Page 49 of The Funnel to You

“I understand that. What should I do?”

“You start by sending her an apology and letting her know you will give her the space she needs. Then, you will turn off all of those alerts and other things you have done so she can see that she can do this on her own.”

“What if she realizes she doesn’t need me?”

“You are stronger than that, Matt. Be there to support her, in the capacity that she lets you.”

And with that, she walks away to go meet Sasha for their meeting.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sasha

Apple Crisp Macchiato

Social Post: I’m going to New York!! I’m so excited to announce the collaboration with COBeauty, Natalie, and myself. The “Pink Every Day x Natalie” collection and initiative will be coming soon and we can’t wait to tell you more! #cobeauty #sashaloveslipstick #nataliecosmetics #pinkeveryday #coloradogirl #newyorkbound

Image Description: Sasha Loves Lipstick logo layered with the COBeauty and Natalie logos.

That call went incredibly well. Considering that I went into it faking it like crazy and then immediately broke down crying again when it finished, I think it went really well. Ashley got to my apartment about an hour before the call so we could get in the right headspace together and go over our information and questions. Apparently, she had no idea that Matt was doing all of that. She figured he was adding some things on the other side of things to boost my content more, but didn’t realize the length that he had gone to before we met.

“I’m pretty sure he has a few alerts on my phone to make sure I’m safe, but not to that level. I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize what was happening and say something sooner.” Ashley tells me as we finish wrapping things up after I finally stopped crying.

“Girl this isn’t on you. I’m just having a hard time wrapping my mind around everything he did and how much of this success is actually because of what I did. How do I know he actually is going to be done manipulating things now?”

“He pulled everything while I was over at the house with him before I came here. He’s done changing things. All he is going to do moving forward is actually legit and what you hired him for. That’s it. I think you need to let him sit for a bit though before you try to go over things with him again. He crossed a line and he needs to know that’s not okay. I know he cares for you, but this was too much.”

“Did he tell you that he told me he loves me?” I have to hold back another sniffle. I can’t believe he spilled that in the midst of everything else this morning. How was that conversation just this morning? It feels like today has been two weeks long.

Kylie joins in the conversation here from her spot in the living room, “He did what??!”

“Yeah. I told him he wasn’t allowed to tell me that right now and I don’t even remember what else before I left. It was all just too much. I wish I recorded the conversation.”

“That probably wouldn’t have helped anything babe. And he didn’t tell me that, but honestly, I’m not surprised. My brother has been absolutely in love with you since our first meeting together and that was obvious even to me. He just took his time to start pursuing you in that way.”

“Was any of the business stuff even something he wanted to do or was all of this just some massive ploy to get me to be his? To sleep with him? What was he trying to do here?” I feel another cry session coming soon. I don’t know what to do with this and I’m second guessing my entire life for the last two years now.

“It’s been two years. Two years of him watching and doing things behind the scenes. Do you understand how violated I feel?” I confess to the girls.

“I get it. And you definitely need to let this sit for a bit. Focus on the collaboration. If he says anything, ask for the space you need. What he did wasn’t okay, but I genuinely think he was trying to help you. It seems like he had a plan for making sure you were comfortable with connections and gradually helped you step out of your comfort zone. I’m not condoning what he did at all, but I get his thought process.” Kylie adds to the conversation. She is the voice of reason here and is great at helping me settle my thoughts.

“Ashley, can you ask your brother to please give me some space for a bit? I haven’t turned my phone back on yet and don’t want to deal with it tonight. I need to focus on this trip that we have next month and what that means for us moving forward.”

“I can do that. Is there anything else you need from me tonight before I head out?”

“No. Just know that I still want to work with you and Tilly and what we have been working towards. I still see you as a friend and someone I value with this collaboration and our content. I don’t want this to hinder our goals at all. It may just be slowed down a bit without the extra push from Matt, but I really need this to work on our own.”

“I get it. Thank you, Sasha. I’m here for whatever you need. Can I come over tomorrow after class so we can work on things a bit more? We head for New York in two weeks and with Thanksgiving coming up, I don’t want us trying to rush through it all.”

“Yeah, that should be fine. I’m probably calling out of work tomorrow. And I need to call Chelsea with COBeauty to go over what we are going to do locally to support this. I’ll probably email her to set something up and then call it a night.”

“And I’m going to go run you a bath. Have a good night, Ashley.” Kylie adds in and then heads down to the bathroom.

“Oh, how was your meeting this morning? I totally spaced it with everything else happening. I’m sorry, Ash.” I stand up and ask Ashley as we walk to the door together.

“It was okay. He had me go over quite a bit of my thought process before he okayed the project but I think it will be a good fit for the class and what I’m working on. I want to make sure my projects are aligned with what I want for my career as much as possible. There were several other students waiting to see him so I’m glad I got in when I did. I should be able to complete it before we go to New York.” She smiles at me and I can see that she is more settled than she was yesterday before the meeting. She was really nervous about this.

“Sounds good. Let me know if I can help at all. I can’t wait to read it when you’re done.”

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