138
Thursday, October 9th, 1986, 2:19 P.M.
The two rooms that Charlotte had booked at the Roosevelt Hotel were now teeming with activity. She deemed this particular hotel worthy of her gathering due to the numerous urban legends about its past history with ghosts, goblins, and the paranormal. Suffy had informed her that there were other places that had a much more spiritual reputation, as she was the resident expert on everything spooky in Los Angeles. On the other hand, Suffy did not place hypnosis in the department of spiritual healing, considering it more in the field of psychology rather than witchiness.
Although Charlotte and the rest of the Go-Go’s usually liked to keep these types of affairs as “all female,” Suffy took it upon herself to invite a handful of sex-hungry male guests to the party in order to infuse the proper amount of testosterone into the mix. The truth is, the fellas just pretended to be interested in hypnosis. Like most guys, they were just hoping to get their dicks wet and possibly snort several, heaping piles of celebrity-grade cocaine. Either way, Suffy was not fooled by their intentions. She never was.
But this was not a full Go-Go’s gathering. The only member of the band in attendance other than Charlotte was Kathy. Now that Kathy was aware of Charlotte’s dual personality disorder, she agreed to accompany Charlotte in her quest to find a cure from this malicious malady. Kathy, however, was more than skeptical that a solution could be found in the hands of a potential quack, insisting more that Charlotte be treated by certified, medical experts.
Kathy was also nervous about the whole event in general. She was more of a down-to-earth type girl, someone who was more interested in the lively art of conversation, or playing her guitar on stage, rather than getting involved in a se’ance or some such nonsense. As a result, she found herself meandering around the two rooms, drinking a can of Budweiser to calm her nerves. She was also extremely uneasy about the fact that Charlotte had insisted that she participate in the ritual along with her. Even if it was “just for fun.”
“What do you think of Suffy’s friends?” she asked Charlotte.
“I suppose they’re harmless enough… I told Suffy, though.. if any one of them tries to hit on me, they are gone, do you hear me? I don’t care who they are.. male or female.. they are gone… I suggest you do the same.”
“Are you kidding me?” Kathy returned. “I’m not interested in one of these guys. I’m still waiting for Mel Gibson to come along.”
You still got that pipe-dream goin’ on inside your head?” asked Charlotte with a quizzical look.
“Still smokin’ it,” answered Kathy.
Charlotte got up from her chair and stretched. Kathy walked over to the window of the hotel room and looked down to the ground below.
“We must be losin’ our touch… There’s only four paparazzi down there,” she noted.
Charlotte strolled over to the window to have a look herself. After several seconds, she made a second observation.
“Actually, only three… You see that guy right there with the green windbreaker on?” she pointed out.
“Yeah?” said Kathy.
“He’s a financial reporter… They know I’m here too,” stated Charlotte.
“You’re a mighty famous girl, Char,” kidded Kathy. “The whole world’s after you.”
“I’ll bet he came to the office and somebody blabbed,” remarked Charlotte.
Kathy was still feeling awkward about the whole situation and could no longer keep her feelings in check. She decided to offer up a drastic alternative.
“Charlotte, let’s get out of here.”
“What?”
“Let’s just tell everyone that I suddenly got sick… They can have the whole room to themselves. What do they care? They can party all day and all night if they want to.”
“Kathy, we’re already here… I just wanna see if this guy is legit or not.. Then we can leave.”
“But the whole thing just seems so dumb,” Kathy lamented. “I’ve said this a million times already. This guy’s not gonna be able to help you.”
Charlotte took a slight pause and gathered her thoughts. She put her arm around Kathy’s shoulder and lowered her voice—
“Kathy, I need you on this… You’re the only one who knows about my condition… If this guy can help in any way at all, I’m willing to listen… Maybe it can lead to something else.”
“But why did you have to bring everybody here? Couldn’t you have just brought him over to your house or something? Somewhere away from all the attention?”
Charlotte knew well in advance that Kathy was not going to be an easy target on this whole masquerade. She was too perceptive about certain things. On the other hand, Charlotte did not necessarily want to host the event over at The Roosevelt, either. She was goaded into it by The Princess.
“I did this as a favor to Suffy,” said Charlotte.
“What?” asked Kathy, surprised.
“I told her that I would throw a party for her and supply all the goodies, if you know what I mean… I also told her I would help her get a role in a major motion picture… if she found a hypnotist for me.”
“Excuse me?” asked Kathy, her eyes now wide as saucers. “Don’t you think that’s an awful lot of compensation for doing you a favor? Why don’t you help me get a role in a major motion picture?”
“I don’t think I can come through on that second one,” said Charlotte, looking a little dejected that she was probably unable to accomplish such a lofty goal.
“Wow, she’s a tough negotiator… Maybe you should have her as your business partner,” offered Kathy, motioning her hand towards Suffy.
“Sshhh, keep you voice down,” quieted Charlotte, looking over at Suffy. “She’ll hear you.”
But it was too late. Suffy’s sorceress intuition was in full gear. Just as if she had ears like the Bionic Woman, she ended her conversation with one of her friends and sashayed over to our two, eloquent artistes.
“Too late,” observed Kathy. “Here she comes.”
“Hi, guys,” said Suffy as she approached. “What are we talking about?”