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Adam brushed past the women and went into the living room.

"Which one of you is responsible for this!" he shouted, angrily.

Melvin and Gary shrank back, but Bill replied,

"I did."

"How could you do this to me?" cried Adam.

Bill turned white and sank back down on the couch, unable to reply.

"He was only trying to help," defended Charlie.

"How many times must I ask you NOT to help me?" asked Adam, his voice more weary and strained than Charlie had ever heard it before.

"Get out of here," he ordered, confronting Charlie's flashing brown eyes. "I don't want you here; I didn't ask you here; please go!" Hoping that she might leave if he left the room, Adam retreated to his bedroom, closing the door securely behind him.

Vera sat down in a nearby chair. Everyone in the room was shaken, including Bill.

"I thought he was going to fire me, for sure!" he whispered out loud.

Charlie put her ear to Adam's door. She could hear him sobbing, once more.

"It's the sleep depravation," Charlie explained to the others. "It effecting the stability of his mood." Everyone in the room was listening intently to her. "I don't know how much you guys know about what happened last week while Adam was in Twin Yucca," explained Charlie, "but Adam and I had a..." she paused, "a disagreement. That, compounded by the important concert on Saturday, is what's causing this insomnia."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Bill, unwilling NOT to help his friend.

"Yes," replied Charlie, "there is. First of all, I need everyone to remain in this hotel room. Melvin, as his publicist, I think you can agree that it wouldn't be helpful for the press to know that an underage girl was by herself in a hotel room with Wallace Shipley."

"No, indeed!" agreed Melvin, impressed by Charlie's thoughtfulness.

"Bill, this place has room service, doesn't it?" asked Charlie.

Just then the bedroom door opened, and Adam stared at her, angrily.

"You can't chase me out," said Charlie, answering Adam's glare.

"What are you doing?" he asked, wearily.

"I'm ordering room service," replied Charlie, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, no, you're not!" ordered Adam.

"You haven't eaten dinner, and neither have I!" argued Charlie.

"I don't want anything to eat!" he retorted.

"Well, I do!" said Charlie, turning to Bill. "I want two plates of spaghetti, (one without meatballs), a pastrami on rye with mustard and tomatoes, and a large bucket of popcorn. Are you getting this, Bill?" she asked, while the man struggled to write it all down.

"I'm not paying for it!" declared Adam, resolutely.

"I can afford my own dinner, thank you very much," laughed Charlie. "You pay me well, remember?"

"I thought Jerome was taking all your money," replied Adam, his voice gradually calming down.

"Yeah, well," said Charlie, taking off her shoes, "lately, he's been giving it back to me. Uncle Jerome said he didn't want to have a dependent on his hands for the rest of his natural life."

Adam shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Don't worry," comforted Charlie, "I'm not looking to you to fill that position. I can take..."

"'Care of myself,'" he finished, with a small laugh. "Seems to me, I've heard that one before!"

"I told you," said Charlie, indignantly, "the snake was an extenuating circumstance!"

Melvin looked questioningly to Gary, for that incident had happened before his time.

"I'll tell you later," whispered Gary.

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