Lunch Dates

1

Natalie was sat on the bench with her lunchbox next to her. She pulled out her sandwich and started to eat it as she stared at the meadow painting in front of her. The hall was quiet and that was how Natalie liked it to be, but she often felt lonely. After a few more minutes she saw Ben Wyatt, state auditor, walking along the halls. He had come into the parks and recreation department a few times where she was the receptionist but she hadn't really had the chance to talk to him. He walked closer before noticing that she was sat there and bit his lip before he decided to turn on his heel. He then turned back immediately with a puzzled look on his face.
"Mr Wyatt, are you okay?" Natalie asks which causes him to look up at her.
"Yeah sorry I just, I usually eat lunch here but I'm early and I don't want to disturb you" he says.
She responds by moving up the bench and patting the side next to her. He smiles and sits next to the girl.
"You can call me Ben by the way, and you're Natalie..?"
"Rushman, Natalie Rushman" she says proudly.
"Really?"
"No that was a marvel reference I'm sorry, it's Adderson, Natalie Adderson but my friends call me Nat or Addie" she says to which he leans to shake her hand.
"It's okay, it's nice to properly meet you Nat" he says as he pulls back and they lean back against the bench.
Natalie continues to eat her sandwich whilst he pulls out some soup.
"So uh I'm not sure if you heard but"
"The government might be shutting down" She finishes for him and he looks at her silently before nodding.
"Yeah I'm sorry about it" he says.
"It's okay, I'll be coming in anyways for administrative purposes so you're gonna get bored of seeing me"
"Maybe this could actually give us time to get to know each other, I feel like we never speak" he says quietly and the girl nods.
"Well how about every time we're in, at one, we meet up here for lunch" Natalie suggests and he smiles.
"I think that would be great"
"Perfect, so when I come back here tomorrow, we're going to play twenty questions" She tells him as she stands up getting ready to head back to the office block.
"I'll see you tomorrow Mr Wyatt"
"And you Miss Adderson" he smiles before she turns away and starts walking off with a smile on her face.
Ben Wyatt was definitely someone she wanted to know.

***

Natalie had arrived almost half an hour early to the bench, mainly to calm her overthinking but also because she was excited. She hadn't really talked to many new people recently and some of the people in the office didn't really acknowledge her unless they needed something. She wondered if maybe she should come back later when it was closer to the time, she didn't want to seem too eager. But then again, she didn't want to come back late and have him think she didn't care because god forbid she scared him away before she even knew more than his name. After consideration, she sat there for the full half hour until he started walking up the hall, a light smile falling on his face when he saw she was already sat there for he had been waiting around the corner for twenty minutes worrying he would be too early as well.
Ben walked closer and eventually came to sit at her side.
"Hello Mr Wyatt"
"You know you can call me Ben, Nat" he laughs and she nods.
"I know, but I feel I need to earn the right to your name so that when I use it, you'll feel special" she tells him and he smiles at her kindness.
"Well okay, have you prepared your twenty questions?" He asks the girl and she nods pulling a piece of paper out from her pocket.
"It's called being prepared" she nods proudly.
"Okay well as the gentleman, I'll let you go first" he smiles as he pulls out his lunch.
"What is your favourite movie franchise?" she asks and he ponders it for a minute.
"Probably DC comics or Star Wars"
"What is your favourite place in the world?" He asks her and she sits back and thinks.
"Back home there's a lake a little walk away from my house and there's a tree with a thick branch that you can sit on and it's my secret little place" Natalie explains.
Ben smiles at the girl and inches a little closer.
"Wheres home?"
"Is that your second question?" She asks and he nods.
"Well I'm from Illinois but home is wherever I feel most comfortable" She tells him and Ben turns to look at the woman next to him.
"So wheres home now?"
"You're using up your questions quickly Mr Wyatt" She says teasingly and he nods knowing she's right.
"I don't have a home as of now but I know that the right people or person will come along and change that" she says solemnly before look up at Ben who was gazing at her with a sparkle in his eyes.
"What's your name short for?" She asks.
"Benjamin"
"So why isn't your name Benji?"
"Because Ben sounds more professional, would you call me Ben or Benji?"
"I'll call you Mr Wyatt until I have decided" She smirks.
The pair continue to ask questions back and forth, learning about their favourite things and sharing laughs between them. Every so often Natalie and Ben would stop and look at each other with smiles on their faces, just happy to be in each other's presence and it made Nat wonder if maybe she could find home with the guy sat next to her.
After a while, their lunch breaks were up and so they started to make their way back to the department.
"Today was good, thank you Natalie, I will see you tomorrow and probably everyday for the next three months so I hope you don't get too bored of me" Ben laughs.
"I don't think I could get bored of you, Benjamin" she smirks which causes Ben to snap his head up to meet her eyes.
The pair nodded at each other before she turned round and started walking into the department back to her desk.
As Ben watched her go, he wondered what could potentially come from these meet-ups. He hoped this would form a good friendship, after all, they had the time.