Karma Kashouts

By Nakeyia Jones

Welcome to a world of betrayal, mayhem, and mystery. Indulge yourself in real life events and twisted encounters. Karma Kashouts is an all new anthology of fourteen stories filled with crime and suspense. An alluring tapestry of temptation and sin that could have been ripped from the headlines.You know what they say, be careful what you do because karma is a...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nakeyia Jones
• Release date: Sep 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005291228

Nakeyia Jones

Nakeyia Jones is an author, publisher and professional speaker that was born and raised in the Bronx, NY with her mother, father, and two brothers. Jones has earned a Bachelors Degree in Social Work, and a Masters Degree in Education and has worked within both industries for over 20 years. She left teaching in 2018 to pursue writing full time. As a full time author, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and enjoying foods from different cultures. Nakeyia runs a non-for-profit organization called "Walk A Mile in My Shoes" that encourages teens and children in the inner cities to tell their story. Her life's work is dedicated to encouraging young people to read and make literacy the norm for all children, every where.

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Karma Kashouts

By: Nakeyia Jones

Copyright © 2021 Nakeyia Jones

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator at the address below.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

First printing edition 2021.

Uniquely Purposed Publishing

1440 W. Taylor St. #1045

Chicago, IL 60607

uniquelypurposedllc.com

I dedicate this book to my brother Sean. Thank you for always believing in me.

Table of Contents

Fashion Faux Pas

Where is My Baby?

Generous Pastor

The Lady in Red

Johnny Be Good

An Identical Dilemma

The Will

Missing Pieces

Old Man Todd

One Night

Unforgettable Scent

Lethal Dessert

Loyalty in the Game

Confessions

Fashion Faux Pas

Andrea Romero could not sleep. She was thinking about what had happened and was scrolling through her laptop feverishly, the blue light of the screen illuminating her bloodshot eyes. She could not stop replaying it in her mind.

Her mother, Phyllis Romero, always thought she was better than Andrea. The worst thing was that she was. Phyllis was one of the most successful fashion designers in the world. This made Andrea’s strong nationwide reputation fall away into insignificance. In truth, no matter how successful Andrea was as a fashion designer, she would never reach the heights that her mother did.

You need to be more assertive!

You cannot achieve success through talent alone; it requires aggressiveness and belligerence.

You’ll never get anywhere with your attitude.

These were just some of the things that Phyllis would say to get under Andrea’s skin. Maybe it came from a place of love. It definitely came from a place of experience.

Andrea was designing some edgy pieces for a new collection she was working on. She had sent out a few pieces to her regular clients. One of her clients wore her new dress to the Met Gala, and the dress went viral on social media. The next day, Andrea’s office phone was ringing constantly with orders for the dress. Andrea’s assistant had left for maternity leave and then decided to become a stay-at-home mom, so she needed to hire some help for the office.

Andrea had become more aggressive in her outlook. She had taken riskier business decisions, designed more outlandish items and even hired a bold assistant, Reese. Reese was so highly rated in the industry that even Phyllis was jealous that Andrea has managed to land him. To further increase the significance of his appointment, Reese had been working for Ethan, Andrea’s closest competitor.

Ethan was Andrea’s arch-nemesis in the fashion industry. Always slightly ahead, Ethan had recently beaten Andrea to some major A-list contracts. Every time Ethan would win at fashion week, he would turn to Andrea and give her an evil grin and wink at her.

Reese was excited about his new opportunity to work with Andrea. He explained to her that he needed a change from Ethan's condescending, belittling ways. Reese leaving his post was a sign of a change in the tide. Perhaps now Andrea would finally live up to the pressure by her mother. After Reese’s departure, she saw Ethan at the Versace Mansion, but she did not exhibit the same childish behavior Ethan did when he won; landing his assistant was satisfaction enough.

Although it was a coup to get Reese on her side, Andrea’s problems really began just after he started. They were sitting in the office going about routine daily tasks when the phone rang one day.

Reese answered. Good day, Andrea Romero’s office.

He paused while the person on the other end of the line spoke. He gave no indication about his feelings for what was said. He was well-known for being unflappable in the face of pressure. Nothing ever disrupted his even temperament, and his gambler’s expression was immaculate.

Having listened for a while, he spoke softly. Yes, Andrea would be delighted to take that on; no problem at all. He then coolly hung up the phone.

Who was that? asked Andrea.

Oh, just some agent. They want you to do some work for two of their clients. It’s an R&B singer named Franklin Johnson. The other one is the First Lady.

Andrea’s chin almost hit the floor. The First Lady? As in, of the United States of America? That First Lady?

Yes, that one, said Reese as he looked back to his paperwork, completely unbothered by the gravity of what had happened.

Andrea was not coy concerning this opportunity. This was the chance of a lifetime. This was the springboard to international success away from the long dark shadow of her mother. She could not wait to tell Phyllis, although perhaps that was better left until after the projects were completed successfully. Franklin Johnson was a huge star, a massive name in his own right. But the First Lady was the top of the food chain. As a designer, it does not get much bigger than that.

Immediately, she got to work. She liaised with Franklin’s people and sorted out what they wanted. It was a suit for an awards ceremony. Theoretically, that was easy enough. The First Lady wanted a dress for a dinner with world leaders. That was less simple.

Nevertheless, her designs for both were approved by the respective teams without issue. Coincidentally, both had to be delivered to be worn on the same night. It was pressure, but pressure that Reese helped her handle. They delivered the designs and the items on time without issue. Andrea could not have done it without Reese. The truth be told, he had taken at least half the workload of getting these projects done. His ideas and work ethic had been part of the success.

The night