just ran it by ~baumgardner, and yeap ben and her would have known each other since ben moved in with him in 2017 but they probably didn't exchange much beyond the awkward hellos and niceties. also given what was discussed ben hates her with a passion. not really, but as he was the guy who had to console noam (poorly) he definitely doesn't think highly of her
it'll be fun to play out in game since ben's otherwise the nicest person in the world!