one more night | CHRISTIAN YELICH

one | sage

"How long is it going to take for table 13's order to be ready?"

Sage was easily flustered. Because of this, she chose the best job that she could've after dropping out of college. A waitress at one of the busiest downtown Milwaukee restaurants. Some may say that was her brightest idea of all time.

It started as a crisp day in May; you know, that time of the year where you don't know how to dress. When Sage woke up, it was 40 degrees. By 4 PM when her shift started, it was about 70, and she was on the verge of sweating to death with her jeans and three-quarter sleeve work shirt. She hated the bipolar Milwaukee weather. However, she couldn't even think about her comfort level with how much work she was provided with that day.

Her busiest workdays were whenever the Brewers were playing that night. Fans loved to get food at the Garden before spending the evening eating all of the hot dogs and pretzels that they still have room in their stomachs for. Sage guessed that eating a boujee, overpriced organic meal beforehand made them feel less guilty about their diet later. As long as they tipped accurately, she didn't really give a shit about what they did, though. Luckily, bad tips never seemed to be an issue for her, especially from men.

Every single table was packed, and she had a line waiting for a seat that was on the verge of going out the door. It didn't help that both of the Garden locations in Milwaukee were understaffed. Sage questioned her sanity. It was only her first week working there, and she was already full of regrets.

"Sage, we're going as fast as we can. There are 19 other tables we gotta worry about, too."

Sage huffed. She was in charge of 7 of those 20 tables.

God damn Brewers rush, she thought to herself.

~

Finally, the Brewers fans made their way to Miller Park. The Garden at that point was pretty quiet. Sage took a sigh of relief and reached for the remote control to change the three televisions to the Brewers game. They were playing the Pirates. Sage took a seat at the empty bar. She heard footsteps approaching from beside her, but kept her eyes locked on the TV. Her new coworker Jenny sat down next to her.

"Hey, Sage, isn't it? You a Brewers fan?" Jenny grinned.

Sage returned the smile. "Yeah. And not really, actually. I only know a little about them."

Jenny nodded in response. "Ah, okay. You have an accent. Where you from?"

"Pittsburgh. I just moved here a few weeks ago after I dropped college."

Jenny made a face. "You dropped out just to move to Milwaukee, huh?" she questioned.

"Obviously. But no. After a couple years, I realized college isn't really for me and I want to live a little more sporadically. You know, go where life takes me." Sage replied.

Jenny nodded and pushed her long blonde hair behind one ear. "I wish I could live like that. I'm only a senior in high school, though, and it seems like I'm never gonna leave Wisconsin."

Our conversation was interrupted by the crack of a bat over the TV. The Pirates' shortstop, Cole Tucker, hit a double into right field, scoring one.

"Damn," Jenny started, "I know it's only the third inning, but we better not lose to the Pirates of all teams. They suck absolute ass."

Sage laughed. "Hey, that's my team you're talking about." Sage watched enough baseball to know of players on other teams, but she knew her Pirates through and through.

"Oh, that's my bad, then," Jenny laughed. "Your team sucks ass."

"You're so brutal," Sage replied, smiling along.

~

The Brewers ended up losing to the Pirates, 2-1. It was a pitching battle and was just about one of the quickest games that Sage could remember watching. Her shift was over in an hour, at midnight, and she and Jenny were more than delighted. The Garden took pride in being a late-night dinner spot. However, most people at that point seemed to resort to the local bars instead. The Garden did serve alcohol, damn good drinks, actually, but people seemed to be attracted to the bar atmosphere instead. There were a couple of people at a table in a corner, but that was as crowded as Sage expected to get. She went to wipe down a table that was just left when she heard the door swing open behind her. She glanced up. Two tall men walked in and seated themselves.

Sage's stomach dropped for a split second. She recognized the one immediately as Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich. She recognized the other man as a player but blanked on his name. Sage sidestepped over to Jenny and nudged her.

"Christian fucking Yelich just sat down at my table," she whispered fiercely.

Jenny's eyes widened. "Oh my god. Why couldn't he have sat down at mine?" Jenny whispered back.

Sage shrugged, slightly intimidated. She had met baseball players before while living in Pittsburgh. But she had never met someone with the status, and quite honestly looks, as Christian Yelich. She always did have a thing for Pete Davidson, so she decided it made sense that she was always attracted to him.

"Who's the other one?" Jenny asked.

Sage thought quickly. "I probably know his name, but I don't know his face. So hopefully he's paying for himself and we can look at what he signs the bill", she finally answered.

Sage paced over to their table. "Hi guys, Welcome to the Garden," she started, "My name's Sage, and I'll be taking care of you guys tonight. What can I get you started on?" Christian was obviously looking at her as she spoke, and she blushed.

The first tall man ordered a beer on tap. "No food for me tonight, though. I'm good."

"Alright," Sage intuitively licked her lips and smiled. "and how about for you?"

"I'll have the same, I think," he answered. She looked up from her notepad and their eyes met. She blushed harder. He definitely appeared to be more on the shyer side, at least compared to his companion.

"Good choice guys, I'll be back with those in just a second." Sage went to walk away and Jenny couldn't help but notice Sage's hips were swaying a little more than naturally.

Sage went to walk past the bar where Jenny was still sitting.

"Are you trying to get with Yeli?" she asked quietly.

"I wouldn't be against it, but I'm not going out of my way to. He probably doesn't wanna be recognized anyway." She started pouring two beers.

"Right," Jenny replied, sarcastically. "Totally. You're insane if you pass up flirting with Christian Yelich and his hot ass friend."

Sage placed the two drinks in front of them both. She could feel eyes burning into her as she placed the second one down.

They did not stay for very long. They drank two beers apiece, Christian continuing to taunt Sage with his darting eyes the entire time. Sage came by with their bill. "Take your time, guys."

She doesn't think the blush on her cheeks ever left the entire time. And Jenny was right. His teammate was pretty hot as well, but he looked a little older, and Christian's age was already pushing Sage's personal cutoff. Christian was 29 and Sage hadn't been drinking legally for very long.

They paid and left. Jenny followed Sage eagerly to pick up their split bills. The first one was left by the unidentifiable player. Jenny looked closely. "Travis Shaw?"

Sage wanted to hit herself. "Travis Shaw? You're telling me I couldn't recognize Travis Shaw with how much the Brewers play the Pirates? He's been there for a long time," she sighed.

Jenny picked up the other bill for a bit longer than usual before setting it back down on the table. "You're probably gonna wanna take a look at Christian's."

Sage picked it up. Below the hefty tip listed were the two words "text me" along with a phone number. "What the hell?" Sage stated in disbelief.