Leslie's Distraction

"Leslie... Leslie, wake up."

"Huh... huh, what?" Leslie groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She was face down on a bench- the one right outside of her office. "Please tell me that was just a terrible nightmare."

Leslie replayed the moment of hearing the news over and over in her head. She always knew that losing her position as city councilwoman was a possibility, but she never expected it to become a reality.

"No, unfortunately it wasn't," Ben replied. "You came into work this morning wearing an "I hate Mondays" shirt and you were eating a Paunch burger, which is shocking because you hate Paunch burgers and love Mondays."

"Oh God, what would Michelle Obama think if she saw me right now?" Leslie whined.

"Well, I think Mrs. Obama would want you to keep moving forward, Leslie," Ben insisted. "You're upset and I get that, trust me. Everyone here gets it too. If anything their moods are reflecting off yours. Everyone seems to be in a funk after hearing the news."

"Really?"

"Totally. For starters, I saw Chris Traeger of all people yawn. I didn't even know that man knew what sleep was. Also, I noticed Tom actually working on things relevant to his job here."

"Oh my god. He never does that."

"Oh and another thing, Donna hasn't tweeted once today."

Leslie quickly turned her head in shock. "What?"

"Mhm," Ben assured her. "So something is definitely off." He paused and thought about what he could say to get Leslie back on track. "Hey, I don't know if you remember but you still have 30 days to get things done in your position-"

"Stop," she interrupted. Leslie was appalled. "I refuse to be the reason my friends aren't acting like themselves. What kind of friend would I be if I just let them go about their day like this? W-W-M-O-D?"

"W-what?" Ben questioned. "Is that an acronym?"

Leslie shot back at him, "What Would Michelle Obama Do?"

Ben started to realize that Leslie's motivation was returning. After all, he knows how passionate she gets when talking about Michelle Obama. He thought that perhaps if he just went along with what she was saying, she would realize where her priorities now lie on her own. "Well, I'm not really sure what the First Lady has to do with anything going on right now but if you're asking my honest opinion I think she might-"

"THAT'S IT! I know what to do," Leslie interrupted. She rose from the bench and ran inside. With a cackle, Leslie yelled, "Let's Move! Get it, Ben?"

"Good one," Ben yelled back. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"Just get the group here in an hour. I have a surprise." Leslie shut her office door and immediately grabbed her emergency arts and crafts kit from under her desk.

Not even an hour later, Leslie emerged from her office with a large box filled to the brim with what looked like a pile of junk. Ron, April, Andy, Tom, and Donna sat at the table while Ann, Ben, Chris, and Jerry stood around them. They exchanged looks of confusion as Leslie set the box down on April's desk. She looked at them with a deranged smile.

"You have probably all been wondering why I've gathered you here." Leslie questioned, "I heard you're all having an off day, correct?"

"If this is about me doing my job I'll have you know that it was a New Year's resolution of mine to pull it together." Tom explained.

Ann looked at him with an annoyed face and ridiculed him. "It's October."

"I got a late start! Tom looked around to see everyone scoffing at him. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. So what's with the box?"