The Dirty Truth, Secret Obsessions Book 1

by Ashley Cole

  THE DIRTY TRUTH

  (SECRET OBSESSIONS, BOOK 1)

  By ASHLEY COLE

  The Dirty Truth

  Copyright © 2017 by Ashley Cole

  Copyright © 2017, Ashley Cole

  First electronic publication: March 2017

  Ashley Cole

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyright work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  This book is work fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actuals events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Published in the United States of America

  Cover Image: Canva

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Up Next in This Series

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Her 4 y/o, Mason was refusing to eat breakfast, her once fresh coffee was now cold, and she couldn’t seem to find her shoes. Naomi Archer couldn’t believe the morning she was having. “Seriously, this is crazy. Where in the hell are my shoes? Out of all mornings, how could I chose this morning to lose my shoes?”, she uttered feeling defeated. Feeling annoyed with herself, she’d intentionally woke up earlier than usual, to ensure she’d have the spare time to read a few scriptures. Figuring, if she woke up earlier than usual, she’d have time to mentally prepare for her meeting with the world known fashion designer, Dominique.

  Dominique was now a friend of Naomi’s and he currently lived in Paris. He was also in preparation for his 20th Annual Paris Fashion Week. She’d known Dominique for roughly five years and was first introduced at the Grand Opening of Sassy Couture, which is the name of her clothing line. Via email he’d recently expressed excitement to hear more about her new fall collection. Naomi knew if she properly exhibited the quality of her products, he’d be unable to refuse adding her collection to his upcoming Fall lineup. “This is not the time to screw up” she sighed thinking aloud.

  “Oooh, mommy said a bad word,” Mason whispered, staring at Naomi in disbelief. “Sorry Mason mommy can’t find her shoes. Have you seen them?”, she asked hoping he had. Mason replied pointing past her, directly at her black stilettos. They’d been sitting in the den the entire time. Flustered, Naomi told Mason thank you, wondering how’d she’d missed them. She’d checked the den three times already, knowing that sometimes she crashed there after work while completing a few tasks. “Finish your food my love.” Folding his arms Mason shook his head refusing. “No mommy, not hungry.” “Fine, you can eat at daycare, let’s get ready to go,” Naomi replied, deciding to save this battle for another morning.

  Grabbing her shoes, she handed Mason his Batman back pack, heading for the front door. After punching in the alarm code and locking the front door, she spun around to face Mason, “Ready, set, go!” she yelled, as they raced to the car. Racing was their morning ritual. “Beat you!”, he yelled jumping up and down. Dramatically pouting Naomi countered, “Aww man! I will beat you tomorrow. Mommy’s going to eat her spinach and she will win!” Mason giggled as she opened the back door to her snow-white convertible Mercedes Benz. “Hop in baby”, she said. However, Mason folded his arms upset, “I’m not a baby anymore mommy, I’m a big boy!” She wanted to smile as he pouted.

  Mason was going through the, “I’m not a baby” phase, and mommy was not allowed to call him a baby EVER. “Okay mommy’s big boy, let’s go”, she said avoiding a meltdown. After strapping Mason into his car seat, she hopped into the driver seat pulling out of her driveway, heading towards I-87. She quietly prayed they’d miss the early morning traffic.

  Traffic in New York could make a saint curse, and Naomi had horrible road rage. “Use your blinker, you better not hit my car lady!”, she yelled. “That’s right! Don’t hit mommy’s car!” Mason yelled from the back seat. “Oh, my gosh.”, Naomi mumbled ashamed. Mason was undoubtedly her mini me. Lately, she’d been trying to refrain from cursing in front of him while in traffic. God knows she didn’t want him repeating profanity at daycare. Luckily, traffic wasn’t too bad and she was able to arrive at The Boys and Girls Academy within fifteen minutes, leaving thirty minutes for her to reach the office.

  After hurriedly signing Mason in at the front desk, she followed him towards his classroom greeting Stacy. Stacy was Mason’s teacher in the toddler room. She kissed Mason’s forehead, “Be good okay?” Mason leapt giving her a big hug, then sprinted towards his classroom. “Mason slow down!” she yelled smiling. Only slowing down once he made it into the classroom, he began searching for his favorite Avengers toy, The Hulk.

  After peaking to make sure he was ok, Naomi darted across the parking lot hopping into her car. She dialed her assistant Tiana’s work extension while turning on her car speaker phone. “Good morning Ms. Archer”, she answered. “Good morning Tiana, my morning has been hectic. I’ll need you to handle a few things before I make it into the office. Please set up the boardroom for my 9 o’clock meeting, lay out a few samples from the fall collection, and grab my laptop. It should be on the smaller desk in my office. I also, need you to open my notes so that I can review them. The last task is paramount. Please have my coffee ready. I only drink Fol-.”

  “I remember Ms. Archer, only Folgers, three Vanilla creamers, no sugar”, Tiana interrupted. Naomi was taken aback, surprised that Tiana was on top of her A-game. She assumed she’d take a while adapting to her way of doing things, however, she was clearly making a great impression. The assistants who held the position prior to Tiana’s arrival, could not keep up with her high demands. Sighing with relief, she relaxed a little. Maybe hiring Tiana was an excellent decision, she thought. “Thank you, Tiana, I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

  After disconnecting the call, she drove towards 32nd St., the back way to the office. Using her GPS, she punched in the office address, to check the arrival time. According, to her GPS she’d arrive at the office by 8:50am. Relaxing a little, she opened iTunes, selecting Solange’s, A Seat at The Table album. She allowed her thoughts to drift as she reflected on everything she’d endured over the past year. She didn’t know how she made it out of bed most mornings, but she was grateful to God for carrying her burdens, when she was unable to.

  Cranes in The Sky was next on the playlist, which happened to be her favorite song. Allowing the lyrics to sink in, she wondered if her heart would ever heal from its current brokenness and pain. Pain caused by her recent divorce from Mason’s father, Ethan. Naomi’s marriage to Ethan was pure bliss in the beginning, but things went sour swiftly, their differences sticking out like sore thumbs.

 
When Mason arrived into the world, calm cool and collected, Naomi prayed he’d be the glue that kept her family together. Unfortunately, his arrival only brought clarity to what was previously known. Her and Ethan’s marriage was irretrievably broken. Shortly after Mason turned 5 months old, Ethan’s intentions became clear. He slowly began revealing he was not a family man, still wanting to chase the single life. He wanted to party constantly on the weekends. He was as stuck in a twilight, chasing single friends, not acknowledging he now had a family to take care of. She could no longer turn a blind eye to how his behavior which was affecting their once happy family.

  Ethan and Naomi met when they were 24 and she knew they were too young, but you couldn’t dare tell that to her heart. She wanted to marry him, she was so in love with Ethan and she thought he was the one. Boy, was she wrong. Forced to address the truth, she had no choice but to be the parent Mason needed them both to be while Ethan attempted to find himself.

  The constant arguing and fighting began, which resorted to silent treatment and ignoring each other’s presence. Ethan started coming in drunk at three and four in the morning most weekends. Arguing in private, then escalated to fighting in front of Mason. Slowly, they came to the realization that their marriage was over and it was time to focus on what was best for their little one. Naomi filed for a divorce which she thought was mutual, being that Ethan would constantly mention living in separate households.

  Naomi found a three-bedroom loft in Manhattan where her and Mason would live. After moving to the new location, Ethan hurtfully seemed happy as if this was what he’d always wanted. With no other choice, she went through the divorce process, bringing him the documents to sign. To her amazement, he reacted horribly, as if the divorce was her idea only, further confusing the situation.

  “I tried to drink it awaaayy, I tried to put one in the aiiirrr,” she sang melodically. Thinking back, she recalled the days she’d attempted to drink her pain away. Moscato had become her best friend, but Mason did not need to see his mother broken. From that day forth she decided alcohol would only be drank when celebrating. She’d have to face her pain head on and work through it.

  “You have reached your destination”, her GPS chimed, as she pulled into her assigned parking spot. Quietly, she shifted her thoughts to her recent achievements and how far her company had come. She remembered how she once worked at home from the confines of her woman’s cave but was now the proud owner of her very own clothing, shoe and makeup line. Very few could say their brand was in several major outlets, nonetheless, she felt she hadn’t quite reached her goal. In her opinion, you hadn’t succeeded unless you were invited to Dominique’s Semi- Annual Fall Fashion Week. She had plenty of work to do and work she would.

  Opening her car door, she slipped her manicured toes into black Louboutin’s. Activating her car alarm, she stepped out checking her reflection through the window. Today, she wore a nude fitted top and a black pencil skirt, which happened to be riding up her thighs as she stood, no thanks to her curvy backside. Making sure to pull her skirt back down, she headed towards the building. Her curly auburn hair was pulled back into a neat bun. She was very confident and loved to wear clothing that complimented her figure.

  Tilting her head at an angle, she peered thru the window, while walking towards the entrance. She was sure she’d just witnessed a few of her employees scattering to their desks, realizing she’d arrived. “Whatever, I have not had my coffee and I’m almost late for this meeting. These people better get in gear or go home, I am not in the mood,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. Naomi did not tolerate lazy employees. Everyone knew her last 3 assistants had been terminated, so it was probably in their best interest to get back to work.

  Opening the door, Naomi was surprised to see Tiana waiting inside the entrance with coffee in hand. She began bringing Naomi up to speed on a few messages received in her absence. A few companies were inquiring about adding Sassy Couture to their department stores. As they made their way into the boardroom, Naomi realized she only had ten minutes to spare. Saying a quick prayer, she finished her coffee, noticing it was hot and strong just the way she liked it. Ten minutes later, she nodded in Tiana’s direction, allowing her know to initiate the call.

  When Dominique’s lovely face appeared on the screen he was all smiles. “Heeeyy girl, how are you!” His French accent and vibrant attitude was all the caffeine she needed. “Heeyyyy girlfriend, I’m great. It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you. How are you?”, she asked. As Dominique dramatically informed her of the current Paris gossip, she laughed wholeheartedly.

  After settling down, Naomi began bringing him up to speed on a few of her ideas for Sassy Couture. He informed her of how much he loved her samples, however, he’d never knew she was interested in his upcoming fashion show. Regretfully, he informed her that he’d already filled the available slots for Fashion Week. This meant there wouldn’t be room for Sassy Couture in the upcoming headline. Camouflaging her disappointment, she began to thank Dominique for taking the time to provide her with feedback on her new collection.

  “Wait a minute, I have an idea! I’ll give you a chance to send me a few of your Fall Shoe Collection samples. I haven’t seen those yet. If they’re as sexy as this clothing line, we may be able to work something out after all. I’ve been wanting to bump that heifer Sabrina’s collection to next year anyway, so give me a reason to. The only reason she made the cut is because her dad’s rich and money talks baby girl. You know how it is.” Revived with enthusiasm, Naomi thanked Dominique, letting him know he would not be disappointed. As the meeting came to an end, they blew kisses, saying goodbye until next time.

  Seconds later the screen went blank. Naomi double checked making sure the call was disconnected, and leapt with joy, as her and Tiana laughed. Thank God for sound proof walls, she thought. “Ms. Archer, I’m so proud of you.” Tiana commended. “Thank you, but we have a lot of work to do. We should probably go ahead and get started.”, Naomi replied? Tiana grabbed her laptop as she began to navigate through Sassy Couture’s shoe collection samples, but Naomi’s phone began vibrating. Checking her caller ID, she realized it was her best friend Scarlett calling. Politely dismissing Tiana, she let her know it was an important call and she’d let her know when she was ready to get started.

  Tiana closed the door behind her, heading back to her office. “Giirrlllll let me tell you,” she yelled, but no one responded. “Hello”, she said waiting response. Shaking her head, she realized Scarlett was whispering, and was probably sneaking on her phone during school hours. Naomi and Scarlett had known each other since 3rd grade and Scarlett was now a 3rd grade teacher. How ironic was that, she thought. “How did your meeting go with Dominique, I need the juicy details girl,” Scarlett replied. Naomi began filling her in on the details. “Girl, why are you whispering, I’m the one sneaking on the phone. Not you,” Scarlett whispered as they both laughed. “My bad girl. It’s been a crazy morning.”

  Scarlett was so excited after hearing about Naomi’s opportunity. “We should go out for drinks this Friday! It’s not every day your best friend calls with this kind of news. My bestie is the shit!” she laughed. However, all Naomi could think about was getting back to work. She wanted to badly to ensure Dominique loved every single one of her drawings and knew she’d be devastated if she ruined this opportunity.

  “Girl I have to go. I swear, Principal Hunter can smell when teachers are having too much fun. It’s like he has a fun radar. He’s heading down the hallway towards my class room now. I’ll make sure to call you after I make it home,” Scarlett whispered. “Talk to you later girl, and put that phone away before you get fired.”

  Chapter 2

  Scarlett quickly placed her phone back inside her desk drawer, grabbing her students’ attention. “Okay everyone, settle down. Is everyone done with the math lesson?” Lilly raised her hand, “Ms. Rose, I need help, I’m stuck on the last problem.” Scarlett began walking towards Lilly’s desk just as Principal Hu
nter entered their classroom. “Hi Principal Hunter!”, the students yelled excitedly. They loved him and she could not understand why.

  Maybe she wouldn’t despise him if he wasn’t always gawking at her, or asking her out on a date. It was unprofessional and was starting to become awkward as hell, she thought. Scarlett was very accustomed to men falling at her feet but Principal Hunter annoying. Her voluptuous curves could bring a man to his knees, but she had other plans and those plans were for the beautiful lady across the hall, she thought, smiling to herself. As principal Hunter’s eyes made their way around the classroom she began to regret wearing her current outfit.

  It was 89 degrees, midsummer, so she wore a knee length, forest green, ruched tank dress, with a cropped denim jacket and matching denim sandals. The forest green accentuated her shoulder length, phoenix red, Shirley temple curls and freckles. Scarlett was Caucasian but since their youth, Naomi had always told her she had the sass of a black woman. “Hi principal Hunter,” she said briefly, continuing to help Lilly with a math problem. She hoped he’d sense how busy she was and continue to the next classroom. He was not her type at the moment, her type was Stephanie, who happened to be the third-grade teacher across the hall.

  Naomi was the only person she trusted with the fact that she was attracted to both sexes. Her uppity parents would never be able to handle finding out their precious daughter was bisexual. This kind of news could hurt their status in the community and they would never forgive her. Her mother would end up being prescribed more Prozac and her dad would probably disown her, not that she needed anything from him anyway. She was very happy with her career and the amount of money she made and she never asked either of them for anything, she thought smiling at her accomplishments.

  After staring for what felt like hours, principal Hunter finally waved goodbye and headed over to Stephanie’s classroom. “Thank God”, she said not realizing she was thinking out loud. “Why are you thanking God”, Lilly asked. “Oh, because Ms. Scarlett is very proud of you all for quietly getting back to work, after greeting principal Hunter. In fact, I’m so proud that everyone gets a gold star today,” she replied turning bright red. Heading back to her desk Scarlett cursed herself for not being more careful. Through her peripheral, she noticed Hannah celebrating, she’d never received a gold star. Poor Hannah was laced with sarcasm and a smart mouth. Scarlett secretly loved her sarcasm but she couldn’t reward bad behavior, allowing her to set a poor example for her students.