61
Friday, July 11th, 1986, 8:45 P.M.
It was the end of a long week and Charlotte had just concluded filing some data into her computer. She stared down at the figures one last time, checked her watch, then sat back in her chair.
“8:45,” she whispered to herself. “This is getting ridiculous.”
She wanted to throw her head back and scream out into the empty, lonely office, as if conducting some kind of therapy. She wanted to cry hysterically.
“How did I let my life come to this?” she asked herself.
It had been four weeks since the extraordinary events over at the compound and it was beginning to look like everything was in the clear. None of the girls had been contacted by the police—none that she knew of anyway, which only made Charlotte contemplate the competence of the Los Angeles Police Department. Brushing that unpleasant observation aside, she knew perfectly well why the police didn’t contact any of the guests or the Go-Go’s themselves about a missing person.
Nobody knew he was there.
Actually, only Charlotte was privy to this information. Charlotte and maybe one other, nosey, Austin City Limits showgirl…
The newspapers cooperated perfectly by listing him as a missing person and making no mention of the party, whatsoever. The only problem was: How did this make any sense to the rest of the girls? Why didn’t one, single person see him there and be able to identify him? Did he not introduce himself to anyone? How did he make acquaintance with Belinda?
Gina and Jane pestered Charlotte repeatedly about these oversights, while Belinda stayed out of the entire conversation for obvious reasons. She was sick to death of the whole event and didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She was also extremely pissed-off at Charlotte for not believing her, and had resolved herself to never forgiving the woman.
Kathy, meanwhile, kept quiet about the whole escapade and only Charlotte knew why.
“Pull yourself together, Char,” she said to herself, aloud. “Just forget about this shit and move on… Let’s go home.”
Charlotte had no choice but to put all the madness aside and forge ahead with her own, personal life and the upcoming plans of the band. The Go-Go’s summer tour was about to kick off in New York City in three weeks and Charlotte had to get her management teams in order, both for the tour and her business ventures. It was way too hard for her to stay out of the corporate loop for that long, so she needed a reliable proxy team to take her place.
Because of all the recent turmoil, the band seemed anxious to get out and jam in front of a live audience for awhile, probably to take their minds off all the overhanging craziness. Everyone except for Belinda, that is. When Charlotte had talked to her on Wednesday evening, she sounded nervous and out of sorts. She seemed preoccupied with something on a personal level. She insisted that her uneasiness had nothing to do with Mr. Khudobin and spoke very little about the upcoming tour. When Charlotte asked her what was wrong, Belinda wouldn’t budge. She wouldn’t reveal a thing.
“I’ll call her tomorrow,” Charlotte thought to herself.
Charlotte got up from her chair, yawned and stretched, then turned off her computer. She grabbed her purse and headed downstairs to the main reception area. She was just about to turn off the overhead lights when an unexpected knock came at the main door. It was a dull, thud-like knock with no personality that permeated throughout the dead silence of the office. Charlotte was frozen solid. Since it was unexpected, she was undeniably frightened. She just stood there and didn’t say a word.
The knock came again.
Charlotte cautiously crept over to the door and almost pressed her ear against it to listen. Instead, she managed to call out…
CHARLOTTE
Who is it?
VOICE
Rona Barrett. I think your
show sucks.
CHARLOTTE
Kathy?
Charlotte opens
the door.
KATHY
(doing a Cheech and Chong bit)
April Fools!! Hey, man, did
I sound like a cop?
CHARLOTTE
Kathy, what the fuck are you
doing?!! You scared the living
shit out of me!!
KATHY
Did I? Cool.
CHARLOTTE
How did you get up here?!
KATHY
The security guard let me up.
CHARLOTTE
Dammit! He’s not supposed
to do that.
KATHY
Hey, hey, hey, take it easy…
I own part of this building,
remember?
CHARLOTTE
Yeah… I remember.
KATHY
It’s all good.
CHARLOTTE
Kathy, what are you doing
creepin’ around in the middle
of the night?
KATHY
Middle of the night? Charlotte,
honey, it’s only nine o’clock…
and it’s a Friday… Where’s your
sense of adventure?
CHARLOTTE
About ready to go home. My sense
of adventure has a curfew.
KATHY
Clever.
CHARLOTTE
What are you doing here, anyway?
KATHY
I thought you and I might
have a little talk.
Kathy strolls
over to the bureau
where the booze
is kept.
CHARLOTTE
About what?
KATHY
About business… Mind if I
have a drink?
CHARLOTTE
No, of course not.
Kathy pulls the cork on
a carafe of whisky and
takes the lid off the ice
bucket. To her surprise,
there is actually some
ice in there.
KATHY
Would you like one?
CHARLOTTE
No, thank you.
KATHY
Are you sure? I hate
to drink alone.
CHARLOTTE
No, I’m fine, thank you.
KATHY
Alrighty.
CHARLOTTE
What would you like
to know?
KATHY
Like… How’s it going?
Any news on that casino
project?
Kathy walks back
over to Charlotte
and raises her glass
in a toast.
CHARLOTTE
No, nothing yet… That’s
going to take a while.
KATHY
Oh, I’ll bet. That sounds
like quite an ordeal….
Anything else?
CHARLOTTE
Anything else what?
KATHY
Any other business news?
CHARLOTTE
Well, I’m in discussions with some
people on possibly starting up my….
excuse me.. OUR own film company.
Kathy catches
Charlotte’s little
faux pas and
chuckles sarcastically.
KATHY
Hey! That sounds great!
Right up my alley.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah… It should be interesting….
You know, I have to say, Kathy,
you’re acting awfully mysterious.
KATHY
Am I? How so?
CHARLOTTE
I don’t know… Just your whole…
demeanor… You didn’t really
come all the way over here just
to talk about business, did you?
KATHY
Oh, I most certainly did…
(extended pause)
I did, indeed.
A staring
contest ensues.
KATHY
I’ll tell ya’ what… Why don’t
we go “upstairs” to your office…
That way, we can be more
comfortable up there.
CHARLOTTE
Okay… Lead the way.
KATHY
After you.
The two of them
sashay up the four
steps and enter
Charlotte’s office.
Kathy walks behind
the desk.
CHARLOTTE
That’s my chair.
KATHY
Which means it’s one-fifth mine…
Have a seat.
Kathy motions
with her hand
for Charlotte to
take a seat.
CHARLOTTE
(sitting down)
Well, well, Kathy, I must say, you do
look like you have something
awfully important to discuss… You’re
acting so seriously all of a sudden..
That’s not like you…I don’t know
whether to be scared to death…
Or just sit back and enjoy the show.
KATHY
I’d say in this case, you could
probably do a little of both.
Kathy leans back in the tall, office
chair and props her elbow up on
the armrest. She holds the cocktail
up to her mouth and rocks the ice
back and forth in a seductive
manner. She also has grown out her
luxurious, black hair to shoulder
length in preparation for the
upcoming summer tour.
CHARLOTTE
You know, I love your hair like that.
You’re really gorgeous….
When you want to be.
KATHY
When I want to be?!
(donning a southern accent)
Oh, well, shucks now, Charlotte..
Don’t y’all just say the sweetest things
to me from time to time…
Hush, hush, sweet Charlotte.. you’re
going to make me blush.
CHARLOTTE
Very good… That was good…
I guess you’re all ready for “Dallas” now?
KATHY
Yeah, how bout’ that, huh?
My agent says I’m a shoe-in.
I could be one of Bobby Ewing’s
latest love interests.. which is good
cuz’ if I had to make out with
Larry Hagman.. I think I’d throw up.
CHARLOTTE
(appearing to be jealous)
Go for it… Why wouldn’t they want
you? You’re such a big star… And
by all means, don’t let us stop you.
Don’t let a little band like the Go-Go’s
stand in your way.
KATHY
Oh, now Charlotte, you can
always find some other, less
talented bass player to take
my place.
CHARLOTTE
No one can take your place, Kathy.
KATHY
(loving this)
Yeah!… I know… Hell, I read the fan
mail sometimes… I know what the fans
want… They love me! Besides, we’re all
breaking up a year from now, anyway..
What’s all this talk about replacing me?
CHARLOTTE
I don’t know. You brought it up.
KATHY
Yeah, well, sometimes I just run
off at the mouth… Now… where
were we?
CHARLOTTE
You know, the only reason I made
that crack about you being gorgeous
only when you want to be is because
I’m not so sure I like you ordering me
around… Like telling me where to sit.
KATHY
Oh… retaliation, huh? Okay, I see…
Well, shoot! I can’t rightly tell you what
to do now, can I? After all, you’re the CEO
of this fine corporation…
Let’s pretend that this is
a movie as the camera is
slowly zooming in on both
of the girl’s faces while the music
intensifies. Kathy is slowly
tightening the noose around
Charlotte’s neck. We intersperse
shots of Kathy’s confident
face and Charlotte’s worrisome
face.
KATHY
A corporation that was…
need I remind you…
built on the backs of your
four bandmates…
A shot of
Charlotte’s face.
KATHY
So, it’s only fitting that you have
control of all of our money…
Another shot of
Charlotte’s face.
KATHY
And you do have control of it…
don’t you?
Charlotte swallows
nervously.
CHARLOTTE
Can we get to the point?
KATHY
Am I making you nervous, Char?
CHARLOTTE
You are now.
KATHY
(smiling with her lips pressed together)
Hmm, hmm— Funny how I can make
you sweat by mentioning money…
The root of ALL evil.
CHARLOTTE
Well… you always did have
a way with words.
KATHY
Aww, flattery will get you
everywhere, my dear…
But not tonight.