Aren't you?" Poe replied, giving her an encouraging smile.
"I just think we need to focus on fighting this rather than worrying too much," she stated, sinking into the chair.
"And we are here for the fight," Poe assured her, Finn nodding in agreement. Rey returned his smile gratefully.
Poe had been Rey's rock for the past year. Once Maz passed away and left the shop to Rey, Poe had been there to help her with all the little things she wasn't prepared for. She could fix a broken espresso machine faster than anyone, but finances were new to her. That's where Poe came in. He taught her everything she needed to know about budgeting and loans and keeping the shop afloat.
Poe started working at The Caf just as Rey had been settling into her new life, quickly becoming her closest friend, save for Maz. He treated her like a little sister and Rey was over the moon to have yet another member to add to her new little family. Employees at The Caf usually came and went with the school year, but Poe was family. Family stayed, even through the tough times, and Rey was grateful for it.
"So, do we have any ideas on how to fight them yet?" Finn asked.
"You sound like you do," Poe prompted.
Finn gave a confident smile. "Smear campaign.”
Rey let out a short laugh. "I know you have a grudge, but that might be a bit too intense."
Finn was the newest addition to the shop. He had appeared one day, cheery and confident, stating that he had just quit school along with his job as a barista at a First Order location. He loved the industry, but not the First Order company. He despised them and was very passionate on the topic. They hired him on the spot based on his experience, and also the fact that they had just lost their other employee to a study abroad program.
Thanks to his stubborn tendencies, he fit in perfectly with Rey and Poe. Especially Poe. It wasn't long after Finn arrived that Rey realized she was a third wheel in her own shop. However, she never felt excluded. They would all butt heads rather regularly, but it only fueled the camaraderie between them. Together they made a strong team and Rey was confident they could keep the shop above water.
"How about we all take the week to think and we'll have a meeting on Friday," Rey suggested.
"Sounds good," the two men agreed.
~~
Rey hugged the boys goodnight and sent them home. She looked around the shop and sighed.
The Caf was cozy but not too small. There was a fireplace on the far end with a mantelpiece lovingly decorated with old photos that had belonged to Maz. Each one showed her family and friends throughout the years in the neighborhood. The oldest picture was black and white, depicting a toddler standing with her father out front of what would one day become The Caf. The toddler was Maz and the shop was just a drugstore at the time. They still used the original countertop and cash register.
Rey looked up at the tin ceiling, then over to the original shelves behind the counter. The place had so much charm and Rey loved adding to it with all the vintage coffee grinders and French presses she had collected. There was history in the building. She couldn't let that disappear.
She locked up, turned off the lights, and headed upstairs to her apartment.
The apartment had been perfect for her and Maz, but without Maz there it felt just a bit too big. Too empty. However, it was very green. Maz had loved keeping house plants and Rey was doing her utmost to keep everything alive.
Maz had no family left by the time Rey had showed up. She was an only child and had never married. When she passed away Rey was listed as her sole benefactor, leaving the apartment, The Caf, every possession, to Rey. It was something Rey knew she should have expected once the woman had begun referring to her as her granddaughter rather than her employee. Still, it was certainly more than Rey had ever been given and even now, a year later, the thought overwhelmed her. In a good way, of course. But also a somber one. Losing Maz was the hardest thing Rey had ever gone through.
She brushed her teeth and crawled into bed, her mind heavy with thoughts of the shop. What she wouldn't give for Maz's guidance on the matter.
Grabbing her phone, she decided to try and get her mind off things. She smiled as she unlocked her screen, seeing that luck was on her side. At the top of her screen was a message from KRen.