55
Continued from previous page…
JANE
Charlotte.. I’m stunned…
I don’t know what to say.
CHARLOTTE
You don’t have to say anything.
Just say you love it.
JANE
Well, yeah, I do, I guess..
I mean— I don’t care for
gambling… but I like the
other possibilities.
CHARLOTTE
Oh, I knew it! I knew
you’d say that! I had
you in mind all the time
when I thought about
bringing the bands in…
I want you to help
me with that!
JANE
(unsure)
Oh, Char, I don’t know…
I’m not sure I wanna
get involved like that.
CHARLOTTE
(disappointed)
Why not?
JANE
Cuz’ that’s a lot of work…
I don’t know if I’m ready
for stuff like that. I’m just
a musician.. that’s all
I ever wanted to be.
CHARLOTTE
Oh, you’ll get used to it..
You’ll start thinking like me
once the show is over with.
You’ll need something to fill
your time…And I’ll be able
to help you with that…
Come on… We’re partners for life.
JANE
Oh, so we are
getting married?!
CHARLOTTE
Oh, will you stop it with that?!
I mean— we’re a team—
we’re a writing team…
We’re one of the greatest
songwriting duos in history.
They both pause
for a moment
to let that sink in.
Then, they both
realize that the
comment was a
bit overstated.
JANE
(smirking)
We are?
CHARLOTTE
Yeah.. In our own minds.
They both start
cracking up. Jane
adds to the mirth…
JANE
Gee, that’s funny..
I never heard that
one before.. Did you
just make that up?
CHARLOTTE
Just now…
Come on, Jane, it’ll
be fun.. You’ll see.
JANE
Aww, Charlotte, why
are you doing this?
CHARLOTTE
What?
JANE
Why do you work so hard?
I mean— why are you
doing all this? We’re
fucking rock stars… We’re
T.V. stars…Isn’t that enough?
Why do you want so much?…
A casino? Really?
CHARLOTTE
I don’t know, I thought
it would be fun…
And it is fun, Jane,
I’m telling you… Once you
get going in the business
world, it’s totally addicting..
It sets your brain on fire.
JANE
And I don’t want my brain
on fire… It’s hard enough
fighting off all the other
temptations and the demons
inside my head… Now you
want to get me started on
something else.
CHARLOTTE
Oh, no, no, no, this
is a healthy alternative.
This is something positive.
JANE
(skeptical)
Something positive?…
Look at you, Charlotte, you’re
starting to turn into a
nervous wreck… Is that positive?
Maybe you were better off…
Oops!
And I mean—
a big oops!
CHARLOTTE
Better off what?
JANE
Nothing.. I…
CHARLOTTE
No, Jane.. what were
you going to say? …
Better off what?
JANE
Nothing! I just meant..
that.. that.. things were
more fun in the old
days.. that’s all.
After giving Jane
a cold, hard stare,
Charlotte lets her
friend off the hook.
CHARLOTTE
That better be what you
meant. (pause)
Because I agree with you…
Wholeheartedly… I think things
were more fun in the old days, too…
And I wish we could go back there
sometimes… Back to the old days…
Back when we didn’t know
which way was up… Back when we
were poor… Believe it or not, there’s
a lot of nobility in being poor…
There’s something fun about it…
But those days are over, Jane…
And the best is yet to come…
I promise you.
JANE
Look.. I don’t want to get
emotional right now…
We have to be on the set
soon and I have to get
down to makeup… I’ll try
and help you as much as I
can, Charlotte.. really I will.
Charlotte is now
sympathetic with
Jane. She stares
into her eyes for
several seconds,
then decides to
return to her seat.
CHARLOTTE
(spent)
You’re right, Jane, I’m sorry…
I shouldn’t lay all of this
on you right now… It’s not
the time… You’re right, we have
to get ready for work… That’s
my fault… My timing has to
get better… The deal probably
won’t go through anyway…
I don’t know what I was thinking.
JANE
It’s okay, Charlotte, don’t
worry about it. I’m sure
everything will work out fine.
If anybody can make
this happen, it’s you.
CHARLOTTE
That’s what everybody
keeps telling me… Alright, Jane,
you’d better get going…
Again.. I’m sorry for
getting mad at you.
JANE
It’s alright, Charlotte.
I promise, everything is
good between us…
It always will be…
I’ll see ya’ later…
Don’t be long.
CHARLOTTE
I won’t.
Jane starts to
leave the office.
Now, it’s Charlotte’s
turn to cry. Jane gets
halfway through the
door when Charlotte
says one more thing.
CHARLOTTE
Oh.. and Jane?
JANE
Yeah?
CHARLOTTE
If I ever did want
to get married…
Well.. ya’ know…
Jane looks at
her just long
enough to let
her know she
understands.
JANE
(smiling and in control)
I’ll see you downstairs.
As she left Charlotte’s office, Jane began feeling pretty sassy about herself. And why not? Her and Charlotte were like a couple of problem-solving Superheroes. They fed off each other so well, they could resolve issues in a matter of minutes. Although she wanted to help out Charlotte as much as she could in the business sector, Jane knew that she just wasn’t as mentally hard-wired as the Piano Princess. Charlotte had already asked her to help out with some corporate things in the past, and Jane often felt like she was letting her down by not being competent enough. Now, she was relatively convinced that Charlotte would not ask her anymore about the whole casino thing.
And what about that, anyway?
“That’s pretty fucking amazing,” Jane thought to herself. “Charlotte is absolutely amazing… I actually hope she can pull that off… What the hell… I’ll take a casino.”
As Jane strutted confidently down the hallway, she was quickly reminded of how she had told herself what a great day it was going to be when she stepped out of her trailer.
“So far, so good,” she whispered to herself. “Except for that royally fucked-up comment I almost spilled out to Char… Man, that was close.”
At the very least, Jane could certainly recognize what an eventful morning it already had been.
But— that’s the way it goes when you’re an entertainment superstar with a lump behind your ear.
And, while the morning belonged to Jane, the afternoon would ultimately belong to Belinda. This week’s episode revolved around her, thus, the week’s music video would revolve around her as well.
And sure enough, the video was vintage Belinda. She whirled about, mugging for the lenses, licking her lollipop seductively like she planned, while winking her eye into the camera for all the swooning men of the world to see. Little did anyone realize, but Belinda was ostensibly recreating the role of Shirley Temple in the “Good Ship Lollipop.” It was a credible tribute, albeit the adult version. Her actions were a tad risque’ for prime-time television in 1986, but what the hell. She was singing about having love in her tummy. Who could argue with that?
The director opened up the video with a shot of Charlotte playing the opening riff to the Yummy song, then showed a still shot of each one of the girl’s faces at the end of the riff.
Da, da, da, da, da, da, DAH! Jane was the lone exception as she was directed to poke her guitar into the camera like a machine-gun.
The imagery of Belinda in the video only emphasized how far she had come through her long, strange trip into show-business stardom. It had been nearly ten years since she started clubbing around the Hollywood punk scene, and now she barely resembled any bit of herself from those days. With her blonde bob and her quintessential California looks, Belinda was now the premier pin-up girl in America. Every boy wanted her and every girl wanted to be her. She floated on a cloud every day.
But, Belinda’s modesty preceded herself. Perhaps it was her tumultuous childhood that helped shape her humility, or maybe it was just her humorous personality. Either way, she was determined to fight off any label of being a diva. Belinda had star quality along with the heart of a champion. She ached for the success of the band as a whole, not of individual parts. It was just her nature.
And, even though the media and the rest of the world bestowed accolades upon her that she thought were unwarranted, and most certainly unsolicited— she magnanimously stood above all of that. Only the people who knew her intimately were aware of the precious child that lived within her soul. Only those people knew of the precious child that just wanted to be loved. The precious child who only wanted to make Heaven a place on Earth.
Copyright 2021
by Clark Wright