Soulmates

2 - Whoa, Leslie, I Think My Heart Just Skipped a Beat

Since the day Benjamin Wyatt turned 16, he had the name Leslie inscribed on his right wrist. His soulmate. It was a deep purple, and in almost perfect typewriter lettering. Small, yet perfect. Ben had only met a couple Leslies in his life, but no one was his age or type. He never met one that could possibly be his soulmate. He had dated a couple girls when he was in high school, but since Icetown, he never tried to get into the dating scene.

That is, until he met Leslie Knope of the Pawnee Parks department.

He was only there temporarily, just to oversee the budget. Chris and him were there to make budget cuts to make sure Pawnee's government didn't utterly collapse on itself. He was just doing his job. Sometimes, it felt like it was one of the worst jobs known to man. Seeing the pain in people's eyes when he took away their funding, careers, and livelihood made him cringe every time. Seeing that same pain in Leslie's eyes was no different.

She was definitely one of the most amazing people Ben had ever seen. As soon as he walked into the Parks Department she stood out among the others. When she said "I'm Deputy Director Leslie Knope" His heart skipped a beat. Maybe even two. Holy fuck. Leslie. It's her. It has to be her. Something about her made him feel oddly at home. That is, until he had to cut the Park's budget.

To be clear, her effort to keep as much of the budget from being cut was admirable. She fought harder than most would. But it wasn't up to him. If it was, everyone would have all the money in the world. Especially Leslie Knope.

The big problem seemed to be that she hated him with a passion. First the budget meeting with her and Ron Swanson, now last night at the Snakehole Lounge.

-

This morning he was pretty hungover, and fortunately he wasn't the only one. It seemed just about everyone from the Parks Department was too. 

Then Leslie walked in.

"So I'd like to apologize for yesterday." She sat down, addressing him.

"Don't worry about it." Ben responded, barely looking up.

"No, what I did was out of line. Twice. And I was worked up, because obviously, you represent a threat to my department." Leslie angrily said.

"Your City Council and your Mayor are the threats to your department. We didn't do anything to get you into this situation, okay?" He nearly spat.

"Okay. Look, Ben, I don't appreciate your callous attitude, okay?

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Okay."

"You may hold my fate in your hands like a small bird, but I still think you're an ass." She yelled at him.

"You want to get a beer?" He asked, trying a different approach to try and get through to her.

-

"How's your head?" Leslie asked, sitting with Ben at a bar.

"Mushy." He replied.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you. All three times." Leslie said, actually apologizing. "But I don't think you know anything about my department. Have you ever been part of a government body before?"

"I have, yeah. Small town called Partridge, Minnesota." Ben answered, knowing where this conversion was going.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Leslie inquired "You're Benji Wyatt?:

"I am. When I was 18, I ran for mayor of my small town. And won. A little bit of anti-establishment voter rebellion, I guess. Here's the thing about 18 year-olds. They're idiots." Ben responded, taking a long sip from his beer. "So I pretty much ran the place into the ground after two months and got impeached. The worst part was my parents grounded me".

"Oh, my God. You were so cute." Leslie laughed, "I was so jealous of you."

"Well, thank you." Ben paused, trying not to think about what Leslie just said. "You shouldn't have been. I mean, it ended up kind of ruining my life. And now, I'm balancing budgets so I can show people I'm responsible. So I can run for office again someday and not be laughed at, you know."

"You want to run for office?" Leslie asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Maybe, don't you?"

"Well, maybe." She responded, suddenly getting up. "It's time to get back to work."

"Yeah" He spoke, also standing up from the barstool. He suddenly looked over at the wrists of Leslie Knope. Fuck, she kept a watch on over her soulmate's name. Just like he did.  His heart was skipping beats like a jumprope. 

-

They headed back to work, and eventually headed home. Well, a hotel for Ben. He kept it fairly clean, and it was a nicer hotel than he originally expected to have in a town like Pawnee. It was the same as always. Never homey, and always a tad bit depressing. Eh, he normally only ever slept here, so it was fine. 

He laid down in the bed after taking a shower. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Leslie. She had to be his soulmate. There was no other reason that could explain how he was feeling. Every time she was around he just felt a warm feeling resting on his heart. Even if she occasionally hated him.