The Naked Truth: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewife of New Jersey--In Her Own Words (9 page)

“We only go to the finest restaurants and the hottest clubs,” Tanya responded.

“Do you have to have sex with them?”

“It’s not required and completely up to you.”

“Is it safe to go out with these men?”

“Absolutely.”

“How much do you make?”

“A thousand dollars an hour with a minimum of ten hours.”

Wow, that’s a lot of money,
I thought. And in the 1980s, that was definitely a ton of money. I asked Tanya, “Do you think I have what it takes?” Tanya nodded yes and soon after introduced me to the head of the agency she worked for, which was technically termed a “call service.”

Sharon was the boss—a robust forty-something woman who ran a tight ship. She was very intelligent and seemingly just as business-savvy as her mogul clients. However, underneath the tough exterior, I could tell there was a sweetness about her that put me at ease right away. In fact, the girls referred to Sharon as Mom because she kept everyone safe and treated us all equally.

Every client had to be checked out and verified first. Sharon hired a private detective who did background checks on all the people who wanted to use the call service. Also, if any potential client called asking about sex, the next thing they heard was a dial tone. Once checked out and accepted, the process was pretty straightforward. A client would describe preferences in body types, hair and eye color, height, ethnicity, age, etc. When Sharon found out what the customer desired, a date was set up and the client paid in advance.

The first date had some simple procedures for protection. For openers, the client was required to show his proper ID with photo. There was also a bodyguard who took us to meet
the date and then stayed around to make sure we were safe. We had to update Sharon as to where we were at all times. The cell phones back in the eighties were the size of briefcases, so this wasn’t a simple task. Instead, everyone carried a pager.

Sharon gave me some tips before she sent me out into the field. She explained, “Now you’re a part of the family, and I just want you to know that whatever you decide to do behind closed doors is up to you. We can’t protect you once you go into a home or hotel room. Sex is not a requirement. But if you do decide to have relations with somebody, I advise you to always practice safe sex. Other than that, just have a good time. Keep it safe. Keep it clean. And
always
keep us posted as to where you are.”

I don’t know what all of the girls who were in Sharon’s employ did, but my girlfriend and I were paid by the hour. Am I sure that all of the girls at the agency were making the same money Tanya and I made per hour? I am quite certain they were not. However, we didn’t exactly get together and talk about it. We were in direct competition with one another. I had no interest in what the rest of them were doing. I was more concerned with what I was doing, which was learning the business.

Prior to my first date, Tanya and I sat down, opened up a bottle of chardonnay, and had a heart-to-heart about the dos and don’ts of the business. One of the main rules was to develop a relationship with the client without quickly having sex with him. “Keep your hands to yourself and keep your eye
on the prize,” said Tanya, with the prize being a second, third, fourth date, etc. Next, she told me to never be distracted from my date no matter how gorgeous an onlooker might be. Furthermore, it’s important to be overly impressed with what the client had to say without coming off as fake. “Less is best when it comes to speaking about yourself,” Tanya said. “Nothing personal, but they don’t really want to get to know you.” I learned that in essence we were therapists for these men because they just really needed someone to talk to and share their time with.

Tanya asked me what my ideal date would be. My description included five-star dining and dancing, along with the finest wine and champagne money can buy. I’d also like to travel by limousine because it would be easier to have a conversation with my date and maintain eye contact. “But what does that have to do with what a man wants from me?” I asked her. Tanya told me that it had everything to do with it, because Sharon would set me up with the caliber of man who wanted that as well.

For my first date, I was picked up in a Rolls-Royce limousine. The man was named David and he was very good-looking, in his forties with dark hair and light eyes, and tall in stature.
He must have women throwing themselves at him,
I thought.
So that’s exactly what I am
not
going to do.

After our mutual introductions, curiously I asked him, “Where are we going?”

“To the airport,” he responded.

“But this isn’t the way to the airport.”

“It is to the private airport where my personal jet awaits.”

Pretty soon we were buckling up for takeoff, and I could see that he had done his homework when the stewardess brought over a bottle of my favorite champagne, Cristal Rose. While I listened to this handsome man talking, I sipped the Cristal, looked out the window, and thought,
I could get used to this.
I began to apply all of the advice that Sharon and Tanya spoke to me about. I remained focused and kept my “eye on the prize.”

When we were landing, I could see snowcapped mountains, and it was clear that we weren’t in Florida anymore. He told me to go to the back of the cabin, where the stewardess opened a closet filled with ski clothes for me. All of the clothes were the right size, too. He looked at me in the different outfits and chose what he wanted me to wear. When I exited the plane, I took on a whole new role—the role of David’s girlfriend.

We spent the next three days together and David became my first regular. Soon after, a date with another man was arranged through the agency. Then, another and another. I ended up having four regulars who treated me very well. One was in his twenties, one in his thirties, and the other two were close to fifty. There was skiing in Aspen. Scuba diving in Saint Barts. Yachting down the Intercoastal in Florida. Over the next months, I embarked on some of the most exciting dates of my life.

Not every one was a fantasy date, though. There was one in particular where I arrived and I checked my date’s ID and was
surprised to find that his name did not match the one that was given to the agency prior. I immediately handed back his ID, excused myself, and departed. As I walked away, he said that he had never used this service before and felt they might lie to him about my description. He explained that he had used his friend’s ID and everything was okay. That sounded all well and good, but I left anyway. On another date, the man checked out, but I had no connection with him whatsoever. He was wealthy but old, unattractive, and boring. No money in the world was worth me wasting my time like that.

It was clear that the men who used the agency wanted a woman who wasn’t going to play all the games young girls do. They didn’t want a clingy, needy, obsessive woman who wouldn’t want to let them go once their travel time was up. The men’s philosophy was basic: if you’re playing games, you’re not having fun. Two out of four of my men said their only goal was to have company and show me off in public on their arm. I was young and vivacious and wasn’t hurting anyone. So I didn’t mind being classified as “arm candy” one bit. They admired and never disrespected me. The other two were as gracious as the older gentlemen, but I personally felt them more as real relationships at that time.

The men and I never discussed any other relationships we might have been having. Part of the mystique is the unspoken rule not to discuss your private life or you would have just killed the mystery. For all they knew, I could have been in a very serious relationship. Maybe some of them had girlfriends.
However, nobody I dated on a regular basis ever wore a wedding ring. I find it hard to believe that any of these men were married because we spent the majority of our time together in public and frequented popular places in their hometowns. These men sometimes even introduced me to their friends and colleagues as their girlfriend.

Being a call girl meshed well with my personality. I despise wasting time. I didn’t much care for commitment. And I was a free spirit. This to me was the perfect opportunity to expand on my theory, which was, why should I go out on a date just to go on a date and have it end poorly? And when the man doesn’t get what he wants, which is sex, then you end up wasting your day getting ready or taking the night off from your various bartending jobs or missing time away from your friends. Nobody wants to wake up the next morning and complain about the night before. On the other hand, when I went on a date through the call service, it went exactly as I wanted it to. I knew what to expect and I had control over how it would end. I was sent limousines, flowers, outfits, and shoes, and I got paid for my time on top of it.

What I was doing was not illegal. On the other hand, soliciting sex
is
—better known as prostitution. And no one ever called me a prostitute until most recently, but I am not and I wasn’t! I will no longer allow people’s ignorance to continue, and that is why I am clearing this up. I was not paid to go up to men’s hotel rooms. I was paid to establish relationships. I never got into trouble for being a girlfriend to anyone who needed a
companion to go out with them in public. I can only imagine how scary it could be to be called to somebody’s hotel room, and I am not judging those who have done it. But I don’t know about that kind of situation because I was never involved in one.

Tanya told me that once I decided to be intimate with a client, I should understand that this is something the client would always expect from that moment on. I needed to make sure that before I opened the door to that possibility, the person was someone I wanted to be with. I took her advice into consideration before I ended up having physical relationships with the two younger men. It’s simply that I was attracted to them and they were attracted to me, which seemed pretty normal as far as relationships go. In fact, once we got to that stage, we were already in the phase of our relationships where most people would be intimate with each other anyway. One of the two men genuinely developed feelings for me and asked me to be exclusive. However, I wasn’t on the same page as him, and I was worried about my own feelings getting involved. I had already been deeply hurt by Billy, and that’s when things began to get complicated. And it was at this point that this relationship as well as my career as a call girl would come to an end.

I spent six months working for Sharon and made a lot of money and developed some really great connections. I learned a lot about business from many of these successful men. I wasn’t ashamed of working as a call girl then, and I am not ashamed that I ever did it. I think it’s really different from what people generally imagine it to be. My job was to keep men company by
going out with them. I was dropped off by security, treated very well, and picked up by security. I got to travel first-class and I was treated to expensive meals and champagne and shopping. Some might call this the best date they have ever had.

A turning point in my life occurred when I was twenty-four. I met a man named Jorge, who was more than twenty years older than me and was involved in and high up in a dark world, which at the time I knew nothing about.

When we first met at September’s in the champagne room, what initially attracted me to this older South American gentleman was that he smelled incredible. His scent was trumped only by the way he behaved—he was a complete gentleman. When I poured him some wine, he would touch my hand to indicate his glass was full enough instead of telling me to stop. The way he touched my hand was more intoxicating than the wine: a lot can be communicated by such a simple act.

Our attraction was mutual right from the start. Jorge had something that I immediately wanted more of. From his scent to his manners to his intelligence, something was clearly special about him. He was deep and thoughtful and not loud at all. He never raised his voice once when speaking to me. (I am not saying that he never raised his voice to others, but I was never around when he did.) He was confident and in control of his environment at all times, and I found this alluring.
Women were always throwing themselves at Jorge, and those very women were the ones he couldn’t seem to stand. He never even made eye contact with women who attempted to flirt with him and get his attention. Instead, he would look directly into my eyes. Jorge didn’t like to see women acting as if they were easy or sleazy. He liked a woman to act like a lady. I think he liked a woman he could teach as well, and I think he saw that in me.

From the moment Jorge and I met, we were inseparable. In a nonpossessive way he wanted to make sure I was okay every waking moment of the day. Jorge took me out to many fabulous restaurants in the Miami area, and after dinner we went out dancing at popular Latino clubs. He used to love to watch me dance. However, when I was with him, men were not allowed to touch me when I went out onto the dance floor. Jorge made sure of that. Other people would stand around me and he would watch as I danced safely. I enjoyed dancing in a safe little bubble. It made me feel secure and important, like a princess. That was what Jorge called me: his princess. He certainly treated me like one. He never disrespected me and never made me cry or feel belittled or stupid because I didn’t know something. He took an interest in what I enjoyed doing and quickly learned that one of my passions was horseback riding. Jorge would often take me riding, even though he didn’t ride himself; he made a lot of effort to ensure my happiness.