Capricorn
Chapter 9

Expectations
The typical Capricorn expects:
* to be taken seriously
* to make a long-term commitment
* faithfulness
* privacy
* to make a home and a family
* to be admired by the loved one

*

For the first time in years, maybe even a decade, Adena overslept. It didn't help that her phone was on silent and do not disturb. Kimberly was passed out as well since it was a freezing Saturday morning before noon. She happened to roll over, half awake, as a small bird tapped on the window. She opened her eyes and smiled. 

It was Grandma. She knew it. Grandma loved birds and she always used to say that when a bird tapped on, looked inside or even flew into the window, it was a sign from a loved one that had passed on. A red bird used to come around almost every time Grandma would visit and she was convinced it was her husband, Adena's Grandpa. "He's just checking on us to see if we're ok."

It was Grandma this time. She was checking on her to see if she was ok.

The problem was she wasn't. She wasn't ok at all. Besides Grandma passing just a couple months ago, this was probably the worst time of her young adult life. The real world wasn't in her favor anymore. She used to feel blessed and grateful to be blessed. "Too blessed to be stressed." Now it was the other way around, it seemed like every day got worse. She wanted to sleep until this was over. She didn't want to go-

Adena jumped up and grabbed her phone. It was almost 11am! She was supposed to be at the gallery an hour ago!! She had 30 missed calls from Donatella and the gallery. 

"Shit!"she said as she ran into the bathroom. Kim opened her eyes and sat up a little. Once Adena closed the bathroom door, she passed out again. Her sleep was interrupted 15 minutes later as Adena burst out of the bathroom after taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth.

"Girl where's the fire?"Kim asked with a yawn.

"I'm late! An hour late!"Adena said as she put a bra and panties on and threw her wet towel over the bathroom door. "Can I-"

"Yeah girl go ahead"Kim said once she saw what time it was. "It's ok, it's not the end of the world"she said as she watched Adena snatch a few items from her closet and put them on, struggling to put them on quickly. 

"I wish that were true"Adena said as she put on a sweater and threw on some boots. 

"Donatella has other employees. I'm sure they can pick up the slack for you."

"Yeah if anyone else volunteered. It's a big show so it's a lot of work and responsibility and no one wants to work on Saturdays."

"Just breathe, everything will be fine."Kim said calmly to her.

Adena didn't listen to her as she threw on her coat, purse and picked up her phone. She glanced out the window and saw the little bird still sitting there.

Thanks Grandma.

"It'll be over before you know it and you can come back here and go straight back to bed. I'm serious. No cooking tonight, Adena. You need rest."

"I know Kim!"Adena snapped at her. "This is all my fault-"

"That's not what I meant-"

"I gotta go"Adena said, slamming the door behind her.

Kim sighed, feeling bad, she was just trying to help, she wasn't scolding or blaming her. But she's stressed and isn't thinking straight. She hoped the showing won't take too long. She felt if anything else caught Adena off guard she would surely snap. She heard a tapping at the window and saw a bird. She rolled her eyes, grabbed the closest thing to her, which was a small pillow, and threw it at the window. The bird flew away. She lay back down but she knew falling back asleep wasn't happening.

"Ohmygod"Adena said as she did her hair while sitting in the backseat of her Uber. She looked at herself in the small compact mirror in her makeup bag and hated what she saw. She looked sick. She looked like she got no sleep. The problem was, she did. 12 hours actually. But by the looks of the dark circles under her eyes, blemishes, dry skin and some acne, it did no good. She coughed and winced as it irritated her throat. Ugh.

"Water ma'am?"the driver asked as they held up a small bottle of water.

"Thank you"Adena said gratefully. She had to fix her face because she looked "toe up." She put on as much concealer as she could to cover the dark circles but the lack of light in the car wasn't helping.

It took forever to arrive. She practically flew out the car before it finally pulled to a complete stop  in front of the gallery. The freezing weather woke her up more and she regretted not closing her jacket. She didn't see the small group of people waiting outside the gallery already for the show. One of them said something to her as she ran past them and tried to open the doors but they were locked. She pulled on the heavy glass door and sighed.

"I told you it was locked"one of the people in the group told her with a shrug. "Hey can you ask them to open early? It's horrible out here"they asked her. Adena nodded, looked in and caught Lloyd's eye. His face instantly brightened and he mouthed and pointed for her to come through the side door. She nodded and ran around to the side of the building and met Lloyd at the door.

"Ohmygod Adena we were so worried"Lloyd said as he held her close. "We really thought something happened to you. This isn't like you-"

"I know I know, I'm so sorry, I overslept"Adena said as she walked in. She threw her purse on Lloyd's front desk and threw her coat over it. She sighed as she looked around. "Are you here by yourself?"

Lloyd winced and nodded. Her eyes widened. "Donatella got upset and left..."

"Left where?"

"She's heading to your place right now, she left 15 minutes ago."

"Ohmygod"Adena said as she put her head in her hands.

"But you're fine! You're here. We have 27 minutes until we open this place-"

"She's gonna kill me"Adena said with a sigh.

"She won't. She was mad but she was more worried than anything."

"I have to call her"Adena said as she tapped her phone and let the call connect but it went straight to voicemail. She sighed and tried again. Voicemail. "Donatella. It's me. I'm here. I'm so sorry. You gotta believe me. I overslept. I'm ok. Come on back. Lloyd and I got it from here until you get here"she said as cheerfully but empathetic as she could and then hung up. "I hope she gets it in time."

"But let's not think about that. The art showing must go on. Kehinde Wiley finally confirmed and he's coming"Lloyd said giddily as he jumped up and down as he clapped.

"He is?!"Adena asked in shock. Lloyd nodded. He had been ignoring their calls and invitations for months. She felt so thrown off. One of her favorite artists was coming and she wasn't on her A game. That had to change right now. A few knocks came at the front door and it was the small group hanging out waiting to get in. "Shit I forgot, can they come in and wait? It's freezing out there."

Lloyd raised his hands in surrender. "You're the boss now."

"Fine, take a look at their tickets and let them in and just tell them to sit there and don't touch anything"she said and he nodded. She looked at her phone. 20 minutes. THE Kehinde Wiley was coming and she only had 20 minutes. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself. Trying not to think about Taye, or the divorce, or Donatella being upset AND running all over the city to find her, or her being late and possibly fucking up the whole show. She didn't have the time for that. 

She had another coughing fit but pressed through and got straight to work.

*

Many Capricorns tend to have difficulty thrust upon them at any moment. Sometimes it could be as serious a problem like a chronic illness but they always bear it with great fortitude.

*

Adena's anxiety rose when Donatella returned, with 5 minutes to spare. She can see it on her face that she was pissed. She went to her. "Donatella-"

"Who are they?"she ignored her as she took off her designer shades. Adena turned and noticed her looking at the small group waiting at the front of the gallery. A long line already formed in front of the gallery, which was a good sign.

"They came pretty early and it's so cold outside so we let them wait-"

"Inside?!"Donatella said in shock and Adena turned into Lloyd by wincing and nodding. "You should have let them freeze. They're not supposed to see the place until it's in tip top shape. Do you know how unprofessional we must look?"

Adena sighed. Great, another mistake. What was wrong with her today? "I'm sor-"

"Nope we don't have time. We will talk about this....stunt you pulled later when the showing is over." Adena pursed her lips and nodded. She wanted to ask what happened when she got to her apartment. Was Taye there? Did he answer? Did he tell her that he hadn't seen her in days? "Do you have makeup?"she asked her, interrupting her racing thoughts.

"What?"she asked as a cough started to escape her throat.

"You need it, Adena. Come on. Kehinde Wiley is coming. We have to be perfect and you look...tired. Get a glass of water too"she said as she handed her some lipstick out of her purse and walked off. Adena sighed and continued to cough, did she just call her ugly? 

She got her purse and went into the women's bathroom. When she looked into the mirror, she had to agree with Donatella. She didn't look good at all. She looked as good as she felt, which was like shit. She tried to pull herself together as she put on Donatella's lipstick which was a very bright fire engine red. Too bright for her taste but she had no choice. She did her best with the 3 minutes she had and then rushed out.

It was showtime.

*

Other sicknesses linked to Capricorn are rheumatism, bone diseases, sterility, damage to legs and knees, skin problems and depression.

*

Despite all the drama before the opening, it seemed to go off without a hitch. Most of the artists that were displayed had come, all of the pieces were amazing, and when they opened the doors at 12pm on the dot, a painting was sold 15 minutes later. Things were looking up. As more people came in and more paintings were admired and sold, Adena finally started to relax. She started feeling more like herself once she started mingling and schmoozing with New York's art elite. 

At 1pm, Kehinde Wiley arrived. He was an extremely talented artist, he has painted some of the most beautiful portraits Adena had ever seen. They were colorful, raw, real and always featured young Black men. Not only that but he made them look regal and powerful putting the men on horses and holding swords, basing his work off of historic paintings from the late 1700's. Michael Jackson called him himself for a portrait and his career took off. In 2017, he became well known when former President Barack Obama commissioned Kehinde to paint his portrait for the historic art museum, The National Portrait Gallery, in Washington D.C. Kehinde's portrait of Obama is hanging right next to the other White presidents of the United States starting from George Washington's well known portrait. He is the first male African American artist ever commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery which is fitting for our first Black president. 

So you can imagine everyone's faces when history walked through the door, photographers and art fans soon surrounding him. He caused quite a commotion. Adena stood there frozen, open mouthed from finally seeing him in person. "Don't just stand there"Donatella whispered in her ear as she rushed over to welcome him to HER gallery. 

Adena shook herself out of it and was about to walk over when she had another coughing fit. It was so loud and rough on her throat and vocal chords, she felt she may be losing her voice. She hated when people stared at her with raised eyebrows. She gulped down some water and slathered her hands in hand sanitizer.

"Champagne?"a waiter asked her and she took a glass off the tray. This would be her third one but she didn't feel a thing. Her immunity must've definitely gotten stronger this week. She took another glass, took a deep breath and walked over to the crowd surrounding Kehinde. He was taking pictures with Donatella. 

"Welcome to Donatella's gallery, Mr. Wiley. We are so ecstatic you came, especially me, I've studied your work"she said as she handed him the glass of champagne. 

He took it from her and gave her a wincing smile. "What's your name?"

"Adena. Adena Hough..."then she stopped. Should she go by her maiden name from now on? She stammered and laughed nervously,"Houghton. Adena Houghton"she said as she shook his hand. She didn't have time to think about that right now though it hurt her to say her own last name, which soon wouldn't be hers any longer.

"Thank you Adena"he said and then leaned in closer and whispered,"I'm gonna need it."

Adena chuckled politely. What did that mean? "How about we take a look around, see what we have?"she asked him. Maybe she could get back into Donatella's good graces if she got Kehinde to purchase a piece.

"Ok"he said unenthused as he followed her. Unfortunately they didn't get to see much, everyone wanted to speak with him. 

After some time, Lloyd rushed over to her and told her that Kehinde's two new paintings had finally arrived. Not only did he come but he had two brand new paintings to debut and they would surely sell. He made their showing a success before it even started. 

"Excuse me Mr. Wiley, I'm being pulled in multiple directions. I'll come back as soon as I can so we can finish looking around-"

"That's not necessary Ms. Houghton, I've seen quite enough"he said with a slightly raised eyebrow.

What did that mean? 

"Mr. Wiley is there something wr-"

"When you come back bring me another glass of champagne please or something stronger"he said to her as a journalist approached him.

"Right away"she said with a frown. Why did she have a feeling that Kehinde was displeased? What happened? Did she do something else wrong? Did she look sick? Did he not like how she looked?

"Adena!"Donatella clapped at her.

"Yes"Adena said, shaking off her insecurities...or just shutting them up for now.

"Tell them where to put the pieces"Donatella whispered to her with a fake smile on her face.

"Yes Donatella"she said as she walked over to the movers and told them where to put the new pieces. She made sure they were situated perfectly and the cloths over the paintings were secure. 

"Are we good ma'am?"one of the movers said with a sigh after moving the paintings around more than they cared to. She was about to nod and say yes as she fixed the cloth on the other painting and then she started to cough again. She grabbed her throat and winced at the pain and noticed everyone looking at her again.

"Adena, don't get your germs on the paintings"Donatella said jokingly with a fake laugh as she shooed her away. "Thank you gentleman"she said to them and signed a few forms.

"Are you sure you're ok Adena?"Lloyd asked her.

"I just have a bad cough"she said in a raspy voice. 

"Let me get you some tea"he said and ran off. She nodded as a thank you. Poor thing was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, which was the usual for him. Unfortunately, that's all he was doing today.

She got another glass of champagne for Kehinde and looked around for him and then stopped short as she saw someone walk through the front doors. 

It was Taye. 

*