They did not go to his room that night, but explored further down the beach. There was a low tide, and so they were able to walk out for a mile before touching the gentle caress of the ocean. Again, Calista had long since removed her shoes, only this time she didn't throw them into the ocean. At some point, it would begin to feel wasteful, and there was no sense in buying new shoes every other week; she wondered how often Ben would be there. How often would he take time from his busy schedule in order to visit her, she wondered.

"I have a proposition for you, and I do hope you will hear me out," Ben said as they walked along the moonlit shores.

The waves lapped at Calista's bare feet, and she would occasionally swing her right leg out and sweep the froth left behind with the little waves. As they walked along, the clouds began to roll in. They were a light grey, almost impossible to see in the dark sky above them, and went unnoticed for some time.

"Go on," Calista leaned into him, showing him affection that she wouldn't have shown to anyone else. To admit that she was smitten with Ben would be to contradict everything in her job title. But, she did not want to turn down this feeling while it lasted. It could be gone tomorrow, it could linger for years, she did not know. Either way, she was running with the feeling, even if it scared her.

"You mentioned earlier that your... employer... wanted you to win me over so to speak. Which means he -or she- knows who I am, knows that I have money, knows my influence," he began.

"He," Calista told him in a gentle voice.

"He," Ben repeated. "I presume my first few hours with you were complimentary, to hook me in."

"Yes," she replied. "In hindsight it should have been clear that you did not know."

"Bygones, Calista."

She smiled, though was still watching the waves on the shores. There was a phosphorescence glow in the waters, and it glittered green when the waves would crash against the sand and the rocks. Like liquid emerald, it was a stunning beauty.

"if you would be so inclined, I would like to -this is going to sound strange- I would like to have you to myself. Not on Canto Bight, but everywhere," he suggested, a nervousness to his voice that Calista had not heard before. This was a new realm for him, offering a Creature of the Night endless work.

But she also knew that Ben did not mean in that way; it would not be a flurry of sex, no. It was more than that, it was companionship he sought. Ben saw something in Calista that he wanted around, not because of her beauty of because of what she did for a living, but something truly within her. She understood his question without having to look too deeply into it, she knew that he was asking her to join him, wherever he would go.

Just as she suspected, he was asking to take her away from this place.

But she was tethered.

"I would go without asking for a dime, Ben," she admitted freely, though knew the words that would follow would hurt. "But I belong here, and as much as I dream to leave, I cannot."

"Why not?" he asked her. "We all have the power to change our fate."

"Perhaps people like you, with all the money in the world to throw away. For someone like me, I have debts to pay, I am ow-" she stopped herself, "I owe certain people my reliability."

"And if I offered to pay a lump sum up front? And continued payments afterwards, of course."

She considered this, the words running through her mind. Of course it was possible that this was exactly what Naren wanted, but he was not the type to let her stray to far. If she was gone, if she was wherever Ben wanted her to be, should that be Endor or Coruscant, he would no longer have her on that tether he so loved to keep her on. If Ben stopped paying his dues, then what? The risk would be too high, and as Calista was raised to understand, she would never leave this planet.

"I'll ask him," she finally caved, knowing that the conversation would not be a pretty one, but if she never tried, she would never succeed. If there was one thing that Naren loved more than Calista as his employee, it was the revenue that she could bring in. He earned most of what she deserved, it was completely unfair. However, if she could run away, be with someone whom she wanted to spend time with, to grow with, and Naren could still line his pockets with gold, he might just take up the offer. This was, after all, what he had wanted; he wanted Ben to fall for Calista and drop every last credit he had on her.

Ben stopped and turned to face Calista, his bare hands on her exposed arms. Standing before her, Ben kept a sturdy demeanor as he looked her in the eyes. As if he was studying her, he waited a moment before he said what he was trying to say.

Then finally he spoke, "If he says 'no', give me permission to ask him personally."

She knew it was the start of a bad idea, but before she could answer, a heavy crack high in the sky above them startled both of them. The heavy rains before to fall, fat drops splattering on their shoulders and the tops of their heads. It came on fast, and Calista cringed, turning to pull Ben so that they could being their return to shelter. Ben didn't budge, and instead looked up at the rain, as if threatening it to stop.

Soaked head to toe in a moment, Calista had to shout over the roar of the waves and the rains together. "We have to get out of here!"

"Why?!" He called back.

She laughed, he was crazy. "It's a thunderstorm!"

"We're safe," he informed her, his voice so smooth and casual that she believed him.

Overhead there was a lightning crack, out over the waters but not too far away. Calista turned to watch, then listened to the thunder that rolled loudly over them. Ben raised one hand, catching the rain drops that fell, cupping his palm so that the water could build up. Another crack of lightning hit only three meters away from them, and Calista reeled back in fear. Ben brought his other hand to hers, keeping her there, showing in that gesture that she was safe from harm.

"You're crazy, Ben!" She shouted, but there was an element of laughter in her voice.

"Maybe," he said at last, the lightning not daring to cross that threshold. He seemed to know exactly where it would hit, he knew that they were safe, like he was incredibly in tune with nature.

Calista smiled, her hand still holding his, even as she began to shiver in the cold rains. The temperatures could change so drastically here on Canto Bight, though at the casino no one would even bat an eye. Inside those perfectly polished walls no one would see the weather. But out here, completely exposed to the harsh climates, the rain slammed them. Her hair hung limp over her shoulders, but she still smiled.

"Oh," he realized suddenly, "you're freezing!"

"Y-yeah," she replied.

"Come on, let's get you inside," he said, gesturing for her to walk back towards the city.

They walked briskly towards the city, but when they got to the first set of steps, Calista took him in a different direction. When he glanced at her, confused, she simply nodded her head in the direction of where she wanted to go. He followed without further question, for she had trusted him in the storm and it was his turn to trust her.