I was seventeen and living an apartment complex with my roommate, kind of. My roommate was a Scorpio with Moon Pluto in Leo. He was twenty-six years old. He and I met in the bowels of the mall where we worked. We hit it off, instantly; deciding to be roommates, right there in the hall beneath the mall, within five minutes.
We followed through and rented a house together for about a year. But then he met a gal while attending a conference for his job. He fell head over heels in love with her and decided to leave town to be with her. He thought he was dying at the time (Hodgkin’s). I have a long history with Scorpios who think they’re dying!
I couldn’t afford the house by myself so I rented the apartment, which would be mine, alone. But he was staying there while he got his things together for the move. Also, we were very good friends. He wanted me settled, rather than rug pulled with this. Luckily, he was at the apartment the day I met my husband.
I came home from work at the “Café At The Mall” (another story). I was walking on the landing towards my apartment. It was a hot day in the desert, so most who were home, had their door open. Swamp coolers, not air conditioning in Arizona.
I was social as was this blonde girl who lived a few doors down from me. The apartment complex was by a base. She entertained, Airmen, a lot. Military dad, I think. I was friendly with her.
I was friendly with everyone… er, except for Airmen, who made me nervous. I’d never been around the military and I didn’t know what to make of them. Same with police. It’s the uniform, I guess. I’m free-wheeling and men in uniform, seemed otherwise. I wanted to have fun, not trouble! Thanks!
I was cruising by the various apartment doors on the way to my own, saying hi and waving to whoever was around. When I walked by the blonde’s apartment, she stepped out to call me inside. She had some of these men visiting. They were all drinking beer.
I deferred, because it was hot and I wasn’t interested in, Airmen. I’d been tending bar for two years at this point. Drinking beer did not interest me, either. But the blonde was a Sagittarius type and she wouldn’t take no for an answer!
“Come on, Elsa! Live a little! You’ve been working all day; it’s hot as hell. Come in and have a cold beer with us. Come meet my friends!” she said, waving me in.
My mother had instructed me not to be a “pill”, many times, so I agreed to come in for a beer. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should, live a little!
I walked into the apartment to see the room ringed with men. The energy in there, hit me like a brick. Male hunger! Ravenous.
The blonde introduced me, and several of the men stood to offer me their seat. My soon-to-be boyfriend was one of them. He spoke first, “You can sit here, Ma’am,” he said, indicating the empty space on the loveseat, next to him.
Ma’am? I’m just a girl! They don’t talk like that in, Tucson, but he grinned at me at me with his one dimple and I smiled back with my two. Hey! I have Venus in Leo and Mars in Libra. Chivalry, manners and he’s handsome too? Being not stupid, I crossed the room, feeling the other men watching me. That’s too bad, other men!
He helped me be seated and then sat down, himself. “Hi,” he said, quietly, to me and me alone. “How are you doing?”
Whoosh! Oh brother, I need a cold compress or something.
He then introduced himself, using his first, middle and last name, proudly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am. MY name is, XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXX!” he announced, dramatically, extending his hand, to shake mine.
“Elsa P,” I said, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you!” I said, still thinking I could handle this. Of course I can! I met umpteenth men, day in and day out!
Nervous, I pulled out a cigarette. He pulled out a lighter and lit it for me.
What is happening, I wondered. I knew it was something. I felt like I had left the world.
We chatted, very briefly, before I became flustered. My feelings quickly got out of hand. I just didn’t feel myself at all. I also realized I was wearing a dirty waitress uniform; oh no! Fight or flight kicked in. I stood up, abruptly, “I gotta go!”
He nodded and stood to shake my hand as I was leaving. He was courtly, causing me to swoon even more. I got the hell out of there, with my heart pounding.
I sprinted to my apartment, thinking I was an idiot but also intending to somehow, prevail! My roommate was outside the apartment, letting himself in with his key. I tried to tell him about what just happened, but I was babbling. I could not seem to explain what was happening.
“Slow down, Elsa. You met a guy? A guy? So?” he said, with his normal sneer. “You meet men all the time. What’s the big deal? And further, I have a question for you. If you like this guy, and he’s there, why are you here?”
I stare daggers.
“Are you actually nervous?” he said, as it hits him. He laughed. “Nervous over some guy? You? Since when are you nervous? Who is he? What did he do?” he asked.
“Shut up!” I said. “Just go get him,” I said. “Hurry, before he gets away!” I wailed. “He’s at the blonde’s place!”
“He’ll be back,” he said, bewildered at my behavior, but becoming amused.
I was incredulous. Is he stupid? How can he not see this emergency? “No! Tonight!!! I can’t take a chance, he gets away! Help me!” I wailed!
“Okay, okay. I’ll help you. What do you want me to do?” he asked.
I had no idea! No thoughts in my head, at all. “HELP! I don’t want him to get away!” I said.
“If he’s at the blonde’s, why don’t you go to invite him to dinner?” he asked.
“Whaaat?”
“You’re a good cook, Elsa. You say he’s from the base? He’s probably not had a home cooked meal in a while.”
This was smart, but I thought it was stupid, because I was crazed. I also thought he was getting away. Clock was ticking! “Really? You think he would like that?”
He nodded.
“Okay! I’ll cook!” I started to bite my fingernails and he told me to stop it. “But can you invite him for me?”
“What? Just go down there and ask him if he wants to come over for dinner.”
I stared.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m curious to see this guy who’s made you crazy, anyway. I’m going to go talk to him, and see what he’s about,” he said, heading towards the blonde’s place.
“Get the right one!” I yelled.
“Which one?” he asked, quizzically.
He didn’t know there was a roomful of men. Oh no! He can mess this up!
“The one I want! The good looking one! Er… the dark hair. The good looking one with the dark hair sitting at the back of the room. Don’t get that other one. Don’t get any other one. Get the right one!”
“Okay!”
“Okay!”
“Get him!”
He waved me off, for being stupid. I went inside and crossed my fingers, remembering not to bite my nails.
My roommate came back in five minutes. “Start cooking, Elsa. He’s coming to dinner at six.”
“Whaaaat! Look at me!” I said, standing there in my dirty uniform. It was going on four!
“You’ve got plenty of time. Make him that pasta you always make. I’m sure he’ll like it. He didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation.”
I stood there, frozen. I could not believe this update. How can this be happening?
“Elsa, start cooking. Put your sauce on and then go take a shower. This is going to be fine. He likes you,” he added.
“What!???”
“He likes you, I said.”
“How do you know that?”
He laughed. “You think I can’t tell when a man likes you? Well, they all like you, but this one also likes you.”
“How do you know?”
“I told him you wanted him to come to dinner. He didn’t hesitate.”
Oh my God, I was out of my mind. My roommate was not staying. He was just there to pick something up. I fretted like crazy as I stirred pans on the stove, checked my hair, stirred pans on the stove and checked my hair. I didn’t fix my makeup because I didn’t have any makeup.
DING! DONG!
It’s the bell! Oh no! He’s here!
~~
The date went well. At the end of it, he asked me if I would be his girlfriend. Yes!
He left and I sat down on the couch, finding it all pretty hard to believe. But let me tell you how we understood this, years after the fact…
First my husband calls this, The Thunderbolt. He thinks God hits you with The Thunderbolt, to let you know, this is it! Like this, exactly:
But the deeper levels here are mindboggling.
On the surface, I’m a frazzled teenage girl, and maybe he’s a horny teenage boy? But with time, we realized, what really happened.
When we saw each other, our blood kicked in, unbeknownst to us. “Our blood”, meaning the ways of our culture, that are deeply embedded in our subconscious.
Specifically, culturally speaking, if I as young girl, were to see a boy I like, I would not approach him directly. I’d go get my brother to do it!
He, as a young man, would not ask me on date, directly, either. Not without permission from my family!
So you see what happened here. I saw him, I heard his name, I talked to him long enough to make sure… and then I ran to get my brother to help me!
When “my brother” showed up, my soon-to-be boyfriend’s blood kicked in, but it was already raging. The Scorpio was right. He would have come back and back and back, until he ran into me again. But when he saw “my brother”, he fell right into the cultural script. In fact, he was surprised he ate dinner with me, without a chaperone!
I like to think about this in the context of the whole scene. Two people in that room met their destiny that day. It must have been something to witness.
Epilogue… my roommate from back then, survives to this day and remains in, Saint Paul.