THREE'S A CROWD

MONTANA BENNETT: got held up at work, i'll have to meet you guys at the stadium.

MONTANA BENNETT: @jed, can you bring me a change of clothes? i'll die otherwise

EMELIA KING: you're SOL kid, you know the bag policy.

MONTANA BENNETT: you carry a bag, do you not?

EMELIA KING: it's a small purse, not a backpack. where do you expect me to put an entire new outfit for you?

JED MONTGOMERY: i'll bring you a hat *thumbs up*

I groaned as I swiped out of my group chat with Jed and Em, already feeling the discomfort creep around my neck as I unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt. It was Friday, and while KPMG had a casual Summer Friday's policy, casual to them meant jeans with your standard Armani button-up instead of slacks.

I let my thumb hover over my text message thread with Kiernan from earlier in the week when she'd attended some high-end political event with Em. The conversation ended naturally with my text being the last, and we hadn't spoken since then.

MONTANA BENNETT: are you taking the L with em?

After I sent the text, I forced myself into my spreadsheets to work uninterrupted for another ten minutes. When I checked it again, she'd just responded.

KIERNAN GREY: no, i went home after work to change. i wasn't about to wear my blazer to wrigley field.

I tugged at the suddenly tight collar of my shirt again and typed a response.

MONTANA BENNETT: lucky you. i got stuck at work and will be making an appearance in my fake friday casual. potentially half-melted.

KIERNAN GREY: cute, i'll track down a bucket

I reacted to the message with a ha-ha, then turned my attention back to the end of the audit report I'd been working on. Excel came naturally to me by this point in my career, but that didn't mean I'd gotten over the desire to fling my laptop out of the floor-to-ceiling windows in our 25th floor office every time I needed to work with it.

"Tell me you're on your way out soon. I thought you were heading over to Wrigley."

Rachel came striding out of the little glass enclosure of her office and stopped by my desk. Some people would be put off by having their boss's office directly across from them, but I liked the visibility. She always saw me working, even when I didn't need to. Like right now.

I forced out a chuckle. "I am, I am. I just...future me will kick my ass if I leave this for Monday."

"Dedicated," she chuckled, shifting her large designer tote bag on her shoulder. "Just like your father was."

She strode away from my desk with a knowing smile, the clacking of her heels against the hardwood fading as she made her way to the elevators on the far side of the floor, leaving me to officially be the last person in the office. In 20 minutes, the motion-sensor lights would start to turn off - imagine the shit I flipped when that happened my first night staying late. I knew better now.

I knew Rachel meant no harm. Objectively comparing me to my dad in terms of skill and work ethic was a compliment. Rachel Martin had worked for my dad and saw first-hand a lot of what he did for our department, and now that she'd stepped into his shoes and oversaw me, there was just an unspoken understanding that I would eventually move up along the same ladder.

I felt a moral obligation to do this job. I wanted this career because of him.

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Any time we went to a Cubs game, we'd always tried to get seats along the first base line. I got discounted seats from a client at work, and we used them wisely.

By the time I made it down to row J, I might have lost a fourth of my body weight in sweat. I spotted Kiernan in the seat beside the open aisle seat, her body turned towards Em on her left, gesturing animatedly as they spoke. I remembered that from last week too. She sort of fit the generic East Coast bill that way, all fast-talking and expressive hand gestures.

As Em turned, she spotted me and jumped to her feet, waving me over as if I didn't already see them.

"I'm here, I'm here," I grumbled as I sat down in the chair, the plastic warm from being in the sun all day. I could feel Kiernan side-eying me. "Don't make a scene."

"Then don't be a grouch," Em retorted. "You've been here for less than 30 seconds."

I leaned forward to glance down the row at Jed. "Where's my hat?"

Jed went wide-eyed, then quickly dropped his gaze to his sneakers. He grumbled something, and even though I knew it was something along the lines of I forgot, but I was seething, and I was petty.

"What?" I called over to him. "Speak up, Josiah."

"I forgot," he moaned, rubbing the side of his face with his hand. "Rudy wouldn't go to the bathroom on his walk, so I had to walk him around the block again, then-"

"Forget it, forget it." I threw my hands up and slumped back into the chair.

I finally brought myself to glance down at Kiernan, her eyes shielded by the brim of her navy Cubs hat. "Give me your hat."

Kiernan arched a challenging eyebrow at me as she folded her arms over her little navy t-shirt. "You're not even going to ask nicely?"

"I'm on the verge of death, Kiernan," I sighed out. "I don't have time for manners."

She gave me a casual one-shoulder shrug. "Then no."

There was a momentary pause as the Cubs first baseman, Frank Schwindel, came up to bat. He had the highest batting average on the team this season, and the stadium took a collective inhale as he stepped into the batter's box.

I used the brief distraction to my advantage as I swiftly plucked Kiernan's hat off of her head. She turned her whole body to face me with her jaw open, purely appalled.

"Unbelievable." She smoothed down the loose pieces of hair dangling by her temple. "I brought that with me for a reason. In addition to being a casual Cubs fan, I'm having a bad hair day."

"You've just saved a life," I fiddled with the snap closure at the back until it was big enough to fit. "And your hair is fine."

She huffed, clearly disagreeing, but I was momentarily caught up in the way she re-tied her hair to care. It took me a solid second to notice Em leaning forward to shoot me a dirty look, sliding her trendy pink sunglasses down the bridge of her nose.

"Just go buy yourself a new hat, Montana," Em said, and pointed at my wrist. "That pretty little Breitling you wear says you're not broke."

I glanced down at my watch. It was already almost seven, and all I could think about in that moment was how annoyed I was at myself for not leaving work on time like a normal fucking person. If I had just gone home like everyone else did, I would have been able to change, wouldn't have arrived a seething, sweaty mess, and wouldn't need to be swiping hats from a pretty girl I was still barely friends with.

"I'm hungry," Jed announced.

"Didn't you just have a hot pretzel?" Kiernan countered.

He shrugged. "I want a Wrigley dog now."

I let out a groan as I rose to my feet. "Well, since apparently I need to buy my own hat, I'll go."

I handed Kiernan her hat back, but she waved me off. "Too late, the damage is already done."

I glanced down at her almost empty plastic cup. "Then I'll get you a refill."

"And my Wrigley dog!" Jed chirped up.

"Fine, fine," I rolled my eyes as I made my way into the aisle and up the stone steps of the stadium. I'd reached the top of the steps when I realized I'd been followed.

"You're going to need another hand," Kiernan said. "Besides, you don't even know what I like to drink."

"Alright, fair," I huffed out a breath. I glanced over at one of the bar carts, the line at least 10 people deep. I dug into the pocket of my jeans for my wallet and handed her two $20 bills. "I'll have whatever you're drinking, and I expect change."

She shot me a coy smirk as we backed away from each other. "Meet me over there."

The hot dog line moved impressively fast. I came away with the food carrier - including Jed's entire second entree - in less than 10 minutes.

Kiernan looked like she was waiting for our drinks when I approached her, but she was preoccupied. She spoke to a guy about my height beside her, doing that thing where she talked with her hands again. Whatever she was saying made the guy laugh, but she turned away from him when I came to her other side.

She folded her arms over her chest again, which seemed to be her default disposition during our conversations today. "Why are you scowling?"

"What?" I scoffed. "I was not. That's just my face."

"You're already wearing my hat. I don't know what more you want from me."

I shot her a deadpanned look. "My change."

I balanced the kit of food in one hand as she dropped a few bills into my other hand.

"Happy?"

I comically tipped the brim of her hat to her. "Ecstatic."

The bartender set our drinks down on the slick counter, already dripping with condensation. They looked like slushies with little orange slices sticking out of the top.

"Frozen margaritas? Really?"

She picked them up. "I don't drink beer."

"What did they do to you in Connecticut?" I asked her as we started making our way back to our seats.

"Taught me manners, among other things," Kiernan quipped.

As we made it back to the entranceway to our seats, I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Hey, c'mon wait. I'm sorry if I'm being a jerk."

"Sure, you are."

I was sure if she wasn't carrying both of our drinks, she'd be folding her arms over her chest again. She settled for furrowing her brows as she squinted up at me, waiting for me to plead my case.

"I just had a longer than necessary day. I willingly stayed later at work for no reason, and the heat turns me into a feral animal. I'm built for the cold."

"Then you must be extra charming in the winter."

"I am."

"Okay, Montana," she laughed and resumed our trek back to our seats. 

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montana does in fact buy his own cubs cap. eventually. 

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