Fire We Make (August Alsina)♥

She Werkin'

I grabbed my sweater off of the computer chair, almost running out of my dorm room. I wasn't trying to be late for class again. I was heading to Professor Mathis English class. If I was late, it'd be the third time in a row. I'm not trying to stay after with him and grade papers after I've been sitting in the class for two hours.

I rushed into the classroom, sitting down next to my boyfriend, Jeremy. I gave him a kiss, then got out my notebook and my pen. I still had three minutes before class officially started.

"How did your uncle react when you asked if you could work at his studio?" Jeremy asked, sliding his desk closer to mine. "You think you'll get the job?"

"I think so. He seemed to like that idea. The whole staff is family, so I don't see him hiring a stranger." I replied.

"That's true." He smiled. "He'll let you work with him, I know it."

Jeremy had dark green eyes, almost a hazel color that stuck out against his light brown skin. He was tall, maybe two inches past six feet. He was a running back for our college football team. He was built, but wasn't ripped. His body was nice to look at, and believe me, nice to touch.

"What are we gonna do tonight later?"

"I have practice at four."

"Till when?"

"Seven I think. I'll probably be tired, but I'll stop by your dorm for a little while before I go to bed." He reached his hand up to my face, gently rubbing his thumb on my cheek. "You have such pretty eyes."

"Not as pretty as yours." I winked. My eyes were a light brown, nothing special really. But they're almond shaped, and I have a lot of eyelashes. I don't even need mascara.

"Alright class. Pay attention now. This is important. There's only a few more months till all of you are out of here. We're reaching the halfway mark, and I'm giving you guys a chance to bring your grades up." Professor Mathis had the deepest, most loudest voice. It went right through me. "I typed up an essay prompt." He continued. "It's only worth ten percent, but it'll do a lot of you good!"

He started to pass out the prompt to the class.

"Jackie, you of all people shouldn't be on your phone right now. You're one of the few who could use this ten percent." He forced the paper down on my desk. "Put it away or it's mine. We're in college, not high school."

I rolled my eyes after he turned his back. I glanced at the prompt, the title was "Temptation". Interesting, this shouldn't be too hard. It had to be typed, minimum of eight to ten paragraphs, at least three pages. Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so easy after all.

"How do you expect us to write ten paragraphs on temptation?" I said aloud. "Seriously, I wanna know."

"Miss Rowland, how about you read the prompt fully before getting ahead of yourself."

"I read it already." I lied. He shook his head a little, then took a deep breath.

"In the essay, I want you to tell me what temptation is, five or six different examples of temptations. By that, I mean situations involving temptation. I'm sure you've all been tempted to do things you know are wrong. Do some research, you'll find five, no problem. Then a paragraph on how you can prevent being tempted. Then your conclusion." He cleared his throat. "Clear enough for you now?"

"Yes." I smiled. "You explained it so well." Sarcasm was one of my best qualities, just ask anyone. 

**

A few nights back, I had made a trip to go visit my uncle, who I haven't seen in a while. Uncle Dre owns a studio close by, and I figured that since I'm majoring in music business, it's be a good idea to work with him. Basically, all I'd be doing is helping everyone out. He said he'd call me tonight, I was anxious to hear what he was going to say.

While I waited, I took out my laptop to start looking up things I wanted to put into my temptation essay. I normally wait till last minute, but I only had two weeks to do it, I wanted to get it out of the way.

When I hear the word temptation, I think of a coworker falling for their married boss, then having an affair or trying to quit using a drug and you're tempted to keep using. Cheating was the big one for me. I thought I'd use that as one of my five scenarios.

After about twenty minutes of staring blankly at Google, I could feel my phone vibrate in my sweater pocket. I took it out to see who was calling. It was Uncle Dre. My hands shook as I answered the phone.

"Hello?" My voice cracked.

"Hey, Jackie! What's up?" Uncle Dre said.

"Not much, homework like always."

"Sounds boring, but I have great news.. I think it'll be good if you worked with us. I can show you the ropes of production."

"Thank you so much!" I said excited. "I'm not trying to be a producer though."

"You might like it Jackie, you never know."

"That's true."

"Can you start the day after tomorrow? That'll be Friday."

"Yeah, sounds good to me. I can't wait to start."

"Alright, I'll see you at seven a.m Friday morning."

"Sounds great."


I jumped up off my bed, dancing around like a preschooler, I was so excited. My roommate, Yvette, walked in. She stopped, staring at me when she reached the foot of her bed.

"What are you so excited about? Did Jeremy propose or something?" She joked, laying down on her bed, kicking off her shoes.

"No! Why would he do that?" I jumped on her bed, laying almost on top of her. "I got the job!"

"Congrats!" She said, pushing me off of her. "When's your first day?"

"Friday." I said proudly.

"Did you tell your boo thang yet?"

"Nah, he's at practice for another hour. He said he'd be stopping by after."

"He's gonna be all hot and sweaty." She said, biting her bottom lip. "I'm sorry, but he's so damn sexy! You're one lucky ass girl!"

"He is sexy. I don't know how I got all that, but I'm glad I did." I laughed. "I've been with him almost three years now... Crazy how time flys."

"Wow.. That is a long time. But y'all are cute together, honestly." She smiled. "He's good for you." I chuckled.

"Good for me?" I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Oh come on! He holds YOU down. When you get all emotional, whether you're sad or you're pissed off, he calms you down every time. He cares about you so much and he shows it. He'll do anything for you. And, think about it, you're not the easiest person to get along with."

"Yeah.. That's true." I got up, then laid back on my own bed. "He is good for me, huh?"

"All them bad ideas he talked you out of... He's been there since day one."

"Yeah.." I said. "Sine day one."


***

( Friday )


I woke up extra early to get ready for my first day on the job. I didn't want to dress up too fancy, so I threw on a pair of nice fitting, black jeans, that hugged my hips and made my butt look great. I wore a lavender colored tank top to go with it. I put on my black vans since they were comfortable. I looked one last time in the mirror at my outfit before I changed my mind. I looked good.

Jeremy was giving me a ride. I heard a tiny knock at the door, I fast walked to go open it. In his hands was a plate covered in foil.

"What's that?"

"Breakfast." He smiled. "I made it for you." He gave me a long kiss. "Are you ready to go? You can eat in the car."

"Yeah, I just need my purse." I walked back over to my bed, snatching it. "Lets go." I said, excited for the day ahead of me.

Jeremy made me two waffles with a few pieces of bacon. My favorite. We grabbed a cup of coffee on our way out. The studio wasn't very far from the campus, but I still wouldn't want to walk in the Texas heat for more than twenty minutes. It was about two and a half miles away.

"I'm excited for you." He said as we pulled up to a red light. "It's gonna be dope when you meeting some stars when they come in to record their songs."

"I never even thought of that. I'd die if I met Trey Songz! My heart would stop the moment his sexy ass walked through them doors. I'd need a paramedic!" He laughed.

"I can picture that in my head! Too funny." He laughed, licking his full lips. Whenever he did that, I swore my heart stopped. 

I stared at the studio was we pulled up. This was it, I was finally here. He dropped me off right out front, giving me a kiss before I stepped out of the car.

"Good luck babe." He smiled.

"Thank you." I smiled back, opening the car door. I took a deep breath before walking up to the entrance.

"Jackie!" He yelled out to me, I looked over my shoulder at him.

"What is it?"

"I love you.." He said sweetly. "Have a nice day, iight?"

"I love you too, thanks." I blushed. He doesn't say I love you very much. He claims it's because not saying it all the time means that when he actually says it, it has more meaning.

I walked into the studio, and into the back where all the recording booth was. Uncle Dre, and my four cousins, Joey, Andre Jr, Jerome and Dante and a family friend, Gio, where all sitting there talking. Uncle Dre got up when he saw me, giving me a big hug.

"I'm glad you're here." He said. "You remember Gio, right?"

Gio was a tall, slender brown skinned guy with a small afro, but his face was shaped nice. His eyes, nose and ears all went together nicely. He was good looking, but an asshole.

"Yup, I remember his ass." I smiled at him. "I ain't seen Junior in a hot minute though."

"I've been around, you do come 'round enough!" He said.

"You're right. My bad." I rolled my eyes jokingly. 

"Why didn't you bring your boyfriend in?" Uncle Dre asked, sitting back down. I took the spot next to junior.

"Jeremy? He got class at eleven, then practice at two. Besides, you'll get to meet him sooner or later. You'll like him."

"I seen pictures, he looks like a conceited nigga." Gio said rudely. "He don't seem like he all that."

"You're mad cause I chose him over you." I responded with attitude. "For your information, he's the best guy I've ever met and he ain't no conceited nigga."

"Whatever you say.." He mumbled.

"Pops, who's coming in today?" Joey asked to change the subject.

"No one today, but tomorrow August is coming in, we'll be working with him on his new album."

"Can't wait for that. Heard he's cool people."

"August who?" I whispered to Junior.

"Alsina, he's a singer. He's pretty new to the game, but he's good, real good."

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't put a name to a face. I was working tomorrow so I was going to meet him. I didn't expect to meet my first star so quick. I had a weird feeling about this though, but ignored my gut. What could possibly go wrong?