She's Got Game

Prologue

I hurried as I walked past the high end boutiques of Rodeo Boulevard. I was already running late for my lunch date with LisaRaye and I knew she would give me a hard time for it. It's not like I could afford any of the ridiculously expensive things they were selling anyway; I was the definition of a struggling artist. I had come to LA at 18, hoping to make it big like every possible cliché. What I found instead was a series of low-paying waitressing jobs. 

That's how I met LisaRaye actually. She was a regular at a little whole in the wall breakfast place I worked at in my early twenties. She saw something in me, I'm still not sure what, but she ended up offering me a job as her assistant. I worked for her for three years, before I decided to pursue something else. By then we were good friends, she was like the mother I never had. 

So there I was late again, as I walked up to the restaurant she had invited me to. I could see her sitting at a table outside by the sidewalk, she looked so glamorous with her white dress, wide-brim hat and huge sunglasses. I smiled at her as I approached, she got up and hugged me. 

"You're lucky it's so nice outside Kat, you know what I say about late people..." she said half-joking half-serious

"I know Lisa I'm so sorry, I got caught up at the studio, new students needing more practice time."

I had dedicated the two years after I quit my job for LisaRaye to establish myself as a yoga teacher in LA. Finally at 26 years old, I was living my dream. Well sort of. In a city full of holistic healers, gym fanatics and health gurus, it wasn't easy to distinguish yourself and get regular work in this field, but I had managed to book a few teaching jobs a week and I was waitressing on other days to make ends meet and be able to afford life in a city this expensive. I felt like I was finally in a good enough place in my life, I was happy.

We ordered our food and we chit-chatted for a while, filling each other on what had happened since the last time we saw each other. I knew she had invited me here for a reason and I could tell she had something important to say, it wasn't like her to hold up on anything.

"Lisa, why don't you get to the point? I know you didn't invite me here to talk about the weather so spit it out!" I said laughing. 

"Okay, okay, but you have to promise you will keep an open mind"

I nodded and she continued.

"You know how I've been trying to set you up with Jayceon for a while now, well it's time. He's doing this reality show about finding love and I want you to be on it. Now stop looking at me like that, you agreed to keep an open mind!"

The look on my face must have been priceless. I could not believe what she was trying to get me into. Jayceon was a well-known rapper going by the stage-name The Game. Lisa was an old friend of his and she had been trying to set up us for months. He was handsome in a bad-boy kind of way, but he was living a life so far-off what I wanted that I had always refused Lisa's offer to set us up. She had been relentless though, for some reason she thought we would really hit it off.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" I exclaimed "A reality show? You're insane! There's no way I'm wasting my time with this."

"Hear me out! I think he's really serious about this. I've known him for years and he's really grown up, he needs a good woman, different from what he's used too. I know the reality show may seem crazy but he's really trying to find someone serious."

"What's wrong with meeting someone at the grocery store? If he wants a good woman he won't find one in a fucking reality show!"

"Think about it Kat, he is famous, he has all these girls around him for the wrong reasons. It's hard for him to find someone that isn't there for his money. He's asked his friends to set him up with good girls. The only thing is it's gonna be filmed for VH1" she said.

I was conflicted with this. I had never had any intention to be part of some reality show. My dream of becoming an actress was long gone, I had grown very disillusioned by this industry and I liked my life as it was, simple and real. But at the same time, Lisa had been so eager to set us up I couldn't help to wonder if there was really something to it. She was actually a good people reader, I knew she wouldn't ask me to do this unless she thought we would really fit together.

"What makes you think we would be a good match anyway" I asked "He's a rapper, I'm a yoga teacher, our life couldn't be more different."

"What you do in life is not the only thing that defines you" she said, thoughtful. "You have actually more in common that you realize. But it's not my place to explain this to you, you have to figure it out for yourself. What do you have to lose anyway?"

"My dignity?" I said, laughing. 

"Now come on, I know you aren't afraid of being silly once in a while. You just have to be yourself and I'm sure it'll be fine. Go for it, Kat! I promise you won't regret it."

"Alright, alright, I'll think about it"

"Well don't think about it too long, filming starts in two weeks" she said, beaming.

I knew this was ridiculous, but for some reason I was awfully curious about the whole thing. I was scared of going on this whole experience, but I was also scared of missing out on it. I left Lisa after lunch promising her once again that I would think about it and get back to her in a few days. I was lost in my thoughts all the way home. When I opened the door to my studio apartment, I caught my reflexion in the mirror by the door. I was smiling.

...