Capricorn
Chapter 18

Typical Behavior and Abilities
A typical Capricorn at work:
* works hard and for long hours
* likes to have some home comforts in the workplace so they can change, go on to another appointment, or stay all night if necessary

*

Adena opened her eyes the next morning and her first thought was: Did last night really happen?

She got high. SHE got HIGH? First the whiskey and now the gummies. She needed to slow down. Was this what you call 'acting out?' Was she doing these out-of-the-ordinary things for attention or to get a rise out of someone? That was probably something Dr. Osbourne could answer.

Did they really make edible Rice Krispies Treats? What did they taste like?

As soon as that thought entered her head, her stomach grumbled so loudly that it woke Craig up. Her eyes widened, she didn't even notice him there. He was literally under the covers. They both looked at each other, under the covers and sighed with relief. "You good?" Craig asked sleepily with squinting eyes as he did a full body stretch. She followed suit. Oh, that felt good. 

"Yeah but I'm really hungry for some reason. Like my stomach hurts" she said with a nervous chuckle.

"That's the munchies," Craig said. "I'm starving too. Let's make some breakfast?"

"Actually, wanna go out? I've kind of been held hostage here.."

"Ohmygod, really Adena? No. I'm sorry you felt like that. That was never my-"

"I'm kidding," Adena said, she couldn't torture him for too long. He was wide awake now. "That's why this breakfast is on me, as a thank you."

"Oh, I can't-"

"Craig, I'm offering," she said sternly, mocking him.

"Touché," he said as he held his hands up in surrender.

Adena looked at Craig's clock on the wall. 10 am. When was the last time she slept in this late on a Monday?? Probably her last Christmas break from school and it probably happened maybe once. Not having to work was really throwing her off. Her younger self would be excited though, staying home on a Monday, with snow outside, it would be perfect to catch up on her Gossip Girl books or her cousin's hand-me-down Sweet Valley High books, watch her favorite Disney movies to death. She's built enough snowmen in her life. It's always the same. Climbing a hill, sledding down, and climbing again was so redundant.

*

Younger Capricorns aren't particularly enthused by sports or outdoor activities, expect some pushback if you force or suggest it.

*

Monday morning. 10 am. Still no sign or call from Adena. Kim was this close to calling out but she had clients who needed her. She was going to leave early if no one had heard from her. Adena's parents were worried sick, thanks to Taye, and kept blowing her and Missy up. It's officially been 48 hours. The last time she saw Adena was when she rushed out of her apartment at around the same time on Saturday morning. Kim didn't know whether to be depressed, worried, or just plain annoyed and angry. This wasn't like her. And that's why it was such a big deal. 

Taye couldn't stay still. So he did what he had to do. 

He showed up at Donatella's. If she was hiding out with Donatella, fine, he wouldn't be surprised. He would be mad because all she had to do was say that but he also understood why she wanted to torture him on purpose. He never thought Adena to play dirty but they say love makes you do crazy things.

And heartbreak makes you realize what crazy really is.

He threw open the heavy glass door to the gallery and looked around. They had just opened and a small class of students was inside being toured around by Donatella. Which was weird because Donatella usually made Adena do that...

He walked quickly to the front desk as Lloyd was talking on the phone. Without looking at him, Lloyd held up a finger indicating to hold on. Taye rolled his eyes and stood still, trying not to pace, but did it anyway. "Oh yes! We will definitely catch up tonight honey. 7 pm. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes."

This sounded like a personal call that could wait and not him. "Lloyd," he said to him gruffly and Lloyd jumped in his chair.

"Oh um girl I gotta go," he said as he hurried and hung up the phone. "I'm so sorry Taye I thought you were-"

"Is Adena here? I'm trying to be courteous by not escorting myself into her office-"

"Oh no Donatella wouldn't go for it-"

"So page her, please. Now. I don't even need to talk to her. Just need to know if she's here so I can go the fuck on with my day" Taye said hurriedly.

"Taye, I heard about your-"

"Call her!" Taye growled and Lloyd jumped again, this time picking up the phone.

"Hang up the phone Lloyd," Donatella said as she walked up to them. "Taye, what do you want? I told you to stop coming here and getting me involved with your lover's quarrel-"

"Well too fucking bad. You're in it" he said to her and pointed at Lloyd, "You too."

"I'm sorry what did I do?" Lloyd said nervously as he hung up the phone.

"It's what you're not doing that's the problem."

"Taye go on. Go on and leave and don't make a scene. I would appreciate that. Adena would especially, too. Remember her? Your wife?"

"Donatella.....you're this close."

"To what?"

"Where is my wife? If she's here I'll get out of your perfect hair. Tell me and I'll go."

"Why can't you find her? Oh, I remember, it's because you ran your own wife out of her own home which I'm paying for. I-"

"WHERE IS SHE?" Taye said loudly, causing them all to jump.

"She's not here. Now go" Donatella said quickly as she pointed to the door. 

Taye didn't want to hear that. That's the answer he was afraid of. "Why? Is she running one of your many errands like she's the fucking HELP?"

"I let her go" Donatella hissed at him. "I'm going to call security if you raise your voice at me again. Stop acting like a goddamn child."

"You let Adena go?" Taye asked in disbelief, "Ok fine, you don't want to tell me the truth? Then-"

"That is the honest truth Taye. I let her go Saturday because she was fucking up. Off her rocker. Spilling champagne. Showing up late. Being rude to Kehinde Wiley and not taking care of him as I asked. I've NEVER had an artist leave their own showing early. And one of the critics picked up on it and decided to write about it like he's a damn tabloid writer. She's off her rocker because of you Taye. You have broken my best worker's heart and now they can't work! If she can't work, then she can't fucking work! Plain and simple. So why is Adena NOT here? It's because of you!" Donatella hissed at him. "She threw away your precious half-assed apology gift by the way."

"Oh, I'm to blame? For everything?" Taye asked, his fists clenched. "I'll see for myself," he said, and then just like that he sprinted for the grand red-carpeted marble staircase and ran up to the 2nd floor.

"Taye!-"Donatella shouted and then caught herself. "Call security. Now. Where the fuck are they?" she told Lloyd. 

"Wait did you really let Adena go?" Lloyd asked her but she didn't answer him.

Taye ran down the hallway toward Adena's office. The lights were on. He opened the door and his body slumped in the doorway. The lights were on but no one was home. Her office was immaculately organized and clean. The office just reminded him of the type of woman she was. Important. Smarter than her own good. The best employee you can ever have. He walked in as he heard keys jingling and men talking. He closed the door behind him and locked it. The room smelled like her. He sighed. He sat down in her comfortable red leather seat behind her desk. He leaned his head back against the seat and then kept rocking, hitting himself on the back of his head a couple of times. 

It was his fault. Adena should be here doing what she loves, even though Donatella stressed the fuck out of her. She was proud of making it here and now he helped her lose it. He put his head in his hands as security pounded on the door.

"SIR! SIR! OPEN UP!"

He ignored them. He looked at all the color-coded post-it notes with reminders in her beautifully perfect handwriting. She was the only one he knew who still wrote in cursive most of the time. He looked at some notepad filled with doodles she drew. She did that when she was bored or stressed, which were two extremes. He ran his fingers along the trim of her dark wooden desk, tracing the intricate design.

"OK! YOU ASKED FOR IT! IF YOU DON'T OPEN UP THIS DOOR, IT WON'T BE PRETTY!"

As he ignored them, he noticed a corked bulletin board under her desk. The back was facing him. He pulled it out and turned it over.

And wished he didn't.

He gasped as he put the board down on the desk. She actually did it. He never doubted she would but they'd been at each other's throats so much lately, he was surprised she started her new passion project.

"I'm making myself a birthday present. It's going to be a vision board of our relationship" Adena had said as she looked through magazines for clippings she could use. "It's gonna be beautiful. So beautiful I may just bring it back here and not let it stay in my office" she had smirked as she cut out some hearts from an ad in an old issue of Essence. "It's gonna be fun...and it's gonna be beautiful....."

"And it is..." he said to himself as he looked at the board. It was basically finished except for a few small spaces you could barely notice. Adena would though.

There were pictures of them, from the time they first met at that '90s party on campus all the way up to their wedding and honeymoon last year. The pictures were scattered all over the board and surrounded with hearts, stars, and miscellaneous pictures that they both only knew about due to their inside jokes. At the top of the board, it was titled in big letters: Vision Of Love.

Then security finally barged in, they ran around that desk quickly and handcuffed him...

*

Capricorns need to be encouraged and reminded to spend time out in the fresh air and get some exercise, they rarely work out alone.

*

"Oh my god, this is heaven," Adena said after she took her first bite into her bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. "And it's so warm in here too," she said as she shrugged her coat off. 

Craig smiled at her. He couldn't believe the jeans he gave her actually fit. He gave her the tightest jeans he could find but since he wasn't into that fad, his version of skinny jeans was just less baggy jeans. But they were perfect for her. They basically had to wrap one of his belts around her twice.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Sorry, I'm just tripping because those jeans look great on you. Like you can't tell that they don't fit you."

"Seriously?" she asked him as she sat up on the leather loveseat they were sharing. "My Grandma used to tell me the same thing," she said as she smoothed down the jeans. "These are actually pretty comfy. Can I have them?"

"Nope," Craig said without hesitation as he picked up his coffee cup and sipped, making sure his pinkie was raised as he did. Adena laughed.

"How's yours?" she asked as she nodded her head to his bagel. 

"Delicious, it tastes even more delicious because it's free," he said and winked at her. "Thank you."

"No thank you," she said to him. 

She looked around, this place was packed and she never knew this place existed. The spot was called the Garage Café because it was literally held in a building that used to be a mechanic's garage. It even had 3 garage doors that were only pulled up during the summer. The café was filled with stuff that you would find in a garage sale. Some people sat at tables, the place only had one booth sitting in the corner of the café. Most of the tables weren't accompanied by the chairs in their set but just random ones, of all different designs and colors. If you were lucky enough to sit in the booth, it made you feel like a celebrity because it was raised on a platform that was a foot higher than the floor. It's like you overlooked the place. There were also pictures of celebrities that frequented with the staff and owner and even some lucky regulars. If you weren't lucky enough and couldn't get a table either, there were random loveseats, couches, benches, and recliners. If you didn't have a table, you were given folding tables, coffee tables, or even those laptop desks on wheels so you wouldn't have to hold your drink or food. 

They were sitting on a brown leather loveseat and they each had their own table on wheels. On paper, it probably wasn't a good idea but in person, it was actually nice. It was very hipster, eclectic, and artsy which brought a sparkle to Adena's eyes. Her three favorite aesthetics. She looked up at the lighting, random ceiling fans, small chandeliers, and overhead lights lit up the place. There were also lamps all over and on some tables. People were encouraged to turn off the lamps around them to let them know a table was open and needed to be cleaned. On the wall were random tools, car accessories like license plates, tires, hubcaps, and bikes and there were vintage posters of pin-up girls from the 50's all the way to Mary J Blige, Tupac, and Biggie. There were a couple of big screen tvs and random mirrors of all sizes on the walls.

"So what cha think?" Craig asked. He loved this place it felt more like a -

"Man cave," Adena said out of nowhere, "That's the word, it's giving man cave," she said as she continued to look around and then scarfed down her bagel. 

"Exactly why I love it. It's like you haven't left home. I DJ here sometimes when they have their monthly parties."

"Oh wow really? When's your next gig?"

"No idea, so when we're done here, I'm gonna talk to Al and remind him I'm alive and that my calendar opened up A LOT," he said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry" Adena apologized, "This means better things are coming for you. One door closes, another opens."

"Exactly," he said," It was my new year's resolution anyway, getting the fuck away from that job but I got rent to pay and it's too cold to do day parties, that's when I make the big bucks, when the weather gets warmer."

"Too bad it isn't warm all year round," Adena said as she picked up her tea and blew on it, and then sipped it.

"But it is in Miami," he said as a lightbulb went off. "Cali. I would say Texas but they get snow now?"

"Crazy right?" Adena said, "So you're gonna travel?"

"Gotta travel where the money is; unless I'm working for 2 clubs a day that's what I gotta do. All of us DJs start doing it at some point when we want to be really full-time. So what about you? Are you going to go back to your job once you get everything sorted out?"

"I have no idea," Adena said as she put her head in her hands for a few seconds. "My brain is working nonstop to find which way is up."

"Well hey, you're going through something pretty traumatic. You don't have to have all the answers now" he said, now feeling bad for bringing it back up. He didn't even know Travis but he had a strong dislike for him. Nah that's too nice. Fuck Travis, that's how he felt. They sat in silence for a bit as they ate. Then he decided to lighten the mood. "Ok pop quiz, favorite artist, GO."

"Wait aren't you supposed to answer that?" Adena asked with a laugh.

"Nah this is a practice pop quiz."

"For what? An all-about-Adena quiz?"

"Yep. Now talk to me like I'm 5, I know nothing about art and this will be on the quiz. I know it."

"Hmmm, that's hard," she said and thought for a few seconds. "First person that popped into my head was Basquiat, gotta go with him."

"I've heard of him. He's like Tupac but for artists. We all know about him but most of us don't know his work. So, teach me, I am your student."

"He was an artist that rose to fame in the late '70s and '80s. Some people think he came out before that. His art....his art" she said with a smile as her eyes started to sparkle again, "is so thought-provoking. I took a whole class on him and found a lot of stuff I didn't know. He completely changed art as a whole for me. Well anyway, he is one of the most influential artists of our time, the 20th century. He was part of the Neo-expressionism movement which was almost like a Harlem Renaissance for artists of the '80s. Sorry, that's the boring stuff. That type of art in that movement was intense and rough, they portrayed normal things we can recognize, like the human body, but portray it in a way that's very abstract, sometimes violent and emotional with big and vivid colors. He started out as a graffiti artist and his art would show up all over Lower Manhattan. But no one knew who he was, he was very anonymous, and since he was such a mystery people want to know more. Rap music and punk and street art and hip-hop culture were coming out at the same time. So much creative energy, you know?"

Craig nodded, very impressed with how much she knew. Of course, she would know about her favorite artist but he was learning about a legend he never understood. He just knew that Kanye really liked him. "I would have loved to live during that time when all of that was starting. I love hip-hop, and rap, I even love punk. Like that time, changed the world, and they didn't even know it."

"Right! That's why he was so popular then and now. If you're a real big fan of hip hop in the '80s, Basquiat is the GOAT, you would say. Anyway. His street art was always signed with the pseudonym 'SAMO'. Stood for Same Ol', he was just a kid in high school, witty, DGAF. The Village Voice wrote an article on his work and that was the spark that ignited this whole thing-"

"You all doing alright?" a frenzied waitress asked as she passed with a few plates.

"Yes, can we get the check please?" Adena asked her. She nodded and scurried off. "Anyway, so now everyone knows about the infamous SAMO but he was already moving on to his next thing. But he was dirt poor, so he was using old furniture he found on the street as canvases. He painted on floors and walls and doors. Then he started making postcards and putting his designs on them and selling them and then guess who he sees?"

"Who?" Craig asked.

"Andy Warhol. His idol. He was the head of the world he wanted to be in. The pop-art GOD. He sold him a card and that was it. His designs turned into his own clothing line. All the stuff rappers are doing now. Clothing lines, he was one of the first to do it. His line took off and then his clothes were being sold at a boutique in the East Village. He just kept moving up. Which was so inspiring. He could put his art and creativity on literally anything so then he started making sculptures. And, sorry long story short, after that, he made graffiti one day that said SAMO IS DEAD because he wasn't doing that same old same old stuff anymore. He was about to work with THE Andy Warhol in a couple of years. He still painted on doors throughout the city and then his paintings started to be shown in galleries and then Debbie Harry bought a painting at a showing and the rest is really history."

"Here you go loves, enjoy," the waitress said as she rushed by and gave them the check.

"Wow, and one of his paintings was bought by Kanye right?"

"Jay-Z and Nas, his biggest accomplishment, unfortunately after he died-"

"Yeah how?"

"Cocaine. Overdose. 27."

"Damn! He was in the 27 Club too?" he asked her and she nodded sadly. If you didn't know, the 27 Club is referring to a group of celebrities who all died at 27 like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, and unfortunately a slew of others.

"A few years ago one of his paintings was sold for $110 million dollars! Not even an exaggeration. The most expensive painting sold by an American artist. That actually makes me mad."

"Why?"

"He could have used those millions at the end. To get help. People only appreciate you and celebrate you when you're gone, it's a shame" she said sadly, "I gotta show you his home where he died in NoHo. It will always be preserved for him. But it's run down."

"Damn, yeah I would love to see it," he said as Adena paid the bill. Craig stopped by the boss's office and chatted with him before they left.

"He's gonna call you?" Adena asked him.

"Yeah, they're actually hosting a Superbowl party. I don't know how that's gonna work but we'll see" he said with a shrug. "Well thanks again for breakfast," Craig said as he made sure Adena was all bundled up before they left. Her cough was finally gone, he thinks it was the sour patch kid that helped but whatever.

"You're welcome," she said. "Oh, and whenever my gallery or someone does a Basquiat tribute, we're going."

"No complaints from me. If you're there, I'm going" he said and then paused. Did he say that out loud? He cleared his throat and looked at his watch. "Um yeah, so the day is still young. What now?"

"As much as I love these pants. I need to go shopping. I'm not comfortable with going home if he's there-"

"I can go with you" he offered.

"You're sweet but no let's go shopping. Retail therapy is good for the soul" she said.

"Shopping it is," he said.

*

Capricorns are prone to illnesses but their resistance improves as they get older.

*

https://youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4