Cosmic Café 17:
Bonding With Venus

"Good girl!" Venus leaned over the bar, looking for Neptune, then said, "Oh, hell, I'll get 'em." But instead of going around the bar, she turned, raised herself up on it, turned again, and landed on the other side—just as gracefully as if she were getting out of a pool. Of course, even in Aries, she was still Venus, still the Goddess of Grace. And it didn't surprise me a bit that she wasn't about to walk around the bar to get there. That would have taken too long. In Aries' not-so-humble opinion, there was only one way to get from Point A to Point B—a straight line. Never mind the obstacles, because to Aries, there's no such thing. She grabbed two shot-glasses and a bottle of tequila, and poured. "You want training wheels, or are we gonna be tough?"

As if I had a choice. "Nah. Let's just do it."

She clapped her hands and laughed. "Oh, yeah! I like your style, honey!"

We toasted and drank our shots. Then Venus offered me her pinky finger. "Shake, girlfriend. We've bonded."

I laughed, and was about to answer her, when a loud crash came from the back of the Café. Without either of us turning to see what had happened, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Jupiter." At that, we laughed so hard we were crying, and totally unable to help. Suddenly, the door burst open. It was Mercury, who apparently was also in Aries. He'd traded in his motley-colored jogging outfit for a bright red one. Everything was red—even his in-line skates. And they were decorated with little flames on the sides.

"Never mind, girls! I gotcha covered!" He whizzed past us and went up to Jupiter, who was attempting to pick up the pieces of the dishes he'd dropped. "Hey, Big Guy! Let me help."

Venus scooted back across the bar the same way she'd gone over, and sat down next to me. She picked up her cell-phone, and poked one number with one of those red-tipped fingers. She waited all of two seconds for it to be answered—which took a lot of patience for her in this sign—then hung up and turned to me. "You know, girlfriend, I love Mars. Always have. But when he's in Taurus, he makes me nuts. I mean, you can actually watch your nails grow while you're waiting for him to get ready to do anything. He's s'posed to be the God of Action, right? But you stick him in that Taurus outfit, and he gets so wrapped up in doing every just exactly right that it takes him days to get anything accomplished." She sighed and lit a cigarette. "Oh, well. At least he's on his way."

Just then, the door opened, and Mars came in. He looked quite different from the medieval warrior I'd met in my dream. He was absolutely gorgeous in Taurus, all done up in an elegant, expensive suit of rich greens and browns. Venus looked at him, said, "Well, it's about time, dude," and then stopped short. From behind his back, he produced a dozen long-stem red roses. Venus was charmed. All that anger she'd been ready to toss in his direction disappeared as quickly as it had come, and she smiled. "Oh, hon-ey! You know exactly what I like, dontcha?" She jumped out of her chair and went to him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him passionately. My own Venus, in Capricorn, made me look away discreetly while they embraced.

Just then, the Moon and Neptune emerged from the kitchen, each carrying a silver tray heaped high with what I knew was going to be the best food I'd ever had. "Lunch, kids," the Moon announced. "Venus! Let go of that man and come and eat!"

I picked up my purse and obediently headed for the back of the Café. Jupiter patted the chair next to him, and said, "You're my date, babe. Sit right here."

I squeezed into the chair and looked around me. Well, this was certainly going to be a meal to remember. Dining out with Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Mars, Venus and the Moon. Who'd ever believe it? I didn't believe it.

Next Week: Lunch At the Café