Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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 he or she can change and go on to another appointment, or stay all night if necessary
*
Craig felt overjoyed when he saw Adena. It was his first day on the job outside of training and it was very last minute. One of the cooks were sick and his manager called him. He was always singing his praises and felt he had talent. He was glad. But now he felt like a fool wearing his chef's coat, plaid pants and cooks hat. He thought about if he saw Adena again, that he would wear something different. But she looked like the way he pictured her. She looked happy too. She was wearing a red sweater dress that had a turtleneck and no sleeves, it had little red sparkles on it too. She had on red heels and her hair was straight but it looked a little more fuller and was curly at the end. He didn't know how to really describe it but she looked beautiful. The rest of his team went to work and he smiled at her,"Hey Adena, your looking good"he said to her
Adena smiled at him. She vowed to herself that if she ever saw Craig again, she would blow him off because she just wasn't ready to talk yet. But now that he was standing in front of her, in all his fine glory, she couldn't do it. She really had missed him. "Hey yourself"she finally said,"Thanks...you too. I love your hat"she said and laughed
"Thanks...its all the rage now"he said,"How have you been?"
"Good....I'm...good"she said, still speechless
"Well that's good....that your good"he said with a smile. He was about to ask her something else when his boss whispered a command in his ear and walked off. "Oh ugh...gotta go....I'll talk to you later?"he asked her
She nodded,"Of course"she said to him
But they didn't talk for awhile. He was busy cooking, serving and attending to the food. She was busy attending to the guests, artists and Donatella. The night was a success. Some paintings were sold after only the first hour. A lot of art critics came which made Donatella go into a drinking frenzy, but surprisingly she behaved herself. Last year she ended up throwing a drink in a critics face when he commented on one of her favorite artists.
When she had a break, she got a glass of wine and walked around and looked at the paintings. She never got to really study them, she was so busy. She looked at Rockie Steel's collection. He was the new artist added only a week ago. His theme was Love Stinks. She stared at a picture of a broken heart. It was really moving and very....red.
"Love stinks"she heard him say and she smiled as she turned to him. He handed her a plate with some four cheese lasagna on it.
"Thank you"she said,"Oooh this is lovely"
"Thanks....made it myself"he said shyly
"Oh look at you"she said with a smile,"That's great"she said and then chewed and continued to look at the picture with him,"So you think so?"
"Huh?"
"Love stinks?"
"Yeah. Haven't been lucky with it lately. And its Valentine's Day and I'm stuck at work here with plaid pants that are a size too small"he said with a laugh
Adena laughed,"So you feel that your stuck here?"she asked him, pretending to be offended
"At first, but then I saw you"he said,"What do you think? Does love stink?"he asked her
She nodded. Her divorce would be final soon. And she could remember what happened last Valentine's Day. But she tried to block those memories out of her mind. "But hopefully it will get better"she said
"Who is this painter?"he asked as they looked at the rest of Rockie Steel's love stinks collection
"Rockie Steel. He's from California. He's new and very good but can be too raw sometimes"she said as she couldn't look at the photos of a heart bleeding on a operating table, but surprisingly someone had bought it too.
"I like it. It's different. Everyone else is very....mushy"he said and then stopped at a painting of two girls kissing. "Whoa....I'm liking that"he said
"I bet"she said with a laugh,"That's Kathy LeVeau's collection. She's a active lesbian and very passionate about her sexual preference...as you can see"she said since all her paintings and photos involved women. She looked around and saw her making out with someone."There she is"
"With the mohawk?"Craig asked. Adena nodded,"Well...if I had $600 I would hang this up"he said
"Someone beat you to it"she said, proud to see that it was sold as well. They commented on more paintings and then they were both reminded that they were at work. Both got pulled away from the other at various points of the evening. The night ended up being a success.
"We'll see what the critics reveal in the morning"Donatella said as she downed another glass of champagne. She grabbed a bottle of the table and went to her office,"The night went well. I'm retiring to my office now"she said as she went upstairs to her office. She usually drank all night and slept in her office and then read the reviews as they hit the newsstands hours later. Then she would drink some more no matter what the review was. Lloyd, Adena and some others cleaned up the gallery and Craig and his team cleaned up their food items and loaded them onto the truck. He came up to her as she was waving bye to Lloyd.
"Hey congrats on a good night"
"Thanks, you too"she said
"You...ugh....doing anything right now?"he asked her
"No...."she said as she looked at her watch. It was 2 am.
"Its too late isn't it?"he asked her
"No....my apartment is down the street actually, did you wanna come?"she asked and she surprised herself. She wasn't supposed to invite him but something inside her did.
"Sure, it's new?"he asked her. She nodded. She locked up and they left and he hailed a taxi. Once there, she automatically turned on the fireplace and put her purse on the table and hung up her coat. "Wow, this is nice"he said as he walked around the living room,"Awesome view"he said,"Much better than my place"he said
"Thanks"she said,"I love it too. But your place is just as nice"
"I think I'm gonna catch the flu and crash here"he said and laughed.
"Very funny"she said as she hung up his jacket. "Did you want anything?"she asked him
"Where's your bathroom?"he asked her,"I wanna change"he said as he held up a duffel bag
"Yeah, down there, 2nd door on the left"she said. As he went to the bathroom she went into the kitchen and made them some coffee. He came back with a sweater and jeans. "You look like yourself now"she said as she handed him the coffee
"Thanks"he said as he took the mug and smiled. They sat down on her sofa and stared at the view and caught up. She told him about what she did after she left, her job, and how the divorce was going. He told her about his new job and Fever and anything else that seemed important. "I'm glad that your happy now. You are aren't you?"he asked her
"I think so. Or at least content"she said,"But that's better than what I was"she said and then she grabbed his hand,"I'm sorry
"For what?"
"For....everything. The last time I saw you....we were arguing in the parking lot"
"That night was rough Adena, I understand. You got a surprise party you didn't want. And then Taye and Felicia...."he stopped,"It was a bad day for you and I'm sorry"
"But it was the thought that counted. And I didn't even thank you for it"
"I don't want you to thank me for it....it was terrible"he said,"I was never a birthday person either. But things changed....."he trailed off. She waited for him to say more. "Remember how I told you that you reminded me of my little sisters?"he asked her
She nodded,"Yeah"
"You do. I don't know why. I have two...well had two. One's living with my father in London. The other, is no longer here"
"I'm sorry"Adena said as she squeezed his hand.
"Her name was Amanda. She died 2 1/2 years ago. In a car accident"he said,"She was a joy. She was only 8 then....she was my little angel. She loved birthdays. I gave her two surprise parties.....she made me see that birthdays are very special. Its not about cake and presents. It was a celebration of life. Her birthday would have been 2 weeks ago. After her death, I don't know...Ive been a birthday fanatic. I think that's why I was so adamant on making you forget your birthday last year, forget the memories and just have you celebrate"
Adena nodded,"I'm so sorry Craig. I didn't know..."
"I'm not blaming you"he said sadly as tears came to his eyes,"It's my fault"
"No it's not"she said
"No it is. We went to Long Island, to the beach. I had promised her for weeks and something always came up. Finally we were able. I didn't notice that she didn't have her seatbelt on, she must have taken it off while I was driving, it had started to rain hard and we left early. I was driving...we got in an accident...she didn't survive..."he said and started to cry
"Oh no Craig"she said as she hugged him close,"Its not your fault"
"I could have prevented it"he said as he stood up and wiped his tears, pacing angrily. "This car came out of nowhere...I was in shock for a few seconds...I couldn't do a thing and I swerved out of the way, but it was too late, the car hit her side.....if I had done something in those few seconds...."
"Craig, stop it. Its not your fault"Adena said sternly as she walked up to him and hugged him."Its not your fault. You tried your best....you tried your best"she said calmly to him. She was crying herself. They stood there in an embrace for awhile and then he pulled away.
"I'm sorry. I think I snuck a little too much champagne"he said. "And your coffee is making me emotional"he said
"You needed to talk about it obviously. You've kept it bottled up?"she asked him. He nodded. He told Ron about it but not all the details that he had told her. He had told no one. He kinda felt better, but he missed her. "Do you want something to eat?"she asked him. He nodded. She made them sandwiches and he helped her. He told her about Amanda and all the cute things she did. They were very close.
"I wish I had siblings. I'm an only child"she said
"Have you talked to your parents?"he asked her
"Yeah, a week ago or so. We had a coming to Jesus I guess. I apologized about what had happened"she said. She smiled at him,"My mother said thank you"
"To me? For what?"
"For taking care of me. For throwing me a party and everything. She said that she could tell that you just wanted to make me happy"she admitted.
"Tell her your welcome"he said. Adena took a hold of his hand.
"Thank you"
"Don't mention it"he said. They sat there in silence. "I missed you Adena"
"I missed you. I'm sorry. I....wanted to call so many times but I didn't know what to say"
"Its fine. We are talking now. We've been talking a lot, we have learned some things about each other yes?"he asked her. She nodded. "Is this the last time I'm gonna see you? Are you going to run away again?"
"No Craig....at least not from you"she said
"Good"he said,"Missy misses you. She and Ron are fucking now"
"Oh God"Adena said with a laugh,"But their perfect for each other....I miss her too. And Kim. I need to call them but..."
"You don't know what to say?"he asked her. She nodded,"It will come"he said,"Missy basically lives with us now so...if you come over, she'll be there"
Adena laughed,"She replaced me huh?"
"Yeah and she makes such a mess"he said with a laugh
Adena laughed,"I actually thought that you liked her. I thought you two were dating but you were just planning my surprise party"
Craig laughed,"Yeah that's it. She isn't my type. Anyways, I like someone else"he said
"Really?"she asked him and he nodded.
"Can I kiss you?"he asked her. "Since I like you and all"he said to her. She nodded. She was scared but ready. She had really missed him and thought about their first kiss all the time. Now they were doing their second. It was short, sweet and to the point. He didn't want to go too far. But he wanted to get his point across that he wanted to see more of her. He wanted to be with her but would wait until she was ready. They smooched every now and then and talked and watched the sunrise. They soon fell asleep on her couch, holding hands.
*
Famous Capricorn: Muhammad Ali (Boxer)
*
After that, Adena and Craig spent a lot of time together. They both had busy schedules but they found time to fit each other in, even if Craig delivered a recipe that he wanted her to try when he brought her lunch to her office some afternoons. He would accompany her to other art galleries for Donatella. They would chill at her place more often but they would also go to his place. Adena ran into Missy there and they made up.
Missy and Ron were doing well too, which surprised Ron and Craig since Ron never had a relationship that lasted more than 2 weeks. Missy was the girl for him. The four of them sometimes went out together.
But what about Kim and Taye? They were doing just fine....
Kim and Taye were watching the movie "Ali" starring Will Smith. Taye took Kim's advice about doing something wild. He decided to take a kick boxing class. She even joined them and it helped them both immensely.
They watched the movie and then he had to pause it when his phone rang. "Hello?"he asked. The caller ID on his house phone was broken.
"Taye? It's me, Al"his lawyer said,"Well this is it"
"Really?"Taye asked surprisingly
"Yep, its all finished. She signed the last piece of paperwork and I got the final verdict. You're officially single. Officially divorced"he said."How do you feel?"
"Perfect, surprisingly"he said as he looked at Kim. She looked at him with a weird look. They chatted for a few more minutes and then he hung up.
"What's up?"she asked him
"I'm officially divorced. Everything's done and settled"
Mixed emotions went through Kim. She was happy because she really liked Taye as more than a friend and she knew how much it meant to him to get everything done and over with. But Adena was still her best friend, even though she never talked to her anymore. But she couldn't help but hate her for that. But at the same time, she knew how much the divorce meant to her. How she didn't want it at first and then did, and then didn't again and then back to wanting it. She wondered how she felt. "That's great"she finally said.
"I want to celebrate"he said as he turned off the tv
"Celebrate?"Kim asked
"Lets go out"he said as he took her hand and led her out the door.
*
The person who contemplates becoming the marriage or business partner of a typical Capricorn must realize that Capricorn will take over the organization of the partner's working life
*
"Eeeew"Adena said,"Its disgusting"she said as she gave the spoon back to him
"Are you serious?"Craig asked her,"That's the customers favorite sauce"
"Well I don't like it. I'm glad someone does. But I don't"she said
"You suck"he said to her
"I'm sorry, I'm being honest"she said to him and then her cell rang. She held up one finger and looked at it. It was her lawyer. She sighed, great what did she have to sign now? "Hello Mr. Thomas"
"Hello Ms. Capricorn, how are you?"he asked her formally. She didn't like it when he called her Adena. He wasn't her friend, he was helping her to get a divorce, something she never had wanted.
"I'm actually in the middle of getting dinner. Is there anything I can do for you?"she asked him frankly
"I apologize Ms. Capricorn, but I have some news. Some news that I think you would want to hear"he said to her as a waiter came up to the table
"Hold on"she said to him."Tell them to take it back"she said to Craig. He rolled his eyes and the waiter took the plate away. She looked at the menu,"I'm back, what news?"she asked him
"I sent in the last piece of paperwork. Everything's finalized Ms. Capricorn. Its...over."
"Really?"she asked him
"Yes it is. Now I want to apologize. I know how you felt about all this. Divorce is hard and sadly half of couples go through it. But there's someone out there for you. You will find someone and get over this"he said kindly
"Ugh...thanks Mr. Thomas for letting me know. I'll call you back, thanks for calling"she said in a hurry and then hung up
"Are you ok?"Craig asked her. She has been irritable lately and blatantly honest and rude and she looked pale.
"I'm single"she said quietly
"Oh....wait...its over. Everything's final?"he asked her. She nodded. "Congratulations"
"Thanks"she said sarcastically
"Well I'm sorry Adena, but I'm just being honest"he said quoting her. "Now you can move on, I know your upset, and I'm here for you ok? But its over now, you can forget about him"he said. Now she looked green,"Are you ok?"he asked her
"Oh God"she said and then picked up the ice bucket that once held the champagne and threw up in it.
*
Worry, heavy responsibilities, gloomy moods, and general pessimism tend to take their toll on Capricornean health
*
"I'll wait out here"Craig said to her. Adena gave him a kiss and walked to the back room with the nurse. She waited for the doctor and she began to worry. She's been sick for awhile now. She couldn't keep anything down, always throwing up. Her head always hurt, she was irritable, she couldn't concentrate, her body was sore. Was she dying? Was there a disease in the family that her parents never told her about? Did she have cancer? She started to cry as she sat there waiting for the doctor. She wanted to know now. She had taken some tests and the results were in.
Finally the doctor came in, after she waited for 45 minutes,"Finally"
"Hello Ms. Capricorn"the doctor said, ignoring her comment,"You feeling any better?"
"No, I won't until you tell me what it is"she said frankly
He smiled,"Well there's no need to worry. No diseases. You are expecting Ms. Capricorn, you are pregnant"he said to her
Adena stared at him,"What?"
"Your pregnant Adena, you are about 7 weeks along. You are expecting your first child"he said with a smile, but she started to cry. "Um...would you like me to get your boyfriend for you?"
"He's not my boyfriend"she corrected him. Craig really wanted to be but she wasn't ready. She liked the way things were. But he wouldn't want her now. She was pregnant.
"Ok....would you like to see him-?"
"No, just leave me alone, please"she said. He nodded and left.
How the hell was she pregnant? She and Craig hadn't taken that step yet. They almost did many times but she always stopped herself. But she couldn't get pregnant from the things that they did. Has she even had sex at all this year? She just got a divorce. It was just finalized. Before that, she and Taye fought more than they made love. She couldn't remember the last time they had sex. 7 weeks? How? Then it hit her. She was really drunk one night, she drank a whole bottle of wine by herself waiting up for him while he was probably out with that Felicia tramp. She remembered passing out and then Taye waking her and then....
*Flashback*
"Sorry"he said quickly.But surprisingly she didn't look mad.She somehow looked different.
"You're back"she said with a smile on her face and then sat up until she was standing on her knees.She pulled his face to hers and kissed him passionately.He hesitated for a half a second and then moaned into the kiss.What has gotten into her?
"Whats gotten into you?"he asked her as he pulled away.He tasted wine on her lips but she couldn't have had that much....?
"Actually nothing and actually you haven't gotten into me lately.I miss you"she said as she started to unbutton his shirt and kissed him on the neck,"When was the last time we made love?"
"I don't know...but I'm guessing that's gonna change isn't it?"he asked her.Why didn't she always act like this?This was fucking sexy!He let her take his shirt and wifebeater off and she started to undo his belt.She let his pants slip to the floor."Your turn"he said as he pulled her into a hug as he held her with one hand,the other hand expertly unzipped the back of her dress and he pulled it up over her head.She wasn't wearing a bra but she was wearing a black lacy thong....and heels.Perfect.
He laid down on top of her and started to kiss her,as he did that,he reached into the drawer for condoms.She stopped him,"You don't need those.We need to make love for real"she said as she threw the condom on the floor and wrapped her legs around his waist,"I'm sorry for everything....now I'm gonna make it up to you"she said
He kissed her,even though he didn't know what she was apologizing for.He was just really happy...and hard about this.He kissed her passionately and then moved down to her neck, chest, stomach, belly button and then slipped off her thong, still leaving her heels on.
*End Flashback*
Adena wanted to cry. She was pregnant and it couldn't have come at a worse time. She wanted kids, lots of them but not now. She was still trying to get her life back together, she wanted to be with Craig but was too scared. She was very busy with the gallery. She just got her divorced finalized. It hasn't even been a week since she got the call from Mr. Thomas and now she was pregnant.....with Taye's child
*
Capricorn as a Parent- has difficulty relating to young children, but will find it easier as they get older
*