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Erica jumped awake hearing the bedroom door open. Squinting her eyes she adjusted to the light from the high windows. It was probably eight in the morning. She could see the skyline from where she lay. Her heart rate increased seeing that she was alone.
Joshua came out dressed in athletic wear holding a duffel bag. She calmed down seeing that it was just him. A German Shepard followed Joshua into the living room not before sitting in front of Erica panting. The name on her chain read Rose.
Pushing the plush covers from her body she rubbed the dog's head before standing up, "She doesn't look like a dog you name Rose."
Joshua laughed opening the kitchen fridge, "Yeah but that's my dog, not yours."
Erica yawned folding up the covers and tossing the pillows back into place. Rose followed Erica to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth and freshening up she carefully pulled on sweatpants and a tank top.
"Rose, move out the way damnit." Erica spoke to the dog who was attached to her hip at this point.
Rose whined before backing up. Now having the free space, Erica entered the living room. Joshua was nose deep into a bowl of oats and fruit.
"I think your dog is obsessed with me." Erica watched as Rose walked behind her and into the kitchen.
Joshua shrugged his shoulders, "She likes you. You can't get rid of her now. You want some breakfast?"
Erica shook her head, "I don't eat breakfast."
With furrowed eyebrows, Josh looked at her, "Why not?"
"I don't have an appetite." To Erica that was a white lie. She didn't want to mention how her ex-boyfriend would complain about her body causing her not to eat sometimes.
"Mhm. Look I gotta go to practice but here's a key. Don't let anybody in my crib."
Erica took the key from his hand ignoring the sparks that fluttered in her body, "I won't. You'll come back to a clean house."
With one last look, Joshu left. Erica sighed looking around. Rose looked at her with her brown eyes. Sitting down on the couch Erica turned the television on. She patted the couch and the dog followed suit laying on her lap.
"I guess we should catch up on some reality tv."
Josh entered the locker room with his teammates. Putting his stuff in the locker he overheard them talking. He leaned against the locker listening to what they had to say. Jalen was the first to say something.
"Y'all heard what happened to LaMelo's cousin?"
Another player nodded, "He had Houston on lockdown yesterday. I ain't even know he had that much pull."
"What happened to her?"
"Some domestic violence situation or something," Jalen responded.
"That's unfortunate, she's bad as fuck."
Shaking his head Josh refused to engage in their locker room talk. Erica was still a human being. She was a woman who was having a tough time and to have Black men bash her behind closed doors was something he wouldn't engage in.
After leaving the scheduled practice aching and sweating he called Melo. Sitting in his car he waited for his face to pop up on the iPhone screen. When he answered he cleared his throat.
"You good bro?"Melo asked seeing Joshua's face.
"Word got out about Erica."
Melo kissed his teeth, "That don't mean shit."
"She's good at my crib though. I can handle that. I just don't know how she's holding up."
"If you need to pressure her to get off her ass then do that," Melo replied and Josh took offense to that.
"Damn. I figured she needs some empathy from you LaMelo."
Melo smirked into the phone, "I thought you said you didn't like my cousin like that man."
Josh chuckled, "Nigga don't change the subject. And I don't like her."
After being by herself for hours Erica began to feel lonely. Her head was spinning as she was still trying to deal with the traumatic night. She rummaged through her suitcase trying to find the one thing to take her mind off of everything.
Pulling the blunt from her suitcase she smiled and went to Josh's wrap-around balcony. The sun was setting and the view from his high rise was beautiful. Lighting the blunt Erica sat down on the outside furniture.
She inhaled the supplement and her body instantly relaxed. She'd only smoke weed every now and then but when she did the feeling was euphoric. Josh entered the empty space. He greeted Rose at the door.
He saw that the balcony door was open. He knew she was out there looking at the view. Peeking his head out he saw her smoking a blunt. His heart paused at the sight of her. She looked beautiful despite the bruises on her skin.
"Yo, E," Joshua spoke taking note of how she jumped at the mention of her name.
"Oh shit. My bad. I hope you don't mind me smoking." She turned back to the edge of the balcony.
"I didn't mean to scare you. I brought dinner." Joshua held up the bag of sushi and placed it on the outdoor table.
"Do you ever cook?" Erica asked putting the blunt out.
"Sometimes."
Erica opened the bag and pulled out the sushi. It was her favorite kind. She giggled at the gesture, "You must have talked to Melo because he's the only one who knows where I like to eat. That was nice of you."
"You're welcome."
A few hours later Erica sat on the couch with her sketchbook. Her pencil soared across the thick paper. This was all she did in her free time. Drawing and painting were something that she liked to do. This time Rose was her muse.
"If you don't sit still," Erica whispered to the dog who wanted to sit in her lap.
Rose barked in protest. Erica put her book down and watched Joshua's door. He had gone to sleep about an hour before midnight. When he said he was antisocial he meant that shit. Erica never knew an NBA player who didn't want to be out.
"If you wake this nigga up me and you finna be out on the street."
In the morning Joshua had a routine. He'd get up, eat, and go practice or go to the gym before his games. He needed to stay on point during the season. Walking into the living room he saw Erica asleep on the couch with Rose by her feet.
His eyes came across a sketchbook. His dog was on the page. Erica was cuddling the book. He sneakily grabbed the book and began searching through it. Pages of her sketches gripped every page. From buildings to people, to animals, the world was in her book.
"Wow."
He placed the book back in her hands and left it at that.
authors note: since we're already at 100 reads i decided to update, thank you all!
