Capricorn
Chapter 8

Compatibility:
Capricorn with Capricorn: Harmonious
Capricorn with Aquarius: Harmonious
Capricorn with Pisces: Harmonious
Capricorn with Aries: Difficult
Capricorn with Taurus: Harmonious
Capricorn with Gemini: Turbulent
Capricorn with Cancer: Difficult
Capricorn with Leo: Turbulent
Capricorn with Virgo: Harmonious
Capricorn with Libra: Difficult
Capricorn with Scorpio: Harmonious
Capricorn with Sagittarius: Harmonious

*

Kimberly walked into her apartment and sighed when she saw that it was cleaner than it ever was. It's never been this clean actually. She normally wouldn't mind, but she did because she knew who did it. "Dena?"she called as she walked in.

"Hey"Adena said to her as she popped her head out of the kitchen,"I'm making dinner. I invited Missy over too if you don't mind, she should be here soon."

Kimberly looked at the huge meal being made before her. It was like it was a small version of Thanksgiving. "Dena you didn't have to-"

"But I do. I was at work all day and I did some overtime mind you, and it hit me. I thought to myself. I want some of my homemade ziti with all the works and now I can"Adena said to her,"Oh and don't worry. I know I used most of your appliances and utensils but they will be spotless when I'm done."

"Adena, you need some rest. You aren't tired? The last thing you need to be doing is working overtime, being a clean freak and cooking 4 course dinners"Kimberly said to her. She was worried that she was so worried about her. She tried to take Missy's advice and let Adena get her frustration out her way but the way she did it was exhausting, it was exhausting just to watch. And she could see how tired she was but she wasn't going to say that out loud,"You need to slow down a little, breathe"she said to her. That was the most sugary coated way she could find to say that she looked like she was ready to collapse.

After Taye revealed the news, Adena didn't go back to the apartment or back to Dr. Osbourne. After what Adena told them at Fever, Kimberly offered her to stay and she could stay as long as she needed. Now she wonders if she made a mistake. It's only Friday and she's only been here 48 hours but she never saw Adena, she was always at work or asleep. And when she did see her, she was cleaning the whole apartment and cooking. Just yesterday Adena made a homemade cheesecake, stuffed turkey and cleaned both bathrooms until they were spotless. She felt like she was turning her best friend into her cook and maid.

"I don't need to breathe. I'm fine"Adena assured her quickly. If Kim wasn't so caught up in how Adena was, she would have laughed at how her answer made no sense at all. "Now change out of your work clothes. You need to relax and don't worry, you can leave everything up to me"she said as a bell rang. Kimberly looked around in confusion, she didn't even know that she had a timer in this place. Adena rushed and opened the oven and checked the ziti. Kimberly gave up and walked to her bedroom but stopped when she saw a plastic bag on her bed. It had toiletries and two new packs of panties and a couple new bras.

"Adena, this plastic bag is yours?"she called out to her.

"Oh my bad"Adena said as she rushed in. I meant to put some of this stuff in your bathroom-"

"Why did you buy all new stuff? You could've just went home-"

"I'm not going back there. Why would I do that?"Adena said, not looking at her as she put her things on the sink in her bathroom.

"Adena, what about clothes? All you have are bras, panties and the outfit you came in the other day. You've been wearing my stuff since you got here."

"I know I'm sorry. Not anymore. I even washed them all for you and put them all back. I'm gonna go to the Goddess Closet and get some clothes. I got a text from them saying they're having a BOGO this weekend. Perfect timing right? We should go tomorrow before I go to the gallery."

The Goddess Closet was their favorite thrift store that had really cute stuff for cheap. Missy worked there as well and always hooked them up with a discount. "Dena, granted that they have good and cheap stuff but why spend all this money when you have all this stuff already sitting at home?"

"I told you I'm not going back there. Ever"Adena said with a blank stare.

"Never say never. I know you don't want to see him. We just gotta go get your stuff when he's not there."

"He's always home. Now that I'm gone he's probably living it up with his boys, playing his Xbox and overdosing on pizza. I swear if I go back there and that's what I see? I'm gonna lose it. And if he's not there...."

"If he's not there what?"

"That means he's probably with her....I don't want to see that either. I'm not going."

"He could be at his Mom's or at the store, we don't know for sure that's where he is."

"That's probably why he told me. Not to clear his guilty conscience, he told me because he knew I would come running to you or Missy. He wanted me gone so he wouldn't feel guilty. Coming home at 5am to no one waiting up for you is pretty fucking convenient wouldn't you say? I mean shit, he hasn't called me since yesterday. He's doing just fine. So fine that he doesn't care how I am or what I'm doing."

"He told me he thinks you blocked him."

"I've had my phone on Do Not Disturb because I don't want his cheating ass disturbing my peace!"Adena snarked, getting riled up. "Wait, you talked to him?"

"Yeah, he's been checking up to see if you're ok through me. He's worried, he's called nonstop since you left."

"Well stop. Let him suffer. I don't want you talking to him."

The foreign ringing of a timer interrupted them and Kim had to drop it for now as Adena rushed out of the room. She sighed. She needed to just leave her alone like Missy said. But she couldn't help it. She was close to Adena and Taye. It was hard being in the middle of them. She was trying to help them both as much as she could but it seemed she needed to choose a side now. She had to think about Adena and what she wanted, if she had to choose.

Which was fucked up and very hard for her to do. She changed and slipped on some flip flops.

An hour later, Missy arrived. "Hot damn it smells good in here!"she said excitedly as she hugged Adena.

Adena looked at her,"Have you been smoking?"she asked her.

"Hell yeah. I had a stressful day at work"Missy said as she put a 6 pack of Red Stripe on the counter,"Needed to let loose if you know what I mean"she said and winked.

"Why can't you let loose without any type of substance every once in awhile?"Adena asked her,"Knit or something, that relieves my stress. Cooking and cleaning too, at least you can do something productive while you're doing it." She then instantly thought about her grandma since what she just said was something that she would say. She tried to shake it away as fast as it came.

Kimberly looked at Missy and she caught it. Missy decided to ignore that comment,"Geez how old am I? 80?"she scoffed. Adena was now giving her the look,"Well sorry Dena but damn, you're 23 not 73. Loosen up a little."

"I am loose"Adena said and then quickly corrected herself,"Not like that."

"Oh we all know that. That's what you need but you two aren't ready for that conversation, so we ready to eat?"Missy asked as she ate one of the cocktail shrimps as she hoisted herself onto the counter, then adjusted her tight vintage Apple Bottom jeans.

"Yes the table is set but I'm gonna change really quick"Adena said.

'Into what?', Kimberly wanted to ask her.

"You look fine"Missy said. "Real professional for my taste but you look fine to me."

"I don't want to be smelling like the inside of the oven when I'm trying to relax and eat"Adena said as she left the room and went to change in Kimberly's room.

"These are good"Missy said with a shrug as she ate another piece of shrimp, adjusting her jeans again. She liked her clothes skin tight. She looked at Kimberly and noticed that she was giving her a look again,"What?"she asked her.

*

On the whole, typical Capricorns pursue the following leisure interests: reading, gardening, and improving the home...

*

Taye sighed as he paused the music playing on his bluetooth radio. He was listening to some old school R&B and every song that played in the last 15-20 minutes was a throwback breakup anthem and he couldn't listen anymore. Did the whole music industry know that his marriage was basically over?

He unlocked his phone and put the music on shuffle.

"She's out of my life....."

"Nope"Taye said immediately and changed it.

"I miss you....."

"Nope"he said again, getting frustrated, changing it again.

A more upbeat song started to play, he hasn't heard this song in awhile.....ahhhh he should know this. What was this song called?

"If your girl only knew that you were trying to get with me-"

"Fuck it"Taye said as he turned the bluetooth connection off completely and tossed his phone on the couch. Was the universe trying to tell him something? Because if the universe is saying what he did was wrong, he already knew that. The universe should be all caught up on his mistakes. He needed help to fix this but he didn't know what to do, how to do it. That's what he needed the universe to tell him.

Then all of a sudden, he started to cry. He was emotionally exhausted and felt like he was going to lose it. He wondered what she was doing. He knew she was with Kim but he was still worried about her. He wiped away his tears, picked up his phone and called her for the 50th time it seemed. He didn't know, he stopped counting. Of course, he went straight to voicemail.

"Dena, it's me. I'm just worried about you...ok? I know that you may never want to see me again and....I understand. But if this ends....I want to end this right. I still love you and I always will and I'm so sorry....just call me back. We don't even have to talk about all that now if you're not ready. I just need to know if you're ok. I know you're with Kim and she's got you. Just tell me you're ok? Please?"he said and then hung up. He knew that request was in vain as well as the other texts he's sent her. He thought about calling Kim to just check in but he didn't want to bother her so much that she would block him too. He was surprised she was even answering. Kim has always been the level headed one. Adena was pretty level headed too but she tended to get real emotional, especially at times like this. Well who wouldn't be....he definitely was.

As much as he wanted to, he wasn't going to give up, she had to answer sometime right?

*

If the partner, in marriage or business, is lost through death or similar misfortune, Capricorns of both sexes find it hard to replace the partner and will tend to draw within themselves.

*

"Dena! Earth to Dena!"Missy basically shouted at her.

Adena quickly snapped out of her reverie,"What?"she asked.

"Pass the bread"Missy said to her. Adena passed the bowl to her and faked a smile."I'm loving this bread girl, everything is good. You should be a chef. You should get upset more often too. I've been eating good the past couple of days."

Kimberly shook her head, she wondered if Missy even thought before she spoke or was she intentionally so rude? "Missy my God...."

"I mean....I didn't mean it like that....you know what I mean"Missy said to her and then let out a huge burp.

"Excuse you?"Adena asked her.

"Yeah whatever"Missy said as she shrugged it off and drank a huge gulp of the Red Stripe. She refused to drink the white wine that Kimberly and Adena were drinking. She didn't haul the whole 6 pack here for nothing.

"Wine doesn't make you burp"Adena said as she lightly sipped the rest of her wine. She loved Missy but she wondered sometimes how they got along. They were total opposites. But she had to love her, even if she was the most ghetto girl on the planet, which was what she loved about her at the same time.

"It doesn't get you shit faced either"Missy said to her with a laugh. They continued to eat,"So...what are you gonna do now Dena?"she asked her.

"Huh?"Adena asked her. She was chewing so loud that she couldnt hear.

"What are you going to do? Taye admitted that he fucked some other girl. Two days ago. What are you gonna do about it? You can't hide forever. You need to find the bitch and shank her"Missy said, getting mad for her.

"That's ok-"

"No Dena it's not. Fuck it, I will. Just say the word and I can have Boog and JJ kick his little preppy ass"Missy said.

"That's fine Missy please. They dont have to gang bang him." Again, Kim was too caught up in her head to laugh at how that comment didn't make sense but then her eyes widened as they heard Adena's phone ringing. Uh oh. Adena normally wouldn't answer the phone during dinner but she was expecting some important calls. It was probably Donatella. "Excuse me."

"Uh huh"Missy said as she laughed at Adena's last comment,"Gang bang"she said. She looked at Kimberly and there was the look, she sighed,"Ok Kim what the fuck?"

"I'm worried about her"Kimberly said,"I'm sick of having my house cleaned and coming home to a cook. She's wearing my clothes. I want my friend back."

"What do you expect?"Missy asked her,"Her heart is broken and she is trying to deal with it. I mean she can stay with me...if you don't want her. I would love to have my place cleaned."

"Missy!"

"What? It's what's making her happy. We are her friends. We need to make her happy while she is feeling down and offering my place for her to clean will be really great actually. It would make us both happy"Missy said and then stuffed some ziti in her mouth. Kimberly shook her head.

Unfortunately, the call was from a number that Adena didn't recognize. Hmmm wait, when did she turn her Do Not Disturb off? She didn't even realize it until now. She hasn't been thinking too clearly. She sighed, it was Kim probably. She noticed that she had a voicemail and checked it. But then she realized the unknown person didn't leave it just as she pressed play. Taye did. Then she heard his voice. "Dena, it's me. I'm just worried about you...ok?"

The sound of his voice paralyzed her. He sounded upset, she could hear it in his voice. He almost didn't sound like himself. She couldn't bring herself to stop the message and let it play. Curiosity maybe? Or maybe because this was the first voicemail he's left since she left. He's been texting nonstop. He even messaged her on Instagram and Facebook to try to get to her. Pathetic. But soon she was doing the same, being pathetic. She glanced toward the kitchen to see if Kim or Missy was close by. She took the phone into the bathroom, closed the door and sat down on top of Kim's red fluffy toilet seat lid.

Adena didn't want to, but she listened to Taye's message again. And again. It wasn't the important call that she was expecting but she couldn't help it. She was in shock still but wasn't ready to let go. But she had to. He had to pay. She had to hurt him like he hurt her, through the silent treatment, divorce papers and prenup agreements of course. After listening to his voicemail a few more times, she forced herself to hang up. She then just sat there for who knows how long, staring at the wall.

"Dena, you ok?"a knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. The door wasn't locked and Kim peeked her head in. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah"Adena nodded slowly. Now her body and mind had finally slowed down and was brought back to reality. She couldn't cook this all away, work herself to the bone....but now that she did all that for 48 hours straight, she had no desire to do anything. She had no energy at all.

"Girl, you should lay down. You look tired"Kim said to her.

She usually would've gotten offended by her honesty if she had the energy but she didn't. Her head was throbbing. For the past few days now too, since she left. She was so stressed but she had to be strong and go to work tomorrow, even though it was a Saturday. "Yeah ok"she said and got up.

"Go ahead and lay on the bed. I won't bite. My couch is only comfortable for napping"Kim said as Adena slowly walked past her. She walked back out to the kitchen where Missy was still eating. She reached for her purse and searched for her small bottle of aspirin. She looked around for a glass of water but there wasn't one close by. She felt if she walked all the way to the other side of the kitchen, she would collapse. That was too far.

Missy said something to her but she ignored her. It was like her ears were clogged. She needed something to wash the pills down. She saw Missy's beer and without a care in the world, she grabbed the bottle and took a huge gulp and popped the pills in her mouth. She took a few extra gulps and sat the bottle down and sighed after the beer and pills were swallowed. "Um you're welcome!"Missy said with a nervous laugh as she caught Kim's eye across the room.

"I'm going to bed"Adena managed to say as she walked slowly past Kim and back into the bedroom and closed the door. She didn't bother changing, she got under the covers fully clothed and passed out.

"Damn, bitch drank the rest of my beer"Missy said as she waved her empty bottle.

*

Worry, heavy responsibilities, gloomy moods, and general pessimism tend to take their toll on Capricornean health, so Capricorns need brightening up sometimes and should learn to relax.

*

https://youtu.be/MkEATnHMYIs