Pushing Parks / Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Keeping Ben Wyatt a secret from her best friend, the beautiful ex-nurse Ann Perkins was one of the hardest things Leslie Knope ever had to do in her life. It seemed even harder than keeping her strange power secret from everyone.
Ever since he had come to her diner with Ann Perkins and punched Ron Swanson, Ben Wyatt was all Ann Perkins was curious about. She would try to corner Leslie, asking all sorts of questions about him: When did they start going out? When did he move in? Was she aware of his presence when he would come to the diner for lunch every week? Was his hair always styled like that? Where did he learn to throw a punch like the one he threw on Ron Swanson? How did he manage to manage odd colored plaid shirts with skinny ties and still look stylish? The last question was actually from Ton Haverford who seemed to be as interested in Ben Wyatt as her best friend was.
Leslie had been trying to keep silent on the subject of Ben Wyatt and was keeping him out of sight, hidden her house. She had forgotten that her best friend also was going to The Dwyer-Ludgate Ludgate-Dwyer show. She was in line with Ben who was wearing sunglasses and a bandana as part of his disguise, and was out of excuses about the presence of Ben Wyatt in her life when her best friend beautiful ex-nurse Ann Perkins approached them.
“Leslie, what a surprise! You didn’t tell me you were coming to the show.” Ann greeted the duo.
“Oh, hi Ann, I didn’t know you’d be here.” she greeted her friend back, albeit a little hesitantly.
“And who is this?” Ann asked.
“This is my nephew… Torpel.” Leslie made up a name and realized immediately that she was failing miserably at lying. Ann gave her a look. “That’s not a name. I don’t have a nephew.” Leslie took a deep breath. “This is Ben Wyatt.”
“Hi Ben Wyatt, we meet again.” Ann shook hands with him. “The bandana and the sunglasses are a nice touch.”
“Yeah, I wanted to give off a summer vibe.” Ben lied, too. “Nice seeing you again.”
“So, we should get to our seats.” Leslie chimed in. “I’ll see you inside, Ann.” she said and cleared her throat in an attempt to usher Ben away from Ann. As much as she loved her best friend and wanted to spend time with her, she hated lying to her and the more she kept her in the presence of Ben Wyatt, the more she had to lie.
Ben led Leslie to their front row seats and sat down. He looked around to see anyone suspicious but didn’t see anyone looking at him except from Ann Perkins on the opposite side of the pool. He did not see a pair of eyes that was looking at him.
Inside their dressing room, from a window overlooking the crowd, April was looking at the audience with a smile on her face that she tried to hide. “Babe, he kept his promise.” she called out to Andy who was still trying to open the hair gel jar.
“Who?”
“Ben. He is there, right where he promised he’d be. And he is actually sitting next to that waffle lady he is obsessed with.”
“Are you serious?” Andy rushed to April’s side and leaned to see where April was pointing. “It’s really him. And the Waffle Maker from JJ’s Waffle Haus. Why is he wearing sunglasses?”
April didn’t answer Andy’s question immediately since she was happy to see Ben despite his ridiculous outfit. “See, you were worried for nothing, he was busy shacking up the waffles lady.” she told Andy who nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go.” Andy said and cannonballed into the swimming pool, starting their show.
Another pair of eyes was watching the Waffle Maker and the Teen Mayor who was supposed to be dead. He nodded, pretended to watch as the Dwyer-Ludgate Ludgate-Dwyer duo swam to one another from opposite ends of the pool and secretly took photos of Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt in disguise.
At the end of the show, Leslie Knope felt her hands aching from all the clapping she did. The show was spectacular and it felt like the duo had gotten even better and more unsynchronized during their hiatus. Next to her, Ben Wyatt was also applauding wildly, appreciating her former roommates.
"We should go to the backstage." Leslie leaned over to Ben and whispered. "They were incredible and you should go celebrate them. And tell them where you have been the last week."
Ben was taken aback. "Are you sure? Isn't that against our rules?"
"Ben, we are already against the rules by being here. They are your friends, you should be with them now."
A wide grin crept on the Teen Mayor’s face. "Thank you, Leslie."
He led her behind some doors and through some corridors and Leslie knew that it wasn't the first time he had been to a Dwyer-Ludgate Ludgate-Dwyer show even though he didn't admit to liking them. He stopped before a door and looked at Leslie. "Are you sure, Leslie? We can't go back after this."
Instead of replying, Leslie Knope knocked on the door and opened it.
"Ben, dude!" she heard a voice shouting and the next thing she knew, Ben Wyatt was wrapped in a bear hug by Andy Dwyer. "So psyched that you are here." Leslie moved around them in order to avoid being wrapped into a hug herself and entered into the darkly lit room. "April, honey, look who is here!" he shouted back, letting Ben go.
"Cool, whatever." April said, not lifting her head as she toweled her hair.
"Ben, who is this?" Andy asked, still holding Ben through the arm, as they moved together to where Leslie was standing. "Not to disrespect because you are my friend and she is your lady-friend, but I'd totally hit that."
Leslie couldn't believe her ears and was even more surprised when she heard April. "So would I."
"April, Andy, this is my..." he paused and looked at Leslie. “This is Leslie Knope, she is the owner of JJ's Waffle Haus."
"She is the Waffle Maker, duh." April commented. "Where the hell have you been the last week? We ran out of milk. And clean dishes."
Leslie sat down on the one chair that was not cluttered with clothes. Ben sat down next to April on the couch and Andy sat down on the tiny space between April and Ben. "That's why I actually came over." Ben started. "But first, you two were amazing out in the pool."
"We know. Where were you?" she demanded.
Ben didn't know how to begin so he looked at Leslie Knope for encouragement. "Something terrible happened to Ben." she said, speaking for the first time since they entered the room.
"I, uh, I got in some trouble." Ben stammered.
"Did you get caught stealing money from Leslie?" Andy cut in.
"No, Andy, no. I got... I got killed."
Andy and April just looked at him as if they were waiting more on the story.
"Somebody murdered me last week in Ramsett Park. Leslie saved me." he said. He didn't want to give specifics on how Leslie saved him. He wasn't sure they would understand.
"Dude, shut up! That's awesomesauce!." Andy exclaimed.
Ben was astounded. He had thought about various reactions but that was not one reaction he had expected. "Andy, how is that awesomesauce? Somebody tried to kill me… killed me."
"You are here and alive, so that's what makes the sauce so awesome."
"Yeah, you don't look dead to me." April agreed, her tone not giving any indication as to how she felt. Yet as Leslie looked at her, for a brief second she could see April looked genuinely sad as Ben spoke about being killed.
“So, um, I have been staying with Leslie to hide.” Ben tried to explain.
“More like shacking up.” April commented in her usual sarcastic tone.
“I can assure you, there has been no touching.” Leslie mumbled under her breath. Nobody heard her.
“Anyways. So, over the next few days, if anyone asks about me, just say you don’t know. Don’t tell anyone about where I am or what I told you. Can I trust you on that?” Ben asked in desperation.
“Of course, buddy, you can count on us.” Andy said as he pulled the Teen Mayor into another bearhug with his wife. After saying their goodbyes, the Teen Mayor followed Leslie to her car.
“There is a 30% chance they’ll both spill out my secret.” Ben told Leslie as he opened the door to the backseat. Leslie’s rules had included Ben not to sit in the front seat in case something happened so he was following that. “But I am glad I told them, I feel relieved that my friends know what happened. Well, not exactly, but still.”
“I am glad you saw them.” Leslie said as she turned on the engine. “Their show was amazing.”
“Yes, it was. Thank you again, Leslie. Thank you so much.”
The Waffle Maker met the Teen Mayor’s eyes through the rear-view mirror. “You are much welcome.” she replied as she hit the gas pedal. The gas pedal would not be the only thing Leslie Knope would hit as a dark figure suddenly appeared before the car and hit the hood of the car. The sound of screeching brakes was the only sound in the empty parking lot.