Capricorn
Chapter 28

Capricorn as Employer
A typical Capricorn boss (male or female):
* doesn't neglect family life for business

*

Adena tried to stay hidden from Craig, she kept busy and was more attentive to everyone else than usual and stayed away from the DJ booth. She used to hate these events when she first started working here because she was pretty shy and it was hard to start up conversations with people you don't know without it feeling awkward. They've grown on her now and she had no choice because Donatella loved nothing more than to schmooze and show off. Now that Craig was here, she felt it was her first event all over again. She was so nervous. She just wanted to go home and hide. It sucked because Donatella just gave her an out but she turned it down. If only Craig had walked in a few minutes sooner...

Or not at all.

Problem was that Craig already knew she would be here. She talked about this place a lot and now they needed a DJ for an event, she must have put in a good word for him. Usually, he doesn't take last-minute requests on the weekend because those were his big-money gigs.

But of course, Adena was the exception.

He thought about her every day, every other moment, and sometimes just randomly. He missed her. Of course, he was excited to see her. He even dressed up. He only dressed up for weddings or the "after 5" attire events. She was the only one he cared about but he knew New York's art elite would all be here. Since it was Valentine's Day, he wore a red velvet suit, black shirt, and black tie. Dressing to impress but not trying too hard was always the goal. He had to at least thank her for hiring him even if she was still hurt by everything that had happened. He wondered how she was doing. He had nightmares about Tray getting to her and getting back together with him. He's seen so many women do it, no matter how strong or independent they were. He hoped Adena was stronger. All he knew was that she got her job back, which was great, and he was interested to see her in action.

If he ever did see her that is...

He set up his equipment, did a quick sound check, and even got some food and some champagne as soon as it was ready. He even looked around at some of the art and wondered which one Adena liked or would want. When the event had officially begun he played some jazz as everyone schmoozed and pretended to be happy to see each other.

But no Adena...

Was she even here? Did she skip the event? Was she really fired and this was all just some sick coincidence? He looked at his watch. The party's only been going for 30 minutes. She's probably extra busy.

Soon the place got packed and he started playing a little more uptempo music, which pleased the millennials and Gen Z hipsters there. Soon harder alcohol was being served, gin and tonics and the like, and surprisingly some of the snobby, stuck-up artists let loose. A white girl in all white and a red beret, and her friend who looked like one of his sister's Bratz dolls, dressed in pink were soon chatting him up. They wanted his card, they wanted to know more about him, where were the best underground spots, who were the best bands, who had the best blow. They didn't want to talk about art at all. They didn't care. They weren't here for that. They were here to be seen. He was used to seeing chicks like them but he didn't know they went to great lengths to come to places like this. The tickets to get in were at a couple of hundred dollars at least. Anyway, always the gentleman, he was able to answer all their questions.

The Bratz doll then disappeared and Red Beret began biting her equally red lips as she looked him up and down. And there it was. He knew that look all too well. He usually loved that look. It meant "I'm down to do whatever as long as it involves you."

But the only person he wanted to be involved with was Adena. Sorry, Red. Maybe if Adena turned him down tonight or didn't show up at all, then he would take her up on her offer. Maybe.

Red Beret started asking more personal questions and soon he was actually happy to see the Bratz doll come back. She handed Red Beret a drink and raised her glass to toast but Red stopped her.

"Bianca! Don't be rude. We didn't ask Mr. DJ here what he wanted to drink. His glass has been empty all night. Would you like something Mr. DJ?" she asked him, biting her lip again.

"Oh! Sorry..." Bratz Doll said, looking confused. "Um, what did you want Mr. DJ?"

"Uhhh anything brown," he said, he looked at the line for the open bar, it was pretty long. Good, it would get them out of his hair for a minute so he could concentrate. As soon as they walked away and moved from in front of him, it was like the Red Sea parted.

And there she was.

At least he thought so. She had the same frame and skin tone as Adena but her face was covered by a huge clipboard. Guess whatever she was reading had very small print because he couldn't see her face at all. Or was she hiding behind it? Nah. Then a woman in a black sparkling gown with matching gloves took the clipboard out of her hands and handed it to someone else. She then spoke to her and nodded her head toward him before she was engulfed by more admirers and guests. That must be the infamous Donatella.

But there she was. Adena.

She looked the way he always pictured her. She was wearing a red dress that had a turtleneck and no sleeves, it had little red sparkles on it too. It was also velvet. Well, how about that? She had on matching red heels and her hair was straight but it looked a little fuller and was curly at the end. You get the picture right? He didn't know how to really describe it but she looked beautiful. She looked at him and they locked eyes. He smiled at her. Hoping it wasn't too big because inside he felt like a fat kid who just saw an extra slice of cake. He saw her take a deep breath and then she started walking towards him. It felt like slow motion and it nearly was slow motion because, along the way, a few someone's would stop her and chat with her.

He felt his palms getting sweaty. He wiped his hands on a napkin.

Every time she got closer, she would stop.

'Come on, bring your ass here.'

Soon she gingerly stopped in front of the DJ booth but kept her distance, not wanting to get too close. "Hi, Craig-"

"Hey Adena, you're looking good," he said to her. "We practically match."

Adena chuckled nervously as she moved some of her hair behind her ear, revealing red diamond earrings. Damn. He loved women who wore nice jewelry and wore it right. He loved women with perfect earlobes, earlobes he could bite and whisper into-

"Craig? Craig?" Adena asked and he realized he wasn't paying attention. He was just so caught up in the sight of her. Studying every inch of her body would take him all night.

"What? I'm sorry. I can barely hear you over the music" he said. She gave him a small nod and smile, took another deep breath, and stepped just a tad bit closer.

"Can you hear me now?" she asked with a nervous laugh. The closer she got to him making her weaker. He was literally her kryptonite. He nodded his head insinuating for her to move closer. She sighed and stepped up to the edge of the table, as far as she could go. "I can't get any closer," she said with a nervous smile and oh what a double entendre that was.

She literally can't.

"I didn't want to shout at you," he said and she nodded. "So how have you bee-"

"My boss wanted me to ask you if you wanted something to drink, something to snack on?" she said courteously and as professionally as she could. She had to treat him like everyone else, it would make it easier.

"Oh, I'm actually good on the drinks-"

"Here you go Mr. DJ!" Red Beret said as she came back with a double shot of brown liquid and handed it to him. Craig winced and smiled. Perfect timing.

Not.

"Thank you," he said, taking it from her. He was about to sip it when she interrupted.

"No wait, we're gonna toast remember?" Red Beret said as she and Miss Bratz Doll lifted their glasses. "To new friends! To New York City baby!"

"Wooo" Bratz Doll said as they clinked glasses.

"You're gonna help us get acquainted with the city right? You'd be the perfect tour guide."

"Hey, my man, can we get some more lo-fi hip hop up in this joint? You know to jazz the place up" a guy in a fedora asked as he walked up to them. Lloyd soon joined him.

"Hey there Mr. David, um Donatella wanted me to tell you that her speech will start in 15, so prepare to turn it low but play that song she likes-"

"Um yeah definitely," Craig said to both of them. Lloyd gave him a big smile and hurried off and so did the guy with the request. Once they moved out of the way, he noticed that Adena disappeared. Shit.

*

If Capricorn was in a band, they usually wouldn't be the lead singer, they'd be the drummer or backup vocals or maybe just the songwriter, the brains of the operation.

*

As soon as Adena could, she practically scurried away from the DJ booth. Lloyd has been saving her all night when it came to Craig and Lloyd didn't mind because Craig was his type too.

Craig was everyone's type. 

She made it to the other side of the room and couldn't help but look in his direction as the two girls chatted him up with big smiles and starry eyes. Were they part of his entourage? Or did he catch their eye as soon as they saw him? Either could be true. He could even be dating one of them, who knows? It's been a few weeks since they spoke and he got the message loud and clear that she didn't want to speak to him ever again. Yes, ever. It was a strong word but you have to use strong words like that to get your message across. Even if you didn't mean it 100%.

But maybe she should stick to that promise herself. Seeing him here hurt her, excited her, made her happy, all the above. Every other minute or every time she turned around and saw him she felt something different.

This is insane. It wouldn't work. She was going through a divorce. She and Taye barely started the process since she was pretty hard to get ahold of and he was pissed about how she outed him online, hacked his page, and "tried to ruin his reputation." It was her late new New Year's Resolution to make this process go by as quickly as possible. Even if she wasn't going through a divorce, sadly, it still wouldn't work. He was still hung up on Felicia. She knew it. He was fine, attractive, and sexy, he had to have some girls lusting after him, thinking he wanted a relationship because of his mixed signals, even if he claimed to not give a damn about them. He was pretty much in the same situation as she was. He's getting over a relationship with Felicia too and everything she said that night hurt Adena to her core. She literally trusted a complete stranger because he said the right things and was kind to her. She couldn't even trust her husband, who she's known for 5 years. How can she trust someone after only knowing him for a couple of weeks? She should've never gotten close to him. As soon as she was better, she should have gone back to Kim's or to a hotel and wait the drama out. Now she had more heartbreak to deal with.

And she felt that her heart was breaking more as the white girl in a Red Beret cozied herself up to Craig and was basically by his side all night.

He moved on, why would she be surprised?

Adena tried her best to stay away from Craig's side of the gallery. Soon thankfully, things got more exciting when all the artists showed up and people started buying their paintings. Donatella made her long and self-indulgent speech. Some of the artists did a few Q&As and introduced themselves.  A lot of art critics came which always made Donatella go into a drinking frenzy, but surprisingly she behaved herself. Last year she ended up throwing a drink in a critic's face when he badmouthed 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 few days ago. His theme was the opposite of everyone else's. It was called 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 froze. He was standing behind her. She took a deep breath and turned back to look at him. He was holding 2 small plates of food. "Sorry, but I made you a plate because I noticed you haven't eaten all night. You've been so busy, working hard."

"Thank you," she said hesitantly. She was starving but she ignored her stomach growls as she ran around and kept everything intact. Once she saw Craig, her stomach started growling and backflipping so she didn't want to risk getting sick in front of him again or anyone. However, one bite and she was fine and her stomach craved more. They continued to stare at the picture of the literal broken heart. "So you think so?"

"Huh?"

"Love stinks?"

"Yeah. Haven't been lucky with it lately. And it's Valentine's Day and I'm stuck at work" he said. "You feel my pain right? Unless things have changed in that department for you..."

"So you feel that you're 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 only nodded. She remembered what happened last Valentine's Day. But she tried to block those memories out of her mind or it would be like her birthday disaster all over again.

"Oh and thanks for putting in a good word for me, I always need the extra cash," he said to her.

She looked at him, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, so it wasn't you that booked me?"

"No, I didn't know you were even going to be here until I saw you."

"Oh," he said and chuckled awkwardly.

"Lloyd actually put in a good word for you. He says he knows some drag queens who suggested you."

Craig smiled, "Aww my crew at the Shack are looking out for me. I'll have to thank them when I see them." They stood in silence and Adena wondered if she should get going. Leave the conversation before it could get worse.

"Who is this painter?" he asked as they looked at the rest of Rockie Steel's collection. He wanted to talk to her as long as possible. He set up a playlist to play so that he could take a break.

"Rockie Steel. He's from California. He's new and very good but can be too raw sometimes in my opinion " she said as she couldn't look at the photos of a heart bleeding on an operating table, but surprisingly someone had bought that one too.

"I like it. It's different. He brought a Halloween vibe to Valentine's Day. I dig it. 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 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 Kathy 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. The night was becoming a success.

Once Adena had the chance, she rushed into the ladies' room. She didn't know how long she had been holding it. A few girls walked in, laughing and giggling. Adena walked up to the mirror and sink and washed her hands. She then realized a couple of girls were in the same stall. Then they started sniffling. A lot. Were they crying? Were they ok?

"This is some good shit," one of them said with a giggle.

Oh. They weren't upset at all. If the coke was pure enough, they'll soon be in a great mood and probably won't sleep. Adena dried her hands. She should get out of here.

"That DJ is so fucking hot," one of them said and Adena paused. Oh, Craig's two groupies were in there. "My mission is to fuck him tonight."

"Ohmygod Brittany, seriously? You always do this" the other complained.

Brittany aka Red Beret said, "Ugh fine, if you wanna just do a threesome then just say that."

"Oh," Bianca said. "Well that's fine then, you won't leave me stranded like last time."

"Why do you keep bringing that up? Anyway, it looks like he's gonna be here til the end so you're stuck with me."

"So we still gotta torture ourselves through this? Art is so boring."

"And I'll make it up to you when we get more drugs and get his fine ass back to our place. No! We should go to his, I bet it's really nice."

Adena couldn't stay for another word, she threw the bathroom door open and rushed out. She and Craig's small conversation earlier actually brightened her spirits. It was cordial, no harm no foul, like maybe they could repair their friendship if they really tried. But she didn't want to try anymore. Craig was back to his old ways, she missed her chance, but maybe she dodged a fucking bullet.

They just wouldn't work.

She pushed her way through the crowd, deciding to go to the bar for another drink and stay far away from Craig and his coked-up fan club as she can.

But speaking of the devil, she ran right into him, literally. However, he had 2 drinks in his hand and one of them got on her dress. "Oh no Adena I'm sorry."

"Great, just great. Watch where you're fucking going" she said to him, she turned around and walked back towards the bathrooms.

Craig stared after her wide-eyed. Whoa, where did that come from? He followed her. "I'm sorry but I actually got this drink for you and now it's all over you-"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine" she snapped at him.

"Adena, what's wrong? I'm sorry about the dress. It's not too bad, once it dries off you'll barely notice. I can buy you a new one" he said as he followed her. She then stopped short. "Adena talk to me."

"I don't want to."

"Adena I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything" he said, though he didn't know what he was apologizing for. They just had a great conversation, what happened?

"Save it. I'm sick of your sorry's. They're just words. Go say sorry to your two little girlfriends in there" she said as she nodded her head to the bathroom. "They're all prepared for a threesome at your place, spoiler alert! So it looks like you're already busy tonight. No need to pencil me in. I'm not interested, never was" she hissed at him.

"Adena-"

However, she turned around and walked up the marble staircase toward what looked like offices upstairs. The velvet rope blocking it said Employee's Only.

What the hell was she talking about? Who were his girlfriends? He was having a threesome tonight? And with who?

Then the bathroom door opened and Red Beret and Bratz Doll came out of the bathroom, wiping their noses and their starry eyes were now more sultry.

Shit.

"What did you say to her?" he asked them.

"Who?"

"Adena, in the red dress."

"Who's Athena?" Red Beret said. "Forget Athena, how about we meet up after this sad excuse for a party dies?