Capricorn
Chapter 10

Likes
* hot, simple food
* antiques, history
* duties and responsibilities

*

Adena accepted defeat. She walked down the street in the cold 20 degree weather in her black turtleneck sweater, coat, black leather skirt, black pantyhose and matching black leather boots. She put her black shades back on since the sun reflecting off of last night's snow was too bright. You could say that it looked like she was going to a funeral. And she felt that she was, her own.

She felt useless and depressed. She felt sick to her stomach, her head was pounding and her cough was getting worse. Her mind was in shambles. Many voices in her head were telling her what to do, what not to do and how she majorly messed up today. She coughed again and her stomach growled. She didn't have breakfast and all she had today was champagne, cheese, crackers and cocktail shrimp. She was running around so much that she didn't make a plate at all.

She needed to get warm, eat something warm and drink something warm to calm herself down. She didn't know where to go. She was going to go to Kim's place but now she didn't want to. She was just going to obsess and ask questions. She's been in her hair enough as it was. She felt like she was annoying her. Then she approached a bar called East Village. A great gust of wind blew,  sending her hair and coat flapping and blowing in the wind, causing her to freeze. She practically ran into the bar to seek refuge. She rushed in and stopped short. The bar was empty except for 4 other men inside, not including the bartender, they were sitting at various places at the bar. They all looked at her and she instantly felt embarrassed.

But it was so warm and toasty. She started to cough.

"What can I get ya?"the bartender asked her tentatively. 

"Where's your bathroom?"

"It's for customers only. Sorry beautiful-"

"Hey man give her a break"a young guy said to him,"She just walked in-"

"I'll have a water with lemon and I promise to stay and order something"she said.

"Here you go beautiful"he said with a sigh as he gave her a key that was attached to a small wooden paddle. "Straight back"he said to her pointing.

She thanked him and walked to the bathroom, unlocked the door and walked in. Ew. The smell wasn't inviting. She hated dirty bathrooms but this was New York City, home of the dirtiest bathrooms in the country. If she wasn't sick already, she sure would be soon. She locked the door behind her and put the key and paddle on the small sink. The bar was a small hole in the wall that's obviously been around for decades. The decor was all wood. Wood floors, walls and ceiling. It was basically a small log cabin with a lumberjack-ish theme. Not her taste. 

She was soon grateful to be there as she used the restroom and warmed up. She coughed as loud and hard as she could to get out whatever was stuck in her throat. "Ugh"she moaned. Her throat was so messed up that she felt a water with lemon wouldn't cut it. She blew her nose as much as she could and washed her hands thoroughly. She looked in the mirror and wished she didn't. Ew. She realized she was still wearing Donatella's lipstick. She sighed and wiped it off with the makeup wipes she religiously kept in her purse. 

Great, she had to give this back to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to see her though after the conversation they had. She made it perfectly clear that she didn't need her and was better off without her. Would she fire her eventually? Should she be more worried than she already was?

She coughed and shook herself out of her thoughts. She needed food and something to drink. She can worry about that once her brain gets some fuel. Adena sighed as she walked out of the bathroom. She gave the paddle key back to the bartender and sat down where he placed her water with lemon. 

"What can I get ya?"he asked her again. 

What should she get? Why was she even here? She wasn't a bar person. Especially not this type of bar. "My throat is acting up...do you have some hot tea? Some honey?"she asked him.

A second later, she regretted asking that as the bartender and the men started to laugh. "This is a bar sweetheart"one of the men said.

"Yeah if you want tea and crumpets, you're going to have to go far away from here"the bartender said with a laugh. She winced and tried to laugh along but couldn't muster it.

"Will you leave her be?"the young man who vouched for her before said with a chuckle. He had a menu and pushed it down the bar to her. "You have bad Yelp reviews already"he said and the bartender rolled his eyes. 

She coughed and sipped on the freezing cold water as she looked at the menu....which was only one page and only had a few items. At the bottom it said, ASK THE BARTENDER ABOUT OUR DAILY SPECIALS. She tried to clear her throat. "What's your daily special?"she said and realized she was losing her voice.

"Speak up sweetheart"the bartender said leaning forward. Old rock music was blaring through the speakers. And one large old school tv showed ESPN and it was louder than the music. They were all watching it before she walked in.

"She asked what your daily special is old man"the young man said with a laugh. 

"Oh for today it's Tennessee Whiskey...if that's even your speed"he said as he looked at her. She was beautiful and was obviously lost if she came in here. Just by her hair and outfit, he shouldn't have been surprised she liked hot tea. She looked more of the wine or sangria type which they didn't have either. She coughed again and gulped down some water. "Better yet, to warm you up, lemme give you the honey kind. It's strong but will probably help that cough you got"he said to her.

"Thank you. Sure I'll try that"she said and he nodded and got to work. She would drink anything if it meant it could help her throat.

"There you go. There's that good customer service this place is missing"the young man joked and the bartender flicked him off. "Ok ok ok you get my point."

He gave her a glass of the whiskey and the glass was only a quarter of the way full. He also gave her a can of Coke. "To chase it down"he said and winked. The young man looked impressed. The bartender rolled his eyes at him. "You wanna eat?"he asked her.

She should but all they had was fries, a bbq sandwich and a chicken sandwich. "I'll just get some fries for now"she said as she sipped on the whiskey. Whoa. He wasn't kidding when he said it was strong and she needed a chaser. She coughed again and sniffled.

"Don't drink much do you?"the guy asked her as the bartender gave him a drink that looked like hers. Dark brown liquid.

"You can tell?"she said sarcastically. She looked at him for the first time. He was light skinned, had dark brown eyes, a clean goatee and dark curly hair. He looked out of place here too with his oversized sweater, jeans and Timbs. He shrugged and chuckled. 

"Yeah just an observation"he said as he took a big gulp of his. 

"Drink much?"she asked him back sarcastically.

"I wish I didn't. Wish I didn't have to"he said,"Didn't have too good of a day."

"I'm sorry."

"None of us are really. Except for Mr. Bartender here.."

"What do you mean?"she asked him.

"Those guys got laid off and me and my boss got into it so I got fired on my day off" he said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry..."

"All of us don't want to go home and have to face our struggles" he said with a laugh.

"Tell me about it"she said as she sipped on her whiskey. It was going to take her some time to get used to it. 

"You don't want to go home? You have struggles?"he asked her.

"Everyone struggles. You think I don't?"she asked him.

"Guess that's true. That's why you're here too huh?"he asked as he finished the drink and motioned for the bartender to give him another. He leaned closer to her,"Nothing against my man here but this isn't a bar to just relax in"he whispered. 

She nodded,"Guess you're right"she said. "I'm having work issues too. Did overtime today and my boss let me go because I...messed everything up..."she said as she sighed and looked in her glass.

"Oh wow, you got laid off too? On your technical day off?"he asked her.

"But I'm not"she said and then she stopped. Did Donatella really give her time to grieve? Or was she going to lay her off? "I think...."she said.

"What do you mean you think?"he asked her. "If it wasn't a good conversation, it most likely won't be a good outcome....you gotta explore your options now."

"She said don't come back....get your shit together..."she said replaying the conversation she and Donatella had in her head. "And if we get a bad review, it's going to be my fault and there would be no way to fix it..." She drank the whiskey down fast and coughed. First Taye was gone and now her job? Her lip quivered, her eyes watered up and she sniffled.

The guy got up and sat next to her and gave her a few napkins,"Hey I'm sorry. I was rude about it. I mean some people can't be openly bitter and can talk about it like me"he said to her.

"Thanks"Adena said as she took the napkins from him and blew her nose. She was really stuffed up, she realized. She wiped her eyes,"I'm just a little confused I guess"she said to him,"I went to work today and....well my boss told me to go home after hearing about my divorce. She said she didn't want her best worker 'feeling and looking like shit.'"

"Verbatim?"he asked her.

"Yeah...Now at first I thought that maybe she is just giving me all my sick days that I haven't used but.....I don't know..."

"Well did she say 'You're fired' or 'You will never work in this town again'?"

"No. She said to rest...."

"Well that was nice of her then"he said to her as the bartender set her fries in front of her,"I wish my boss did that"he said,"I'm sorry about your divorce."

"Yeah me too"she said and sniffled. The bartender took her empty glass and felt bad for her. He didn't hear anything else that was said except for 'divorce.'

"You want more whiskey sweetheart?"he asked her. She shrugged.

The guy answered for her. "Yeah and I'll get one too. Put it on my tab."

"Thank you"she said as she started to devour the fries. You couldn't really mess up french fries and she was starving.

"You're welcome. I think you'll be fine"he said to her. He looked at her and then said,"Now tell me where I have seen you before. It's been bothering me ever since you walked in here."

She looked at him, she didn't know what he was talking about. She has never seen him before in her life."Um....you must be mistaken..."

"No. I have. And it's gonna bother me"he said as he looked at her,"Do you come here often?"

"No I pass by everyday though"she said as she ate.

"Is there a restaurant that you go to on the regular? Or every now and then?"he asked her.

"Well on my lunch break my friends and I always go to Dominic's on W. 127th"she said.

He sighed,"Never been there, so that can't be it. Do you go to clubs?"

"Barely, and when I do, I don't stay long"she said.

He sat there and laughed a little,"I don't want to be so nosy but I gotta solve this mystery"he said to her,"You still in school?"he asked her.

"No I graduated last year from Columbia."

"I went there too"he said to her with wide eyes,"But I dropped out after my first semester...which was long ago. But that can't be it. It was recent when I saw you"he said to her.

She laughed a little,"Maybe I just look like someone you know?"she asked him.

"Yeah...."he said and then smiled,"You know what you look like an older and mature version of my little sisters"he said,"Maybe that's it"he said as the bartender brought their whiskey's over.

Then Adena gasped. Some guy at Fever told her that she reminded him of his sisters and thats why he had saved her from the creep that wouldn't take no for an answer. Was that him? She couldn't tell because it was dark in the club. "Do you go to Fever? The nightclub?"

He smiled and looked at her,"Yeah. All the time"he said,"You been there?"he asked her.

"I was there a few nights ago....did....I don't know if you remember or if it was even you...but some guy saved me from some guy and he said-"

"He hit on you right?"he asked, finishing her sentence,"That's where I've seen you!"he said, glad that they figured it out,"I told you that you looked like my little sisters."

"Yeah you did"Adena said with a small chuckle as she sipped on the whiskey and Coke. "That was creepy too by the way."

"I know I know"he said as he put his head in his hands. "But we aren't talking about me. He did leave you alone afterwards right?"he asked her.

"Yeah but I left right after that. It just didn't feel right being there after everything that I have been going through"she said with a sigh.

"You look so young. I never would have thought that you were married"he said to her,"How old are you?"he asked her.

"You don't ask a girl her age"Adena said to him.

"Sorry"he said shaking his head,"That slipped my mind. You just look so young..."he said. 

She coughed as she pushed the used napkins aside and took some hand sanitizer out of her purse to clean her hands."I'm Adena by the way"she said to him.

"That's a beautiful name. I'm Craig"he said to her with a smile. He then laughed,"Wow a lot can happen in 15 minutes"he said as he glanced at his watch.

"Excuse me?"she asked him.

"Oh that didn't sound right either did it? Even though its true. Why am I so awkward?!"he said and laughed,"No I was saying a lot happens in 15 minutes because now I know your name, that you went to Columbia but you don't go to clubs except for that one time last week where I saved you from some creep at Fever, you love your job but your boss gave you a break but you don't like it, and that's because of your recent divorce which you also don't like of course, you love to go to Dominc's-whatever that is-with your friends....and you don't drink much"he said with a laugh. He could tell, women let loose a little and relax once they have reached their usual limit and hers wasn't a lot.

"Wow you described me perfect"Adena said with a laugh."But there are still a lot of things you don't know...."she said as she sipped on the whiskey and finished her fries.

"Just give me another 15 minutes and I will....Adena"he added.

She laughed,"23"she said and sipped.

"Huh?"he asked her.

"That's how old I am"she said and smirked.

*

Capricorns need plenty of reassurance because they are natural worriers.

*

"I'm a Capricorn. My birthday is on the 16th"Adena told Craig. Once Adena got to know Craig, she didn't want to leave the bar. It was better than cleaning and being at Kim's. It took her mind off of everything.

"I think I'm a Cancer....yeah I'm a Cancer"he said,"But what are you going to do?"he asked her,"You gotta celebrate big for that big 24."

"I don't know. Go over divorce papers?"she asked out loud. Then she sighed and immediately got depressed again. She just realized that this would be her first birthday in a long time that didn't involve Taye.

"Hey come on now....don't think like that ok?"Craig said to her,"But since you are going through something big, difficult, life changing and not very positive then you need to celebrate big this year."

"I don't know what I want to do"she said quietly.

"Aww come on. Your birthday only comes once a year. Do you really want to wait another whole year to make up for this year?"he asked her.

"You love birthdays don't you?"she asked him.

"Yeah, who doesn't? It's more than presents and cakes. It's being thankful for being alive another year. Lots of people don't get that. I know....knew plenty of people who didn't get to see their 24th birthdays"he said, then he sighed.

Adena noticed a small change in him. A part of that statement really meant something to him or was too true for him."Hey you ok?"she asked him.

He looked at her quickly, like he just came back to earth from another planet,"Yeah...yeah I am"he said and he soon recovered and his smile was back,"Anyway, you gotta plan big for that birthday of yours."

"I'll think about it"she said with a sigh as she finished another whiskey and the Coke chaser. Did she just find a new favorite drink?

"It's snowing again"Craig said as he looked at his phone"Doesn't snow make you wanna just curl up in front of a fireplace and be left the fuck alone?"he asked her with a smile.

"Yeah that sounds good"she said to him with a laugh and then started coughing. Damn.

"Hey you ok?"he asked her. He noticed that she was sweating a little and her coughs were pretty bad, he could hear her wheeze a little,"Geez, you really don't drink much do you?"

"No...it's not that. I have been feeling down these days"she said as she coughed some more."Oh that hurt"she said to herself.

"You might have a cold"he said to her as he put his hand to her forehead. She tensed up as he did so. He was right, she was burning up."Sorry...You know it's less than 20 out...maybe it's the skirt?"

"Yeah, kinda stupid I guess...and the stress...and the headaches...and the overtime....no time for myself"she said as she coughed.

"You should get out of here"he said to her. "I got us both"he said and before she could argue he handed the bartender some cash. "Keep all that. Thanks"he said to the bartender,"That should cover it"he said as he got up.

"Thanks Craig, make sure she gets home ok"the bartender said to him and winked. Craig widened his eyes at him that said 'subtle much?!

"Bye thank you"Adena said as she threw a few dollars down anyway as a tip. The bartender smiled at her.

"Get home safe sweetheart. Drink some more whiskey so you can sweat that cold out"he said to her.

"Come on, I'm gonna take you home...where do you stay?"Craig asked.

"Well I'm staying with a friend, I left my husband..."she said as he helped her put on her coat and buttoned it up. She held her purse and tried to walk out. It didn't help that she was a little drunk. How did she get drunk so fast?

"Ok well where does she stay?"he asked as he put his jacket on and toboggan as he opened the door and walked outside. Damn it was cold!

"Um.....shit"Adena said. Everything was blurry and spinning in circles.

"You don't know where she lives?"he asked her with a smile.

"I do. I can show you how to get there but I don't know....Where are we?..."

"Ok then show me"he said to her with a smile as he helped her walk. Looks like she was drunk drunk. "Unless you don't trust me."

"I do....I mean I let you get me drunk before 5pm"she said to him with a laugh which led to more heavy coughs.

"Great cuz I got an Uber"he said as a black car pulled up to the curb.

"Damn this is your car?"she asked, not listening to what he just said.

"No sweetheart, it's an Uber"he said as he opened the door and helped her in,"This is nice"he said as he got in the backseat next to her. 

"Thank you"the driver said. Adena got comfortable instantly since the heat was on high. "Just give me one second. The snow is falling hard now."

"You need