Queen of Bratopia

F**k Em Up Sis

To the world, Nadiyah Rose Evans was a woman of many things. A decorated astrophysicist, published author, former aerospace engineer at SpaceX, on again off again professor at San Diego State University, an only child, dog lover, anime watcher, and an avid fan of tacos.

But for all of the glowing accolades she has, Nadiyah had a side of her that she wasn't too keen to show many people. A face she wasn't fond of but couldn't separate with no matter how many times she reinvited herself.

Nadiyah was a brat.

It was her worst quality; a heroic downfall if you would. Flaring up whenever she didn't get the attention she knew she deserved.

Like now.

She couldn't completely blame her boyfriend. Work had pulled her away for the first few days of the year. The Advances in Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology conference had been four days long and hosted in West Bengal, India. It had been a few years since she had attended the event, but now that her recent study of dark matter and dark energy had been posted in the International Journal of Modern Physics, her phone had been ringing nonstop. The science community was all but demanding she be in attendance. Throwing out large endorsement digits to fund her next project if she would only get her ass to India. Even with the promise of nearly unlimited funding on the horizon, the temptation to back out had become stronger and stronger the closer the date of departure got. To the point that Erik had to all but drag her to the airport.

"Erik, I don't want to go," she whined, sinking further in the plush cream seat of his hunter green G-Wagon, glaring out the window. It was raining. The fat drops pelting the car steadily, slipping down the windows, making the world seem as depressed as she was. Good, the weather should be as shitty as her mood.

"Well tough shit," he said calmly as they sped down the interstate.

Nadiyah turned her glowing honey eyes in his direction, regarding him with faux disdain, face partially hidden by the grey fur of her jacket. That matched the one he was wearing.

"You're one of the keynote speakers this year, Nadiyah," he told her gently like she wasn't fully aware of it, "and I ain't finna let you mess this shit up because you want to stay up under me."

Nadiyah huffed gently, biting down on her cocoa-flavored lip. That was exactly what she wanted to do. It was only a few days into the new decade, being cuddled up with the love of her life was the more attractive option. Not flying thousands of miles away to shake the clammy hands of white men who not so secretly hated her. Or wanted to fuck her. Or both. She shuddered.

"But, I'm going to miss you," she whispered, trying and failing not to pout. Tears pressed hotly to the back of her eyes and she sniffled quietly. She was not about to cry in this car.

Erik looked over at her, the golds of his teeth alight in his face where he gave her a gentle smile, corners of his eyes crinkling with affection. That only made her want to crawl in his lap.

"Ima miss you too, baby, but I want to see you succeed in this a lot more." He reached over to take the hand that was tucked between her thighs. Rubbing his thumb over her jeweled knuckles before bringing the entire hand to his mouth, brushing gentle kisses over them.

She loved this man so much it made her soul hurt. Why did she have to leave?

"Go make Daddy proud, Princess."

And that was exactly what she did. Landing the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize for Science and Technology, marking her as the first black woman to do so in its history, and giving a speech that was broadcast across the world. She shook the white male hands and grinned big for the cameras for what felt like days before making it up to her room to find the one gift that really mattered. Erik had sent her a huge bouquet of flowers, her favorite - Eden roses - and a card that read: i miss you a lot you fuckin geek ass nerd. congratulations. That small act of affection had her grinning bigger than any award could ever.