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“That must have pissed Charlotte off,” Jane remarked. “I know for a fact she doesn’t go for crazy shit like that.”
After all the commotion about Suffy’s joyous prank over at The Roosevelt subsided a bit, there were still many questions that remained unanswered.
“So, did you get hypnotized right after that?” asked Gina.
“No! The whole thing got cancelled after Charlotte talked to Suffy privately,” said Kathy. After hearing this, Jane and Belinda continued to be skeptical about Suffy’s motives.
“Why did they cancel it?” asked Gina.
“Beats me,” shrugged Kathy. “Suffy said she wanted to talk to Charlotte in private.. so.. they booted me outta’ the room.. and.. fifteen minutes later, they said the whole thing was off… Charlotte took me home.. and Suffy stayed at the party.”
A certain amount of air was suddenly released from the whole room. Subsequently, everyone seemed to be more interested in letting all of this material be digested in their own brains for a moment or two.
“So, when did you finally get hypnotized?” asked Jane.
“About two weeks later.. at Charlotte’s condo in Burbank.”
“Was Suffy there?” asked Belinda.
“As a matter of fact, she was,” Kathy answered.
“Uh-huh,” said Belinda, suspiciously. “I figured as much.”
Nobody was entirely sure where to go with any of this talk of hypnotism and practical jokes. There was just too much information to be processed by the collective group in the short amount of time they were now allotted. As a result, the girls were left relatively speechless until Kathy reassured them that there was nothing to be overly concerned about.
“Look.. I really don’t think there’s a whole lot to worry about here,” she began. “Everything seems basically normal… The business is running smoothly.. Charlotte seems relatively normal when she’s not acting like Glenn Close… I just think we’re jumping the gun if we start suspecting every little thing she does, that’s all.”
“But you just said two minutes ago that Suffy comes in and out of the offices every once in a while now,” said Jane.
“Right, she does,” said Kathy. “So what? There doesn’t seem to be any harm in it… She always seems happy when she leaves.. And Charlotte always seems to be in a good mood after she’s gone… I don’t see the harm in anything.”
“I still think they must be in cahoots about something,” said Jane.
“So what if they are,” said Kathy. “And, actually, I can almost be sure of it based on that day.”
“What do you mean?” Jane inquired.
“Well.. after Charlotte concluded her little talk with her in private.. they both emerged from the room in an exceptionally good mood… They were laughing and hugging each other.. almost as if they had reached some sort of an agreement on something… You know what I mean? … And after Charlotte announced that the hypnotism proceedings were now being cancelled, Suffy seemed to be extra happy about that.”
“So what do you think?” asked Gina.
“Personally.. I think Suffy made her feel all warm and fuzzy.. with some.. spiritual, bullshit antidote.. that made Charlotte feel like there was some.. semblance of hope.. that she might be cured of her agonizing condition… And Charlotte reciprocated.. by telling her that she was now part of the gang… That she could come up with any kind of business idea that seemed plausible.. and Charlotte would go along with it… That’s what I think.” Kathy summed.
“I think so too,” Jane agreed. “That makes the most sense.”
“But Charlotte isn’t cured,” Belinda interjected. “So, in essence, Suffy is nothing but a lying sack of horseshit… That was two years ago.. and here we are now.”
Belinda’s bluntly accurate comment put everyone right back where they started.
“Yeah… I can’t argue with that,” stated Jane.
“It also might explain… why Suffy doesn’t have a mansion in Beverly Hills,” said Kathy.
“What are you talking about?” asked Gina.
“I’m saying that.. Suffy might be an expert on everything supernatural.. but she’s sure not an expert on tangible business ideas… You should have heard what Charlotte told me about her idea on The Roosevelt Hotel,” said Kathy.
“What was that?” asked Belinda with a curious smile.
“Get this,” Kathy started. “Apparently, she wanted to go in partners with Charlotte.. and buy The Roosevelt.. silent partners, I’m assuming, cuz’ Suffy doesn’t have that kind of money. I guess she heard it was for sale somehow.. and turn it into some kind of.. ‘theme based’ hotel.. complete with spooky decor.. and scheduled rituals and seances and shit like that.”
“Omigod,” Jane muttered, as she closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead with embarrassment.
“That sounds like Suffy,” admitted Belinda. “Hey.. you can’t blame the girl for trying… That’s one thing about Suff. She’s got an active imagination.”
“Actually, it sounded like a great idea to me,” exclaimed Kathy. “Unfortunately, Charlotte informed her that the city would never go for it.”
“Yeah, you can be sure about that,” agreed Gina. “City Hall is already filled with enough kooks as it is. They don’t need any more brainy ides.”
Since there was an obvious agreement on the non-forwarding improvements of the landmark hotel, the attention naturally returned to the subject of Kathy, and the fact that she could possibly be the entranced subject of Charlotte’s evil machinations. Belinda’s mind began proceeding towards some evidence in that direction.
“So, Kath… When you and Charlotte agree.. on some fantastic business venture… what do you feel like… when the two of you reach an agreement on the idea?”
After a couple of seconds, Kathy shot Belinda a rather dubious glance. Whilst concluding her mixing up and/or topping-off of some delectable, potent potables for the gang to consume, Kathy came to the appropriate deduction regarding Belinda’s concealed detective work.
“I know what you’re driving at, Fancy,” she said, screwing the top back on one of the bottles. “You’re trying to deduce whether or not Charlotte has some kind of a way of triggering me into all-out obedience upon her command… Is that what you’re implying, Agatha?”
Belinda was a trifle deflated upon Kathy’s discovery of her intentions, but, nevertheless, not surprised. It was hard to fool Kathy about anything.
“Well.. does she?” asked Belinda.
“You got me, Babe,” answered Kathy, half-tempted to break out singing into the illustrious Sonny and Cher tune. “However.. I will say one thing…”
“What’s that?” asked Belinda, somewhat cautiously.
“Whenever we discuss things,” Kathy began. “And she wants me to agree with her… She does start asking me some awfully strange questions.”
Everyone eagerly awaited with attentive looks for Kathy to continue.
“I don’t know how to put it… but, at some point… I do seem to go blank… and then when I snap out of it.. I feel great.. and full of euphoria and love… And I just wanna go up to Charlotte and hug her.. and tell her how much I love her.”
The girls couldn’t believe the staggering admission of truth that had just come out of Kathy’s mouth. The playful pluckster had just revealed to them this incredible overabundance of information— and she couldn’t figure out if Charlotte had control over her or not?
How could she be that gullible? It was a complete turnaround from a few seconds ago.
“Kathy… Are you hearing yourself?” Jane wondered aloud. “Do you realize what you just said?”