48
Thursday, May 15th, 1986, 4:20 P.M.
Jake Guentzel, a sandy-blonde haired man in his mid-forties, stood in Charlotte’s office giving her as much information as he possibly had on her most current inquiry. She had met him at a meeting of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce that she was co-chairing and was impressed with his personality and his business acumen. He was a member of the council and, like her, had made an extraordinary amount of money in the stock market. He had been fortunate enough to inherit a bundle of cash from a wealthy aunt and had invested it wisely. After several conversations with him, Charlotte asked him if he would be willing to help her out with an extremely ambitious project that would help propel her and the girl’s company into another Stratosphere. (haha)
For some time now, Charlotte had been toying with the idea of building a Go-Go’s themed hotel and casino in Las Vegas. She knew what a longshot it was, (haha) but the incredible excitement that bubbled in her mind every time she thought about it was way too much for her to ignore. When she proposed the idea to Mr. Guentzel, he agreed to look into the matter as a total favor to her. Like most of the men she dealt with, it was difficult for him not to be enchanted by her beauty and her charms.
JAKE
I’m sure you’re aware
of the obstacles ahead
of you.
CHARLOTTE
(sitting on the edge of her desk)
I know about the
research that’s involved.
What else are we looking at?
JAKE
Before we even remotely
start talking about being
approved, they’re going to
want to know a little
bit about you.
CHARLOTTE
Me?
JAKE
Yes, you. This is a big deal.
They’re going to want to
know about your personal life.
CHARLOTTE
What? My personal life?
What does that have to do
with anything? That sounds
a bit intrusive.
JAKE
No, no, I think you
misunderstood me.
They’re not interested
in your favorite color. They
want to know about your
entire life… More succinctly,
they want to know if
you’ve ever been arrested.
CHARLOTTE
(pausing)
There’s a couple of
misdemeanors in
there somewhere.
Is that going to matter?
JAKE
(amused)
No, I don’t think so…
Not with someone like you…
They basically know who
you are… No.. they’re more
interested in seeing if
you’ve ever been involved
with organized crime.
CHARLOTTE
(nodding her head)
Organized crime… Right…
Yeah, that’s me…
I’m the Don of a major,
organized, crime family.
Can’t you tell by looking
at me?
JAKE
I hate to say this, Charlotte…
Because this has nothing
to do with how I feel about you
personally… but they mostly
want to know about drugs.
CHARLOTTE
I took care of that
problem years ago.
JAKE
Is that what any of
those misdemeanors
were about?
CHARLOTTE
One… C’mon, Jake,
I’ve been a rock n’ roller
for the past ten years…
They have to take that
into consideration, don’t they?
JAKE
I’m sure it’s not a
problem, Charlotte.
I don’t mean to worry you…
I just want you to be
aware of how much
scrutiny is involved, that’s all.
CHARLOTTE
I understand…
And I appreciate everything
you’re telling me…
Actually, I was aware
of the scrutiny part.
JAKE
And it’s not just the personal
background checks, Char…
There’s also a waiting list a mile
long… They don’t just hand out
gaming licenses in Nevada like
candy… They want to make sure
that what you plan on doing out
there is going to fit in with the
nature of their city and it’s
atmosphere… I can tell you right
now, they’re probably not
gonna’ go for anything with
the Go-Go’s name on it.
CHARLOTTE
Why not?
JAKE
Because it’s got too much
potential for being short-lived…
Plus, it’s too personal..
What if you guys break up?
What if you guys foul up in public?
CHARLOTTE
(laughing)
Well, there’s always
potential for that!
JAKE
I’m just saying..
They don’t want an
exact name… They
want more of a theme…
Do you know
what I’m saying?
CHARLOTTE
Yeah, I get it.. I know
what you’re saying…
They want a casino or
a club with a theme
in the title… Like Rock N’ Roll,
or something like that…
Not just the Go-Go’s
Hotel and Casino.
JAKE
Exactly.
CHARLOTTE
Okay, okay, I can deal
with that… I’ll just have to
noodle with this for a while…
I’m not discouraged by
this, Jake, I want
you to know that!
JAKE
I didn’t think you
would be, Charlotte.
You hardly seem
like the type.
Copyright 2021
by Clark Wright