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8:58…8:59.
Ben was watching the minute hand on the clock intently, she had one minute, one more minute and then he was allowed to go to City Hall and physically drag her kicking and screaming away from her desk and home for dinner.
They had a policy ever since they got married that neither of them were allowed to work past 9PM. It was for Leslie’s benefit rather than Ben’s since if she had it her way she would live in her office.
He only had to get her from City Hall twice since the rule was introduced, first time around he ended up with a long scratch down the side of his face as he pulled her away from the desk, she apologised profusely the next day and applied a horrible, stinging antiseptic to his face.
The second time she tried to hold on to her desk so Ben had to wheel her out on her chair all the way to the car park, she sulked the entire evening and the day after.
She hadn’t done it in a long time, which made Ben nervous for tonight.
Especially with all the work going on for the unity concert right now, she had been trying to get big-ticket names to come and play in Pawnee and that usually resulted in video conferences and being placed on hold for over two hours with management and late night strategizing to find $400,000 to get Beyonce to play.
She had thirty seconds.
Ben barely blinked as he stared at the minute hand slowly ticking; she had ten seconds, nine, eight…
The key in the door made him look away from the clock, he stood up and walked over to the front door, his arms crossed in front of his chest as Leslie stumbled through the door.
“Well you cut it fine” He told her sternly and she smirked at him.
“I know, but I had a really good reason for it” Leslie said as she took off her coat.
“Really? What’s that?”
Leslie hummed with a cheeky look on her face and scurried into the living room.
“I’m not sure if I can tell you”.
Ben arched an eyebrow, “Oh? And why not?”
“I don’t know, I kind of want to see your face when it happens” Leslie said biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing.
Ben rolled his eyes, “Oh come on, you can’t tell me you’ve been out all night for a good reason and then not tell me, don’t be a tease!”
“Ok, ok” Leslie said holding up her hands, still smirking. She then walked towards the bedroom and Ben followed her cautiously.
“Leslie?” He called as she closed the door behind her, “Are you going to tell me?”
“Yes, just give me a second” Her voice came form behind the door.
Ben was puzzled, was it a sexy surprise? A bad surprise? No she was smiling, it couldn’t be bad, the anticipation was killing him slightly, then the door opened and a white shirt flew at his face.
“THINK FAST”.
Ben cursed out loud as the shirt hit him around the face, it tumbled to the floor and he gasped out in surprise.
“What the hell!!”
“You’ll need that shirt for the Unity Concert” Leslie explained, placing her hands behind her back and balancing on her heels.
Ben scowled and bent down to pick up the shirt, it was his Letters to Cleo shirt.
“Why would I need…” The realisation slowly sunk in and next thing Ben knew he was making his dopey surprise face and Leslie was giggling hysterically.
“Surprise!” She called out, “I got Letters to Cleo to play at the Unity Concert!”
“But…but” Ben gasped out trying to find his words, he looked down at the shirt and then back up at Leslie, “How? They disbanded in 2000, they haven’t played together in years, how the hell did you manage that?”
“I called in loads of favours,” Leslie explained as Ben tore off his plaid shirt and pulled on the Letters to Cleo shirt excitedly. “Next thing I know I’m talking to Kay Hanely-.”
“THE Kay Hanely??” Ben’s voice shot up an octave.
“The one and only” Leslie said, no longer able to contain her huge smile, “I told her about the concert and then how my husband was a huge fan and if they would be willing to reunite for the concert, she said that it sounded like a great idea and would get the band back together”.
Ben’s face grew dopier and his couldn’t form proper sentences, “This” He finally choked out, “Is the best thing you could have ever done for me”.
He charged over to Leslie, picking her up and pulling her into a long passionate kiss, “Thank you” He gasped out in between kisses, “Thank you, thank you!”
He put her back down on the floor and bolted over to their speakers and turned on his iPod, the house was soon filled with the sounds of ‘I Want You to Want Me’ and Ben was dancing like a complete maniac without a care in the world.
He was completely oblivious to the fact that Leslie was filming him on her phone; she needed to have this memory burned on her phone for the rest of time.
Once the song ended Ben collapsed on the sofa, panting to himself. Leslie shut her phone off and sat down next to him, tracing a pattern on his shirt with her finger, Ben closed his eyes in bliss for a moment or two before they snapped open again.
“Do you think they will play ‘Here and Now’?” He asked excitedly.
Leslie smiled, “I’m sure they will if you ask them nicely”.
Ben shot up from the sofa again, “I can’t talk to Kay Hanely! That’s just insane!!”
He then started babbling about how amazing Kay Hanely was and that she was an amazing rockstar, Leslie felt no jealousy at this, in fact she felt proud and happy that she probably just made her husband’s dreams come true.