But today was one of the best days. It was sunny without being sweltering, the Red Sox were in top form, the majority of my family had vacated the city, and I was balancing four frigid beers as I trundled down the ballpark steps. We were seated behind home plate, in season ticket seats Magnolia's aunt had held for more than fortyyearsbefore passing them to her niece and nephews. One of the best perks of hanging out with Magnolia Santillian—aside from her being a legitimately good friend—was reliable access to local sportingevents.
"Take one," I ordered when I reached our row, the diamond of plastic cups pinched between myfingers.
Certain things could only be enjoyed to their fullest in certain situations: sandwiches on the beach, popcorn at the movies, and beer at the ballpark. For this moment, everything was right in my world. Life was easy. Or it would be easy until I had to ask my friend whether she was willing to spend a weekend babysitting me in Rhode Island. Maybe scare off a hyper hipster trust fundbaby,too.
She relieved me of two cups but shot an arched eyebrow at my shorts. "Are you open for business or pleasure?" sheasked.
I glanced down and found my fly unzipped. That damn thing. It was always getting awayfromme.
"For you, baby," I started, "I can pull off both." Setting the remaining beers on the ground, I handled my business with an apologetic wink to the familybehindus.
Magnolia—I called her Gigi, a perversion of her nickname around the Walsh Associates offices, Roof Garden Girl, or RGG—snorted out a laugh. "That would require you seeing me as a woman, don't youthink?"
With my drinks in hand, I wedged in beside her and surveyed the field. There was a sticky situation brewing on third base, but it was only the bottom of the second. There'd be time to recover before this game was finished, presuming the shortstop found some speed. I dropped my arm to the back of her seat and squeezed hershoulder.
"I know you're a woman," I said, sipping my beer. "You're a woman just like my sisters arewomen."
"Yep, and you're a man, just like my brothers are men," she said, laughing. "It's funny how I have no desire to fuck anyofyou."
"Hilarious," I said, giving her anothersqueeze.
Nope, there was nothing there. We were close, me and Gigi. She worked on the majority of my properties, adding roof gardens and other sustainable landscape features, and she had a good brain for wrangling architectural snags, too. And we were intimate in the sense that I always celebrated the Feast of St. Anthony with her family, and I'd kicked the snot out of her shit-stain of an ex-boyfriend when he stole her dog, and we'd cried real tears of joy together when the Patriots pulled another Super Bowl victory out ofthefire.
But that was where it ended. There was nothing amorous, no sexual tension, no sparks. With almost three years of working and playing together under our belts, we were living proof that men and women could be friends without gettingnaked.
"Hey," I said, tapping my cup against hers in an overdue toast. Better late than never was my philosophy. "Want to come to Providence with me for a weekend inOctober?"
"Allright," she called, clapping as the catcher tagged out that problem from third base. She glanced at me. "What are we doing inProvidence?"
"What aren't we doing?" I asked, holding open my arms. "There are nowtwoartisan donut shops, a restaurant dedicated entirely to sausage, and the PawSox. What more couldyouwant?"
She shook her head, laughing. "You know I'm no fan of minor league ball," she said, gesturing to the field. "It's fun and all, but why would I choose that when I could have this?" She shook her head again. "And I gave up donutsforLent."
I shot her an unimpressed frown. "Easter was almost five months ago," I said. "You're relieved of your sacrificialbonds."
"I'm getting a jumpstart on next year," she said, but then her eyes narrowed and the shits-and-giggles portion of this conversation was winding down. "Really. What's happening inProvidence?"
I tipped back my beer and drank for a few moments before replying. "It's RISD's form of homecoming weekend," I said. "I've been tasked with scouting a new crop ofinterns."
Gigi snorted again. "You guys like the beatings, don't you?" she asked. She'd met all our summer interns. She knew we'd had a rough runofit.
"Something like that," I murmured. "So.Comewith?"
She pulled at the frayed hem of her jean shorts. "Why do you need an accomplice for this crime? Aren't you the king of Rhode Island? Don't you have royal subjects awaiting yourreturn?"
I offered a vague grunt of disagreement. I'd been known to wax ecstatic about the Ocean State, but that was merely a product of living there for eight years and enjoying the fuck out of it. I'd taken the long way through college, and for a period of time seriously considered dumping it all for a career in bartending. And why not? Bartending was awesome. The hours were good, the people were amusing, and the workwasfun.
But then, after ducking out of a year of grad school to pour drinks, I found that I was bored. I missed being in the business that was as much a part of my family as yelling unnecessarily, struggling to articulate emotions without sprinkling on some insults, and solving problems with whiskey. And I missedtheart.
Most people didn't see architecture as art, not in the way that painting and sculpture and symphonies were art. But that was what it was for me. I didn't see it as precise systems or structures the way my brothers did. The discipline and mathematics of it all were secondary to me because architecture was art that you lived in, and I fucking loved it in mywonkyway.
I studied the field for several minutes, watching some weak pitches and antsy runners on base while I sipped my beer. "Are we betting on this game?" Iasked.
"Sure," she replied. "Loser buys afternoon coffeeallweek?"
"Deal," I said. "I'm taking the Sox byfourruns."
"Oh, so you came with your balls today," she scoffed, tipping her chin toward the scoreboard. The home team was trailing by two runs. "I don't see them putting this one in the win column, but I won't turn down free coffeedelivery."
