Washington Wife

By Katafa Reed

Living in DC, I meet so many different women. Some are professionals, and others are stay-at-home moms. I admire these women. I see myself in them. I am both a mother and an attorney working in downtown DC. One of my close friends shared her journey with me from the time she moved to DC until five years later, with one of her children graduating from high school. Unfortunately, she and her husband divorced. She intended to move to DC and start a new life for her and her family, but her life took a different turn. I found her story so compelling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514411902

Katafa Reed

Katafa Hall-Reed is president and senior consultant of Troppus Consulting Services, LLC. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a degree in legal studies. Katafa Hall-Reed has been consulting on various legal matters and business matters for Troppus Consulting Services, LLC. Katafa also has experience in the financial market as a trader for the forex and stock market. She has worked with many large firms, such as Jones Day, aiding in litigation. She has served as a paralegal for the Ohio Aerospace Institute. Katafa worked as a regional sales coordinator for Lancome and an account coordinator for Erno Laszlo. Katafa lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and three children.

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Copyright © 2015 by Katafa Reed.

ISBN:       Softcover       978-1-5144-1191-9

                eBook            978-1-5144-1190-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/06/2015

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Contents

Prelude

The Move

Mommy starts a business

To London We Go

The Christmas Play

Connections

The Saudis

The Basketball Game in China

The Making of a Spy

The Supportive Wife

Working for a Senator

An Opportunity For My Firm

Fun in Puerto Rico

New Direction

Working in the News

A Little Fun and a Little Sun in the Bahamas

Louise

Brazil

Yoga

New Life

Hello Sir

Fine Wine

Working Mom

Mr. Summers

Dedication

To my mother, Rachel Lynn and P.M. Xavier

Prelude

L IVING IN D.C., I meet so many different women. Some are professionals and other ar satay at home moms. I admire these women. I see myself in them. I am both a mother and an attorney working in downtown D.C. One of my close friends shared her journey with me from the time she moved to D.C. until five years later, with one of her children graduating from High School. Unfortunately, her and her husband divorced. She intended to move to D.C. and start a new life for her an her family, but her life took a different turn. I found her story so compelling. I decided to write this book and share it with my readers. The story was written in her voice, from her point of view. I hope you enjoy reading and find her story as compelling as I did.

The Move

R EALLY BEFORE WE even had a D.C. address, we had to figure out where we would educate or children. Our good friend Bill put us in touch with his wife Linda. Linda gave us all the information we needed and told us who to contact at the superb school that her and Bill ’ s children attended. I was delighted. I kept thinking to myself " These people are so nice " . How sweet and thoughtful of them to care about where we educate our children. We soon discovered quite a number of my husband ’ s colleagues also attended the same school. It was such a relaxing feeling to have all of our children at the same school with our new friends. I kept thinking this is such a wonderful feeling. I kept thinking " this is such a wonderful opportunity " . I was so grateful and felt so loyal to my husband ’ s company.

I called the person I was told to call, and scheduled an appointment to come in and meet with the priest and the headmaster. We submitted all of the necessary paper work. Shortly after, our kids were admitted to the school. All we had to do is pay the tuition and everything would be fine.

Right before school started, my husband’s new boss set up an official time where our kids would meet. "Don’t worry about dressing up", he told us. We are very casual. Besides, we are having pizza and Georgetown cupcakes. "We will go over the uniforms and the kids can play after dinner", he told us. So we met with him, his wife and his kids. And the dog. Everything was great. The kids had a good time. His wife was not only drop dead gorgeous, but a lawyer. She had grown up an army brat and went to school in Italy. Her father was a four star general. I was impressed. We all hit it off and became even better friends.

School started. All of the kids were the same age. Each family had three kids. Our children ended up in the same classes. We had a first grader and they had a first grader. We had a fifth grader, they had a fifth grader. We had a sixth grader and they had a sixth grader. The only difference is that they had all girls. And one of their daughters had been adopted from Asia.

At the time our children started this school, we had no idea famous people or well known people were the parents of our children’s classmates. Some parents were successful lawyers, doctors, ambassador’s, government officials, etc. We were so busy getting use to D.C. and trying not to get lost whenever we left the house, that a lot of things we simply over looked. A lot of things were happening in D.C. and at the school, but we were really too busy to notice. A lot was happening right before our eyes, but honestly it all just went right over our heads.

Right as we were getting comfortable and our kids were getting to know their kids, my husband’s new boss was offered a job with another company. He eventually moved his entire family to another state. My children were confused. "Why would we introduce them to children that would be leaving D.C.?" my children asked. We told them we had no idea that the family would be moving. My husband would soon have a new boss and we would get to know his family.

Change was easy for my husband and myself. Our new friends were leaving D.C. It would be hard especially since they were our closest friends in the city. They had been so kind to introduce us to everyone. Bill and Linda told us about all of the best restaurants