71
Continued from previous page…
As Jane came down from the upstairs and began her trek towards the kitchen, she was naturally apprehensive about how she would react upon seeing Charlotte. After all, an incredible dynamic had just occurred that changed everything about their relationship. She knew about Charlotte’s business life and understood that difficult decisions had to be made from time to time. But nothing compared to this. Other things could slip and slide: Petty jealousies, songwriting and creative differences, arguments over trivial matters. But not this. This was game changing stuff. What she overheard from that phone conversation in Charlotte’s room could not be denied. Apparently, Charlotte was planning on kidnapping someone and bringing him to a neutral spot to have him interrogated. Initially, it sounded as if Rocco had intended on bringing this person to the mansion when Charlotte instructed him not to do that. It also sounded like they planned on scaring the shit out of him to prevent him from doing something.
“Why would she need to do any of this stuff?” Jane thought to herself.
In the distance, she could hear Gina’s trademark cackle. A good sign, at least, that the two of them were happy and having a good time. Perhaps that would help ease the tension, she figured. The simple difference in the situation, of course, was that Jane was the only one who was uptight at the moment. The other two certainly had no idea that she had been hiding in the bathroom. Jane had to pretend as if everything was status quo.
“Hey, buddy, where ya’ been?” asked Gina, cheerfully, apparently having recovered from her previous bout of loneliness.
“Oh.. I was just up in my room,” Jane stammered. “I decided to make a couple of phone calls myself.”
Jane looked over at Charlotte. Immediately, she could see that Charlotte was buzzed beyond the normal timeframe. She had her back slumped over in one of the chairs and had her two feet propped up on one of the other chairs. Her eyes were glassy.
“Hey, Janey,” began Charlotte, with a satisfyingly, sedated smile on her face. “We missed you.”
“Oh?” wondered Jane.
“What’s the matter, sweetie? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost,” observed Charlotte.
“I think maybe I have,” said Jane, making a direct reference to Charlotte’s split personality.
“Ohhh, did you see the two little girls from The Shining down at the end of the hallway?” joked Charlotte. “Ya’ know, that’s the only thing I don’t like about this house… The hallways are too wide… It reminds me of The Shining.”
Even though she had just made a spooky comment, Charlotte’s intoxicated behavior was giving Gina a serious case of the giggles.
“No, I didn’t see the two little girls,” remarked Jane. “Charlotte, how did you get this way so quickly? Gina, what did you give her?”
“We smoked that joint that was supposed to be for you and me, remember?” Gina informed her.
“It was Luumboo,” said Charlotte, cracking up at her own style of comedy. Gina was laughing pretty hard as well. “Did you know that Geenie-Weenie calls it Luumboo?”
“Yes, I was aware of that,” answered Jane, in a conciliatory tone.
“She also did a couple of shots of Tequila,” informed Gina.
“Yup… I did a couple of shots… Peww, peww,” concurred Charlotte, making a gunshot motion with her fingers.
“Oh, okay… Now, it’s starting to make sense,” agreed Jane, knowing that shots are always capable of putting someone way over the top.
“So, who did you call?” asked Charlotte, suspiciously. Even though she was playfully drunk, she managed to glare at Jane while she asked the question, almost as if she knew Jane had fabricated the story. It gave Jane the creeps. After all, who should be questioning who about phone calls?
“Umm, no one.. important,” stumbled Jane. “It was just Suffy.”
“Uhh, you’re right,” grunted Charlotte. “No one important.”
Charlotte had always been somewhat jealous of Jane’s friendship with Suffy, an element that hadn’t gone completely unnoticed by Jane herself. She could never quite figure out why the resentment was as deep as it was, however. There seemed to be something more to it. Was it just common jealousy amongst friends, Jane wondered? A simple matter of paying too much attention to another person? Or did she always resent the fact that the two of them had been involved in a physical relationship in the past? Either way, Jane was certain that Charlotte would never reveal the reasons why. Especially now. Not after Charlotte had become such a big-shot.
“Did she wiggle her nose and make a donkey appear in your room?” Charlotte chided.
“No… Just some harmless, spiritual guidance,” defended Jane.
“Oh, God… I can’t believe you take advice from that drunken charlatan,” ripped Charlotte.
“Look who’s talking,” Jane retorted.
“Hey, don’t compare me to her,” Charlotte returned.
“I wasn’t… But, she’s a lot smarter than you think… A lot smarter,” Jane informed her, intent on getting to the heart of the matter. She continued to stare at Charlotte while obviously addressing her directly. “One of the things she told me is that people aren’t always what they appear to be.”
Charlotte was now glaring at Jane in the same manner as before. Jane could feel the chills go up and down her spine. Charlotte’s eyes were cold and calculated, like a phantom. Alcohol was now playing it’s usual role as the insidious demon. Jane had touched a sore spot.
In an instant, however, Charlotte snapped out of it.
“I know who it is— it’s Gina!” she stated, pointing over to her.
“What?” Jane posited.
“It’s Gina… Gina’s the one who isn’t what she appears to be,” rambled Charlotte.
Jane folded her arms in defiance.
Copyright 2021
by Clark Wright