Free Elvis and Ginger: Elvis Presley's Fiancée and Last Love Finally Tells Her Story by Ginger Alden Page A

ordered room service—another new experience for me.
    It wasn’t until late that night, after eleven, that there was finally a knock on my door. I figured it had to be someone associated with Elvis, or maybe even Elvis himself, so it would be safe to open the door.
    A man in his early thirties stood there. He had mid-length, dark shaggy hair and introduced himself as Jerry Schilling.
    “You’re going to be moving to a different room,” Jerry announced, then quickly walked away.
    I closed the door, more bewildered than ever.
A different room? Why?
    Things had happened slowly up to now, so I figured I had plenty of time to pack. I sat back down to watch more television.
    A few minutes later, however, another sharp rap sounded at my door.
Already?
I opened it and Jerry was back, this time accompanied by Joe Esposito, Elvis’s road manager. Joe was shorter than Jerry, in his late thirties, with a compact build and a dark receding hairline.
    While the two men waited in the hallway, I quickly threw things into my suitcase. Joe and Jerry then led me on a long walk to another section of the hotel. When we reached what I thought was my new room, Jerry opened the door and gestured for me to enter. I was surprised to see Elvis inside, sitting on a couch in the center of a suite and dressed in a hooded blue terry-cloth robe. He was surrounded by men.
    Our eyes locked and my heart did a little skip. All of the hours of waiting and uncertainty were worth it. I was thrilled to see him.
    At the same time, I felt uncomfortable walking into this room full of men. I’d always been shy with men, and even though I knew I’d been inspected during my first time inside Graceland, the scrutiny was even more intense when I entered this room.
    Elvis seemed at ease. He stood up with a smile and walked over to give me a hug, then turned to the group of strangers and began introductions. The men in the room included Larry Geller, his hairdresser, a lean man in his late thirties; Billy Stanley, Elvis’s stepbrother, in his twenties and an aide; Ed Parker, a strongly built Hawaiian man in his mid-forties with thick silver hair who had trained Elvis in karate; Dr. George Nichopoulos, late forties, Elvis’s silver-haired physician; Dean Nichopoulos, the doctor’s son; and Al Strada. Dean and Al were both in their twenties and working as Elvis’s aides along with Billy.
    Finally, I was introduced to an overweight man in his early forties with salt-and-pepper hair named Lamar Fike. No job was mentioned for him at the time, so I was left to wonder if he was employed by Elvis, too, or simply visiting.
    Elvis took my hand and led me into the suite’s adjoining bedroom. He didn’t explain why I hadn’t heard anything or seen him until now, but I didn’t care anymore. My feelings of confusion and abandonment had vanished the minute I saw him.
    Books were scattered everywhere, on top of his bed, on the floor, and spilling out of the suitcases. A few looked familiar; they dealt with the same topics I remembered seeing in his bedroom at Graceland, including religious philosophy and numerology.
    Seeing that most of the books had to do with spirituality, I realized for the first time that Elvis truly was on a serious personal quest. We sat on his bed and talked for a little while about my trip, what he’d been reading, and this and that. He told me that he had a show the following night, and I wondered if he’d had one tonight.
    Elvis wasn’t interested in talking about his shows, however. He wanted to look through some of his books. As we continued to sit together, Elvis began reading to me, pointing out phrases he had underlined on well-worn pages, some of which had loosened and were falling out of the bindings. Seeing that he had even written notes inside some of the margins, I understood this wasn’t just casual reading for Elvis. He was studying these books in detail. I admired the fact that he was hungry for knowledge.
    Elvis had left the bedroom