83
Tuesday, June 17th, 1986, 11:14 A.M.
A feeling of dread consumed almost every inch of Jane’s body as she stood at her kitchen counter, bobbing her cinnamon flavored tea-bag up and down in the steaming, hot water of her coffee mug. She stared straight ahead, her eyes unblinking, as she tried to piece together the assembly of thoughts that had brought her to this moment in her life. It was never supposed to be like this, she thought. The girls were all adventurous punks, deep down and forever, but it was never ever supposed to come down to something as horrendous as this. It was like everything they had worked so hard for and accomplished was all for naught. Nobody would ever be the same. All the money and all the fame had now come full circle, culminating in an insane, one-day act of madness. They had all been reduced to barbarians, and for no other reason than to keep the whole thing going and save their precious hides. In Jane’s mind, they were no longer The Go-Go family. They might as well be considered The Manson family.
Despite her muddled thoughts, Jane managed to grab a paring knife from the drawer and walked over to the refrigerator. She retrieved a Honey Crisp apple from the crisper, then made her way over to the kitchen table and sat down. As she bit into the slices, she continued to stare straight ahead, feeling hollow and void of consciousness. She wasn’t going to be able to sit still for much longer. She was growing restless and anxious and in desperate need of someone to talk with. She also knew that person would probably end up being Kathy. She considered calling Gina, but Gina had a tendency to fly off the handle and was also prone to pointing fingers at outside influences. Jane was not in the mood to engage anyone in a bunch of frivolous conspiracy theories. Besides, she wanted to get to the bottom of things and Kathy was as much of an enigma as anyone could possibly be at the current moment. Jane was certain that Kathy knew more about this whole mess than she was letting on. Talking to Charlotte was completely out of the question. She was slowly tearing Jane’s heart to pieces.
At first thought, Jane’s plan was to finish her mini-breakfast, go upstairs to get changed, then drive over to Kathy’s house unannounced. After several moments of consideration, however, Jane decided her hasty move might be a tad too risky. It was a thirty minute drive from Verdugo Woodlands to Brentwood and Kathy could be anywhere. She changed her mind and picked up the phone instead. Luckily, Kathy answered after only three rings:
KATHY
Hello?
JANE
Hey, Kath,
it’s me.
Kathy naturally
recognizes Jane’s
voice.
KATHY
Oh, hey, sweetie..
What’s up?
JANE
Oh, man, it is so good
to hear your voice…
It’s good to hear anyone’s
voice… How’re you doing?
KATHY
I’m okay…
How ’bout you? You
sound a little jittery.
JANE
Hell, yeah, I’m jittery!
I’m a nervous wreck!
I can’t think of anything
else… I keep thinking
the cops are gonna show
up at my door any second now…
I have to come and see you.
KATHY
Well.. I don’t think it’ll keep
the cops away, but sure..
you can come over.
JANE
Thanks, Kathy..
I’m just gonna
get dressed and I’ll
be right over..
Like forty-five minutes.
KATHY
Okay..
See ya’ then.
JANE
Later.
KATHY
Bye-bye.
Jane hangs up
the phone and turns
around to head
upstairs. Immediately,
the phone rings on her
end. Jane assumes it
is Kathy calling right
back to tell her something
she’d forgotten. Jane
lunges for the phone
and snaps up the receiver.
JANE
Kathy?
VOICE
Uh.. no.. this is
Nurse Ratchitt over
at Doctor Stamkos’ office.
Am I speaking with Jane?
JANE
Oh, hi, Miss Ratchitt…
I thought you were
someone else… Yeah,
this is me, Jane.
How are you?
NURSE RATCHITT
I’m fine, thank you..
I’m calling about your
test results… About
the lump behind your ear?
JANE
Yes, of course.
Do you have the
results back from the lab?
NURSE RATCHITT
Yes, I do…
Can you come in
this afternoon?
JANE
This afternoon?
NURSE RATCHITT
I’m afraid it’s
urgent, honey.
MEANWHILE, ON THE GREEK ISLAND OF LESBOS…
Charlotte Caffey, one of the most ravishing women in the entire world, is looking out over the crystal, blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, through the window-less porthole of the room in which she is being held captive. A warm, ocean breeze sweeps over her body, while armed guards stand post on the beach below to prevent her escape. Her beautiful, blonde hair cascades down upon her shoulders and over her floral sun dress, as she closes her eyes and imagines the world back home…
A soft knock at the door pierces her meditation.
A man enters.
It is Mikkos Cassadine, the landlord of the magnificent, stone castle where Charlotte is being held prisoner.
MR. CASSADINE
(carrying a tray of food)
I brought you some lunch,
my dear.
CHARLOTTE
I’m not hungry.
MR. CASSADINE
But you must eat something in
order to maintain your strength.
Otherwise, you’ll get malnourished.
I want you to look as beautiful as
ever for our wedding. More beautiful
than you already do.
CHARLOTTE
How long do you plan
on keeping me here?
MR. CASSADINE
As long as it
takes, my love.
CHARLOTTE
For what?
MR. CASSADINE
For you to come
to your senses!
And realize that I’m
the only man for you!
CHARLOTTE
I’ll never marry you.
MR. CASSADINE
In time, you’ll see
differently, my dear.
CHARLOTTE
You know, it’s only gonna take a
matter of time before someone
back home figures out that that
body-double of yours is not me.
How long do you think you
can keep this up?
MR. CASSADINE
Ha-ha… I can assure you..
that the Cassadine body-doubles
are the best in the world…
We’ve done this many times
before with glowing results.
CHARLOTTE
I only got
one question.
MR. CASSADINE
Yes?
CHARLOTTE
Why me?
I mean— you could’ve
picked anyone… Certainly
someone a lot less famous.
Someone more inconspicuous.
Why me?
How long have you been
infatuated with me?
MR. CASSADINE
I’ve been in love with you from the
moment I laid my eyes upon you. Ever
since I saw you on American Bandstand
and that awful Dick Clark couldn’t keep
any of your names straight. That’s when
I knew you had to be mine forever.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah, I thought he was a lot
more polished than that…
So, tell me… What exactly is
this look-alike of mine
doing back in California?
MR. CASSADINE
Destroying you.
Creating havoc and chaos
at every turn. Your friends
will think you’ve gone mad.
CHARLOTTE
Well, generally speaking,
that’s pretty hard
for anyone to determine
about me.
MR. CASSADINE
And most important of all..
she’s bleeding you dry…
She’s emptying your bank
accounts… She’s sending
your money overseas to off-shore
accounts that only I have access to.
CHARLOTTE
Okay, now you’ve
gone too far.
MR. CASSADINE
Soon, you and the Go-Go’s will be
destroyed. Your evil music and your
Bohemian ways will no longer be
allowed to pollute this planet…
And you will be mine.
CHARLOTTE
Did anyone ever tell you,
you have an unusual
way of trying to attract
women? … Besides, it won’t
work, pal.
MR. CASSADINE
Oh, really?
And how do you
figure that?
CHARLOTTE
Because my bandmates are a lot more
clever than you think. Take Jane, for
instance. That tenacious little tart will
figure things out eventually. She’s like
a detective, ya’ know. In fact, I’ll bet
she’s back home at this very moment
thinking of nothing else but my well-being.
AND BACK HOME IN VERDUGO WOODLANDS…
JANE
(wailing)
Whyyyyyyy?!!! Why is it
always me?!!!
Whyyyyyyy?!!!
AND BACK AT THE ISLAND…
MR. CASSADINE
You really think so?
CHARLOTTE
Damn skippy!
And Kathy… now
she’s smart as a whip…
She’ll figure things out.
AND BACK HOME IN BRENTWOOD…
Kathy is getting a tray of cheese and crackers prepared for Jane’s visit.(Isn’t that nice of her?) She brings it out to the living room along with a couple of cans of Dr. Pepper, when, all of a sudden, she notices a shiny object on the ground over by the chair. Kathy goes over to the spot and picks it up. Kathy’s thoughts:
“Omigod, this is the bracelet we gave Charlotte to commemorate our third-year anniversary of being a band.” “What’s it doing on the floor?” “And why hasn’t she mentioned that she lost it?” “I know she loves it.” “She wears it all the time.” “Hmmm.. this is weird.” “I wonder why she never said anything?” “Oh, well, I’ll show it to Jane when she gets here.” “It looks like me and Jane and my dog, Buster, have a mystery to solve.”