The Secret First Lady: The Naked Truth

by Bush, Rose

  Shane picked up the tab and told Leah he would call her to schedule their next meeting. Leah hung her head down low as she and Rachel walked to the car. She looked sad and full of gloom. “I’m scared Rachel.”

  “Of what? Finding your mother?” Rachel tried to sound sympathetic.

  “I’m afraid of not finding her and never finding out who I really am.”

  “I’m sure these are normal emotions for a situation such as this. Everything is going to be alright.”

  “What if she’s dead or not in her right mind? What if I never get the chance to ask her all the questions that I’ve been dying to know; like why did she abandon me?”

  Rachel kept silent, allowing Leah to express herself the whole way home. The kids were with the neighbor; Rachel wanted to get back as quickly as possible. It was one thing to find a sitter for her two children every now and again, but a sitter for five kids was something different. “What if she is in her right mind, wondering where you are? Perhaps, she’s been looking for you. You have to be a little more optimistic, Leah. It’s going to work out.” Rachel wasn’t confident that it would work, but she was hopeful.

  When they pulled into the driveway of Rachel’s apartment, she asked Leah to pray with her. They held hands and bowed their heads. “Dear, Heavenly Father, let me start by thanking you merely for your goodness. Lord, we know that through you anything and all things are possible. Lord, I ask that you wrap your arms around Leah and carry her on her journey to find her mother. We thank you in advance for reuniting the two of them. Lord, we also ask that you forgive us for our sins; in your son, Jesus, name we pray. Amen.”

  Leah rested her head on Rachel’s shoulder. Tears poured out of her eyes. “Thank you, Rachel.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. Just get yourself together before we go in here and get the kids.”

  Leah nodded her head and cleaned her face as best as she could. As odd as it seemed, her old rival was beginning to care about her. Rachel wanted Leah to succeed and she also wanted for her children to have a good life.

  “Leah, if you want to find a place right now; I’ll help you. But you don’t have to rush. I’m actually enjoying you and the kids being with us.”

  Leah smiled. She wasn’t quite ready to be on her own in Atlanta. She wanted to stay at least until she found her mother and saved enough money. Rachel decided to let her work as a receptionist for one of the mangers at her firm. It was going to be a great experience for her, being that she never had a real job.

  Chapter Twelve: Bad News, Good News

  “Oh No! Is he going to be okay?” Rachel exclaimed through the phone. She rested her hand across her forehead. She sat at her desk at her Midtown firm. Her office was spacious and decorated with rare African art.

  “The doctor said the cancer has spread and his kidneys are failing rapidly. There’s really nothing you can do as of right now, but pray.”

  “Mom, how could you keep this from me? I had no idea Dad was even sick,” Rachel tried to fight back tears as she lifted her head to the ceiling. “He appeared to be in good health when I was last there.”

  “Sweetie, your dad kept it from all of us. He’s actually in good spirits. Had I not heard it from the doctor with my own ears, I wouldn’t believe it.”

  “Daddy’s always been a warhorse. I know he’s not going to accept defeat. I’ll try to get a flight out next week.”

  “No, that’s not necessary, Rachel, darling. I know you want to be here, but the kids start school next week and you have your crazy living arrangement to worry about. If his condition worsens, I promise I will call you.”

  Rachel sucked her teeth and reluctantly agreed with her mother, before hanging up with her mother. She took a deep breath and stared at the large tree seated outside of her office window.

  Martin Hamilton, one of the executives at Rachel’s firm, popped his head into her office to give a morning salutation. He was tall, muscular with blue eyes and tanned skin. “Top of the morning, Ms. Jones.” His accent sent chills up Rachel’s spine; but she would never openly admit that to him.

  “Martin, how many times have I told you to call me Rachel? Good morning to you. How was your weekend?”

  “Not too bad; but on the other hand not long enough. Well, I just wanted to say hello. Enjoy your day, ma’am.” He sipped his coffee and turned to walk down the hall.

  Talking to him almost helped Rachel slip out of the funk she was in after hearing about her father’s illness. “Uh, Martin?” Rachel called after him.

  “Yes, ma’am?” He said walking back to the entrance of her office.

  “Oh, will you stop with the formalness already? Let’s do lunch today?” Rachel asked.

  “Sounds good, Rachel.” He smiled as he glided down the hall. He felt as though he just won a million bucks, even though it was a business lunch and knew with Rachel, it would probably be a working lunch.

  Rachel’s receptionist and other employees of RTJ Incorporated often joked about Martin having a crush on her. Rachel just brushed the comments off and kept it strictly business. Martin was single, successful, and had no children, but Rachel kept it strictly professional.

  She scrolled through her emails and clicked on a message from Clyde Anderson; a local entertainer wanting to invest 1.5 million dollars with Rachel’s firm. She skimmed over the attached business proposal. She learned a long time ago that each investment was almost like putting one’s earnings into a Vegas slot machine and hoping for the best. Luckily for her, she never had to tell a single client that their money had been gambled away.

  She pressed the intercom button and phoned her receptionist. “Bridget, please schedule a meeting with Clyde Anderson. Preferably, next week if I have any openings.

  “Yes, Ms. Jones,” Bridget said as she opened up her Rachel weekly planner.

  “Thank you. Also could you call Aloma from accounting and Shawna in HR and schedule all four of us, to include yourself, for an afternoon outing for next week Friday?”

  “I certainly will,” Bridget smiled as she disconnected from Rachel. In a few months she would be graduating with her MBA and joining Aloma in the accounting department. Rachel didn’t believe in fraternization in the workplace, but since she moved to Atlanta, the four of them developed a special bond. They were all classy and professional women at the firm. None of the other staff knew how tight they really were. At least once a month, Rachel cleared her schedule and the bunch went out for lunch and a spa treatment.

  She leaned back in her leather office chair and jotted down a few mental notes to discuss with Martin over lunch. She wanted to bring Leah into RTJ Inc. as his assistant. She thought it was best to put Leah in a completely different area, being that they already shared the same living space.

  Rachel’s cell phone vibrated disrupting her from her thoughts. She studied the number; it was her house so she knew either Leah or Christina were on other end.

  “Yes?” Rachel answered.

  “Hey, Rach, this is Leah!” Her screechy voice nearly pierced Rachel’s eardrum.

  “What’s up, Chic?”

  “Nothing much, just finished dusting. The kids are all cleaned up and fed so I’ll take them to the park in about an hour.” Leah announced as if she was doing extraordinary motherly duties outside of the norm.

  “Sounds like fun.” Rachel responded dryly.

  “Well, it sounds like you’re busy so I’ll get straight to the point. The private investigator called and wanted me to stop by his office. He thinks he may have a lead on my mother’s whereabouts.”

  “Oh that’s great, Leah!” She tried to sound a little more enthused. “You can use the car to meet him when I get home. I have a lunch meeting today with one of my senior executives to discuss a possible position for you.”

  “Thank you so much, Rachel. I’ll see you soon. Oh, by the way, Curtis called earlier. He’s not too happy with me being here with you. Girl, he had some names for both of us!” Leah laughed out as she called out some of
the four and five letter words Curtis used to describe the mothers of his children.

  “I don’t give a damn about Curtis or his thoughts! He doesn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out! Let me get off this phone and get some work done.” Rachel shook her head and pulled a new client file from her inbox.

  She created a few power point presentations for her upcoming meetings later on in the week and replied to a few emails. Just as she was logging off her computer for lunch, Bridget stuck her head in the door.

  “Do you want to share these with me, Ms. Jones?” Bridget asked referring to the edible arrangements she was carrying into Rachel’s office.

  Rachel didn’t respond right away. She allowed her receptionist to sit them on her desk and then pulled the card from the tasty looking arrangement. It read:

  Rachel,

  It has been great getting to know you. Enjoy your day, Beautiful.

  Your friend,

  Mike Rizzo

  Rachel blushed as she grabbed a chocolate covered strawberry from the assortment. She briefly thought about her first date with the late Chris Jackson and the chocolate covered strawberries he’d gotten for her. She bit into it, closed her eyes and the let the juice from the strawberry ooze into her mouth as it mixed with the chocolate flavoring.

  “Uh-hello? Are you sharing?” Bridget asked, eye balling the chocolate covered pineapple.

  “Oh my bad. I love chocolate covered strawberries. I left earth for a minute when I bit into it! Help yourself, darling.” Rachel reached for a piece of cantaloupe and decided not to eat anymore so that she wouldn’t spoil her lunch.

  “Thanks. Who are these from?” Bridget bit into the pineapple and grabbed another piece of fruit before she could finish off her first piece.

  “My friend, Mike.” Rachel didn’t go into detail. She figured they could discuss it on their outing; if at all. “Hey, I’m heading to lunch with Martin Hamilton. Please forward all my calls to voicemail. I should be back by one-thirty.”

  Bridget looked at her as if to say, so-you-guys-are-finally-going-on-a date? She kept her thoughts to herself and nodded in agreement.

  Rachel grabbed her purse and stopped at the doorway of her office. “And no, it is not a date!” She confirmed as if she was reading Bridget’s mind.

  They both laughed. Martin was waiting for Rachel at the north elevator that led to the parking garage. He escorted her to his car and opened the door for her.

  They went to Twist for sushi and cocktails. Rachel presented him with the idea of hiring Leah as a personal assistant. She was honest about her not having much work experience and promised that her own assistant slash receptionist would get her trained for him.

  He agreed and wanted her to start next Monday. Rachel realized she wasn’t interested in dating Martin at all, but admitted to herself that he was fun to hang out with and had great conversation. Considering the bad news she’d received today, the good news of Leah possibly finding her mother and starting a new position, as well as Mike’s sweet gesture, helped to balance out her emotions.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Naked Truth

  Leah parked in the lot designated for Shane’s Peachtree office. She had to confess, since being around Rachel she was a lot more fashionable. She took the elevator to the fifth floor and walked into the office door that was left ajar.

  “Bring your sexy ass over here, Marvin Taylor.” She said pulling on his neck tie.

  “Call me Shane, baby.” He said kissing her on the lips.

  “Oh, my bad; I forgot we’re role playing and you’re pretending to be your cousin Shane, the real P.I.!” They laughed and exchanged a few more kisses.

  He reached in his pocket and peeled her off some crispy hundred dollar bills. “Here is your cut from the money we swindled out of Rachel.”

  Leah grinned and stuffed the wad into her bra. “We’ll wait about thirty days until we, I mean until you, request more funding.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea to spread it out. You think she’ll find out that you really do know your mother?” Marvin said placing his hand on his chin.

  “That bitch is book smart; but she don’t know nothing about these streets. She won’t find out anytime soon and by the time she does, I’ll be long gone,” Leah shot off a wicked laugh. “We’re going to make enough money off her to get us a nice place and furnish it!”

  “Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing. I’m not trying to go back to prison, ya dig?” Marvin shook his head.

  “I can dig it, baby; stop worrying. Oh and she got me a job at her firm. She’s stupid enough to let me invade her space after our bad history together. Trust me, she ain’t gonna figure this out.”

  The criminal minded talk was starting to turn him on. He grabbed Leah by the neck and stuck his tongue down her throat. Leah couldn’t get her pants from around her ankles fast enough. He bent her over the desk and in a matter of seconds, the fake Bonnie and Clyde duo were completely disrespecting the real Shane Gasko’s office.

  When they were finished, Marvin pulled out a sandwich bag filled with white powder. “C’mon, let’s do a line, baby. You deserve it after what you just gave me.” They got their noses dirty and cuddled up on the floor together.

  “So when is Shane coming back anyway? You won’t be able to use his office for long.”

  “He’s in Korea working on a kidnapping case and from there, he’s hitting Spain. He won’t be back for at least another three months.”

  Leah hung out for a few more hours, fixed herself up, and headed back to Interstate 75.

  The kids were already in bed by the time she arrived back at the apartment home. Rachel was nestled up on the couch with her laptop going over information for her morning meeting.

  She took a break and examined Leah. She noticed how red her eyes were and figured she’d been crying. “How’d it go with Mr. Gasko today?” If she only knew Leah’s red eyes were cocaine induced.

  “It went good. He found some photos and wanted to compare them to me. He has a few last known addresses so he’ll probably fly out in the next few weeks or so.” Leah lied with a straight face.

  “Oh that’s great!” Let me know if he needs anything.” Rachel was sincere in helping with the search for Leah’s mother.

  Leah nodded her head and went off to take a shower. Her mind automatically started calculating other figures needed to fund her fake search. She was doing back flips inside, knowing that she had Rachel right where she wanted her. She was a lot brighter than Rachel would ever suspect. She planned on making just enough money to relocate to Florida with Marvin; where he was originally from. She met him through Curtis a few years ago and instantly fell for him. She had been sleeping with him behind Curtis’ back for over two years. After their secret at home DNA test confirmed that Marvin was actually Olivia’s biological father, he started pressuring her to move south and leave Curtis.

  Initially, he was just a supplier for Curtis and then they became somewhat associates. He would stay at Leah’s house with Cutis when he came in town to make a drop. Then the old saying “when the cat’s away, the mouse will play” came into effect.

  Olivia was the reason that Rachel divorced Curtis; little did she or her ex-husband know that the baby didn’t belong to Curtis. The naked truth would hurt so many, but at this point Leah just wanted a comfortable lifestyle with her new man and her children.

  Chapter Fourteen: Job Training

  “Ms. Jones?” Bridget said walking into Rachel’s office with an annoyed looked on her face.

  “Yes, Ms. Santiago?” Rachel could tell her receptionist wasn’t happy about something. She admired Bridget’s hard work as well as her frankness.

  “What’s wrong with that Leah Price character? She should really leave her ghetto behavior in the parking garage!”

  Rachel immediately felt her face flush with fever. I know she is not embarrassing me on the first day.

  Bridget continued with her rant. “I’m trying to teach her the
RTJ Incorporated data bases and she’s barely paying attention and she’s seems to not have the ability to retain the simplest information. To make matters even worse, she had the nerve to call me a sneaky little Mexican!”

  “You’re not sneaky!” Rachel snapped.

  “Exactly! Nor am I Mexican.”

  Rachel busted out laughing. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh but I have to so that I don’t blow a gasket! Give me a few minutes to complete these files and I’ll have a talk with her.”

  “Please do,” Bridget urged.

  “Did you get our girls afternoon set for this Friday?” Rachel shifted the subject.

  “I sure did. I hope you don’t plan on bringing Ms. Price, because----------”

  Rachel cut her off and started laughing again. “Girl, hush. No, she’s not coming. Now let me get back to work, please?”

  Bridget returned to her desk and continued working. She sent Leah to the break room. Rachel knew she had to do something before she started as Martin’s assistant. She put those thoughts on hold to focus on her new 1.5 million dollar investing client.

  She had her meeting with Clyde Arnold in less than forty-five minutes before she’d win him over. Rachel was good at what she did. Her personality and business savvy skills allowed her to have a prosperous life and live lavishly.

  After her meeting she retired to her office, slipped off her blazer and red bottom pumps. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and gazed out of the window. She thought about Mike and how she’d been intentionally neglecting him. She pretended to be bogged down with work, but the truth of the matter was after a failed marriage and an unsuccessful relationship with the now deceased, Christopher Jackson, she was afraid of another heart break. Plus, she didn’t want to continue fornicating and living in sin after finally getting her life back on track.

  At the same time she didn’t want to be a hopeless romantic or a single parent for the rest of her life. Rachel sat behind her desk and checked her voicemail. She had two messages from Mike. She decided to call him before her meeting with Leah. “Hello, Mr. Rizzo,” she said in a flirty tone after she heard the other end pick up.