Chapter Five
Olivia took a seat on the free cushion beside Margot, tucking her legs under her. On the television, an old episode of Three’s Company cut to commercial.
Margot held her laptop steady atop her knees as she leaned forward, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and muting the television. “One sec. Let me tweet this . . . and done.”
“If you’re busy, that’s fine,” Olivia said. “We can talk later.”
“It’s all good. See?” She swiveled her laptop so Olivia could see the screen. Her browser was open to Twitter.
Olivia took a closer look.
What TV Show Should You Watch with Your Roommate Based on Their Zodiac Sign?
Aries—2 Broke Girls
Taurus—Broad City
Gemini—Two and a Half Men
Cancer—New Girl
Leo—Friends
Virgo—The Odd Couple
Libra—The Golden Girls
Scorpio—Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23
Sagittarius—The Big Bang Theory
Capricorn—Will & Grace
Aquarius—Mork & Mindy
Pisces—Three’s Company
“Content creation for Oh My Stars,” Margot explained.
“I always kind of wondered how you came up with these.”
“It’s basically distilling whatever the list items are to their main properties. So, with television shows, it would be the theme or the relationship between the characters or . . . vibe.” Margot cracked a smile. “It’s not an exact science.”
Olivia grinned.
“Then I match them to the zodiac signs based on their most significant traits. I’m not saying if you’re a Gemini your favorite TV show featuring a roommate relationship is The Odd Couple, I’m just positing that it’s the show that most closely captures the traits of that sign.” Margot shrugged. “And if it doesn’t feel like a good fit, you should check your rising sign. Same goes for horoscopes. You’re actually better off checking your rising sign since that’s what determines the houses in your chart. Your horoscope for the day or week or month or whatever time frame takes into consideration the transits of the planets and how they move through the different areas of your chart. Your rising sign gives you a more complete picture.”
She scanned the list, stopping at Libra. “The Golden Girls. Fair enough.”
For some reason, Margot laughed. “Sorry. That’s just, um, a very Libra reaction. Fair enough.”
She’d missed Margot’s laugh, how it started in her chest and seemed to burst from her lips, throaty and smoky. “Question—I’ve always wondered, how does compatibility work? With astrology?”
Hopefully that was much smoother than what’s your sign? Besides, she already knew Margot was an Aries.
Margot’s brows rose. “Synastry? That’s . . . Well, there are a few aspects you can look at. Aspects are the angles between planets and other celestial bodies and points of interest in a chart. There are hard aspects, which can pose a challenge, and easier aspects, which are . . . harmonious, I guess is the right word. With synastry, you can overlay the charts or there’s software that does it, and you can see how person A’s planets aspect person B’s and what houses of the chart they activate and vice versa.”
Olivia kept her eyes on the screen. It felt like her heart was going to punch through her rib cage, but hopefully her voice wouldn’t warble. “So, say, Aries and Libra? What kind of aspect do they make? Are they, um, compatible?”
Margot shrugged. Shrugged. Olivia bit off her sigh before it could escape her.
It wasn’t so much that she cared about their astrological compatibility but that she’d hoped the question might serve as a stepping-stone of sorts. That Margot’s reaction might give Olivia a hint at what was going on inside Margot’s head, not just now, but years before. Why everything between them had been so good, brimming with possibility, a whole future ahead of them, until Margot had pushed her away.
All Olivia wanted was a little clarity. She’d call it closure, but something about that word put a terrible taste in her mouth.
“They’re directly opposite to one another, which can bring balance to a relationship since each sign possesses qualities the other lacks. But it’s a bit more complicated than that. Everyone thinks of sun-sun compatibility, but that’s a tiny, tiny piece of the puzzle. There’s sun-moon, moon-moon, Venus-Mars, moon-Venus—it all depends on what you’re looking for. Good communication, similar values, interests. The seventh house is where we tend to look for information on partnerships like marriage, but the fifth house is about passion—not just sex, but that, too—and the eighth house rules sex as well, but in a transformational, even transactional sense? There’s a lot to look at.” Margot pursed her lips. “But compatibility isn’t my area of expertise.” She cringed. “Astrological compatibility isn’t my area of expertise.”