The Secret First Lady: The Naked Truth

by Bush, Rose

  “Hey, Sexy. Or should I say, hey stranger?” He was being halfway sarcastic.

  “Whatever. How have you been?”

  “I would be a lot better if somebody would stop playing so hard to get.”

  “It’s not like that,” she tried to sound convincing as she thought of a good reason for not keeping in touch with him.

  “Oh yeah? Well tell me what it’s like,” he tried to sound demanding.

  “I’ll tell you face to face.”

  “Should I hold my breath?”

  “Stop it, babe, that’s not fair.”

  “What’s not fair is how you disappeared on me. Have dinner with me tonight?” He pleaded with her. “No is not an acceptable answer.”

  “Tomorrow will work better for me.”

  “I guess I’ll be patiently waiting.” He said in an I-can’t-wait-to-see-you tone.

  “Me either. Well, I have some work to finish, so I’ll chat with you later, Mr. Rizzo.”

  “Rachel?” He called out before she could hang up.

  “Yes?”

  “I promise you I won’t hurt you. Just give me a chance.

  She smiled and gently laid down the receiver. Curtis told her that same line and so did Chris. Perhaps they meant it at the time, but their actions and hurting her was inevitable. She sighed and paged Bridget to send Leah in.

  Leah marched in looking quite sharp off of Rachel’s dime. “What’s up, boss lady!” Leah yelled out.

  “Leah, we need to talk; please take a seat.” Ms. Jones kept a low tone. All kind of thoughts ran through Leah’s head and she wondered if Rachel figured out the P.I. scam. She remained silent, allowing Rachel to speak.

  “Well, I didn’t have this talk with you sooner, because coming into a professional setting, some things, such as professional conduct, should be an implied task,” Rachel showed Leah her business side for the first time. “Rule number one, if you’re asked to come into my office or any type of meeting, no matter how brief, come prepared to take notes.”

  She handed Leah a tablet and ink pen from her desk drawer. She gave a laundry list of RTJ Inc. rules and as much professional advice as she could cram into an hour’s time. When their meeting was over, Leah thanked her and walked out with a new attitude. She went back to her cubicle and wrote out all the supplies she thought she needed, just as Rachel suggested.

  Rachel buzzed her receptionist. “Bridget, tomorrow should be a much better day for you and your trainee.”

  Chapter Fifteen: Stranger Things Could Happen

  Dinner with Mike went exceptionally well. Rachel discussed all of her fears, likes and dislikes. He opened up to her as well about some things in his past. Rachel noticed he had honest eyes, which made her even more attracted to him. Yet, she couldn’t let her guard down completely. She promised herself she would give him a fair chance, without allowing her past to hinder what could possibly be. They agreed not to have any more sexual encounters. Instead, they were going to get know each other on a more mental and emotional level.

  Friday afternoon couldn’t come soon enough. It had been a long, but successful week for the ladies. They sat in the sauna at the Beauty Bar located in Buckhead; giving each other an update on their new lives and other significant events.

  “He definitely sounds like a keeper, but then again, I know how you feel about good guys, Rach!” Aloma said laughing out loud.

  “Yeah, they just ain’t no fun!” Rachel joked back. “But that’s what I need and want in my life. I’m almost thirty, divorced, and a single mother. At this point in my life, I can’t afford to jump into anything and I definitely can’t afford to settle.

  “Girl, I definitely feel you on that. None of us deserve to settle, we all know our worth and if these men can’t realize it, they don’t deserve us!” Aloma said fixing her towel. “No homo, but from what I see in all of you ladies, I would so marry you! And you know I’m picky!”

  “Well that may be the case with all the luck I have with men.” Rachel teased at Aloma.

  “Let’s do it! One wedding, three brides, three rings by ourselves!” Bridget added to the joke. They all fell out and laughed. If only they could find a man that gelled with them as well as they did with each other.

  Shauna looked at the ladies not saying much of anything. Not only was she successful, but she was married to a doctor who had his own private practice that was booming. He treated her like a queen and if they had issues, she never shared them. Which in a sense was good. As a married woman, she was supposed to keep people out of her business. Sometimes telling people only made matters worse.

  “Now tell us about this Leah character?” Bridget said remembering their first encounter. “For the most part, I think she’s working well with Mr. Hamilton.”

  “Yes, Martin did say she was doing a great job. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed.” Rachel sighed. She really didn’t want to discuss Leah or how their relationship came to be.

  “Is she your cousin or something? I can see the resemblance.” Shauna finally added.

  “No, no relationship. She’s the mother to my children’s sister and brother.” Rachel instantly felt embarrassment creep upon her face. She knew the ladies wouldn’t judge her, but the situation was far too complicated to explain.

  “Wait a minute!” Aloma exclaimed in her Trinidadian accent. She waited for her friend to expound on what sounded like a catastrophe waiting to happen.

  “Well, she’s the woman my husband cheated with…” Rachel looked at how shocked her friends were. They all had the same stupid look on their faces. Their mouths were hung wide open and their eyes were gawking at her. “Look, this is going to be a long story so let’s finish it at PF Changs over some chicken dumplings and mojitos!”

  “Girl, we’re gonna need a few mojitos to digest this story!” Bridget retorted as she got up from the bench. “I knew it was a reason I didn’t like her ass. And she had the nerve to call me sneaky! I don’t trust her as I can see her!” She spoke her peace and headed for the shower.

  “You have some of the strangest things occur in your life; you could write a book!” Aloma shook her head, not knowing what to make of the new information.

  “In most cases, I could say stranger things could happen, but this takes the cake!” Shauna threw her robe over her towel and exited the sauna.

  Maybe my friends are right. Rachel thought to herself. Perhaps I’m being down right foolish and I don’t see it. Her cousin had told her the situation was weird from the jump, but after losing Chris to suicide, she didn’t want to not help anyone that was in need.

  Perhaps she would let Leah get a little work experience at her company and then send her off into the real world. Maybe it was time that she stop allowing this person that she only knew from an affair involving her ex, to invade her space.

  Okay, I’ll give her a thirty day notice and she has to go. I’ll still help her financially, but no more playing bosom buddies. After their luncheon, they decided not to return to work. It was a great way to end their day.

  Chapter Sixteen: Missing Loot

  Rachel remained cordial with Leah after telling her it was time for her to vacate the premises. Surprisingly, Leah was okay with the request. She would continue to work at RTJ Inc. for the next six months and in thirty days, Rachel would help her find a place and pay the first two months’ rent.

  Rachel continued to fund Leah’s private investigation expenses and prayed she would find her mother soon. Besides, the money wasn’t the issue, she was blessed to do good deeds. Her father’s health had improved and she was so thankful. She convinced her mother to set up a Skype account and they would video chat on the weekends. Rachel promised to visit during the kids’ first break from school. In Henry County, they had a one week break every six weeks; the kids didn’t mind starting school almost a month earlier than their friends in Ohio.

  The weeks seemed to zoom by. The kids were happy and Ms. Jones was at a happy place in her life. Her relationship with Mike was b
uilding, but she couldn’t, well, she wasn’t ready to hear wedding bells. He hadn’t met Christina and CJ yet because Rachel wanted to be sure he’d be around for a while, if not forever.

  It was the middle of the week and she already closed deals with two millionaire clients. Even though the biggest topic on every news channel was the recession, she was blessed to not to be a part of that. She had always believed in speaking things into existence and not accepting everything that was happening in the world around her.

  She sat behind her desk and sipped a cup of coffee, while catching up on some unread emails. She had a note from Martin, praising Leah’s performance. Great, too bad she won’t be an employee much longer. Then again, she doesn’t work directly for me, so maybe.

  She found a message that, Rashonda, from accounting sent two days ago, marked urgent. It was regarding some unknown debits from RTJ’s corporate account. Even though Rachel was well off and would give to anyone in need, messing with her finances was a huge no-no. She paged Bridget. “Miss Santiago, please have Ms. Hall come to my office in about an hour.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I also have Mr. Rizzo holding on the line, should I send him through?” Bridget was in an unusual chipper mood, which kind of helped to soothe Rachel’s worries about the missing loot.

  “Sure, pass him over to me. Thank you.” Rachel smiled as she prepared to hear her man’s voice first thing in the morning.

  “Hey, babe.” He said greeting his chocolate delight.

  “Good morning, darling.” His voice had her feeling giddy. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

  “I have a business trip this weekend, it’s actually a black tie affair and I would love it if you could accompany me.”

  “What time should I be ready?” She agreed not even knowing the location.

  “Our flight leaves for Los Angeles at noon on Friday.”

  “I’ll meet you at your house Friday morning.” She was excited, but knew they may break some of their rules. Who spends a romantic weekend in LA, without any physical contact? At the end of the day, she knew neither of them would be disappointed.

  “Well enjoy the rest of your day, sexy.”

  She hung up the phone and finished checking her email until Rashonda arrived. Rashonda had fresh blonde highlights and wore just enough make up to even out her skin tone. She wore a khaki skirt with a matching blazer, a green camisole, and gold vintage accessories. Her pointed-toe BCBG pumps marched into Rachel’s office with files in hand. She could crunch a thousand numbers in her sleep and was very meticulous about how she kept her financial books. The unexplained transactions had her in a frenzy.

  Rachel knew that Ms. Hall was trustworthy and didn’t even think twice about her running some type of scam. Rachel sat next to her as she explained the ledgers line by line.

  “As you know the banking system is always thirty days behind, which is why I always keep manual records as well. Two days ago, I noticed these daily debits in five thousand dollar increments being transferred into this account.” She pointed out a seven digit number as she continued to explain. “That’s over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars unaccounted for. I called the bank and they wouldn’t give me any information over the phone. We’re going to have to go in person, but first you’ll need to file a police report since you’re the owner of RTJ Inc.,” Rashonda was teary eyed and had been an emotional wreck for the past two days.

  “I am completely baffled. I don’t know what to make of this, but I’m sure going to get to the bottom of this. Have you shared this with anyone else in your department?” Rachel walked over to the window, folded her arms, and gazed at her favorite tree. The tree was so beautiful, it gave Rachel a glimpse of peace and often helped her to escape her thoughts.

  “No, not yet,” Rashonda walked over to the window trying to find a little tranquility herself. She knew Rachel didn’t blame her, but she felt somewhat at fault.

  “Good, don’t mention it. It has to be an internal job. Don’t beat yourself up either, Ms. Hall. It’s not your fault, darling. Grab your things so we can go to the police station.” Rachel remained calm, at least for her employee’s own sanity.

  She had Bridget cancel all her afternoon appointments and didn’t even mention to her what was going on. Everyone was a suspect at this stage. She met Rashonda at the north elevator and they headed to the parking garage, bumping into Leah along the way. Rachel looked her up and down trying to picture her embezzling six figures on her own. The thought quickly vanished.

  “You think she could be in on it? I mean nothing like this has happened until she started working here.” Rashonda said with an undoubting look.

  “Hell nah! She ain’t that smart or that crazy to steal from me.” Rachel said with look of sureness about Leah’s capabilities. They both laughed as the elevator dropped to the second floor. No matter how many times she rode it a day, her stomach always seemed to drop with it.

  They made the report and headed across town to the Credit Union. After talking to the bank manager and reviewing financial documents, he agreed to freeze the account until the investigation was final. He was a well-built gentleman in his mid-forties.

  “This account belongs to a Margaret Belmont,” he said looking over his computer screen. “I could probably get the video of her opening the account, but it will take about a week.”

  “I don’t recognize that as a client or even an employee name.” Rashonda felt even more confused.

  “It’s not a client or employee; Belmont is my maiden name.” Rachel suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Someone was playing a joke on her, except it wasn’t funny to her. “Thank you for your time, sir, we’ll be back in a week. I’ll call my attorney so that we can get this case done and over with as quickly as possible.”

  Both ladies were in complete shock. Rachel noticed they weren’t too far from the investigators office and decided to pay him a visit. There was an older looking gentleman seated behind the desk. He had salt and pepper hair and his skin looked smoother than butter.

  “Can I help you?” He stood up to greet the two ladies.

  “Yes, sir. I’m looking for Private investigator Gasko.” Rachel tried to force out a smile, but she felt her emotions unraveling.

  “You’re looking at him.” He declared.

  “No, that’s not possible. I met him once before and I’ve been paying him to work on a case for a Ms. Leah Price.”

  “Ma’am, I’ve been in business for fifteen years and I never forget a pretty face. I’ve been working overseas. I had my cousin Marvin watching the place, but he didn’t mention any new clients stopping by.”

  Rachel felt her knees buckle. “I need to sit down.” He helped her over to the sofa and examined her. Rashonda sat next to her, feeling even more confused.

  He went over to his desk drawer and pulled out a photo. It had a group of men posing at Lake Allatoona. “Can you see if you can point out the guy pretending to be me?” Rachel instantly recognized him.

  After a long discussion about Leah’s case, she went to tell him about the missing money. Was it possible that Marvin embezzled the money? She did write him several checks and if he was criminal enough to pretend to be his cousin, she knew he could be the prime suspect. She felt sorry for Leah; knowing that this man really wasn’t looking for her biological mother. The real P.I. offered to investigate the Margaret Belmont case as well as return some of her funds.

  He told her to keep the visit confidential until he could gather further information. “Please don’t give Ms. Price another dime for that rascal. I’ll take over the case.”

  Rachel agreed. Her and Rashonda headed to a mojito filled lunched as she clued her in on the details of Leah and swore her to secrecy. Rachel decided to act normal and still go on her trip to LA with Mike. She was kind of nervous leaving her kids with everything that was happening, but knew she had to play it cool. She couldn’t afford to let anything get out and ruin her investigation.

  Once at home, she played a
board game with her kids while Leah prepared them dinner. Rachel was still full from her lunch and appeared to be in a different world. She played a few rounds with them and left Christina in charge, joining Leah in the kitchen.

  “How’s everything working out with you and Marvin?” Rachel started up a conversation while Leah broke spaghetti noodles in half, throwing them into the boiling pot of water.

  “Oh, it’s going good. He’s a nice man and I’m learning a lot.” Leah tried not to avoid making eye contact, but Rachel didn’t even notice how uncomfortable her roommate was.

  “I’m glad to hear that. Listen, I’m going to LA for the weekend, do you think you’ll be okay with the kids?” Rachel was reluctant to ask, but she couldn’t let her know something was troubling her.

  “Of course. Christina is such a big help. She is so mature. Go and enjoy yourself. Maybe one day I’ll get to visit Cali.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Rachel smiled and returned to the children.

  Chapter Seventeen: A New Beginning

  Mike was even smoother than Rachel presumed. Instead of allowing her to drive to his home, he sent a car to pick her up. They flew first class, sipped champagne, and enjoyed a movie until their flight landed in LA.

  A limo picked them up and brought them to the Four Seasons Hotel located between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. They were coming up on their six month anniversary; although, Rachel tried not admit it, they were indeed a couple. It was too early to check into their room, so the two did a little shopping before the event. Rachel found the cutest little souvenirs for all of the children and Leah.

  The event was also held at the hotel. Ms. Jones and Mr. Rizzo were the classiest looking power couple. All eyes were on them, even though the party was filled with a bunch of A-list celebrities and industry couples. Rachel was owning the room, taking advantage of her networking opportunities. Mike enjoyed watching her and even though they agreed not to be intimate, she was turning him on.