Chapter Text
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How It's Going
Sunday, The Morning After
08:21 a.m.
It's the heat that wakes her first.
An unfriendly reminder that she needs to get her AC looked at.
Her tank top and sleep shorts are damp from sweat.
The July sun cuts in through her slatted curtains, diagonal lines of light pouring over her bed and across her face.
Stupidly, she forgot to use her black out curtains after she came home last night.
Groaning, Samira's exhaustion feels like a hangover.
The noise from the street carries from her open widow, the vibrations bouncing around the walls and ceiling, it's overwhelming and not helping her sleep deprived state.
A pang of embarrassment starts to rise to the surface as she becomes more conscious.
Did she really crash her neighbor's housewarming party last night?
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How It Started
Saturday, The Day Before
9:09 a.m.
Pushing stacks of papers and notebooks aside, Samira sits at her kitchen table. She flips her laptop open and scrolls through her unanswered emails while eating plain yogurt. Sadly, it was the only thing not expired in her fridge besides some condiments and an unopened bottle of white wine (a welcome present from her department but she doesn't really drink wine).
God, grocery shopping. Another thing she's forgotten about and adds it onto her endless to do list.
Looking around, a wave of anxiety works it's way up from her belly leeching out towards the rest of her body, and everything tightens.
There's so much to do.
14 days in and she's still not entirely unpacked.
It's not that she misses Pittsburgh all that much. Actually, once she made up her mind, it was fairly easy to leave.
After July 4, she did some introspection and for the first time in her life, she took the time to actually think about what she wants and what she wants her future to look like. She wanted to stop living for other people and their expectations.
When she heard about it, Samira grasped at the opportunity out in the west coast. She was so scared she wasn't going to get it. That's how she knew it was right for her.
Who could say no to an attending position in Los Angeles, California?
Plus, it's closer to what few friends she made during medical school.
Honestly, she doesn't regret a thing.
She wants this year to be different from the rest.
Samira wants to live, not just study and work.
So, with that in mind and to keep up her motivation she made a list.
Samira Mohan's List To Getting And Having A Life (it's a working title) :
1) Unpacking
2) Decorating
3) Laundry (maybe move this one up on the list?)
4) Grocery shopping
5) (Embarrassingly but true) Getting out-
Which, she has made some progress on since she moved (ok, she knows others would argue with that). She's signed up for a weekly yoga class and joined a book club through the local library (it's only a little sad).
6) Calling Amma-
She hates to admit it but this isn't the first time her mother has given her the cold shoulder over the years and probably won't be the last. They're on speaking terms again but she has made boundaries. It's not perfect and she knows that it never will be. She's learning to accept that.
Currently, her mother is on a cruise with her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend.
How the fuck did her mother have a boyfriend before her?
A dating life before her.
Fuck
FUCK
She's not even reading anything anymore, she hasn't been for a while.
She's staring at the screen.
9:19 a.m. flashes before her eyes.
So, this last one on her list is a bit more..... complicated.
7) Her love life -
Or, lack thereof. It's none existent and hasn't been for - well - let's just say a while (her vibrator has been working overtime) -
A sharp ping from her phone distracts her for a second and it pulls her back into herself. Follwed by another ping shortly thereafter.
2 new text messages
She clicks on the first one.
Saturday . 9:21 a.m.
Leans
Did you check your email?
Momo
Should I?
Leans
Do you want me to tell you?
Momo
Might as well get it over with
Leans
You know that course we applied to lead? To partner with LAPD?
Momo
...yeah..
Leans
I think we got it!
Momo
No way!
Leans
Yeah way! 🎉
Momo
Shit
Leans
How about dinner tonight to celebrate? My treat
How's your uncle's place by the way?
Momo
Yes, please!
He came through. The duplex isn't too bad. I'm in the unrenovated side, so cheaper rent. There aren't any other tenants yet, so for a last minute place it's pretty good.
Thank god he's a relator.
Leans
Nice, glad it worked out
Late dinner? 6 ok for you?
Momo
That's perfect.
Is it sad that I still have to unpack?
Leans
It's been weeks. What the fuck have you been doing?!
Momo
Work
Leans
☠️
I'll pin my address for you
She hearts Lianne's message and opens the next one from her uncle.
Saturday . 9:30 a.m.
Chittappa
Morning Kanna! Do you think you can give the other side of the duplex a clean? The new tenants are moving in around 5 today.
Kanna
Sure, no problem
Chittappa
Thank you, Ammu. There's a family moving in. Don't be surprised when you hear them. They had excellent references but any issues, call me.
Kanna
Of course, Chittappa
Chittappa
Love you
Kanna
Love you too!
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How It Happened
Saturday, The Day Before
11:47 p.m.
Dinner with Leans was never a disappointment.
They've been friends since medical school. Bonding over the sleepless nights and Gray's Anatomy (not Grey's the TV show...that came later).
It's who told her about the LA attending position in the first place.
Arriving home, Samira pulls her keys out of her pocket along with her phone. She shoots off a quick text letting Leans know she made it back safely, like she promised.
As she's putting her key into the lock, she zones in and notices the noise coming from next door. Voices, several of the them, music, the vibrations thumping, and, people funneling in and out of the front door.
Didn't her uncle say it was a family moving in?
Well...
Fuck
And, it's not the reason you'd think for why she's pissed.
She's actually jealous.
More than a little.
They haven't even been here a day. Not even a full 24 hours. It's their first night in the house and they're already having some sort of welcome/house party.
Samira's never had anything like that or enough people in her life to have that.
Pushing her front door open, and slamming it closed, she kicks off her shoes with a vengeance.
Laughter pours through the walls.
She grits her teeth.
Maybe it's the jealousy?
Maybe it's the liquid courage (1 beer) she drank earlier during dinner?
Maybe it's both?
Pulling out the bottle of white wine from her fridge, she decides to use the ruse of a welcoming present and convinces herself to go check it out, it's a party after all.
What's the saying?
The more the merrier.
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Stepping through her neighbor's open door, the first thing Samira notices are the people. Or, the amount of them.
Second, is the music.
Jesus christ, it's loud.
Looking through the sea of leather jackets, skirts, denim, slacks, and dresses, in various shades of colour, she feels a little out of place and under dressed. She's hoping her her striped T-shirt, baggy jean shorts, and red high tops don't give her away.
Fake it till you make.
Unfortunately, she's not doing a very good job of that. Standing around, alone, with a bottle of wine in hand, she probably looks as lost as she feels.
Overwhelmed.
"Hey," Some guy shouts over the music from behind, tapping her gently on her bicep to get her attention. Samira turns around and is met with dark curly auburn hair, mischievous hazel eyes, and broad shoulders stretching out a dark t-shirt. Briefly, her list comes to mind from earlier. He's saying something judging by the movement of his lips but it's lost on her. Her heart kicks up a beat. "What?" She says dumbly. Her palms are suddenly sweaty. "You look thirsty. Drinks are in the kitchen and you can leave that on the counter." The guy gives her a crooked smirk and nods her in the right direction. It's like he knows something. What, she's not sure but she thinks he would be happy to share.
What is happening?
"Thanks", she escapes quickly. For some reason, he unnerved her. Sure, he's attractive but it's not unique to him. Has it really been that long that some small attention, some light flirting, and she's stupefied by it?
She really needs to revisit number 7 on her list.
Somehow on her travels Samira ends up right back where she started but this time with a person she met in the kitchen and a beer in hand instead of the wine.
She can't help but feel like she's being watched. It's probably just all in her head.
She's talking with a girl, Parker. Everyone calls her Ellis. Who also happens to be from out east. Pittsburgh, too, ironically. She moved here 5 years ago, says she swears by Californian weather, and that she gets better sleep because of it.
"How do you know Jack?" Parker smiles, inquiring casually.
"Jack? Oh, from around." Hindsight is a funny thing. She could have said anything but Samira says that (and future Samira will be thinking about that decision for a long time). She meant to deflect, not insinuate that she knows the guy. She was hoping she wouldn't get found out. It would be humiliating. Parker is effortlessly cool and she's hoping she's made a new friend.
"You must be new. What precinct are you with?" Ellis crosses her arms and that smile is more of a knowing smirk now that Samira thinks about it.
Precinct?
She's a cop.
They are cops.
She crashed a cops housewarming party.
And, she's pretty sure her new friend is onto her.
Well, this isn't good.
"Um, yeah, sorry, do you know where the bathroom is?" Both halves of the duplex mirror each other. She knows exactly where the bathroom is. She's just hoping she can distract Parker long enough so she can sneak out before she gets arrested.
Is she overreacting? Maybe? She'll think about it more tomorrow. That's future Samira's problem.
"Past the kitchen, towards the back. Don't get lost, Newbie." Ellis definitely knows, and of course she does. What kind of a cop would she be if she didn't?
"Yup, be right back." Samira has no intention of going back. Winding her way through the people, she heads straight for the back door. If she plans this right, with everyone out front, she thinks she can sneak out and go through the hedges. She flips the latch-
"Where's the fire?" A teasing voice surprises her.
Looking up, and over her shoulder, Samira realizes it's the guy from earlier, still giving her that toothy smile.
She's caught red handed.
Where the heck did he come from anyway?
Dammit, these cops are good.
"So, did you enjoy the party?" He asks genuinely, leaning against the wall lazily.
"It's been...great. I brought wine. You know, as a welcome gift." Is her weak defense of a reply, it's more than a little stiff.
"Thanks for that. We're still trying to figure out where we know you from? What precinct did you tell Ellis you were from again?" He presses, his smirk gives way to something a bit more earnest.
"I'm not-" she goes to explain but luckily gets interrupted by someone yelling from the kitchen. "Abbot! Get the fuck back in here, man!" Not only does it surprise her but forces this guy (Abbot?) to turn around and gives her enough time to flea like a thief into the night.
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How It's Going
Sunday, The Morning After
08:39 a.m.
So, that's how Samira met her neighbor.
Did she mention he's a cop?