Justin had phoned her mother and told her everything and Sasha felt he had no right to do this because she had always planned to tell her mother the truth about her profession in her own time.
But her mother was devastated and so was Sasha. She couldn’t believe that Justin would stoop so low!
After all they had been through together and she had tolerated his relationships with other women and yet, he would betray her in this way.
But now, she had to keep her focus on patching things up with her mother.
Sasha wondered how she would explain to her mother that she had decided to be a Call Girl because she wanted to make a good life for both of them in the exact same way that Callie had done for the both of them so long ago.
This is what had made the entire situation so sad because Sasha had desired to be like her mother.
Even though she knew what her mother did for a living, she still admired her and was thankful for everything she had done for her.
In some ways, Sasha’s profession was due to the fact that her father had decided not to be a part of her life.
She has always been looking for a father figure even in her husband Justin who had disappointed her and chosen to leave her rather than try to work things out with her.
Callie listened quietly as Sasha tried to explain and justify why she lied to her but in the end all of it didn’t matter.
Callie’s heart was broken! She loved Sasha and it wasn’t even that she had chosen the profession that she had chosen as much as it was the fact that she lied about it.
What’s worse, the many friends that Callie had bragged to about Sasha may have known the truth because there were a lot of nosy people in their old neighborhood.
Callie was embarrassed about this more than anything but she managed to say, “I Love You” to Sasha and hung up.
It was the last time Sasha would be able to talk with her mother, who fell dead from a heart attack that night.
Sasha made funeral arrangements and had her mother buried nicely. Justin didn’t come to the funeral to support Sasha but he did send flowers.
He later tried phoning to give his condolences but Sasha wanted nothing more to do with him.
She realizes now that she had been married to a dream and that she had accepted Justin’s behavior of seeing other women because she felt badly about her profession.
Now, she could see things more clearly and she realizes that they never really had a solid marriage. It was an arrangement that they both pretended to be a marriage.
Now that she no longer had her mother, there was nothing else to lie about. She needed to face her demons and figure out what really had caused her to choose the profession that she had chosen to enter.
She had blamed her mother and her missing father but she knows that everyone has a choice and she made hers.
It was time for her to be a real woman and take responsibility for the problems she created and she was now ready to do this. It would require her to go into the Manteca Inn for the last time to tell Tula that she is resigning from her job.
Tula had been at the funeral in support of Sasha so she understood how hard Sasha was taking her mother’s death so she asked Sasha to take a couple of days to think about her decision.
However, Sasha indicated that this was the end for her and she would be moving on with her life in another area but she hadn’t decided how she would do it.
She just knew that she needed to do something magnificent in her life where she could make a positive impact in others life.
She had always talked to other girls at the Manteca about her desire to do something to help women hold onto their men.
Sasha felt that sharing what she had learned from being in her profession would probably be helpful to many women.
Some of her clients had discussed personal aspects of their lives with her including what they desired to have done by their wives and it was not happening.
Yet, Sasha had not been able to hold onto her own man so she reasoned that she needed to do something else.
She didn’t have to worry about money because she had a nice savings that she had accumulated from her profession and she also had her home because Justin had decided to relinquish any rights to it.
Knowing that she was in a good financial position made Sasha feel good and provided some comfort to her but she missed her mother terribly and desired to do something to honor her mother’s memory.
It wouldn’t erase all the years that she had lied to her mother but it would make her feel good that she was doing something worthwhile.
Sasha had learned a lot about running a business from Tula because there are some things that are applicable in all types of businesses and Sasha believed she had those skills.
She believed the best use of her experience would be a career where she could provide help and support to troubled teen girls.
She desired to help misguided girls stay on the right path and avoid looking for an easy way to make money.
She put up $150,000 of her own money to launch “On the Right Track,” a school for misguided girls who are destined for trouble because of their poor choices.
Sasha believes strongly that although the Call Girl profession generally occurs in a safe environment, it is not a good choice for young girls.
Not that she criticized the profession because for the most part, Sasha had made a good living from it but she wanted girls that attended her school to realize and understand that they have more options in life and they don’t merely have to settle for lying on their backs to make a good living.
Sasha developed and presented a business plan to the City of Montclair. The plan identified strategies and the advantages of her school program for the community.
She was able to show that by utilizing and assisting her financially with her program, the City would be able to reduce the cost that was currently incurred for locking up young girls for solicitation, drug use and other issues.
Ultimately, the City of Montclair liked Sasha's plan and decided to help fund the program because it was great for the community and the City.
But Sasha wasn’t able to immediately shake her profession because when people found out that an ex-Call Girl was heading up the program, they protested and argued that Sasha was the last person that the City should partner with to help young girls.
Nevertheless, Sasha ultimately won the battle because she was able to quickly prove that her program was benefitting the community and saving money for the community.
One day a gentleman came to the school to enroll his daughter in the program. He was a single parent and according to him his daughter was out of control so he thought that Sasha would be able to provide him with the support he needed.
Immediately, there was a great attraction between Tony Leppo and Sasha but for now the focus needed to be on his daughter Tyler.
Tyler reminds Sasha of herself when she was her age because Sasha was doing some of the same things that Tyler is now doing including driving her father crazy. But in Sasha’s case, she was giving grief to her mother.
Tony told Sasha that Tyler likes to stay out late and she enjoys showing off her beautiful body in skimpy outfits.
Tyler looks much older than her age so she is attracting the wrong element and mostly older men who mean her no good.
In fact, some of the Professors at her school behave as though they can’t control themselves around Tyler.
Sasha knows exactly what to do and it starts with helping to raise Tyler’s self-esteem.
Having a beautiful face and body doesn’t mean that a person has self-worth so Sasha will work closely with Tyler on this need first and then work to determine what's really going on with inside.
There is an on-site psychologist that will help unearth some of the issues going on in all the girls’ lives.
Some things are common with all of them including lack of self-esteem and mother or father issues that have not been resolved.
While al
l this is going on, Tony makes it a point to show up every day to support his daughter but Sasha is aware that part of the reason Tony is coming to the school every day is because he wants to see her.
At this point, no telephone numbers have been exchanged and Sasha prefers to keep it this way because her ultimate goal is to help Tony's daughter.
So far, the only thing going on between Sasha and Tony is an occasional smile. But sometimes when Tony drops Tyler off at the school, he makes it a point to thank Sasha for the work she is doing with Tyler.
Each program is six weeks long and some sessions are longer because each girl has different needs.
Tony is quietly hoping that everything goes well with his daughter because once Tyler completes the program; he is secretly planning a nice dinner with Sasha.
When the six weeks are up, Tyler graduates from the program with five other girls who were able to get their issues on the table and partially resolved.
They will require ongoing counseling before they can get to a good place but they will have access to the onsite psychologists to help them transition successfully out of the program.
The after support will involve helping the girls find jobs and helping them get through school including tutoring and any other support they require.
At the graduation, Tony approached Sasha to say thank you and he asked her out to dinner. Sasha told Tony that she didn't think that it was appropriate for her to have dinner with him because it will not look good to Tyler.
"Well, she is doing fine now and she is obeying the rules of the house," Tony responded.
“Yes, but trust me on this one, she isn’t out of the woods yet, and I don’t want her to suffer a setback," Sasha responded adamantly.
Tony agreed but he told Sasha that he hoped that she would give him a rain check.
“A rain check it is, when the time is right,” Sasha agreed.
Over the next few months, Tyler established a close relationship with Sasha. The closeness occurred naturally due to Sasha’s honesty about her past.
As a result, all of the girls felt comfortable sharing personal information about themselves with Sasha.
However, Sasha was still not sure if Tyler would understand or even accept her dating her father.
One day, after one of Tyler’s tutoring sessions, Tyler told Sasha that she would love it if she would date her father.
Tyler had grown to like Sasha a lot and she is aware that her father has strong feelings for Sasha.
Initially, Tyler was angry about the attraction between Sasha and her father but she told Sasha that she now realizes that her father deserves to have someone special in his life because her mother had deserted them long ago.
Tyler explained that she had been fearful that if her father and Sasha were to get together, he would desert her as well. But she explained that she no longer have those feelings.
Sasha reassures Tyler that she would never do anything to come between Tyler and her father because her first priority is to provide Tyler and the other girls with the support they need to do well in school and in their life.
Sasha reasserts to Tyler that she will always put her welfare before any feelings that she has for her father.
The Call Girl profession sounds glamorous to Tyler so she wanted to know more why Sasha believes it to be a bad choice for girls.
Sasha felt it was necessary to provide Tyler with more personal information about her life as a Call Girl because she wanted her to fully understand the negative effects it had on her life as well as lying about it.
"Tyler, I think everyone deserves to choose the profession that is right for them but in my case, it was a desperate choice and an easy way out, Sasha said.
"It was way too easy for me to give into the lucrative money and I failed to understand how my profession would negatively affect others, like my Dear Mother."
"Shortly after finding out about me, she dropped dead from a heart attack because I had repeatedly lied to her. I never told her about my true profession. Simply, I misled my mother!"
"My husband also found out and in fact, he was the one to tell my mother about it."
"But it doesn’t matter who told who what at this point but I could have made better choices and that’s what I want for you and the other girls in the program."
"Don’t take what you perceive to be the easy way out,” Sasha cautioned. She wanted Tyler to understand that appearances aren’t always what they appear to be.
“I still think you and my father would be great together, Tyler responded sounding so grown up. She was clearly not the same girl that had enrolled in the program six weeks ago.
Sasha didn't want to give Tyler false hopes so she simply said, "When and if the time is right for me and your father, it will happen on its own."
"In the meantime, I am happy to be living a life that is relatively simple and less complicated." CHAPTER TEN
One evening Sasha received a phone call at home, the voice was familiar. It was her ex, Justin. He said, “I am sorry. I acted hastily and I miss you and I want to try again."
But Sasha wants nothing to do with Justin. She realizes now that she accepted his crap because she felt that she had no choice. He made her feel as though she was lucky to have him and she didn’t want him back.
Justin had heard from Steve that Sasha had opened a school for troubled girls and was doing well.
Steve had tried to take Sasha out a couple of times but she didn't want to start up a relationship with Steve because he was once a client of hers.
For this reason, she told Steve that he could phone her to catch up but anything other than that was out of the question.
Sasha was thinking about her conversation with Steve as she was talking with Justin who held the phone and didn’t know quite what to say to Sasha. The silence between the two was deafening.
It was really over! No more thinking about him like she did after the initial divorce. She had cried nightly and couldn’t get him out of her mind. She was truly over him and it was for the best. She simply said,” goodbye Justin.” “I wish you well!” “Wait, I never got to apologize for telling your mother about you,” Justin replied sheepishly.
Sasha said, “Well, it’s too late now, Justin. Mother is dead! She had a bad heart for a long time and I’ve always known that she couldn’t handle too much pressure or stress. I forgive you but please don’t phone me again.”
Justin hung up and Sasha was sad for a moment and then she quickly snapped out of it. She knows that she has a bright future ahead of her whether it is alone or with someone else.
Her take away from everything that has happened to her is that she needs to be honest and upfront at the beginning of any future relationships, especially, if she wants it to be a meaningful and sustaining one.
Months went by then out of the blue Tony Leppo called Sasha for a date. “I have given you the time you said you needed and now I would like to see where things will take us,” Tony said.
“What do you think about going to the Montague Restaurant with me on Friday night? It’s newly opened. I will pick you up about six and we will eat and see where things go from there."
Tony was cramming everything in at once because he wasn’t about to give Sasha a chance to say no.
"Okay, sounds like a date." Sasha responded somewhat hesitantly. She just didn't know if it was still too soon for her to date but she was willing to take a chance on love again. She reasoned that it was only dinner so what harm could it do?
Tony picked Sasha up from her home promptly at 6:00 p.m. and he gave her two dozen long stemmed roses.
It had been a long time since a man had actually brought her roses or flowers of any kind and never two dozen of them. She was blown away by Tony's thoughtfulness.
Justin never brought flowers to Sasha because he told Sasha that flowers were for dead people.
She was also remembering that a client brought her roses once but that was not the same as having someone who you are beg
inning to care about bring you flowers.
Because of Tony’s thoughtful gesture, Sasha believed the evening was already off to a great start.
At the restaurant, the evening was going well with a little small talk, an intimate booth for two and champagne. Sasha thought, what else could anyone ask for in a night out?
Later, Tony suggested going to a club down the street to take a spin around the dance floor. He said, “I am a little rusty at it but willing to try it if you want to do it.”
Everything was going fine but as she and Tony were entering the club, a man put his hands on Sasha’s shoulders and he said, “Don’t I know you?”
Sasha looked puzzled by his question and then politely said, “I don’t believe so.”
“Oh, I know now,” he said. “You’re one of the girls from the Manteca Inn.”
Sasha politely said, “Excuse me,” and followed Tony to their seats. It was obvious that Tony was a little perturbed but Sasha said, “Oh, well! You know my background Tony, I have nothing to hide.”
“I know but I just didn’t expect to run into someone who knows you from that period of your life,” Tony said.
“Listen Tony, I am still that person but I have chosen to focus my attention on a new life. No one ever escapes their past because it always catches up with you. The difference is I am not my past.”
“I make no apologies. I was a Call Girl! It happened and in many ways it was good for me. I made a lot of money from that business and now I am able to help other young women including your daughter.”
“I am not criticizing you for the profession you were in,” Tony said. “I’m simply saying it would be easier if you had chosen another profession.”
“Well, I didn’t so I guess; this is where we say goodbye because from time to time, I am going to run into people who know me.”
“It’s inevitable, so I think the best thing for you to do is to take me home and there is no need to go any further with a relationship.”
“I want to take things slow Sasha so can we at least start with that and see what happens.”
“Tony, I can only agree to that if you can accept everything about me including my past and I am not sure you can handle my past.”
A Burning Secret Page 4
