Empires. Harems. Revolutions.

My boss was a famous porn-princess, and at the time, I was her personal assistant.

She’d often drag me along for protection and cleanup when she’d ass-out at fancy shindigs. I didn’t mind so much ’cause it was entertaining. (The bonus pay was nice too.) I still felt honored that the lust-idol of many, Lacey Raven, had invited me to her friend’s penthouse suite for an exclusive, hush-hush dinner affair.

Lacey was close with Tommy Crull, maverick CEO of eSports company Mayhem Games, and he’d invited her and a few bigshots to join in the fun.

Some peeps there included Evie Sodda, a young, sublimely talented recording artist, who acted like a train-wreck (and also just off training-wheels), plus King Blasta, the sensitive-but-volatile rapper.

See, Tom’s guests were incredibly accomplished, but had so much more potential and desire to grow, and Tom saw it.

These peeps lacked wise counsel. Their thinking wasn’t challenged often, and they’d needed someone truly on-board with their ambitious dreams.

So, Tom brought ‘em together to meet Empire Coach, J-Ryze. (And, yes, he really does sleep sitting up, but I’ll get to that in a minute.)

And even though Tom took the time to ‘prime’ them before J’s arrival, ensuring they knew how much he’d contributed to Tom’s rise to power, most were still doubtful.

Their trash-talk pulled no punches.

“What could this guy possibly tell me that I don’t already know?” spat K-Bla.

“I just wanna totally express myself,” insisted Evie, “And nobody gets my art, so why would this Ryze-guy?”

Lacey spoke with body-language, pointedly throwing her (admittedly beautiful) boobs in everyone’s faces. I watched all 3 guests guzzle down a few strong drinks by the time J-Ryze strolled into the suite, fashionably late.

And wow did this dude have some style.

His swagger instantly vitalized the room. He was charming and animated. His brash, bullshit-free approach was provocatively powerful to this celeb-crowd. They were likely used to ‘yes-men.’

(And I’m pretty sure I saw a car full of giggling girls waving at him through a crack in the door.)

When we all sat down for dinner, Tommy told us a little more about Jay and encouraged each of them to seriously consider working with him if they were ‘ready to Ryze.’

He told us the stories of how he met Jay before he’d started Mayhem, just playing Tribal Online, and not even aware at that time – that J-Ryze had been helping Tom while homeless!

He and J-Ryze had coffee together at an upscale cafe, talking ’til closing, and Tommy couldn’t get enough of J-Ryze’s fresh views on taboos. They ended up playing Tribal ’til the small hours.

Jay taught Tommy about ‘brand artistry’ during their game together in the middle of the night.

And living on the streets forced J-Ryze to sleep Internet Lounge chairs, it’s why he sometimes preferred to get his Zs that way, despite now owning his personal mansion, The Pearl.

Just as the story was getting good, Evie suddenly interrupted, telling us how her latest productions were ‘too obscure’ for the average crowd, so an empire coach couldn’t help her, and that nobody’d buy the stuff she dreams of making. J-Ryze replied that, with thinking like that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Don’t be a victim of the masses, Evie. Create demand. I don’t know you that well, but I’m guessing you didn’t get here by being an average artist who panders to society.” He spoke full of level confidence.

“All the greats are ahead of their time, so most people didn’t get them at first. Pink Floyd. Eminem. Even Steve Jobs.

Like Kanye says ‘And if they hate then let ’em hate / and watch the money pile up.’ ”

Evie argued that her best-seller was her worst-sung pop tune, while Jay’s hand produced a pen & pad from his pocket. J-Ryze cut her short & rifled off a sketch, saying  “Wait, weren’t you first on the radio to sing about girl-on-girl in a sugary way, making ‘being bi’ way more acceptable? Sounds pretty edgy to me.”

Jay grinned with bright, caring eyes. He was clearly interested in helping Evie ryze up, and knew he’d zeroed in on a vital point. Evie, clearly missing it, just rolled her eyes and left the table to grab a smoke on the balcony.

K-Bla leaned forward, “So, you like rap, boy?”

Jay grinned again, “To me, rap’s the new Shakespeare; a beautiful blend of rhythm and storytelling, full of wisdom.” K-Bla’s eyebrows raised, impressed.

“That sound ‘bout right. Me write dem tings, and dem ah feel the vibe. And since me gal dem all-drama, all-de-time, me just like a Shakespeare play, yo.” Jay smirked and fired back “You mightt try rapping about relationships that suit you, instead of raising the drama by rapping about it.” I could tell K-Bla didn’t follow by his spacey stare.

Jay could as well, so he scribbled and prodded further, “Look, you rap about money —stacks & bling for your hoes— right? So, like, did you always have all that cash? Or did it start to flow after you rapped about it? Rap creates reality.”

K-Bla laughed, “Me still ain’t haff enough, these hoes take it all.” Jay shook his head as K-Bla downed another drink. Meanwhile, my boss was unusually quiet, maybe ’cause she wasn’t the center of attention for once. That quickly changed.

Jay casually asked about her latest film. “Your facial expressions were so playful, Lacey. They told a story that kept me enthralled.” Lacey giggled loudly as she tossed her hair and re-crossed her legs towards him, “Oh sure, it’s my face that you were looking at, Jay.”

He smiled and dropped some serious eye-contact, “It’s true you’ve got great tits, Lace’, but so does every other pornstar. I’ve got high standards & see art in everything. You wouldn’t be nearly as enticing without the fire you show on-screen.” Lacey quirked her mouth to the side, full of doubt.

Jay continued, “Think about watching a child. Do you know when a kid’s having fun, or telling a fib, or when they’ve really hurt themselves?”

She admitted “Sure, it’s all over their face.” “Exactly,” Jay nodded. Lacey didn’t relent.

“Come on, though… that’s totally different. My audience doesn’t care about my emotions like they care about a kid. They want sex. I might be a great actress, but nobody cares. Even my agent thinks they showed my face too much in that film.”

“Get a new agent then,” Jay fired back.

“The reason your body looks so hot on-screen is that it’s a mirror of your face & feelings, It reflects & accents the pleasure you’re expressing.”

Lacey huffed, “I can’t just fire my agent, dude. She’s the best in the biz…” J-Ryze’s features scrunched up as Lacey’s voice rose, “…which you know nothing about!” and she stormed off to join Evie on the balcony.

J-Ryze had clearly hit close to home, I couldn’t believe how dense these jokers were. Did their egos make them deaf?

My parted-lips and staring-in-awe caught J-Ryze’s eye, so I figured I’d speak up.

“Wow, dude, you’re throwing pure gold at these peeps and they’re just leaving that shiny goodness on the table! I wish I could afford you.”

Jay took a swig of his Belvedere and studied me.

“Well, it takes a special person to recognize my wisdom, so that tells me you’re going places. Let’s talk. I’m willing to figure something out… what are you working on? What are you psyched about?”

-Story by Jennifer Price.