Cosmic Café Part 15:
Discussing Saturn with Jupiter

As the heavy wooden door closed behind me, I turned to the Café on my right. The neon planets in the window were lit, and I heard a familiar belly laugh. Uncle J, entertaining, as usual. The sign on the door was gone, and the handle turned easily. Yep. There he was, in all his Taurus glory. He ran over to me, just about knocking Venus off her chair. She steadied herself, arranged her hair, and smiled. As much as I had enjoyed Saturn's company—oddly enough—it was good to see my Uncle. And I had a lot to tell him.

"Hey, babe, how'd it go with Saturn? You need a drink?"

"Um, no." I answered, thinking about rules, limitations and the pile of work I had sitting on my desk at home. "I've got to get back and do some things, but I wanted to say hi—and I just have to hug you."

Jupiter  grinned and put his arms around me. He lifted me off my feet and just about knocked the wind out of me. "You got it, babe. Any time." He put me back on the floor and stood in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. "Hey, you're not gonna go all serious on me, are ya?"

I smiled. "No—you know me better than that. But if you want to play…"

"Oh, boy." Jupiter rolled his eyes and turned to Venus. "She even sounds like Saturn now."

Just then, I realized there was something "different" about Venus. She was no longer in her pert, neat Virgo business suit. The pearls were gone—and so was her shyness. She was dressed all in red, from head to toe. That included red spiked high heels, red lipstick and red fingernails. And the dress she was wearing was…well, let's say "revealing." Even her hair was red. Wait, now, I thought. Could this be Venus in Aries? Had I been gone that long?

She stuck out her (still) well-manicured, tiny hand and shook mine, enthusiastically. "Whassup, girlfriend? You got the Saturn blues?"

Before I could lower my eyebrows and answer, her Galactic cell-phone rang. She grabbed for it, impulsively, as Jupiter grinned. "Mars? That you, baby?"

Yep. Definitely Venus in Aries. She crossed her legs, and I noticed a tattoo on her ankle. It was a red heart, and had the symbols for "man" and "woman”—otherwise known as Venus and Mars in astrology-land—entwined within it. To my surprise, she pulled out a long cigarette, placed it between those ruby-red lips, and glanced seductively at Jupiter, who pulled out his cigar-lighter immediately. "Yeah, honey, I'm here. We've got company, that's all. What time shall I pick you up?"

Well, now, this was really something. Venus was being aggressive with Mars? I supposed it made sense, though. If she was wearing his sign, she was also wearing his attitude. And they were, after all, the most ancient of lovers.

Jupiter wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me to a table in the back. "C'mon, babe, let's give the little lady some privacy." He winked at me. "Not that she needs it much, when she's in this kind of mood. But I want to talk to you, anyway."

I sat across from Jupiter, and looked into those great, big puppy-dog eyes. He actually looked worried—not at all like him. "What's the matter?" I said, reaching for his hand.

He pursed his lips and leaned across the table, looking right into my eyes. "You're not gonna let this Saturn thing change you, are ya, babe? I mean, we're a team, right? You and me."

I was touched. I squeezed his hand and said, "Oh, darlin', of course we are. And no, Saturn isn't going to 'change' me. But she did make a couple of very good points, and I really think I should listen."

He was still worried. "About what? Work and stuff?"

I nodded. "And about planning for the future."

"Honey, you know I'd never let you starve—dontcha? I mean, you're my girl." He tapped his lighter on the table impatiently. “That damned Saturn. Always putting a damper on things, with all those 'shoulds' and 'shouldn'ts'.” I didn't answer. Suddenly, he sighed, and patted my hand, obviously resigning himself to something. "Oh, well. I suppose there's gotta be a happy medium, right?"

"That's what I'm thinking," I answered.

"It's just that sometimes Saturn gets a little too carried away with all those nos, and he—or she, whatever—takes all the fun out of life. This planet's a playground, honey—not a life-long job. Remember that, okay?"

"Absolutely," I said. "But it's good to have a little security, too, you know?"

That must have appealed to him, since he was wearing his quality-conscious, materialistic Taurus outfit. He shook his head. "Yeah, you're right. Just don't let the old Nay-sayer get you down, okay?"

"Promise," I said.

He tilted his head and nodded again. "Okay. So how 'bout we have just one nice glass of red wine before you head home?"

"Sure," I said. "And maybe a little dinner, too?"

At that, he laughed loudly, back to his usual self. "Well, we can have dinner, babe, but I don't know about 'a little.' Having a little of anything isn't exactly my specialty, ya know. Hey, and you know what? Moon's here, in the kitchen—and can that lady cook!"

"The Moon is here?" I asked. "Can I meet her?"

"Sure, babe," he said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go find her."

We walked toward the bar, just as Venus was slamming her cell-phone down on the bar. She stuck one red-tipped hand up in the air, threw back a shot of something, and pulled out another cigarette, turning again to Jupiter for a light. "Mars is gonna be late. I hate it when he's in Taurus, and I'm not. Takes him forever to get ready to do anything!"

Jupiter hugged her. "Well, have dinner with us, honey, while you're waiting. Moon's here, you know."

Venus' cell-phone rang again. She exhaled loudly, poked the "talk" button with a vengeance, and shouted into the phone, "I don’t want to hear any more excuses! Get your butt down here!"