This Escort Knows a Dirty Trick When She Sees One

A colleague was stunned that a presidential advisor might confide White House shop talk to a hooker. Candice, a 28-year-old Newport Beach woman who charges men $300 an hour for her company--was not.

“They totally trust me,” she said of her clientele, which she added is mostly professional men, some of whom have called her over a period of several years. When I asked how much of their personal or business lives they disclose, she said, “It depends on the person. The longer you know them, the more they’re inclined to divulge. But most of them are pretty discreet. When they come to my house, they put their business behind them. They don’t even want to talk about it, most of them. They just want to enjoy themselves. I never ask them about their business. They’re usually trying to escape that, and they’re paying a lot of money to relax.”

Candice doesn’t want her real name used, nor would she let me interview her in person. As she pointed out, why should I get “a free peek.” I couldn’t argue with that, but she was willing to offer some insights into the men who seek out her escort service, so we talked by phone.

A news junkie, Candice was familiar with the allegations that former presidential advisor Dick Morris made a prostitute privy to presidential tidbits. While criticizing Morris for being foolish and a hypocrite (he’s been pushing the family values theme), she saved her more vituperative feelings for Sherry Rowlands, who sold her story to a tabloid newspaper.

“She’s a tramp. You should never kiss and tell. It’s just a matter of being a good person. I was taught to do things with discretion. It’s nobody else’s business. I don’t know how she’s going to be able to live with herself later on, because no one is going to like her.

“It puts me in a bad light. I don’t want my clients to read that and say I might do it too.”

Candice balked at disclosing the size of her client roster but said some men have kept her number for several years. A friend of hers has had customers for more than 15 years, she said.

“It’s basically a service business,” she said. “It’s like if you’re a hairdresser or a dentist. You have to develop a clientele. I provide a service; not necessarily sex. A lot of times gentlemen are paying for my time. I’m not the stereotypical person in the trade. I’m bummed at the media, because whenever you see talk shows with ladies like me, they don’t set a good example. . . . It’s actually rather spiritual in a lot of ways, although like I say, not all women are like myself. There are a lot of bad ladies in this business. I’m very nice.”

Over time, men might share aspects of their lives but she doesn’t encourage it. “I’d rather not know anything about them. I have my own life. I just want to see them for an hour or two hours. If they want to divulge stuff to me, that’s fine. I won’t ask. They’re welcome to. I can be a sounding board. They know it won’t go past me, them and the grand piano.”

In fact, she said, if she senses a customer is getting too emotionally involved with her, she ends the relationship. “Business is business, and this ain’t love. If they start getting that way, they’re out. I extradite them if they get too close. That’s not what I’m here for.”

Yet, she claims to genuinely enjoy men, not secretly despising her clientele. She also has a theory on how someone like Morris could get caught in such a blunder. “I think men get off on the risk factor. I really do. They get a bit of an adrenaline rush on the risk factor, especially men in power. It’s a thrill-seeking thing, almost like having a death wish to your career.”

Morris’ life, at least temporarily, is in shambles. I asked Candice if there are men whose careers or personal lives she could ruin. “Yes,” she said, “but I would never want to do it, because where would it get me? I believe in karma and truth. They’ve been nice to me and trusted me. Why hurt them? For no amount of money would I sell out.”

As for the Morris affair, she said she felt sorry for his wife but otherwise pooh-poohed it.

“A scandal is a scandal, and it must be taken with a grain of salt,” she said. “It’s a distraction. There’s a lot of mudslinging right now. Anything in the Star or the Enquirer, you’ve just got to take with a grain of salt.”

She’s irked that some men will pontificate about Morris’ morality, all the while engaging in the same services. “It’s the oldest profession in the world for a reason,” she said.

And then, as if on cue to end the interview, she said, “In fact, my pager is going off right now.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.