"Whenever you want to incorporate punctuation, just know I'm okay with that."

I tried (and probably failed) not to glare at Tag as I looked up at him. He'd spent the last five minutes hovering at my cubicle while I started working on Symons's remarks for an event in Springfield.

"I can't write with you standing over me."

Tag looked entirely unsympathetic. "You need to learn to work under pressure."

"I went to Yale."

"And?" Tag drawled out, lifting an unimpressed eyebrow. "You're not the first Yale graduate I've worked with, and you won't be the last. Your Ivy League pedigree isn't going to catapult you to whatever pretty office in Washington you dream about."

There were times when I could push back against Tag with a witty remark or even a substantive opinion, but this wasn't one of them. I'd only started working for him a short time ago, but I knew how his tone worked, and I knew when he was issuing the kind of advice that was hardly ever put into words by people in politics.

My ambitions weren't rare. I wasn't fundamentally extraordinary. If I wanted to get where I wanted to go, my CV wouldn't be a golden ticket—no matter how damn impressive it was.

So I nodded and I returned my attention to my laptop. After scanning the last sentence, I threw in a comma with an indignant click of the key.

"Good, now go get some fresh air," Tag instructed as he turned away. "I can't have you sitting here and thinking of all the ways you could get me fired. I want that on my desk by the end of the day."

"Got it."

･:*˚:✧｡｡✧:˚*:･

My iced dirty chai latte hardly offered me reprieve from the mugginess of the early afternoon. The condensation on the cup nearly caused me to drop it as I settled onto a bench in the little park near the campaign headquarters, and set my bag next to me.

"What are you up to today?" Ines asked, having just FaceTimed me from her bed. The soft morning light streaming in through the blinds behind her gave her strawberry blonde hair a golden tint.

I flipped the camera around for my sister to view the green square. "I'm literally watching a small child somersaulting through a flock of pigeons."

Ines barked out a laugh. "He's living his truth."

I smiled as I returned to the front-facing camera. "I only have fifteen minutes, so I want to hear about your night out on the town."

"Same music, same people, the same bars, and same hangover," Ines rattled off as she stifled a yawn. "Which is why what we need to discuss is what went down in South Bend on Saturday. Did you become a nun for the Fighting Irish? Did you play nice with Corn-Fed Jed?"

"Why do you assume something went down?"

"It's just a turn of phrase, Miss I Am A Speech Writer," Ines sassed me, waving a manicured finger. "But if I've deduced anything from the drunk texts and selfies you sent me, it's that you had a good time in a place where you didn't think you'd have a good time. I mean, I'm kind of surprised. You're not cut out for Indiana."

I chuckled, silently agreeing with her. 

I spent the majority of the tailgate with Montana. I didn't go out of my way to make it that way, but I couldn't imagine having as good of a time otherwise. Somewhere between the music, alcohol, and sunshine, we'd found a sort of serendipity.

I'd also discovered that because I was drunk and in the presence of three passionate Notre Dame fans that I enjoyed watching the Fighting Irish win the game. This was a shocking revelation, one that had kept my mind awake long after I returned to Chicago that night.

I was exhausted and slightly sunburnt, but I couldn't stop dwelling on the reason why I had such a good time.

"Hello?" Ines waved emphatically. "Earth to Kiernan! Is the small child somersaulting amongst the pigeons again?"

"Sorry. I'm just thinking."

"Well, can you do me a favor and please think out loud?"

"I think I might have a thing for Corn-Fed Jed's roommate!" I blurted out, my words bleeding into each other in a way they never had before. I wasn't someone who was easily rattled, and it was rattling to be rattled over something like this.

There was a stretch of quiet in which Ines leaned closer to the camera as if she needed to inspect me more closely. "Was that the roommate's boy leg in the photo with the Mastiff?"

I snorted at the mention of boy leg, and realized that I'd never told Ines his name.

"Yes, that was Montana's boy leg."

"Aw, cute," Ines cooed. "I love when cute boys are named after places. Wait... he is cute right?"

I drummed my fingertips against my kneecap with my freehand, my rings glinting in the light. "He's...attractive. He's especially attractive in a suit."

"I need a picture, bitch. Send me one, or I will use my powers to track him down on LinkedIn."

"I will, I will," I assured, swiping out of FaceTime to open my camera roll. "But I only have one."

"I only need one...for now."

I refrained from telling my sister to kindly calm the fuck down. She was always super enthusiastic about the characters featured in my fleeting romantic endeavors. It always made me feel a little bit guilty when things fell apart as I felt like I was somehow crushing her hopes and dreams.

I hardly had to scroll to find the photo. I didn't even know it existed until Sunday when Emelia sent a massive dump of the photos she'd taken throughout the day.

The photo of Montana and myself at the game was clearly candid, taken after Notre Dame scored a touchdown. We were standing up, and he had an arm over my shoulders. I had my sunglasses on, but I knew I was looking at him.

And we looked like we wanted to give Brandt another reason to believe that we were together.

I drew in a tight breath as I pressed send, bracing myself for Ines's reaction.

She leaned in towards the camera again a few moments later, the dusting of freckles on her nose hyper-visible. "Whoa."

"Whoa, what?"

She grinned. "You guys look so happy."

"We're drunk and his university's football team had just scored."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure that's exactly what the person who took this photo was thinking too."

"They probably weren't thinking. It's really just a photo, Ines!"

We both jerked away from our respective cameras, the sharp edge in my voice seemingly catching us both off guard.

I didn't mean to snap, but I did, and that was very telling. At least to me.

I knew I wouldn't have gotten defensive if Ines's words hadn't struck a nerve—hadn't felt at least a little bit true.

"Sorry," I immediately said. "I'm sorry. I'm just not ready to talk too much about this thing I have for him, because maybe this thing isn't actually anything worth talking about. For all I know, he could revert to being a total stranger in two weeks. It's happened before."

"It's okay, K. I know how you are about these things." Ines smiled softly. "Anyway, I finally booked my flight to come visit you next month. I wish I could've come for your birthday, but I'm moving into my apartment that weekend."

"My birthday is a non-event. We'lol have plenty of time to do all of our favorite sister nonsense in September," I said before glancing down at my watch. I needed to head back to the office soon and, as Tag said, learn to work under pressure.

Ines appeared to have registered my action. "You need to go, don't you?"

"Regrettably," I said as I stood up. "But let's chat later? I really do want to hear about your night out."

"I can assure you that you don't, but fine." Ines laughed. "Anyway, I love you. Go enjoy your fancy speechwriter things"

"Thanks I will. Love you too." I waved as I ended the FaceTime.

On the walk back to the office, my thoughts returned to Ines's comment that had prompted me to unjustifiably snap at her.

If Emelia had thoughts on the photo, I certainly didn't know them, nor did I want to speculate too deeply as to what they might be. I obviously didn't intend to overhear the conversation between Emelia and Callie at the banquet, but I also couldn't pretend that I hadn't. The last thing I wanted to do in Chicago was to make ripples in a social circle that I wasn't even planning to stay in.

Besides, I didn't need someone like Tag to tell me that my ambitions would take me elsewhere. Win or lose, I was leaving the city after the election.

･:*˚:✧｡｡✧:˚*:･

from sar [w1ldflow3r ]: kiernan has booked a one-way ticket out of denial land. if you think you're prepared for what comes next, just know that you're not hehe

ps: everyone needs someone like  Ines in their life