Aquarius
Act 3

Aquarian Personality
Negative Traits

* Tactless and rude
* Perverse and eccentric individuality
* Self-interested
* Unwillingness to fight for beliefs
* Uncertainty and lack of confidence
* Voyeuristic curiosity about people

*

The girls sped back to Nadia's place as fast as they could. They didn't stop for gas or to use the bathroom and were sure to be on the lookout for cops that could be looking for them or who could pull them over for speeding. 

It was the longest but most exhilarating ride of Aquarius' life.

Once they were in the safety of Nadia's garage, they laughed in shock because not only did they actually do it but they got away with it. They teased each other about how the other acted under pressure. They congratulated and celebrated each other for giving a good performance despite Christopher not seeing it.

"There's gotta be cameras, he's gotta be curious about whodunit while he was gone doing God knows what. He could be replaying a recording right now" Nadia said after the two raided the fridge and brought the food and snacks back out to the garage. Neither of them had breakfast and all the nerves and adrenaline emptied their stomachs even more.

"Do you think he'll remember us? Or will he think we're actually Rihanna and Shakira? Like seriously? You were pulling names out of your ass huh?"

"I forgot to ask you what you wanted your fake name to be. I decided to be Shakira since she inspired this and all. Besides, who wouldn't want to be Rihanna? You love Rihanna."

"That name is so rare and so...iconic. It's like Beyonce, who else has a name like that unless they got it from them" Aquarius said with a shake of her head. "But I think the chick believed it though" she laughed.

"Hey I'd rather them look for Rihanna and Shakira instead of us, they'll never find them," Nadia said. "But girl seriously, you performed like Rihanna today, I was worried about our rinky-dink equipment but we sounded and looked good as fuck. That's the Aquarius I know! Where was she last week?"

"I don't know, I was just so nervous. I froze" Aquarius said. She still thought about that almost every day. What happened to her in there? Yeah, she was shy in real life but when she was singing a favorite song of hers she always got lost in it and just went all out.

"Oh! I forgot that I recorded us, we almost forgot to do that" Nadia said as she got out her phone. The two watched the video over and over again.

Aquarius hated watching herself but she smirked as she did this time. She was very entertaining. "I do look good, you're right. I gotta save this outfit for another performance."

Soon they tired themselves out and were full of snacks. Aquarius looked at her watch and it was only noon. "I guess I can go home and change and go to work. A half day is better than no day."

"Psshh, are you joking? Enjoy your day. You said you needed a mental health day. Fuck that job. Fuck my job too. They'll be fine without us. We should celebrate" Nadia said as she got out her trusty kit and started rolling a blunt.

Aquarius thought about it and shrugged. She wouldn't be able to concentrate if she went to work anyway, she was on an adrenaline high and that didn't belong in a stuffy office. They worked overtime this weekend and whatever happens, at least they were proud of this performance. When Nadia passed the blunt to her, she took it. Fuck it.

The two passed out on the couch, they barely slept the night before. 

However, a familiar tune playing on the tv woke Nadia up. She looked down at her phone and saw that it was after 6 pm. Damn, how long were they asleep? She glanced up at the tv and then took a double-take.

HOLY SHIT.

She gasped so loud that it woke up Aquarius. "What?" she asked groggily. Once she could see straight, she was gasping right along with her.

They were on the news!?

A reporter was standing outside of the office they crashed, Christopher Westwood's Management Company. "Earlier today around 9:30 am started out like any other morning. I am standing in front of the offices that house the famous music mogul, Christopher Westwood's management company. His name has been all a buzz all week after selecting the winner of his island-wide talent search. He chose his lucky winner last week, a local rapper named Bryson Hall. However, maybe two performers missed the memo."

Then the receptionist came on the screen, "Yeah I was just minding my business, doing my work, and getting ready for this big conference we were having. Then two girls walked in, looking like rockstars and they said they had a meeting with Christopher."

"Turns out the two girls did NOT have a meeting with Christopher. But they were hoping to meet him today," the reporter added. 

"They distracted the hell out of me, I'm not gonna lie," the security guard said. "They told me there were some punk teenagers hanging out in the parking lot and we definitely didn't need that while some of the most important people on the island were attending a meeting and of course leaving their vehicles in our care. They looked like rockstars, they had the equipment and those big Hollywood shades. Mr. Westwood meets with all sorts of performers so I thought nothing of it. I thought I had bigger problems to handle."

"They tried to get upstairs, I stopped them" the receptionist continued. "No one can go up without an escort. They said they had a meeting, but they were nowhere on the calendar. At the same time, people were coming in so I was distracted because I was literally doing my job, helping them."

"And then?" the reporter asked.

"While my back was turned practically, they set up a whole stage in the lobby and started playing Prince. LOUDLY. One of the girls sang while the other played guitar. I put it on my TikTok because I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't find security and I was looking for someone higher up to deal with it. My TikTok is BlueWind005 if you wanna watch it" the receptionist said looking right at the screen. The two girls laughed at her shameless plug.

She handed over her cell phone to the reporter. The two were looking at her phone and then the TikTok took up the whole screen. The two girls gasped as they saw themselves on tv for the first time.

At least they were doing what they did best.

"There are several videos of the girls performing from other eyewitnesses and all of them are getting rave reviews and lots of views."

"I hope my video of them goes viral. I've never gone viral before" an older gentleman in a suit said.

"Ohmygod, look at us!" Nadia said.

"We look good and we sound pretty good too!" Aquarius added.

"The picture is kinda blurry but that works out in our favor," Nadia added.

"Despite breaking the law, eyewitnesses were entertained," the reporter continued.

"They did a punk version of Sam Smith! What I want to know is if I can get it on Spotify?"
"They appeared and then vanished just as fast as they came. They were literally like rockstar Cinderella without glass slippers."
"I loved it and the girls were hot, especially the lead singer."
"I love girls who can play guitar, like really really play guitar."
"I was very entertained and then when we realized they weren't hired by the company to perform it was even more entertaining."
"They can crash my crib anytime, call me ladies."

"Although their audience enjoyed it, one of the managers and co-owner of the company, Simone Woods, didn't enjoy the show," the reporter said. The two girls rolled their eyes.

"They kept demanding to see Christopher and it doesn't work like that. It was very unprofessional and too early in the morning to be performing 'Unholy' by Sam Smith. They looked like they just left the club. I wouldn't be surprised if they were drunk or high. They wouldn't leave after we politely asked so I had to call the police, once they knew I was serious, they were smart enough to haul ass out of there. If they didn't they would have been locked up for trespassing" Simone said looking at the camera.

"Booo, you whore!" Aquarius said as she threw a wrapper at the tv and they both laughed.

"So they didn't get to see Mr. Westwood?" the reporter asked.

"Nope, he wasn't even here, they never had a meeting, they crashed hoping they could," Simone said with a roll of her eyes.

"I spoke with Christopher about the situation but he didn't have much to say," the reporter said and then it cut to Christopher.

"I missed the whole thing. I was actually running very late which rarely happens. Being late stresses me out so when I got to the office and saw police cars out front I thought the worst. Thankfully no one was hurt or anything."

"Have you seen the two girls perform? Will you call them back?" the reporter asked.

However, Simone nudged Christopher out of the shot. "As we said, we have an important conference today, we don't have time to gawk at those two girls making a fool of themselves. He hasn't seen the video and won't be seeing it. I know that's what they want."

"Booooooo!" the two girls said.

"So if an aspiring musician wants an actual meeting with Christopher, how should they go about doing it?"

"Don't. He is booked out for the next year already and depending on Bryson's success we may have another talent search next year. Christopher has no time to see anyone that isn't on his calendar already. He's a very busy man. He's also a very famous man and we have amped up security so this will never happen again. If anyone even tries, they'll be arrested immediately" Simone said looking into the camera again and then walking off.

"Well there you have it, the most professional way to meet Christopher Westwood is to audition, not crash his office. Back to you, Lamar."

The girls instantly went on TikTok and sure enough, there were videos of them performing. Now that they were just broadcasted for the whole island to see, they'll get even more. 

"Rumor has it their name is Aquarius," Nadia said, reading the caption. "How'd they get your name?"

"You told her our band's name was The Aquarians remember?" Aquarius said. "You know what? I think we should keep it." Aquarius was obviously one and so was Nadia.

"Hey if Christopher never sees the video, at least we got some free publicity and a band name out of this," Nadia said.

*

The Aquarian Look: they seem to always have a distant, dreamy look in their eyes.

*

Aquarius was tempted to stay at Nadia's again but she had to get used to being alone and her power was back on so she had no excuse. However, when she got home she wanted to turn right back around and go back. "What is that smell?" she asked as soon as she opened her door. "Ewww," she said as she covered her nose.

Soon she found the culprit in the fridge. Since the power was out for days, everything in her fridge went bad except for a few water bottles. Once she threw everything out, that's all she had left. She wanted to cry as she looked at her empty fridge. She was still full from all the snacking at Nadia's but if she got hungry, what would she eat?

She raided her cabinet and found a few packs of ramen noodles, peanut butter and a small bag of gummy bears, and all of her spices. 

For the next hour or so, she stressed out over how she was going to be able to afford to eat. She only had so much for food. She had to save 90% of the money she had now for rent which was right around the corner. Not to mention her phone bill, utilities, internet, and gas for her moped. She cried as she added it all up. She only had $20 left if she wanted to eat for the next week or so. She couldn't touch her rent money. She never planned on doing this alone but here she was.

"Fuck" she said as she wiped her tears.

Maybe if she did enough begging, she could ask Ethan for extra hours, she wanted to save that time for her and Nadia to practice but she needed to be able to survive first. 

The next morning, she walked in with a smile on her face, her baby blue satin button-down, her freshly pressed pants, and her favorite wedges, curly hair, and makeup made her feel a little better about herself. 

Her life was shit, yes, but she couldn't look it.

She set her bag on her chair at her desk and checked her phone, her temp agency called a couple of times. That could wait, they were probably just doing their random check-ins. She took a deep breath and put on an award-winning smile as she walked to Ethan's office. He was sitting behind his desk, with a huge frown on his face, focusing on the papers in front of him. She stopped in the doorway and watched him for a second, he didn't notice her at all. Whatever he was thinking about, he was lost in it. She could relate all too well. She lightly knocked on the door frame. Ethan looked up at her. His frown didn't stay on his face for long once Aquarius smiled at him.

"Morning Ethan, you alright?" she asked him.

He was about to answer but he was interrupted by Susan calling from her office. "Aquarius. Ethan. My office. Now."

Aquarius' eyes widened, what was up her ass now? Ethan sighed and got up, not saying a word. They both walked into Susan's office and sat across from her. Aquarius wondered what happened and why was it so serious.

"Welcome back Aquarius. You feeling better?" Susan asked her.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine now, thanks."

"I bet you are. Fine. Because you were never sick were you?" Susan asked her, even though she already knew the answer. 

Ethan sighed, Susan wasted no time.

"I'm sorry?" Aquarius asked.

"It's too late for apologies. Why did you lie about not being able to come in?"

"Why do you think I'm lying?" Aquarius asked, she looked at Ethan but he was concentrating on the floor. Soon a bad feeling crept over her.

"Because I saw you on the news last night," Susan said. "You weren't sick, you were out breaking the law, drunk and high?"

Aquarius' heart sank. Shit. "Ok I can explain-"

"I don't have time for whatever you want to make up. You've been caught."

"Yes but I wasn't drunk or high, my friend and I were just trying to get a second chance."

"Yes, Ethan here finally told me why you were sick last week. You went to that audition and you were so upset that you didn't get it that you decided to trespass when you should be at work? I hope it was worth it but I also heard it wasn't; that woman was very adamant about what's his name never seeing the video and she also mentioned you were drunk or high and that you just came from the club."

"She assumed so, we were perfectly sober and...we were just dressed for the part. Trying to make an impression" Aquarius explained, trying to hold back her tears. "I promise. We meant no harm-"

"Oh so if I gave you a drug test right now, you'll pass with flying colors?" Susan asked as she put an at-home drug testing kit on her desk.

Aquarius almost said yes but she remembered she and Nadia smoked just last night. Fucking Nadia! She knew she should have gone ahead and come in.

"That's what I thought. I already called your agency, I don't know if they sent you here to beg but it's not going to work on me. You're done here."

"No! No, please. I really, really need this job! I have rent and bills to pay! Please, it'll never happen again I promise! Auditions are usually on the weekends and I'll keep them that way, I promise" she pleaded to Susan but she just sat there. She turned to Ethan who couldn't look at either of them, "Please give me another chance. I won't let you down, I'm so so sorry," she pleaded to him.

"Nope, that won't work either. I see how you look at him and that needs to stop right now. He's married. Collette is a lovely woman and I swear to God if anything-"

"Susan, it doesn't have to come to that and it hasn't come to that. I think you're reading too much into it," Ethan finally butted in. Aquarius wanted to die. Not only was she a lying, drunk, druggie but she was also a homewrecker. Susan was thinking the worst saying that she was everything she wasn't!

"She's got you wrapped around her little finger already. She even has you lying for her. You knew she was going to an audition last week but covered for her. Did you know about yesterday?" she asked him.

"For the thousandth time, no," Ethan said to her, sitting up in his seat. "She only said she wasn't feeling well and besides Susan, we're not horribly busy. If she is ever out, I can do the work, I was doing it all before she got here."

"Then what am I paying her for? And her agency too if you can just do it all yourself? You were running yourself ragged working 50 hours a week, that's what she's here for."

"And she's been a tremendous help otherwise, we need her Susan. I, for work purposes only, need her...help."

"A monkey can do what she does for bananas! No, you have too much evidence against you" Susan said to her. Aquarius' lip started to tremble. "And don't you start crying either, I'm onto you, you manipulative minx!"

"Susan, that's enough! You've made yourself clear!" Ethan raised his voice at her. Susan snapped her attention to him and Aquarius could tell that Ethan never raised his voice at her until this moment. "She made one mistake-"

"No, she's made three. Three strikes and you're out. You lied twice and you refuse to take a drug test."

"Aquarius, you really can't take the drug test?" he asked her. He was shocked. Aquarius didn't seem like the type to be into that kind of stuff but she was in a rock band and that's what musicians do. He never thought for a second she was one of them and didn't want to believe it now. "If she passes, she can stay yes?"

"I'm concerned about why you're fighting so hard for her," Susan said to him pointedly.

"She's a great worker! She's helped me out tremendously and she obviously feels horrible about it. Come on, we all have faked sick, Susan."

"If she takes the drug test right now, I'll think about it," Susan said and they both looked at her.

Aquarius felt like scum. She was such a fucking cliche. Just because she was a musician didn't mean she should do all the temptations that came with it. She decided to tell the truth for once and it killed her. "I don't want to waste your time like I already have," she said as a tear rolled down her face as she looked down at her shaking hands. Ethan's hopes dropped and he sank back into his seat, disappointed.

She HATED disappointing people.

"That's what I thought. Clean out your desk and go. I'll mail the agency your remaining check and I made sure to tell them I will no longer be using their services. Think about that next time when you're out with your rock star friend. Actions have consequences that affect multiple people. Your agency has lost a customer. Ethan and I are losing help...and any trust we had for you and you're losing employment. I hope you learned your lesson" she said as a client walked to the door. "Come in Mr. Graham, just in time," she said to them.

Aquarius got out of her office as fast as she could. Ethan struggled with whether to follow her and talk to her or just get back to work. Susan's mind was made up.

Damn, why couldn't she have taken the drug test? He walked into his office and found himself pacing, trying to think of what to say. He sighed and walked out but Aquarius was gone. He opened the door that went to the top balcony and hallway of the bank, ran down the steps, and then made the immediate left to go out to the parking lot. He sighed as he saw her moped speed down the street. 

*

The Aquarian Look: can be taller than average.

*

When Nadia pulled into her driveway, she immediately reached into her pockets and pulled out a cigarette. She lit it and inhaled. "I hate my fucking job," she said to herself. It was hard to work at a job she hated when her real passions were elsewhere. And her passion just so happened to be one of the hardest to attain. One in a million chance. But she always believed she had what it takes, she just kept walking to the wrong doors that didn't open for her. She just had to find the right door, one that will open because it believed in her as much as she did.

Preferably more.

Her Mom didn't like her smoking in the house of course, so she only did it in the garage with the door open. When she pulled up the garage door, she was surprised to see Aquarius sitting on the couch. Aquarius' head snapped toward her.

"Oh hey, bestie. You're here early-"

"I really should fuck you up right now," Aquarius said as she stood up, she was seething.

"Bitch excuse me?" Nadia asked her in shock. Whoa! What the fuck?

Aquarius stomped over to her and Nadia noticed she had a bottle in her hand. She thought she was gonna hit her with it but it was half full, of vodka. Oh hell. She wanted to hug her friend and ask what was wrong but she was literally threatening her right now.

"I got fired! Because of you!" Aquarius said as tears rolled down her face, it looked like she just stopped crying and now here she was starting up again.

"What!? How is it my fault??" Nadia asked incredulously.

"That bitch Susan saw me on the news last night so she knows I faked calling out sick. That bitch Simone said she was sure we were high or drunk when we crashed their office and Susan said prove it and tried to drug test me right there!"

"Ohmygod, Aquarius I'm-"

"Of course, I couldn't do it because we smoked last night! I knew I should've just gone to work but no I slacked off and listened to you!" Aquarius said and then took a swig of vodka.

"Aquarius, how much have you-"

"She said no drug test, no job. I was so fucking humiliated!"

"What about Ethan?"

"He couldn't say anything, he was mostly just disappointed in me. He begged me to take the test but that would've been a waste of time. I wish he fought for me...no he tried, Susan is just a fucking bitch. Her evil mind was made up."

"Aquarius, it's just a job, that's why you have your temp agency-"

"Just a job!? I need that to FUCKING SURVIVE NADIA! And that bitch Susan called them and told them everything and she would no longer be using their services so they were pissed. I went over there to plead my case and what did they do? Pull out a drug test! I lost two jobs in one day! All because I smoked with YOU!"

"Aquarius I'm really sorry-"

"Sorry isn't gonna cut it! Sorry isn't going to pay my bills! I can barely pay them now! How am I going to do that? I'm doing this all alone!"

Nadia knew she was stressed out and this was the last thing she needed.

"Every time I get caught up in some bullshit, it's because of you! You're a fucking disaster!"

"Did I put a gun to your head and tell you to smoke? No! You're a grown-ass woman who made a grown-ass mistake! You can't blame me! You gotta accept responsibility for this too! You could have easily gone in."

"You practically begged me to stay. I couldn't say no-"

"You could have! And you didn't because you didn't want to! In hindsight, that was a bad idea but how were we to know we would be on the news, let alone Susan seeing it?"

"Cutting work and breaking the law was also your idea, was it not? 'Nothing's going to happen, the worst they can say is no'" Aquarius said, mocking her. "The worst is happening to me right now!"

"What do you want me to do?! Say I'm sorry!? I already did! I'M SORRY AQUARIUS!" Nadia shouted back. "Trespassing was against the law, yes, but the videos have been getting a lot of views and-"

"Fuck views! They're not going to pay my rent or put food on my table!"

Nadia sighed, she knew who she was really mad at, but bringing them up wouldn't be a good idea. "We'll figure that out, Aquarius. I'm not going to let you be broke, homeless, or hungry."

"Don't pity me! Don't patronize me!"

"I'M NOT! BITCH! I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU! BUT YOU REFUSE! EVERY TIME I TRY TO HELP, YOU TURN ME DOWN! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE! I WOULD NEVER DO WHAT YOUR MOM DID TO YOU!"

As soon as she said, or screamed that, she regretted it, that was the last thing Aquarius wanted to hear. But instead of yelling back, she slammed the bottle on the table, went to her moped, and put on her helmet. 

"Don't! Don't Aquarius, you've been drinking!" Nadia said as she tried to pull her from the bike but Aquarius pushed her away.

"Surprised? It runs in the family" Aquarius said snarkily and she revved up the engine so Nadia would move out of the way. Then she sped off.

*

The Aquarian Look: in profile always noble with fine features.

*

https://youtu.be/NGFSNE18Ywc