"Excuse me ma'am, could you please show me where the Harry Potter books are?" Ben asked the lady at the front desk of Barnes and Noble, hoping to not look dumb for being one of the only people in the world probably that doesn't have a copy of Harry Potter at his household.
"Oh my gosh! I can totally show you where they are!" the clerk shouted with excitement. "And may I say that you have great taste in books, sir?" She skipped around her desk and down the mini flight of stairs that were connected to the cafe in the middle of the store. Ben realised that this was his cue to follow the excited blonde to where she was headed. She had already gotten ahead of him, so he wandered aimlessly around the store, trying to find her.
"Over here, sir!" Ben heard the clerk say from over in the children's section's fantasy aisle. He walked over to her skimming through the pages of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She sat down and up against the opposite bookshelf and started to read the first chapter. Ben thought to do the same; he grabbed a book, flipped it open and sat next to the clerk. After reading the first couple pages, he looked over at the clerk, who was already about a fourth of the way through the book. She sighed and closed the book, looking at the bookshelf across from her.
"You okay there?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, I suppose I'm fine," she responded. "Just dealing with a bit of childhood nostalgia and empathy with Harry, I guess. That usually happens when I read Harry Potter." She looked at her feet, a sombre expression on her face.
"Well if it causes you to feel a bit of grief, then why do you read it?"
"I can deal with a bit of childhood reminiscing if it means I get to read the best book series in the universe, sir!" she looked up at Ben, her expression changed. "Sorry, sir...I kinda yelled at you there, I suppose."
"Please, just call me Ben; there's no need to be all formal with me." Ben awkwardly chuckled. He had really never been treated with that kind of respect before; he was used to being yelled at or made fun of due to the fact he was a stereotypical "nerd": he'd rather binge watch Homeland instead of going out to a bar, and it's not like he had a bunch of friends except his business colleague Chris and all the people Chris introduced to him at the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department (with the exception of one of the people in charge of the department, who was apparently busy with another job.) But this bookstore worker treated him nicer than any person he had met before and they had only known each other for no longer than fifteen minutes.
"Oh! Well, hello Ben!" she spoke cheerfully. "My name is Leslie, and I am a part-time worker here!"
"Part-time? Do you have another job?"
"Yep! I normally work more than full time at the Pawnee Parks department! I've been taking some days off from government to work here, to fulfil a childhood dream of mine."
The Parks Department...Ben thought to himself. Then that means this is the girl that Chris said wasn't at work when we came by and introduced ourselves to the other workers there!
"The Parks department, eh? I guess I've finally gotten to meet you, Leslie Knope."
"How did you know my last name?"
"One of your colleagues, Mr. Swanson, mentioned that when I came by to meet the government workers, you were out at another job. My colleague, Chris Traeger, knew that it was you, and mentioned your name." Ben smiled at her.
"You're involved in government work, too?"
"I suppose you could say that," he looked away. "I'm an accountant, and I've been called to go over Pawnee's budget and the government's spending habits."
Please don't ask about your city's spending, Leslie, Ben thought to himself. The city's reckless spending is making me have to shut down the government here! Simply put, he was worried about her asking about the spending was because he already liked this girl. Really liked her. They've known each other for this short amount of time, and already he wants to take her on dates, get to know her, become boyfriend and girlfriend, and do whatever else comes naturally. If she found out now that he's in charge of shutting down their government, he'd have to kiss that sweet dream goodbye.
"I'm sure our spending has been phenomenal as always, Ben! I suppose we'll be seeing each other again shortly!" Leslie stood up, and held out a hand to help him get up. "After all, we do have the budget meeting later today!"
"I can't wait!" Ben stated with a false sense of excitement.
"Oh, wait...are you still going to buy that book?" Leslie asked.
"Oh! Yes, I am going to still purchase this book and engage in an exchange of goods and funds." Ben accidentally spoke, his social awkwardness being brought out at that moment.
"Then let's partake in this exchange, Ben!" Leslie giggled as she led him to the counter.
Ben headed to his car, his book in a bag. He opened his car door and sat in the chair, pulling the book out of the bag. He opened the front cover, and a slip of paper fell out. He picked it up and noticed it was a note from Leslie.
Hey, Ben! Today was probably the most fun I've had at work so far. You're a great guy and I think we're going to be great workers together! Let's do this book thing again soon! And perhaps we can go out for the greatest waffles in the world at J.J's Diner sometime soon...
-Leslie Knope :)
He had to admit it; that note made him smile. It may have only made the whole budget situation worse, but he had no way of knowing at the time. He still had about an hour and a half left before the meeting, so he decided to stop by J.J's Diner to try one of those magnificent waffles.