“I am anxious to make her acquaintance,” Jake said, struggling to keep his eyes on her face instead of her body.
“Jake,” Gordon said, “this is Tanisha Jefferson, my fiancé. She likes to be called Neesh. Neesh, this is the infamous Jake Kingsley, although he ain’t looking himself, as you can see.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Neesh,” Jake told her, holding out his right hand.
She smiled, a warm, friendly smile that contrasted with what had been an unfavorable first impression Jake had based entirely on appearance. Neesh just looked like she might be a stuck-up bitch. Perhaps she really wasn’t?
“It’s nice to meet you at last, Jake,” she told him, taking his hand in hers and shaking with him. “Gordon has told me a lot about you.”
Jake chuckled. “And you still came here?” he asked.
Her smile widened into a laugh. “It can’t all be true, can it?” she asked.
“We’ll have to go over the stories case by case,” Jake told her. “Come on in. Elsa’s making her tacos for us—as requested by Gordon.”
“It’s what I had the last time I was here,” Gordon said. “The woman makes a mean-ass taco.”
“I can’t wait to taste them,” Neesh said.
He led them into the main part of the house and then to the entertainment room, where Laura was waiting. She was a little nervous about meeting the famous rapper and his fiancé, but she made an effort not to show it. She smiled as they entered the room and met them halfway across the floor.
“Gordon, Neesh, this is Laura,” Jake introduced. “She’s my girlfriend—at least for as long as she can put up with me. Laura, this is Gordon and his fiancé, Tanisha, who likes to be called Neesh.”
Handshakes and ‘pleased-to-meet-you’s were exchanged all around. Jake saw Laura looking Neesh up and down, obviously a bit intimidated by her spotless appearance and her dark beauty. She was probably comparing herself unfavorably to Gordon’s fiancé. Laura, despite all the growth she had done over the past eight months, still had a significant self-esteem problem.
“How about some drinks?” Jake offered. “Anyone up for one?”
It turned out that everyone was up for one. In honor of the coming tacos, Jake made a pitcher of Midori margaritas, which he served on the rocks after putting salt rings on the glasses. They gathered at the bar and sipped from them as they went through the getting-to-know-each-other ritual.
“So,” Neesh said to Laura, “tell me how the two of you met.”
“Well,” said Laura, blushing a little, “I was the saxophone player on the albums we just recorded.”
“Oh, you’re a musician as well,” Neesh chirped brightly. “That’s very cool.”
“Where did old Jake dig you up?” asked Gordon. “Were you doing studio sessions?”
“No, actually, this was my first recording gig. I’m not really a professional musician at all, I’m a teacher.”
“A teacher?” Gordon asked, surprised. “What do you teach?”
“Junior high school for LA unified,” she said. “Seventh and eighth grade English over at Carver in the south City.”
This earned her a significant look of respect from both the rapper and his lady. “You teachin’ in the hood, baby?” Gordon asked.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Going on three years now. It’s challenging at times, but when I get those moments that I feel like I’ve actually reached someone ... that’s special.”
“Teaching is such a noble profession,” Neesh proclaimed. “I could never do something like that, especially not in the ghetto.”
“It’s a living,” Laura said with a shrug.
“So how did a junior high ghetto teacher end up playing saxophone with Jake Kingsley?” Neesh asked next. “I sense a good story here.”
“I don’t know if it’s that great of a story,” Laura said, “but I’ll tell you, if you really want to hear.”
“We really want to hear,” Gordon said. “Tell us how this ugly mofo ended up with a hot piece like yourself. You took pity on him, didn’t you? Because he used to ride the little bus?”
Jake laughed and Laura blushed again, but she told the story, starting with her association with Ben Ping, the bass player, and working her way to her audition with the band with no name and how none of them had really cared for each other at first. She glossed over her relationship with Dr. Dave, just mentioning that she’d been in a long term relationship that wasn’t really going anywhere, leaving out the details about how he was married and about how he later tried to rape her. She described their trip to Portland to buy the soprano sax and how they’d bonded together on the flight back to Coos Bay. She then described in PG detail their first romantic interlude in the hot tub that very night.
“And we’ve been together pretty much ever since,” she concluded. “We’ve been living together here ever since Jake got home from Oregon.” She shrugged. “So far, so good.”
“That is a cool story,” Neesh said with what seemed sincerity. “It has romance, an airplane, a hot tub. What more could you ask for?”
“So, you’re saying that an airplane is a good way to pick up some trim?” Gordon asked with a grin.
This earned him a slap on the shoulder by Neesh. “That’s all you got out of that story?” she demanded.
“That was the primary theme, I believe,” Gordon said. “I’m thinking maybe it’s time to start taking me some flying lessons.”
“Oh, shut your ass,” Neesh told him with a shake of her head.
“I actually think it’s the airplane/hot tub combo that sealed the deal,” Jake put in. “What do you think, Laura? Could I have gotten past first base without the tub?”
“Probably not that night,” she said with a smile.
They had a laugh and then Laura asked to hear the story of Gordon and Neesh’s acquaintance and romance. Neesh gladly told the tale. She was a second-year student at the USC-Gould School of Law, her emphasis on corporate law in general and entertainment law in particular. She and Gordon had met when she had been interning with the law firm of Jacobs, Patterson, and Myers, which was the firm that Bigg G, the entity, did business with. She had been assigned to his case because he was the only black client they had and she was the only thing resembling a black person in their office who was not assigned duties such as cleaning the restrooms or serving coffee. It was thought that they might be able to relate to each other. They had. They started dating almost immediately and she had moved into his Malibu mansion within two months.
“I’ll have to introduce you to my sister, Pauline,” Jake told her. “She’s a graduate of Stanford Law School and worked her first few years in corporate law before she took pity on us poor musicians and became our manager.”
“That’s right,” Gordon said. “I hear she’s the badass bitch that got those tighty whities over at National to renegotiate the Intemperance contract.”
“Assuming something like that ever really happened, of course,” Jake said with a grin. He was still technically bound by the non-disclosure clause of that little renegotiated contract.
“Of course,” Gordon said.
“I’d love to meet her,” Neesh gushed, clearly excited about the thought. “Maybe she might want to take on an intern? I’m committed to Calloway and Jackson this summer, but maybe next summer?”
“I can’t speak for her in that regard,” Jake said, “but I’ll see to it that the two of you meet. You can go from there.”
“Thanks, Jake,” she said. “That would be fantastic.”
They finished their drinks and then poured some more before making their way into the kitchen to check in with Elsa.
“It’s good to see you again, Mr. G,” Elsa told Gordon after Neesh was introduced to her.
“You too, Elsa,” Gordon said. “Although I’m surprised that a strong, highly skilled sista like yourself is still letting The Man here...” He pointed at Jake. “ ... so shamelessly exploit your talents for his own prosperity.”