Capricorn
Chapter 7

Capricorn as Employee
A typical Capricorn employee (male or female):
* arrives very early and leaves late
* is dependable and can carry huge workloads
* minds his or her own business
* works steadily and quietly, staying with the same company for a long time
* occasionally reveals a wry sense of humor
* is conscientious and aims high (for power not for glory)
* will expect a salary in keeping with the work done
* has respect for superiors, elders, and those more experienced
* enjoys common-sense procedures

*

Kim was really surprised when someone came knocking on her door at around 8pm on a weeknight. We live in a generation now where you can't just pop up anymore. You have plenty of ways to check up before to make sure it isn't a wasted trip. It's like a lot of us don't like to be surprised or isn't always in the mood to hang out randomly.

Are we all Capricorns?

Anyway, she was even more surprised when it was Adena standing at her door with....was that a bottle of wine? "Adena? What? What's going on?"

"You aren't gonna let me in?"Adena asked with a laugh and Kim gestured her to come in and gave her a hug.

What was going on? Did they have plans to go out and she forgot? Adena was never the type to just pop up on people. She always texts days in advance about whatever they wanted to do, the day of and then random updates until whatever they planned on doing started. And alcohol in a paper bag? Adena wasn't a big drinker as we very well know. Something happened. "Are we going somewhere that I forgot about?"Kim asked her.

"Kim! I'm offended"Adena said playfully,"We don't have to be going somewhere for me to come over right?"she asked as she threw off all her outer layers. Another freezing evening, which also surprised Kim. No one wants to be out right now. "You got a wine opener?"she asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Drawer under the microwave"Kim answered cautiously. She watched as Adena struggled to get the cork out of the bottle.

"Damn, they make these harder and harder to get open"Adena said with a laugh as she reached into the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. Not even bothering to ask where the wine glasses were.

"What we got there?"Kim asked.

"Pink moscato. Never had it! I didn't know that moscato came in different colors"Adena said with a shrug.

"They don't exactly"Kim said with a laugh. Her naivety was funny most of the time. She and Missy begged her to go out more and now that she was a married woman, she went out even less than before.

"What's Missy up to?"Adena asked after she poured the wine. "Here you go......actually let me hit her up right now"she said as she picked up her purse and searched for her phone. Within seconds, Missy was on the other end.

"Hey girl, what's-"

"What you up to right now?"Adena asked, beating her to it. "I'm over here at Kim's."

"And I wasn't invited? Wait, did we have something going on tonight?"

"I'm inviting you now! And Kim said the same thing, we had nothing planned. Just a spontaneous pop up. Ok so come over here so we can figure out what to get into."

"Oh well I'm actually getting ready. I'm going to Fever to meet up with a few coworkers. So I have to sit this one out-"

"Fever? Oh the club?"

"Yeah they got some 2000's party going on tonight. I think? I don't care what decade they do. I need a fucking drink."

"I can't believe we are having 2000's parties now. Is it really so long ago that it's nostalgic? What happened to just the 80's and 90's?"Adena said. "Well hey, I've never been to one. Let's go."she said and looked at Kim. "We'll meet you. When are you meeting up?"

"Oh word? Adena, you never go out especially on a school night"Missy teased.

"Ha ha ha"Adena said dryly. "Girls just wanna have fun. I'm girls."

"Ok well I'm meeting her in an hour. Kim, you're coming too?"Missy asked and Adena put her phone on speaker so she could hear. At the same time, her eyes pleaded for her to come too. But Kim wasn't in the mood to go out. She was in her sweats and had her comfy slippers on.

But something happened to Adena, she knew it but she obviously didn't want to talk about it right now. She didn't like that she was using alcohol and doing things spur of the moment without thinking to cope. But if anyone needed a night to just let loose, it was Adena. "I guess I am."she said with a small smile.

"Yay! It's been a long time since we got all TLC together and go out! I'll see you guys there-"

"Got it"Adena said.

"Crazy!"Missy said with a laugh.

Kim laughed,"Sexy."

"Cool!"Adena said and they hung up. Ever since that infamous 90's frat party, the three of them were called 'TLC' by everyone on campus. Not bad since they ended up not winning the cash, the wet, half naked Baywatch girls did, go figure. But they left a mark, no one cared about the other TLC trying to steal their shine. Their album 'Crazy, Sexy, Cool.' was her favorite. Now they used that as their personal 10-4 and 'Got it?' "Ohmygod, we haven't done that in so long. I practically forgot."

"Adena, you really wanna go out to Fever tonight? Like right now?"Kim asked her.

"Yes"Adena said as she downed her glass of wine. "You got something I can wear? I can't go in my business cassh"she said as she poured herself another glass.

"Ok...."Kim said and they went into her bedroom. "Shit, the real question is what am I gonna wear?"she said as she went through the clothes hanging in her closet. "Hmmmm green? Blue?"

"Dress warm."

"But then I'll be sweating my ass off in there"Kim said. No matter what day it was, Fever was packed and it was a real party every single night. Do not expect to hang out, sip wine and have casual conversation. She glanced back at Adena and saw her scrolling through her phone. "Adena, you ok?"

"Yeah"she said without looking away from her phone.

"Chilliiiiii. Are you cool or not?"Kim asked, calling her by her TLC nickname. "I know you. Something's up."

"Not now"Adena said with a sigh and a shake of her head.

"We don't have to get into it right now. I just want to know if you're ok. The Taye situation? Is that all good?"

Adena looked her in her eyes, not looking away so she knew she was serious. "Not. Now."

Kim stopped and nodded. Chilli wasn't cool but they couldn't get into it. She was going to respect that. She decided to leave her alone. She may be more willing to open up once they met up with Missy. But that alone told her whatever happened, it wasn't good. She turned around and looked through her closet. "Ooooh I haven't worn her out yet"she said as she pulled out a berry colored suede jumpsuit. She won't be freezing in a short dress but still look cute at the same time. "See anything?"she asked her.

Adena sat there silently as she looked through the closet. Her eyes caught a hot pink dress. Ever since that 90's party, she started liking the color. Yeah it was loud and out there but she felt it was her lucky color. That was the night when she met-

Nope, never mind. It wasn't her lucky color anymore. Adena sighed as she got up and walked closer to see what Kim had. She found a black maxi skirt with a high slit. Black. Black was the perfect color right now.

"Oooh I got a couple cute tops to go with that"Kim said to her as she laid her jumpsuit on the bed and walked to the other side of the room to her dresser. Adena reached out and touched the hot pink dress. It was lacy and actually pretty cute. But that couldn't be her anymore. "I like this sequin, sparkling one"Kim said.

Adena snapped back to the present and let the pink dress go. "Yeah that's fine."

Dressed in all black like an omen. That was perfect.

*

In general, Capricorn likes a friend who is well bred, good mannered, and not too extroverted.

*

An hour later, their Uber pulled up across the street from the nightclub. Even though she practically finished the wine before they left she was still in no mood to be here. What was she thinking? Loud music and bass blared from inside, a line full of freezing partiers waited outside and wrapped around the building, a few cops were on standby just in case something 'popped off'. Good thing about Fever was, though it was really popular and was packed every single night, nothing has ever popped off. The club was really popular for what it was. A place to have a good time and dance. They had a few of the best DJ's in New York who knew how to read the crowd.

Whose idea was this again?

"HEY!"Missy shouted to them from across the street. "I can't believe you guys showed up!"

"Who are you supposed to be?"Kim asked once they made it across. Missy was wearing a hot pink velour cropped hoodie and had brown highlights and much longer hair. She had on jeans and hot pink heels. Adena was confused but came back to earth once she remembered this was technically a costume party they invited themselves to. She might've dressed up, as who? Who knows.

"I'm Ciara! Goodies era Ciara"she said as she turned around so she could show off.

"You look good."Adena said to her with a smile. Though Kim wasn't dressed either. She felt left out. Wearing a costume would probably take her mind off of her current situation, like the last decade costume party they went to.

"Do we have to wait out here? It's freezing"Kim said, reading Adena's mind.

"Who's the best best friend in the world!"Missy said. "We don't have to even worry about that because...."she said as she looked around. "There she goes!"Missy said as a girl walked up to them. "This is Felicia."

"All my people's call me FeeFee"she said with a smile.

"Guess who she is"Missy said to them. They had no clue. She had a long platinum blonde wig, a black knit cap, a cropped bejeweled "wifebeater" tank with a black bra underneath, black baggy jeans and some black high top sneakers. She had on bright red lipstick and a whole lot of jewelry. She could've been anybody. They had no clue. Luckily Missy was impatient. "Ohmygod really? She's Gwen Stefani. Remember 'Hollaback Girl'?!"

"Ohhhhhh"Adena and Kim said, finally clicking.

"See I knew nobody would get it"FeeFee whined playfully.

"Hey you wanted to be a white girl. That's tough for girls like us to pull off"Missy said. "Don't worry. The white girls will know."

"Are you Selena?"FeeFee asked Kim, looking at her tight suede jumpsuit. It kind of resembled Selena's infamous purple sparkling one piece.

"No I'm just me. This was last minute..."Kim smiled.

"OK good cuz I was about to say this is a 2000s party, not the 90s"she said with a laugh, then turned around and walked up to the bouncer. She gave him a hug and then gestured to them to walk over. Next thing they knew, they were let through the velvet ropes and they hurried inside to get out of the cold.

"Oh thank god"Kim said.

"Friends in high places"Missy said. "FeeFee knows everyone here cuz she's fucking one of the DJ's-"

"Used to"FeeFee corrected her quickly with a roll of her eyes.

"Damn what he do?"

"It's what he's not doing"FeeFee said and they all nodded. "But whatever, I'm dating around. I have options. Always have options!"she said as they walked over to the bar which was surrounded by people. "Is that her?"she asked Missy as discreetly as she could. Missy nodded. FeeFee shook her head. "Hold on lemme see if Rick is here"she said as she scanned the bar and walked off. Guess that meant she knew the bartender too.

"I actually gotta pee"Adena said as she scanned the place for the restrooms. She was holding it in the whole way in the Uber.

"Follow me"Missy said. Great because it was the perfect place to ask..."So what's up Adena? Something had to have happened if you're out partying on a Wednesday night"she said as she looked her up and down later as they washed their hands. "Oooh I like that slit. I see you! Legs out!"she said, hyping her up.

"You look so pretty"a few drunk girls said as they walked out.

"Thank you"Adena with a genuine smile.

"Adena, what happened"Missy repeated.

Kim rolled her eyes, subtle much? "Miss just leave it-"

"I was right. Deep down I was right..."Adena said sadly as she walked over to the girl handing out paper towels. The two of them dried their hands off and waited for her to finish. "I was right all along"Adena said as she threw the towel away and looked at herself in the mirror. Why didn't she even look like herself? She could've been in costume because she just looked differently. Granted she was wearing Kim's clothes and Kim did her makeup which was more than her signature lipgloss, mascara and moisturizer she always wore. Spending time doing makeup, spending so much money on it and watching tutorials was stuff she didn't have time for. She preferred the simple, natural look.

"Right about what?"Kim and Missy asked.

Adena took a deep breath. "Um he....."she paused and took a deep breath. "I....I can't even say it"she said as her bottom lip quivered and tears ran down her face. Kim and Missy went into crisis mode and hugged her.

"Oh no Dena, what did he do?"Kim asked her sadly.

"Or the question is, who did he do"Missy said with an attitude. How dare he?

"Missy shut up! You don't even know if he-"

"He did"Adena admitted as the towel girl handed her a couple paper towels so she could dab at her tears. Luckily, Kim's mascara wasn't running down her face.

"WHAT?"Kim asked her.

"See? Same old song"Missy said with a shake of her head as she rubbed Adena's back. "Who is she? Who is the bitch? Did you go through his phone?"

Kim waved her off,"What did he say?"

"I barely remember. I came home from work. All I wanted to do was go to bed but he said he wanted to talk. You guys, he said that he had a one on one talk with Dr. Osbourne earlier today so I thought he had some big breakthrough. You know? This is what I wanted. Then he said he had to be honest and I had to know everything. I tried to stop him but the next thing I know he says it wasn't just a kiss. He slept with this other girl"she choked out through her tears. This was the first time she even said it out loud. Was this real life? Or was this a nightmare? If so, why can't she wake up!?

"What else did he say?"Kim asked sadly as Missy paced angrily.

"I don't know....it's all a blur....I just know I had to get out of there. He dropped this massive bomb on me with no warning, when I said no!"

"Ok, well it's our turn to drop a bomb on him, how about that?"Missy said angrily. She was so angry. Adena didn't deserve this at all. She did everything right and she still came up short.

"Don't say 'bomb' Missy, are you kidding?"Kim asked as a few girls looked at them cautiously.

"Ok we'll beat his ass. Adena just tell me and I got you. I got people. I got my brothers. They will gladly beat his cheating disgusting ass-!"

"Next thing I knew I slapped him..."Adena said lost in thought as Missy and Kim looked at her with wide eyes. "Look what he's doing to me. That's not me! I don't do that! I don't do this!"

"You did the right thing. He deserved it!"Missy said. "I would've done the same thing."

"Ohmygod, I'm so sorry, you're so pretty too"a couple of drunk white girls said overhearing their conversation, which wasn't hard. They were dressed as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

"Thanks"Adena said with a forced smile. "I should go home...but no I don't wanna go home if he's there. I don't know why I came here. I just don't know what to do. What do I do?"she said as she wiped her tears and the white girls said 'Aww' sympathetically.

Next thing she knew, a group of drunk girls were gathered around them, complimenting her, telling her everything was going to be ok. "Girl take his credit card and go to the Ritz or something ridiculously expensive and stay there. Order all the room service, drink all the drinks in there, watch all the porn you want. You hit him, good. But hit him where it really hurts. His fucking wallet"one of the drunk girls dressed as Amy Winehouse said and they all agreed.

"He doesn't have a job. I'd just be spending my own money"Adena said as more tears ran down her face as "Amy" cringed. This was embarrassing.

They needed a Plan B.

"It's always the broke niggas that have the audacity to do something like that"another one of the randoms said as she fixed her afro in the mirror. She was dressed as Beyonce aka Foxy Cleopatra from the Austin Powers movie. "It's gonna be hard but let him go. He can't take care of you and he's cheating??? And you're so pretty! I don't understand. We give them everything and this is how they say thank you. They want us to be perfect, look perfect and all they bring to the table is a fucking Yankee's cap!? Please!"she said and the whole bathroom erupted in laughter.

"Yaaaassss Beyonce, say that!"

Sadly, Taye was worth more than that but it was actually funny and she was able to laugh a little. She was starting to feel a little better facing the reality of it all and the fact that all these drunk and random strangers stayed in the bathroom to console her tugged at her tipsy heartstrings. All the girls in the bathroom could relate in some way sadly. "Thank you guys, you could be anywhere in this club but you're here with me"she quoted.

"I can not stand seeing a beautiful girl crying in the bathroom while all those men are having the time of their lives out there!"

"They're all probably cheating on somebody right now!"an Alicia Keys lookalike said and they all groaned and laughed. Then the DJ started playing the infamous anthem, Back That Ass Up by Juvenile. They all cheered. They had to dance to this. Every random girl in the bathroom gave her a hug and then they left, trying to get some time on the dance floor before the song ended.

"I love drunk bitches"Missy said with a laugh.

"They were nice"Adena said.

"Ok. Real talk. Dena....what do you need? What do you wanna do?"Kim asked her.

"There you are!"FeeFee said as she walked in. "Been looking all over for you guys. I got us all some shots but we can't drink them in here."

Kim and Missy looked at her. As much as she wanted to go home, she also didn't want to ruin a good time for her friends, she did drag Kim out here. Maybe a change of scene may actually work for her heartbreak. "We can stay, just for a little while..."

"Hey Hollaback Girl! I ain't no hollaback girl!!!"a couple of drunk white girls said to FeeFee and she smiled widely, glad that someone figured it out.

"See?"Missy said knowingly.

"Dena, are you sure?"Kim asked her.

"Girl she's sure! Come on!"Missy said as she and FeeFee left the bathroom. They had a little time to twerk and then the DJ faded into something else. FeeFee passed them their shots.

Adena groaned inwardly. Ugh. Here we go. She faked a smile as they all toasted and they took theirs down. Except for her. She maybe did half of it. Blehhhh. "What the hell is this?"

"Tequila!"FeeFee said with a smile. "Now stay here. Don't go anywhere. I'ma get some more"she said as she rushed off.

Adena made a sour face like she had just eaten a mouthful of lemons. Tequila was never her thing. But she had to be a big girl. She needed to change her scene, try new things, Taye had no problem doing so behind her back. She frowned at the thought and took the rest of the shot down to distract herself. Did all tequila taste like this? She hated being the bougie one in the room but she liked what she liked. She wanted more wine...and some sleep. She cleared her throat, feeling it getting scratchy.

Another shot later, Adena was definitely over it. Even though the music was great, the atmosphere was great, her girls were having a great time, a lot of the costumes were great, FeeFee even sensed her dislike of the tequila and got her an apple martini but she still wanted to be anywhere else but here. She hated being the bougie wallflower but here she was. Nodding her head to the music, arms crossed, she kept clearing her throat and coughing, damn those shots, the martini was trying it's best to get the taste out but it wasn't strong enough. She felt she was getting a headache. She took her phone out of her purse and her eyes widened at the time. It was midnight. She had to be like Cinderella and get her ass out of here.

She looked around and saw Kim practically yelling in some guy's ear. She quickly figured out that he wasn't bothering her, they just couldn't hear each other in here. Missy was having the time of her life as she danced sandwiched between some Puerto Rican twins. Adena chuckled. She looked around and realized FeeFee was practically right next to her but she was talking, well screaming, to some other girls. "HE LITERALLY DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK......PRETENDING I'M NOT HERE.....HE'S THE FUCKING DJ.......KNOW HE SEES ME!"

Guess FeeFee's other options weren't a good enough distraction from her ex or whatever he was. She glanced toward the DJ booth to see what the fuss was about but she could barely see him.

"Hey shorty, why you look so mean? Come on and smile"someone said. Adena rolled her eyes once she realized they were talking to her. A man. "I know it's gotta be pretty-"

"Im gonna be blunt. Leave me alone"Adena said barely looking at him.

"Let me help put a smile back on your face"he said as he put his hand on the small of her back. "Loosen you up, come dance with me-"

Adena squirmed away and looked at him sternly,"Leave me the hell alone!"

"Yo, you heard her. Leave her alone"a guy said as he put his arms around her. Adena was a second away from elbowing this other guy right in his gut when he whispered,"Just go along with it. Don't worry, just play along..."

Problem was, she didn't want to.

"Oh thats you?"the guy asked him as he pointed to Adena,"My bad, you could've just said that.."he said, as another girl caught his eye."Hey shorty, why aren't you smiling?"he asked her as he followed her instead.

Wow. Lucky for him, it worked.

The guy then released her,"Sorry. I hate seeing women looking uncomfortable. No means no right? I had to jump to the rescue"he said to her.

"Thanks"she said, barely looking at him.

"No problem, had to help a beautiful girl in need. Really beautiful in fact. You remind me of my little sisters."he said. Then he paused and realized how that might have sounded. "I mean no.....wait that didn't sound right...."

"Goodbye!"she said as she put her empty martini glass down and walked closer to Kim and Missy. She glanced behind her and was grateful he didn't follow her either.

Why were men so creepy? Why weren't there any gentlemen in the world? She had to get out of here. She's had enough. Then someone bumped into her and some of their drink splashed onto her. They didn't even notice. "Let's find that fine ass bartender. I'm taking him home tonight"a girl dressed as Britney Spears from her "Oops I Did It Again" video cackled with her friends. She frowned as she wiped the drink off her arm. She looked at the many young women around her and wondered if any of them knew Taye...or kissed him. Did he come here? Did he act like the pushy guy or the creep? She didn't want to think about it. She wanted to go home.

But she couldn't go home.

Her head was definitely hurting now. She tapped Kim, who was now alone. "Can you believe it?"Kim asked her,"That guy I was talking to? He's fine, he smelled good and things are looking hopeful and then he admits he's married and asks if I'm interested. He's saying, 'I'm not going to lie. I like to fool around.' Like he's doing me a favor. That chick in the bathroom was right. I bet every single guy in here has a wife  they're cheating on just waiting at home"she said and then stopped,"Oh wait Adena I'm sorry-"

"You're forgiven if we get out of here"Adena said to her as she put her coat on and walked toward the door. She walked outside and actually welcomed the freezing cold air which was a huge contrast to all the heat, sweat and humidity inside. She walked to the curb, looked down the street and saw a couple taxi's coming towards them.

"I had to say goodbye to Missy and FeeFee"Kim said as she caught up to her. "You didn't even say goodbye-"

"They'll live"Adena said as she waved at the taxi's coming toward them and thankfully one slowed down. "Thank God"she said and practically opened the door before it could come to a complete stop. Kim got in next to her.

"Where to?"the driver asked them.

"The Grove in Brooklyn and...."Kim paused as she looked at Adena.

"I can't go home"Adena whispered sadly as she shook her head.

"That's it, the Grove please"Kim said to him, he nodded and pulled away from the curb.

She tried but the tears came back again. Her heart was broken and it was real. She didn't know what to do. What was she supposed to do? Kim put her arm around her and hugged her as she laid her head on her shoulder, trying to cry as softly as she could.

*

However, once a Capricorn realizes he or she has made a mistake in choosing a mate, then the parting will be abrupt and final.

*

https://youtu.be/Kgjkth6BRRY