Different Circles

SAPPHIC LOVEFEST ON THE CELIA VALDEZ TOUR?? screamed the headline of the New England Reports tabloid. Below the headline were three pictures. The first was a publicity shot of Celia up on stage, her microphone in hand. The next was another publicity shot, this one of Laura Kingsley in her green dress playing her saxophone up on stage. The other was an official looking photograph of Suzie—not the most flattering likeness of her—and she was identified by her full name and her profession in the caption.

“That’s my driver’s license picture!” she yelled, outraged. “God, I hate that fucking picture!”

The story, the smaller print promised, started on page 4. Celia, now dressed in her jeans and a peasant blouse, set the tabloid down on the suite’s dining table. She then planted her butt in the dining chair and flipped to page 4.

There were a few more pictures on page 4 and page 5. One was of Celia and Greg at last year’s Grammy Awards. One was a shot of Mindy Snow with her swelling belly. Mindy had pretty much been in seclusion since the Condom-gate episode and the disclosures by Smooth Operator of her slutty ways, but a member of the pap had managed to snap a shot of her on her property about three weeks before. Another shot featured Jake and Laura at their wedding reception, though it was not one of the official wedding pictures taken by the People magazine photographers, but an unauthorized shot that had been taken by Paul Peterson from out on the beach four hundred yards away. Each shot had a brief caption beneath, explaining the subjects’ role in the lesbian love scandal.

Celia shook her head in disgust at the innuendo contained in the captions and then began to read the main story. As Pauline had said, the story was very detailed and contained information that only someone who was a part of their immediate circle would know. The supplier of these details was identified as promised: “An anonymous source close to the band”. This source reported that Celia had gone into a funk after filing for divorce and the breaking of the Mindy Snow pregnancy by Greg Oldfellow story. She remained in that funk for quite some time but pulled out of it quickly once the copilot of their plane began spending the night in her hotel room with her. She stopped as she read this part.

“Copilot?” she asked Pauline. “What the hell are they talking about? Are they suggesting I’ve slept with Njord too?”

“Ewww,” Suzie said, disgusted. “Njord? That’s just gross!”

“They are not suggesting that,” Pauline said.

“But...”

“Just read on,” Pauline told her.

She read on. In the next paragraph, the copilot of which they spoke was identified as Susan Granderson of Peterson Aviation Services. Thirty-four years old. Formerly a captain in the United States Air Force with service in the Persian Gulf War. Discharged after the war under allegedly questionable circumstances. It was strongly implied, though not directly stated, that her discharge had been because she was a lesbian. They knew a lot about her, including how many flight hours she had accumulated and in what kind of aircraft, information obviously pulled from public records. But they did not know that she was the pilot-in-command of her current assignment and not the copilot.

“Why are they saying Suzie is the copilot?” Celia asked.

“Copilot?” Suzie barked, outraged. “They’re saying I’m fucking subordinate to Njord?”

“That’s what they’re saying,” Celia confirmed. She turned to Pauline. “Is it sexism? Are they assuming that just because she is a woman that she has to be the copilot?”

“No,” Pauline said. “I don’t believe that to be the case at all.”

“What do you mean?” Suzie asked.

“Who do we know,” asked Pauline, “who has reason to dislike most of the bandmembers in Celia’s band, with a particular personal dislike of Laura and Celia, and who has reason to be antagonistic toward you, Suzie?”

“Njord!” she said. “That motherfucker! Are you saying he is the mole?”

“I believe he is,” Pauline said. “First of all, you have described Njord to me as a pathological liar who likes to run his mouth.”

“That’s right,” Suzie said.

“After I read the article for the first time, I became suspicious of Njord immediately. And so, I called Coop to come have a little chat with me. I remember Laura telling me that Coop was the only one who could stand to be around Njord.”

“That’s right,” Celia said. “They like to sit in the bar at night and try to pick up women.”

“Yes, that’s what Coop told me as well,” Pauline said. “He also told me that Njord is in the habit of introducing himself to his prospects as ‘Celia Valdez’s personal pilot’. And he has also heard the man dissing on Suzie and calling her ‘my lesbo copilot’.”

“Fuck me,” Suzie said, shaking her head in anger. “He is the mole. I’ll kill his ass!”

“That’s what Coop said when we put it all together,” Pauline said. “He was quite outraged, pissed even. I don’t think the two of them will be drinking together anymore after this.”