The pit works in mysterious ways

Go Big or Go Home

Andy was sitting in his shoe shine stand staring at the picture of him and Olivia on the Pawnee brochure he had framed on the wall. He left a twentieth message for Olivia. He couldn't forget the kiss, but the image that was buried in his mind was her running away from him.

"Olivia, hey, it's me, Andy Dwyer. This is like the 200th message I've left you, without a response. So, if you're trying to tell me something, I do not know what it is because you won't call me back."

~~~

"It is truly great to see all of you, huh? It's great news!" Chris tells the newly reunited parks department.

Olivia clapped with her other coworkers. After a summer of being out of the job it gave her a lot of time to think.

Her and Andy just couldn't be together, she was right. They were friends, they'll always be friends. But Andy's kiss with Ann was just a catlist to everything else that would have gone wrong in their relationship. She took that time this summer to get over him. She was still in love with him.

But Olivia still felt hurt by Ann, they were supposed to be friends, why would she kiss her ex-boyfriend when she knew Olivia liked him. Well, in Ann defense she didn't know Olivia was in love with Andy. But it still hurts nonetheless. So while Olivia was getting over Andy she was also avoiding Ann.

"Okay. I have to run. Ben." Chris says running away so Ben would have to deliver the bad news.

"The bad news, which I get to deliver, is this." Ben says, looking where Chris once stood and ran away. "Your only work for the time being will be existing park maintenance. So, that just means that we're in maintenance mode." Ben hands out binders to everyone as he explains.

"Yeah!" Jerry says at the prospect of not working.

"Jerry!" Tom scolds him.

"Okay. See, I've spent the last few months brainstorming. And I have some really great ideas and I put them in my idea binders." Leslie says pointing to the five individual stacks of different colored binders. "I mean, they're color coded, for God's sake."

"I had to peer read those." Olivia mutters, shivering before looking at ben. "I mean there has to be something we can do. I walked past a trash can on fire last week."

"Okay. Actually, yeah. There is one thing that you will be doing." Ben says pointing to Olivia. "Apparently, in Indiana, if you don't provide a basketball league, people get very upset. And quite frankly, throw things at you and call you names. Like Turd-boy. Whatever." Ben complains. "The point is I reinstated youth basketball. Okay?"

"It says here you only have money for two teams?" Leslie notices.

"Yeah. They're going to develop a great rivalry."

~~~

Andy was shining shoes and bored out of his mind, he looked up, looking to the parks and recreation department like he had a hundred times that day. Looking for someone.

The exception this time was the person Andy was looking for was acutely standing in the window. Olivia was copying some paper, before walking away from the window.

"Olivia!" Andy runs away from the shoe shine stand and into the parks and recreation department.

Andy dive head first into the room, almost running Tom over, and stopping in front of her.

"Olivia! Where have you been? Oh, my God."

Olivia smiles at him, trying to be professional. "Hey. How are you?"

"I'm okay. I'm dying to see you. I called and I texted you, like, a billion times."

"Sorry, I was with my grandma in indianapolis."

"Really? Wow. Across the pond." Andy says in a weird accent. "Wow. I thought maybe I would have heard from you at least once. Because of what happened. Ann kissing me? I am so sorry about that. It was so stupid and it meant nothing." Andy pleads.

"I wouldn't worry about it. It's totally fine." Olivia says, lying.

"Really." Andy asks, confused.

"We're friends, we'll always be friends." Olivia said smiling.

~~~

"Use grazing sheep to mow grass in parks." Leslie says into a tape recorded after her plan to get the parks department money failed. "Note. Tired sheep could become food or sweaters." Leslie realizes it sounds stupid and throws the tape recorder down.

"Well, I got my answer." Andy storms into her office, catching Leslie off guard.

"About Olivia, she hates me. She wants to be just friends?! I guess." Andy vents, sitting down. "So what do I do?" Andy pleads with a heart broken look in his eyes.

"Okay. Well, when your back's against the wall and odds are stacked against you, you just... You... You swing the hardest, damn it. You go big or you go home. And you don't seem like the kind of guy who goes home." Leslie advises.

"I'm not. I don't even really have a home."

"Go get her, Andy!" Andy jumps out of the chair.

"Okay, thanks, Leslie."

~~~

Olivia walks up to her desk ready to go home, just needing her purse on her desk. But to be caught of guard by piles and piles of fresh flowers on her desk. Olivia looks very confused, but it becomes clear what happens when Andy comes out from Rons office. His hair gelled down and styled. A rose in his shoe apron.

"Hello, Olivia. Do you like flowers?"

"Did you do this Andy?" Olivia asks confused, pick up one of the bouquets.

"I like you Olivia. And I'm coming after you with everything I've got. So, do you want to go out with me?" Andy asks, putting his arm out.

"No." Olivia replies quickly, and unlike the other times, she says it loudly. With a sad look on her face as well.

"I thought you were going to say yes." Andy says being caught off guard. "But that's okay. Because I'll be back tomorrow to ask you again. And again the next day. And the next day. Not Friday. I have to go visit my cousin. But I will be back after that to ask you again."

Olivia walks away, feeling fine. Only fine, she was mostly over him. But it would take time, till then she'll fake it. His friendship is the most important thing in her life right now, and she doesn't want to lose him to a failed relationship.

Andy watches as she walks away, feeling his heart split. But never feeling more determined to be with her, the love of his life, than he did now.