Wildflower (Kris Bryant)

1 Sundrop

Kris

Chicago is a beautiful city. It holds beautiful things and beautiful people and I'm so thankful that I ended up here. The MLB draft can be tricky and I could have ended up anywhere, the bad teams pick first and I could have been picked up by Houston with the first pick or Colorado with the third should I have moved up or down in the draft. But this city picked me and I was lucky to be able to call this place home. I've only been here a day and it's still early in the 2015 baseball season so the city and I are still strangers. I'm still learning my way around, I spend a lot of my time in the more popular places that if I get lost someone can come to the rescue. The Cubs organization is good about helping me with my transition from the minor leagues to the bigs and if I get myself into a situation they can get me out. It's already hard enough to blend in around here being 6'5" and a lot of people following me from the farm system, but it's April and it's a beautiful day and I haven't done anything to garner a lot of attention yet. It wasn't too hard to pull down my cubs hat and walk around the streets unbothered.

I make it to millennium park before I start to get star struck. This place was everything everyone said it would be and more. I walk around the bean and send my parents a bunch of pictures. They were here in town but they were still in their hotel sleeping in and I try to beat the crowd out here. It was my goal to make it here today and I'm so happy I did.

I look into the bean and freeze when I see a girl in the reflection on the bench behind me. She was siting there reading a book completely unbothered by the Chicago winds taking her short brown hair and doing whatever it thought it should do with it. She was by herself but I had a feeling she wanted it that way but the way she placed her bag by so no one can sit next to her. I turn around and try and get a better look before I smile to myself.

She sat there like she was in her own little world. Some place not home to three million people and the busiest part of the city. A thick book sat in her lap as her legs stay crossed holding it up. Her long legs peak out of her bright yellow dress she wore that resembled the sun. Her short curly brown hair didn't seem to bother her as her eyes stayed on the paper in front of her while her hair danced around her. I'm not sure anyone else payed her any attention just as she didn't pay them any, but for some reason I couldn't get her out of my mind. She was mysterious to me, for this city didn't seem like a place for a simple girl like her. There's a million things to do here and reading a book didn't seem like one of them. And everything in me wanted to figure her out.

So I leave the bean and get on the sidewalk that lead me to the bench she was occupying. I walk past her slowly and I try to get some more information. I couldn't tell what she was reading but it looked intense. She had a bag full of other books next to her but that was about all I could make out. No tattoos or jewelry or makeup that I'm aware of. Just some books and the things she needs to be happy and alone in the city.

I start to walk by her again but as soon as I reach her she looks up and I stop. I give her my best smile that let her know that I was friendly and she smiles back. She had this kindred look to her that was inviting even though I'm nervous she caught me checking her out.

She stares at me before she finally smiles back. "Would you like to sit with me" she offers making my smile grow even larger. I wasn't sure if she was just being nice or if she was interested in me too. But I don't question it as I nod my head her way. She moves her bag to the ground and I join her on the warm bench that had the perfect view of the city. You can see everything from this one spot. But she wasn't looking there, no, she was looking at her book.