Yes (Parks and Recreation Fanfic)

Part 4 - Ben

"May I speak to Mr. Barnes now?"
"He's very busy right now. Perhaps another time?"
I lean in closer to the secretary.
"Look. My name is Ben Wyatt and I'm assistant city manager. I'm sure I could find the legal grounds to shut you down somehow. May I speak to Mr. Barnes? I've been here for hours, and I have your city to run."
She pushes the button of an intercom.
"Mr. Barnes, you have someone to see you."
"It's my break, Martha. Please."
"He threatened to shut down the firm, sir."
"What authority does he have to do that?"
"Assistant city manager."
"Ben Wyatt? Send him in."
She lets go of the intercom.
"Down the hall to your right. Large doors. Can't miss 'em."
I smile as I walk through a large set of frosted glass doors. Inside are two desks, one on each side of the room. One is tidy and organized. The man I assume to be Mr. Barnes sits behind it drinking some sort of soda. The other side is disorganized, with scattered papers everywhere. The woman behind it scrambles through some wrinkled documents, glancing up at me as I walk in.
"You must be Mr. Ben Wyatt." Says the man, standing up to greet me. He's incredibly tall, making my short stature even more noticeable. We shake hands and I sit down at a chair towards the back of the room. Both of them pull up chairs in front of me.
"Before you start, I wanted to mention that we did consider asking you to run." says the woman calmly. "You are incredibly effective in your work, making decisions comes easy to you. We just don't think-"
"That after Ice Town leaking that the town trusts me?"
"Exactly." she says, looking like I just took the words out of her mouth.
"Well, I'm not here because of me."
They lean forward slightly and look eager to hear what I have to say.
"I wanted to discuss your talk with Ms. Knope yesterday."
They both sigh deeply and look uncomfortable.
"She is one of my best employees, and frankly, I don't know anyone better to fill a city councillor role than her."
"I'm not sure if we are in any position to tell you this, but she mentioned a-"
"Scandal. I know. And I'm well aware of what the scandal is."
They look like two middle school girls who are waiting for their friend to tell them who her crush is. Their eyes are wide, and I can see hints of a smile on their anticipated faces.
"She is in a committed relationship with one of her superiors. She is keeping it quiet because of a new rule in place that government employees are not allowed to have romantic contact. Now, if the relationship were to end, would there be a potential of you reconsidering her as a candidate?"
"It would still be risky, but there would be a potential. But, Mr. Wyatt, we already have dozens of other options for other potential candidates. What would be in it for us?" asks the woman.
"I will chip in on funding."
"It's illegal for you to use government money for this sort of thing, correct?" Mr. Barnes asks.
"Correct. That is why the money would come from me personally."
Mr. Barnes laughs a little and leans back in his chair.
"You're the illegal boyfriend, correct Mr. Wyatt?"
Damn. I was so close.
"Yes I am. But the relationship has ended." I feel something in my heart snap in two as I say those words. It's for the best. I won't be the cause of Leslie's dreams being crushed.
"Have you already broken up with her?" prys Mr. Barnes. The girl (who's name, I realize, I still haven't learned) glares at him and hits him a little on the arm. The question was probably, in her mind, too personal and irrelevant.
"Why do you need to know?"
"I would like to call Ms. Knope as soon as possible, but if I call her before you break up with her, then it would be... .awkward, to say the least."
The girl looked a bit less tense after hearing the reasoning behind the question.
"I have not yet. Give me an hour."
"How close were you two?" asks the girl, surprisingly. She just shot lasers at Mr. Barnes after he asked a similar question.
"Quite close." I say bluntly.
She looks at Mr. Barnes. "Give her a day. Close breakups are difficult." She looks the other way and whispers, barely audibly "Not that you would know." I smile a little at the remark.
"Does this mean that we have a deal?"
"As long as you two are no longer together, I see no problem. You have yourself a deal."
I shake both of their hands.
"Thank you. You won't regret it."
I turn to walk away. Then I realize something else.
"I also want you both to know that everything Leslie did, it was of her own doing. Everything she has earned, she has worked for. Being in a relationship with me earned her no merits in terms of her professional life."
"We didn't think of that as a concern. With her determination, she can get a lot done. Plus, many of her achievements were made before you came to Pawnee. But thank you for clearing that up." Says the woman with a smile.
I look down at my watch. Oh my god... it's already 3:54! I completely missed my time with Leslie! My heart sinks into my stomach as I hear that thought. I was so anxious and excited to see her. Now I have to dump her.
I take in a shaky breath as I grab my phone. 57 missed calls. How...? I press the volume button and realize that my phone was on silent the entire time. The 57 calls are pretty much equally split between Chris, my house phone, Ann, the Parks Department Phone, and...
Leslie.
How did she get her phone? It doesn't matter. I hesitantly dial Leslie's number by heart. It only takes one ring.
"OH MY GOD BEN, YOU'RE ALIVE!!"
"Yeah. I am."
"You've had us all so worried!"
"I guess my ringer was off on my phone." my voice starts to grow almost monotonous.
"Ben? Are you OK? You don't sound OK."
"Are you alone?"
"No, I'm in the office. Why?"
"Can you go somewhere private? I need to talk to you about something."
"Uh... sure! One second!"
I don't say anything and just breathe quietly into the phone.
"Ok. I'm in the old janitor's closet on the 3rd floor. What's up?"
This all seemed like something that was for the best, something that would make both of us happy. But now that I have to do it, I can't bring myself to say the words. My stomach falls as I grasp the words to tell her.
"Ben? Is everything OK?"
"I'm here at the Barnes Political Firm."
"Ben..."
"They said that you would get your candidacy back if... if..."
"Ben..."
"We need to break up, Leslie. I saw you bawling in there last night. I'm not going to let a guy like me ruin your life!"
"Ruin my life? Ben, you've done far from that!"
"Leslie, I'm sorry, but I can't be with you with knowing that if I'd never been in your life, you would've had everything you ever wanted."
"Ben, no! I can live without the candidacy!" I can hear her crying, and I realize that I'm crying too.
"Leslie, No. You want this dream a lot more than you want me."
"You don't know that! Why are you doing this, Ben?"
"I'm doing this because I care about you. I'm trying to get your dream back. I care about you so much that I want you to have a life of doing what you love. "
"Ben! Please! Don't-"
"You won't regret this. Make me proud, honey."
I hang up the phone and collapse into the chair behind me.