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#it’s hot outside; i’m tired; i’m stressed about my dissertation and i’m waiting impatiently for the day i can get my puppy
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A Rose In Harlem
OC x Erik Story
Based on Teyana Taylor's VII & KTSE.
Warnings: Sneaky Bitch in the cut! Drug use. Drunkenness. Jealous Erik! Jealous Syd! A whole bunch of jealousy! Which leads me to the title of
CHAPTER 4: ENVY.
Erik's face began to heat up with anger at the sight of Syeda and the maintenance man. He continued smoking as his eyes searched for Grant. He found him in the back of the kitchen beside the back door talking to some woman. He barged his way through the thick crowd of party goers and as he walked past the kitchen he gave Syd and her plus one a look of disdain. "Aye, Grant. Lemme get a eighth." He requested, handing Grant two twenties. He needed to calm down and the Henny was not a culprit for that mission. Grant dug around in his pocket for the weed and pulled out a pre-weighed pack and gave it to Erik. "Here man. Just give me a dub. You look like you need it right now. Wassup witchu?"He let out a full sigh before he answered, "Nothin. I'm good. Thanks. You got some more backwoods?" The mystery woman spoke up, "I do." Erik's face changed as soon as he looked up at her. She was no Syeda, but she was bad all the same. 
Brown skin that would give Coca a run for its money. She was about 5'7" with a curly top knot bun. "I'm Gina, just call me G." "Erik." They exchanged pleasantries and shook hands. Syeda is witnessing their exchange and she scoffed as she took the last sip of her straight liquor as if it was a shot. Yasin followed suit, thinking she was trying to out drink him. "Damn babe. You took that shot and didn't even blink." He laughed as he pulled her from behind, hugging her by her waist. She smiled in their direction with purpose. "Yeah. I guess I needed this." she then moved her head up to look at Yasin. He took that opportunity to kiss her forehead. Erik accepted G's pack of backwoods and clinched his jaw again after seeing Syd and Mr. Plumber's exchange. "Wanna go outside?" He motioned his head towards the back yard. "Yes, Erik. We can do that." She flashed a smile at him. She had a gap that Erik immediately took to. 'It's actually cute on her' he thought.
Syd sucked her teeth as the DJ switched the record up to "Bandz A Make Her Dance" she asked Yasin, "Hey boo, you wanna dance?" She didn't wait for his reply. She pulled his arm as he followed her into the living room.
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Erik began choking on the blunt, "Wait, you did what?" G patted his back and chuckled at him. "I thought I could go to the top of the Empire state building and smoke a couple ls. so I did. Until security was called after I got done with the first one." He hadn't laughed so hard since his Navy days, back before he went off to college. "I had to run down 102 flights of steps with Security on my ass! I don't regret it though." She admitted, grabbing the blunt that Erik was offering. He liked the fact that she was daring. While they were rolling to match, she talked about how she took a leap of faith to pursue her modeling career moving from Houston to New York after her parents passed away in a drunk driving accident. Erik exchanged the similar experience of losing his father and mother when he was younger. They seemed to form a slight bond over their bold interests and their painful losses. They were both only children, they even complimented each other's rolling styles. "Yeah, this is hittin. You good at this. How long you been smoking?" G leaned back in awe of the query, "Shiiiiiiiiit I'm twenty-six, It is my birthday by the way." He interrupted, "Oh, well happy birthday beautiful." Her smile spread from ear to ear. "Oh, Thank you. Anyway- I'm twenty-six. I've been smoking since I was fifteen. So about eleven years." She took another drag as he lit the blunt he rolled. "So what about you?" He exhaled the smoke and did some calculating with his free hand. He'd only taken up smoking when he went back to MIT for his doctorate in Engineering. Even though a eighteen year old Navy enlisted Stevens would laugh if he saw his twenty-seven year old self toking like Wiz Khalifa, he used the flower to decompress. Especially before his dissertation. He smirked and rebutted, "Only four years." G gasped, "Really? I'm surprised. I mean, you being from Cali and all." He kept the same smirk at the way she pronounced Cali with that southern accent. He really liked that. "I wasn't a fan of weed in my younger days. I enlisted in the Navy as soon as I graduated High School. When I got out and went to college, my view became more lenient; and by the time I went to school to get my doctorate, I dove head first in the weed. That shit was stressful." Gina marveled at the small background story he gave her. "Wow. Doctorate. So you're a doctor?" he passed his blunt to her, and rejected what was left of hers. "I am. Kind of. Engineering Doctor." She busted out laughing. Her laughter instigated his as they were enjoying each other's company.
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"Front then he coming your way, let the semi dump-dump then he coming your way. Dump when the bad man come, my yute don't ramp wit me/Coupe full of bad hoes, they all wanna come with me./You got a coupe with a sad ho cause she wanna come with me. Shabba!"
Syd wined her body to the bass line of the beat as Yasin joined her movements behind her. The party was singing along with A$AP Ferg, you could've sworn he was in attendance. They'd been dancing for four songs now, and Syd started getting tired. She stopped and rose up from her bent position. "Wooo. I'm drained." Sin nodded. "I feel you. It is hot out here. You wanna go outside?" He pointed at the same back door she saw Erik and whatshername go out of. She agreed, out of curiosity. They make strides to the back of the party. As Sin opened the door for Syd to walk out, Erik and whatsherface were walking in. Laughing as if Eddie Murphy was outside doing a comedy show and smelling louder than Coachella. Syd rolled her eyes and tried to avoid making eye contact. Erik quickly shut that down. "Syd." He always said her name so effortlessly and it immediately stopped her in her tracks as she turned around. "Erik? Hey. What's up?" He took a quick glance at Yasin and looked back at her, "Chillin. Zig finally showing me a good time and shit." He glanced back over at Yasin, who was giving him a smug look. "You?" Syd flipped her hair so she could rub the back of her neck, "I needed to get out of the house. Work is getting hectic."
Ironically, Yasin and G both cleared their throats at the same time at their counterpart's rudeness. Syd looked over at Sin apologetically, "I'm sorry. Sin, this is Erik. My neighbor's cousin. Erik, this is Yasin." Neither one of them felt the need to shake hands they just gave each other a domineering stare. Erik broke it and looked at Gina and her impatient body language, "This is Gina. We just met but she's cool." Gina reached her hand out to Syd. Syd leaned back far enough for Erik and Sin to notice, but Gina didn't. She reluctantly took her hand and shook it, "Syeda." She quickly let her hand go and walked to the end of the deck. Erik's mouth hung open at the crude behavior that Syd was displaying. 'She acting like she didn't bring fix-a-toilet to the party.' he scoffed aloud at the inner thought.
Yasin shook her hand, trying to deescalate the awkward situation, "Hey, I'm Yasin. It was getting hot in there and she needs some fresh air." Erik side eyed Syd, "Yeah. I'm sure. Well you enjoy your night Syd." Syd shooed him off. "Yeah. You too." The door closed and Yasin let out a long breath as the tension levels decreased. "Wow. Uh. You okay? You seem upset." Syd still looking ahead toward the back yard, she shook her head. "I'm not upset. I'm good." She managed a fake smile and took his hand. "Are you okay?" Yasin scratched his forehead in confusion. "I was okay until all of that happened. That was awkward as hell, ma. You two hook up or somethin'?" Syd rolled her eyes at the suggestion, "Hell no. I practically don't know him. I'm just hot and irritated that's all." "Okay babygirl. lets get you cooled down." He found a lawn chair and scooted it up to her so she could sit down. 
--
30 Minutes later
Yasin and Syd were becoming more acquainted. They exchanged stories about Ramadan failures. Syd loves food too much to not eat during the day. "Islam is about patience. Even in our shortcomings. I got up to thirteen days this year. I'll aim for thirty next year and see how far Allah takes me." "Wow. I never thought of it that way." She always beat herself up about not following her religion as diligently as her parents did, her life was too hectic to not eat during Ramadan, she was almost always working on Fridays so she couldn't go to the Mosque. She prayed about two to three times a day on average instead of five. Syd looked at the sky, hoping in that moment that she was making her parents somewhat proud. Yasin felt her mood change. The door opened, they both looked back to see Nina. She leaned against the deck and lit a blunt. "This party is gettin' a lil too lit." She said, exhaling smoke. Syd cosigned, "I feel you girl." Nina took another drag and motion the blunt to her left, at Syd. She accepted it. "I knew you smoked!" Yasin laughed at their dialogue. "I thought I smelled weed when I walked in your place." Syd took a long drag. "First of all, fuck both of you! Secondly, Yes. I smoke. Sue me!" They all laughed as Syd motioned the blunt to Sin. He reluctantly accepted. Nina calmed down, "Nah, but for real though, Syd. I got a friend that would be perfect for your shoots. She just moved here from Houston and she's looking for some modeling gigs." Syd hummed loudly, "YES! I need one more girl. That'll be perfect. Just bring her through to the shoot. Myles sent you the info right?" Syd knew the answer but she was confirming. "Yeah he did. That guy is on it. Sent it the day after the meeting." "Girl, Myles is a Godsend. I'd lose my mind if I didn't have him by my side." Yasin cleared his throat, unfamiliar with the male name being mention. "Babe, that's my assistant." he palmed his face, "My bad. I'm sorry. Damn I'm not tryna come off as the jealous type." She gave him a peck and reclined back in her chair. "It's okay."
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