A Burning Secret (5 page)

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 beginning 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.”
“Maybe not but I really like you and I would
like an opportunity to try.”
“Can we at least start
with that?”
Tony
questioned.
“Okay,” Sasha agreed. “But don’t get mad
when I run into past clients. It is no different than
running into an old boyfriend, husband or in your
case, a wife. We all have a past.”
“We all have been intimate with other people
before meeting someone else. That’s the way it
goes! So either we are grownups about it or we
simply call things off before we get too far along in
our relationship.”
“Look Sasha! I am crazy about you! I knew it
the very first day I saw you when I brought my
daughter in to meet with you.”
“I think you are fantastic and yes, I am willing
to do whatever necessary to continue to see you
but you will need to be patient with me as well.”
“I am not perfect,” Tony acknowledged.
“Neither am I and that’s my point,” Sasha
remarked somewhat peeved by Tony’s attitude
about the incident with the stranger.
Tony took Sasha by the hand and they danced
to a slow song from long ago.
As the music played on and on, Sasha felt
tingles up and down her spine and it was obvious
that Tony was getting a little turned on.
He wanted to be intimate with Sasha but he
knew he needed to take his time, especially after
the conversation they
had just had with one
another.
Tony and Sasha had a great time dancing the
night away and when he took Sasha home, they
shared a passionate kiss and then looked longingly
into one another’s eyes. Both wanting to do more
than kiss but they knew that this was not the right
time. They needed to take it slow so they both said
good night and Tony went on his way.
CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tony and Sasha had been dating about two
months when they both agreed that it was time to
consummate their relationship. Those were Tony’s
exact words and it sounded so unromantic to Sasha
but yet she was excited and anxious about making
love with Tony.

They decided to go to the Remington Hotel,
an upscale hotel in Montclair because they desired
to make the night special.
Tony went ahead to get things set up for Sasha.

He ordered rose petals from the hotel and had
them strewn from the front door of the hotel
room to the bedroom and bath.

He purchased a short black negligee for Sasha
and ordered lobster tails, caviar and champagne.
He also ordered strawberries and he had already
stopped in town to purchase whip cream.

However, the whip cream was not for the
strawberries.
He wanted to take his hands and
spread the whip cream all over Sasha’s body and
then lick it off.

But he wasn’t certain if Sasha would be turned
on or off by his whip cream fantasy.
When the knock came
to the door, Tony
opened it to see Sasha standing there in a long red
dress that fit her body perfectly. The back of the
dress was made of a sheer piece of material that
gave the illusion of a bare back dress and it was
done very tastefully.
The only thing Tony could say to her was,
“You look sensational!”
Sasha said, “Thank you and so do you.”
Tony was dressed in black slacks, black casual
dress shoes and a white knit sweater. He was very
handsome with thick black hair that was combed
wild and sexy, and he had a thin mustache. He was
gorgeous!
Tony pulled Sasha closer to him and kissed her.
He told her that he had purchased something sexy
for her to wear but he said, “Now I don’t know if I
want you to put it on because I love the way you
look in that red dress.”
Sasha asked to see the lingerie and then she
began to take off her clothing because she desired
to model the negligee for Tony.
She knew that Tony was getting turned on
because the back of his neck appeared wet from
perspiration.
He said, “Wait, don’t put it on.”
He pulled
Sasha close to him and practically threw her onto
the bed.
As he lay on top of Sasha she could feel that he
wanted her because he could not control himself.
Tony started kissing Sasha all over her body and
she was completely into him. She loved the way he
was willing to take his time and not rush their
lovemaking.
He was gentle when he should be and rough
the way she liked it.
Tony was definitely in the
dominant role and Sasha was so carried away with
him. He smelled and taste good as did she to him
and they were like one.
Sasha had been afraid that the first time with
Tony would be a disaster because that’s what often
happens the first time when one partner feels
awkward or self-conscious but this was not the
case with them.
They were two beautiful yet still imperfect
people joining together in the most intimate way.
Later on as they lay together in one another’s
arms, gazing into each other’s eyes as two people
in love often do, they talked about their future
together.
Tony told Sasha that he could see himself
marrying her in a few years when Tyler has gone
away to college and out of the house.
Things were starting to move a little too fast
for Sasha and there was one thing she knew for
sure, if she and Tony were going to be together,
she was not willing to put her life on hold until
everything was settled with Tyler. She cared deeply
for Tony and Tyler but not at the expense of her
own future.
Nevertheless, she just let Tony talk and share
his feelings and then Tony asked, “What are your
thoughts about what I’m saying?”
Sasha said, “Honestly, it’s way too early for us
to be having this conversation because I don’t
know how I feel at this point. I know I care deeply
for you but I can’t say that I am in love with you
because I still have some unsettle feelings from my
previous marriage. I mean I am no longer in love
with Justin but we were together seven years so I
simply don’t want to rush into another
relationship.”
“Let’s enjoy one another for now, take things
slow and see how it goes. Let’s not ruin a good
thing! “
Tony responded disappointed, “Well, I thought
you felt the way about me that I do about you.”
“I do, that’s the scary part!”
“What’s scary about it?”
“I don’t want either of us to do something we
will regret.”
“For instance, I want a child and you already
have Tyler. How do you feel about having another
child?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought
because it has been me and Tyler for so long.
Well, that’s my point.”
“It doesn’t sound as if you’re interested in
having any more children.”
“Well, maybe. I don’t know.”
“If I was the right woman for you, you would
know!” Sasha exclaimed.
“Wait a minute; you are the right woman for
me and the only one for me.”
“That’s your lust talking,” Sasha remarked.
“My lust?”
“It’s me, Tony Leppo, being of sound mind
and body saying, I Love You.” Then Tony leaned
closer to kiss Sasha’s ruby red lips.”
Sasha took a deep breath as though she had
just been asleep and awakened
by
her Prince
Charming.
She
told Tony
that she believed that they
should take it one day at a time with no great
expectations.
And Sasha didn’t want
to be
part
of
a
relationship where there was not total honesty
between them and she wanted to be
in a
monogamous relationship with him.

“There are to be no third parties,” Sasha said
emphatically!
“I can live with that because the only woman I
want is you.”
“Look Tony, I have lived the other life and I
know that is not the way I want to live my life.
That’s what I know for sure, my past is my past
and it is behind me.”
“Good, stop talking because I want to enjoy
you right now Sasha.
We won’t talk any more
about tomorrow promises and tomorrow what ifs.
Let’s just make this thing work!” Tony exclaimed.
He was excited about the future with Sasha.
Sasha agreed and they tried to salvage the
food that Tony had ordered and delivered to the
room.
The lobster was cold but still quite good and
the champagne and strawberries were magnificent.
This was the perfect ending to a night full of love
and enchantment. It was like a fairytale and Sasha
didn’t want to wake up.
CHAPTER TWELVE