ONE-03

^{(Seth Gekko | From Dusk Till Dawn)}

Please allow me to introduce myself:
Gekko. Just Gekko.

Now that I’ve found myself here, perhaps a little about my background. I’ve been active in the „facial network“ for a long time, and I’ve also been a member (and co-admin) of the aforementioned film group for some years. Invited by the Capo himself, my acquaintance with him goes back to the days of Usenet. Apart from the topic, the main difference between his and many other groups was that it was private and many members knew each other. It was also quite small and easily manageable.

And then Leeloo came along. The group only grew slightly as a result, but the „traffic“ increased; Leeloo came with a lot of expertise and even more verve. And a profile picture that looked more like „femme fatale“ and „film noir“ than a well-behaved member of a serious film group.

My interest was piqued. An interest that I wasn’t even aware of. Living in a relationship, married, not overly happy but content within the bounds of possibility, my reaction to other women didn’t go beyond the occasional backward glance. Similar to the feeling of finding a sports car attractive without immediately thinking about a test drive.

Except that *oops* someone suddenly opened the door…
and I hit „send message“.

Sudden adrenaline rush. Oh wow, he’s really chatted me up privately now? After the increasingly public flirty-flirty banter, I’d been waiting for some time for an opportunity to continue this on a more private level, but got no chance so far … this would have been the perfect time, as „The Capo“ of the group also responded to Gekko’s soundtrack quiz post with „Well, I refuse to do that. If you don’t know that, you‘re probably in the wrong group!“ … aaaahhhhh *coverseyeswithhands* … I guess, if now he’s the first to send a private message, I can live with that too.

But what does he write, what does he write … I click on the message:

GEKKO: As a reminder 😉 Kill Bill Vol. 1

LEELOO: I already suspected Tarantino … but it’s actually still on my to-see list …

GEKKO: Kill Bill 1 & 2 are really great movies, I personally think they’re better than Django Unchained, despite Christoph Waltz.

LEELOO: I’ll be sure to catch up before „Django“ … oops … don’t tell our Capo „Sheriff“, otherwise I’ll have to shoot the „Deputy“ 😉

GEKKO: Ahem, now it’s getting worse. You’re still on probation in the group, remember? 🙂

LEELOO: Pssst.

GEKKO: No worries. Fortunately for you, I’m only the Capo’s understudy.

LEELOO: Phew … lucky again …

GEKKO: Lessons learnt. It’s better to say nothing instead of „oops“ 😉

LEELOO: I’m just being honest 😉

GEKKO: Within this group, that’s only medium-clever. 🙂

LEELOO: hmhmhm … maybe 😉

GEKKO: Just kidding, we all just want to play 😉

LEELOO: I can relate … as a member of a family with some gambling history.

GEKKO: I can see it’s high time for a conspiratorial meeting.

LEELOO: What was the last status? March?

GEKKO: Around that time. Unfortunately, my planned trip to Germany in October won’t take place, the workshop has been cancelled.

LEELOO: Well, it’ll work out at some point, unless they close the borders here completely and build a new wall 😉

GEKKO: At least I still have a German passport. 🙂

LEELOO: Take good care of it 😉

Well … and that was that. No further reply. For the next three days my messenger remained silent. I must confess, that at this point I hadn’t really understood the main problem of chatting across different time zones. It was only when I read his message again, which I had received at 9pm, that it dawned on me that for him it must have been well after midnight (or even later? how many hours ahead is Thailand?). So perhaps all this had been some sort of an accident of the „don’t drink & text“ variety? In any event, I had gotten the impression that we both didn’t really knew whether socialising „behind the scenes“ had been a good idea. With no „audience“ around us, suddenly it felt surprisingly quiet. There had been an elephant in the room. Scared of own courage? Shyness? Nervousness for feeling the need to come across even cooler in private than in the group chats? On my part the latter was true for sure. Phew. I decided to just let the whole thing rest – on the plus side, at least I hadn’t been sent an unsolicited „d*ck pic“. This meant that our verbal sparring activities in the two groups could continue like nothing happened.

I was also really happy about one specific piece of information that had just found its way to me. About three months earlier, Gekko had mentioned in the group that we might set a date for a film group meeting in autumn, because he would be in Germany for a business workshop. At that very moment, I was in the process of finally getting accredited for a film festival that would be taking place at exactly the same time. After a brief hesitation, I decided to go through with my festival idea as planned. Shortly afterwards, there were already discussions within the group about maybe postponing the meeting until spring, but the information that he would not-be-in-Germany-at-all in autumn was new. I mentally patted myself on the back for my „me first – men later“ decision. Well done, Leeloo.

On the fourth day of radio silence, I decided to take the bull by the horns and wrote a private message:

LEELOO: I’ll just quote a corresponding message to me from a few years ago: „Normally I’m not so quick with friend requests, but this seems to fit somehow 😉 But if it’s too fast for you, that’s ok too, of course.“ 😉

I’ve rarely been more excited and – when the reply arrived shortly afterwards – happier:

GEKKO: On the contrary, it was in the air, so to speak. 🙂 The question was rather who would find „the courage“ first.

LEELOO: My father still calls me „cheeky kid“ 😉 … which of course doesn’t mean that I’m always chatting up strangers 😉

GEKKO: I wouldn’t allow myself to make a judgement about constantly 😉

LEELOO: Rarely … and only nice ones 😉

GEKKO: You have to be really inexperienced for not knowing just how burnt the term „nice“ is. 🙂

LEELOO: In this case, please suggest a more appropriate adjective 😉 „just interesting ones“? Better? Or too exaggerated? As I said, I rarely do that 😉

GEKKO: Serious. The term you’re looking for is simply „serious“ 😉

LEELOO: Touché

A short explanation: the term „serious“ was sort of a „running gag“ within „our“ groups and was always used to describe totally „non-serious“ things.

But now! Friend request accepted! I’ve rarely been more excited and – when I stalk…. checked his now undisguised profile for the first time shortly afterwards – more unhappy:

Married

it read. WHAT? How? When had my stupid f*cking men-radar changed from gaydar to marriedar? I couldn’t believe it. His profile had already been pretty „public“, even without being „friends“. Lots of private photos and information. More recently, a friend had commented on one of his public posts with „Well, I thought maybe it was because now the second woman gave you the boot?“. In any case, I had felt completely safe and never imagined that the guy, who had been flirting his head off with me from the other side of the world for months, might be married. OOOOH NOOOO. Crap. Wait, wait, wait … what was wrong with me? I was married myself and I didn’t wanted a lover, right? Way too complicated and all that?

At this point, I had to admit to myself that the last few months had changed me to the extent that I had long been dangling from a hook that a MISTER Gekko had knowingly or unknowingly thrown out. I decided to take the plunge and put all my eggs in one basket. If for him as an engineer, as he liked to emphasise, astrology was a ‘red flag’, so be it, then this – which is actually nothing at all – ends here and now. But I didn’t wanted to miss an opportunity to take a look behind his facade:

LEELOO: Sorry, usually I’m not so pushy 😉 But is there an exact time and date of your birth? I’m not a professional astrologer like my mum, but I have inherited a certain curiosity to „look into the stars“ 😉  If I’m annoying, please just say „Nope, won’t tell and you’re annoying“. I can take it. 🙂

The answer was short, but my courage was rewarded:

GEKKO: No problem, I’m not interested in it myself, but I can understand it as a hobby. The time would be **** but then also tell me your findings. 🙂

LEELOO: My mum always says I should do more in that direction because I also have the „gut feeling“ for it … but since I know from her that in this job you mainly have to deal with women in their midlife crisis, I’d rather not 😉 

GEKKO: Errr, yes. Men in that phase are enough for me. 🙂

LEELOO: Me too 😉

My mum started studying astrological-psychology when I was 14 years old. Not that „I see a tall dark stranger…“ stuff, but as to provide „help for self-help“, recognising your own potential and so on. I was old enough to find it extremely fascinating and mathematically gifted enough to quickly realise how it worked to calculate horoscope data exactly and then draw the picture to go with it.

For the younger readers here: back then, the Commodore 64 had just come onto the market (but was far too expensive for most people, or seemed totally pointless) and the Internet was a long way from being invented. The only telephone (with a dial) in our house had a long cable. If you paid attention in the second chapter, you’ll remember that I rediscovered my penchant for astrological connections in my not-so-distant past as a fangirl. A lot of women had provided me with their data back then and I had studied charts until my head was spinning. So I was still completely in the subject and convinced that I could quickly see whether it was worth sticking with this married Gekko or not. Luckily, nowadays there was appropriate software and so I was only a few clicks away from being able to take a look into his black soul… er, behind the scenes.

A „man on fire“. Of course. Every man who had really interested me so far had been one. Aries, Leo… well, and now apparently a Sagittarius to complete the circle. Sigh.

For those here who aren’t at all astrology-savvy, I’ll just leave out a lot of „technical terms“ (which Gekko would of course get the full brunt of) and reduce it to the essentials:

LEELOO: So, I’ve immersed myself a little in your horoscope … here’s a kind of „brief overview“ of my „findings“ … the first thing that catches the eye is the extreme „fire emphasis“: You are a Sagittarius with Ascendant Leo and have your Mars („the inner motor“) in Aries. Aries/Leo/Sagittarius are the 3 fire signs. Some aspects indicate that you can really go „full throttle“, but that you also know your limits very well. All of this says that on the one hand you are dynamic and spontaneous and need a lot of movement and personal freedom.

On the other hand, there are also clear signs of laziness, which can lead to you staying too long in a situation (relationship/work) that doesn’t really benefit you. Overall, however, you’re more the type of person who simply HAS to do something new from time to time, whether professionally or privately – „daily grind“ is practically fatal 😉 … what I also see is a sort of emotional connection to your job and contacts with other people are probably very important to you. Even without knowing whether you have children, I would guess that from the horoscope. But there are also indications of a certain restlessness / instability? Hm … what else is there … although you have a very very precise mind, you are probably more of a lively storyteller than a strict logician.

Once again on the point of relationship / family: there is probably quite a big ‘ideal’ there. You can also quickly perceive a relationship as a kind of ‘hostage-taking’ – which in turn contradicts your desire for independence. In the area that generally stands for family & privacy, you also have the so-called „lunar node“ which points to our „life theme“ … there is a counterpart to this ascending lunar node exactly opposite – the axis between the 4th (family/home) and 10th house (public/profession) symbolises your personal ‘Achilles heel’ in this life, so to speak.

So that’s just skimming „over the surface“ … I’m curious to see if you can recognise yourself in part 😉

GEKKO: Wow, that’s a comprehensive analysis. On first reading, I recognise myself in many places, but I personally see some things differently. Please let me read it in peace before I give an answer that is worthy of your work: Thank you in advance in any case! There’s more to it than I expected.

LEELOO: You’re welcome. By the way, there might be a need to talk about midlife crisis in two months‘ time 😉

GEKKO: Is that so? Who’s approaching? 😉

LEELOO: Saturn. The so-called 2nd return to his spot in the birth chart. The first is around the age of 28/29. Whatever was going on then could be revisited.

GEKKO: According to my nature, I’ll let it come to me. It would be much more exciting to talk about it in three years‘ time when I leave of Thailand and move back tot he „marriage bed“ in Germany. When two massive individualists will have to find a way to get back together after four years of living on their own.

LEELOO: 😉 If that works well at the moment, it should work out 🙂 The ring bearer and I now have a very relaxed and open business partnership after more than 27 years 😉 He is a similar powerhouse to you – Leo, Ascendant Leo and Moon in Aries. Not really the stress-free kind 😉

GEKKO: My wife would probably also describe me as „not really the stress-free kind.“ 🙂 It’s only been 12 years for us, but it’s not everyone’s first marriage.

LEELOO: Well then maybe everyone knows what they can do better this time 😉

GEKKO: My wife is a mediator. She has a clear opinion on this. However, she also respects my freedom and the fact that, as an engineer, I have a completely different background.

LEELOO: Sounds almost perfect 😉

GEKKO: Almost. Exactly.

LEELOO: Aha?

GEKKO: If I don’t put a smiley after every post, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Although we are very different, we still get on well.

LEELOO: LOL … all right 😉 I’m just wondering what would happen if I sent such an astrological text to our group „Capo“ … 😛

GEKKO: I think that would briefly derail him. But I don’t know how he would deal with it in principle. I’ve known him in person for three years now, during which time we’ve met more or less briefly four times. Each time a pleasure to both of us. But whereas I‘m a „party animal“, sometimes rather  extroverted in my private life, he is more introverted. I think I’m allowed to say that here without seeming offensive.

LEELOO: Yes, that sounds appropriate. But as I also know my boundaries quite well, I’m certainly not going to ask him when he was born 😉

GEKKO: Interesting that you „dared“ to do that with me. To dare and trust are not far from each other. So I was pleased to receive your question. In all seriousness and without a smiley. You took a certain risk, trusting that even if I said no, this „young friendship“ wouldn’t suffer as a result. I have respect for that, not many people would go way out on a limb.

LEELOO: My Mars is in Aries too. You like to be spontaneous and sometimes go too far. Of course, I can also see from your horoscope what it had triggered in me. However, as I could have lived with a serious rejection, I proceeded according to my „she who does not ask remains stupid“ motto 😉 Incidentally, my ascendant is Virgo. Contrary to popular belief, they are the ones with the razor-sharp mind and the infinite chatting ability 😉

GEKKO: I’m beginning to understand the second part of the last half-sentence. 🙂

LEELOO: That’s fortunate. I happen to like people with whom a cultivated conversation is possible 😉

GEKKO: But you make a distinction between the Capo and me, for good reasons. And astrology or no astrology, I’m just pleased that you were able to put yourself out there for me. Not because I think I’m a better person for it, simply because you perceived me the way I would like to be perceived.

LEELOO: Without using any fussy astrological terms, there is simply an additional wavelength 😉 I don’t want to overstretch your Saturday evening or your patience 😉 But I’ll be up a while longer than you today for any questions, requests etc. 😉

GEKKO: In any event, that’s great feedback. Thank you for that. And you’ll have comprehensive feedback tomorrow. It’s also only 23:13 here, so it’s still a long way from bedtime. I’m just too lazy to „paint the town red“ today. 🙂

LEELOO: All right … I’m looking after my dogs here while the ring bearer is elsewhere. So it’s also a „no red paint“ evening. 🙂

GEKKO: I’m glad the kids are out of the house … *g*

Well, that was a revealing chat. Keyword: trust. Ha-ha. What woman who cares about their relationship would leave her bloke alone in Thailand for several years? Ok, she also works and perhaps didn’t got the opportunity to take a sabbatical, at least for the first months down there? Unimaginable for me, a relationship like that. And then with such a time difference, that must be totally shit.

Mediator. Hmm. Something like psychiatrists who are great at treating other people’s problems but never manage to see their own. His friend’s „…(she) gave you the boot“ comment suddenly pops up again in my mind. They’re at sixes and sevens, that’s what it looks like. Hmm. All right, we’ll see what happens next. In any case, my interest in further conversation is back in full force. I cover the two little dogs with their cosy blanket and make my way to the fridge. Wine. Then onto the terrace with a thinking-cigarette. Hmm.

GEKKO: Good morning, now for the answer. First of all, I must confess that I don’t know anything about ascendants, fire accentuation, earth signs etc. In this respect, I may be misinterpreting something. I agree that I know my own limits, which has sometimes saved my neck when I also have a tendency to be reckless. And there’s no question about vocation and freedom.

What you kindly describe as „staying in one situation for too long“ is in reality quite an inertia when it comes to change. It annoys me again and again, but just as often I get stuck anew. Things really need to turn bad, to get me off my arse, but when I’m finally up and running then I might even run all the way to Bangkok. Whereby the emotional connection to the job fits again. I can’t really categorise the restlessness / instability in relation to the children. Maybe you can explain that to me a little more. More narrator than logician certainly sums it up very well, as does the objectivity in the work. And the comment about family / partnership is also correct, except that I don’t feel any contradiction with independence. The story with „lunar nodes“ and „achilles heel“ is not so clear to me. In any event, thank you for the analysis!

A quick word about the family situation here. I’m in my second marriage with two „children“ in their early 20s from my second wife’s previous marriage. I also have two children of my own from my first marriage, who are already in their mid/late 20s. We both have a good relationship with our previous partners, for example I was best man for her new husband when my ex-wife remarried.

LEELOO: Good morning 🙂 I need coffee first, then a few more words 😉

Oops. Well, there’s a lot of shouting between the lines … for the fact that men supposedly never write anything there … yawning, I open the door to the garden for the dogs and head for the coffee machine. After the first cup, I sit down at my PC and formulate an answer:

LEELOO: Explaining the lunar node in more detail is too esoteric for me today *LOL* But regarding the upcoming second „Saturn return“ (that will be exact on November 29), I’ll just note that under the influence of my first return, I actually toyed with the idea of having children for the first time in my life, but then decided to study architecture. So if something similar is no longer desirable for you, you should take appropriate precautions 😉

Seriously: this second return of Saturn to its place in your birth chart indicates an upcoming reality check. Perhaps a „grandchild announcement“ is imminent or a general review of your satisfaction with the current „status quo“. About the „in 3 years“ part I’d rather like to remain silent for now 😉

As far as my family situation is concerned, I can tell you that we got married twenty-seven years ago (after only two months of getting to know each other) and then worked together 24/7 for about twenty years. Initially in the cinema sector (hence my enthusiasm for film), but at some point things didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped and we founded a completely different new company together.

For over a year now, we’ve both been on two very different „mind-expanding“ ego trips. I pursue my musical and astrological inclinations alongside my duties at the company’s main location, while he mainly pursues his interests at the secondary location, about two-hundred kilometres away to build a new team there. We sometimes only see each other twice a week, which doesn’t really bother him or me … twenty-seven years is a really LONG time 😉

GEKKO: Hola, I was out all day with a friend and therefore couldn’t get round to your feedback. I’ll make up for it tomorrow, or tomorrow evening at the latest. In any case, thank you very much for your detailed reply.

LEELOO: LOL No problem, I hadn’t assumed that we’d set up a dedicated line 😉 If there’s any interest / need for discussion, I’m happy to discuss the topic further, but please don’t stress – it’s supposed to be fun 😉 These are not topics like „how to knit a hat“, but discussions about personal things and you just don’t always have your head free for that – at least that’s how I feel, especially when I have a mountain of work waiting for me 😉 So please give yourself all the time in the world 😉

GEKKO: Hmm, my daughter and I have an agreement that I won’t become a grandfather until I’m sixty … 😉 If anything, it’s more likely that my extension of the assignment in Thailand will be discussed again. My current wife and I had a longer long-distance relationship in the beginning, we only moved in together after almost two years.

But cinema sector sounds exciting. It’s always fascinating to realise what different lifestyles there are outside the mainstream. And yes, twenty-seven years is a lot. 🙂

LEELOO: Yes, the ring bearer and I are probably quite well characterised by „off the mainstream“ 😉

Without expecting any feedback, just a quick word on the subject for the sake of completeness. It looks to me as if „the stars“ ask you to „grow up“. But in the sense of freeing yourself from inner and outer constraints and being your „own king“. Due to the upcoming Saturn aspect that I have already mentioned, all of the aforementioned points will now be subjected to a reality check until around the end of 2017. This started in February 2014, so I think you’ll know for yourself whether you can relate to it or whether you’re now finally going to put me in the „crazy astro auntie“ box. I can live with that and wish you a nice rainy weekend 😉

GEKKO: My motto in life is „Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional“, as anyone who knows me will tell you. I am also said to have a tendency towards Peter Pan syndrome, if that really exists. In this respect, „growing up“ would not fall on particularly fertile ground. I simply don’t know why. I was offered the job in Thailand in February ‘14, at a time when I was extremely unhappy with my job in Germany. More „reality check“ is hardly possible. 🙂

Even if it were this pigeonhole, I like „crazy astro auntie“ simply because of its non-mainstream character. I’m good with weird people, even if their weirdness is fundamentally different from mine. I have problems with conformist philistines, whose lives have been alien to me all my life. This is also true in view of the fact that, as an engineer, working for a large company, I actually epitomise the mainstream philistine par excellence. So please continue whenever you feel like it. Or just ask. Admittedly, I can’t understand it all, but that doesn’t change my interest.

LEELOO: That was actually exactly what I meant by „growing up in the sense of being your own king” 😉 And for someone whose „fun & games“ part of the chart is in Sagittarius, Peter Pan fits perfectly. If you currently feel that you are living in harmony with your inner Peter Pan, all is well. However, if this is not the case, it could be that you will soon feel you might want to turn a few „screws“ to achieve this state 😉 And re. „non-conformist“ – I grew up in a pretty weird family: a pot-smoking artist father who regularly joined us at the family breakfast table, accompanied by a muse, while my astrologer mother was completely cool about it … something like that somehow leaves its mark 😉

GEKKO: Tell me … I was born out of wedlock to a teenage mum who was still at school. And in a way it was planned, she probably really loved my father, a trainee with her father. I grew up with my grandparents for the first few years, which I remember as a very loving time. My stepfather, who had adopted me after marrying my mother, against the wishes of his catholic parents, always treated me like his son, for a long time better than his own, my half-brother. So we should have a healthy common ground as far as atypical family backgrounds are concerned. 🙂

LEELOO: LOL … I was actually born out of wedlock too, as my parents were still too young to get married 😉 My father lived with his parents in Berlin for the first year of my life to finish school and only then moved in with my mother to marry her. Because my mum also had to finish her apprenticeship, I mainly stayed with my grandparents. A funny parallel 😉

GEKKO: A little story about „Peter Pan“: when I started working in Thailand last year, a Thai colleague was delighted that he was no longer the oldest. As newcomers are always introduced here in the company – the whole company meets once a month for a meeting – he asked me to let him introduce me. The following dialogue ensued, coram publico: „And, by the way, Gekko is 58. He’s older than me!“ Voice from the audience: „Well, but he doesn’t look like …!“ The following bustle was priceless  🙂

LEELOO: … I can imagine. It’s amazing that he didn’t realise what he was walking into

GEKKO: Indeed. 🙂 He just didn’t expect it. But it’s been a „running gag“ ever since, we get on really well.

LEELOO: Didn’t expect it? Well, sorry, but if you only look remotely like you do in photos 😉

GEKKO: Photos always make me look old. *g* Tom, a friend here from Bangkok, did a great job with the current profile picture. That’s pretty much me.

LEELOO: *g* Good picture 🙂 But I don’t want to yap, it’s already … ah, late … Is that 5 or 6 hours?

GEKKO: As long as you’re on summer time it’s 5 hours, then 6 hours on standard time. That’s a long way from yapping.

LEELOO: It’s always difficult to judge when you can’t see whether the other person is secretly looking at their watch or suppressing a yawn 😉 So is it still „paint-town-red“ time today, or „closing time“?

GEKKO: I’ve been around town already. First squash with Tom, then delicious wine at the Westin (hotel), Indian food (delicious as always), then a nightcap at the Sheraton (see Tom’s pictures). Now couch potato.

LEELOO: Wine here too … My mum gave me a few bottles of rosé Vinho Verde. They have to go somehow before winter finally arrives – and the real couch potatoes are the dogs at the moment, no room left for me 😉 I’m sure there’ll be a fuss in a fortnight‘ time when I’m off to the film festival on my own and the „master“ has to look after the four-legged furries for four days. But I really need this  😉

GEKKO: He’ll manage. Manly. *pretty-sure-man-to-man-wise*

LEELOO: hahaha … yes, somehow for sure. 😛

While we chat, I follow what he’s up to on his profile at the same time. We are currently publicly engaged in an endless series of musical challenges – which of course reveal an infinite amount about musical taste and are super exciting. At the moment it’s all about cover songs that are better or just as good as the original. I’m switching back to the private chat:

LEELOO: Carry on with the songs … 🙂

GEKKO: Phew, I could go on and on … I totally enjoy such comparisons. Some songs, interpreted completely differently, are also really great.

LEELOO: Yes, I feel the same way, there are some really good cover songs out there. Do you know the French band Nouvelle Vague? They did bossa nova covers of early 80s punk stuff. Brilliant. And with a lot of humour – I saw them live a few years ago. „Guns of Brixton“ in easy listening 😉

GEKKO: Funny question, of course I know them! „Eisbär“ and „Marcia Baila“ are great, and „Ca Plane Pour Moi“ is just funny. Or „Master & Servant“. I have around 13,000 MP3s here …

Again about astrology – I don’t find it surprising that everyone thinks the star sign they were born under suits them. In this respect, I am logically happy to be a Sagittarius.

LEELOO: I am VERY happy to be an Aquarius. 🙂

GEKKO: Age of Aquarius, of course.

LEELOO: All those „standard type descriptions“ that are out there are mostly so-so … but I liked the beginning of this one that someone once sent me: „The Aquarius Woman. A word of advice if you’re trying to get to grips with the Aquarius woman – don’t. You can’t bottle the four winds in a jar, or tie down the clouds. So don’t try. Don’t pin her down to a stereotype because she will more than likely buck all expectations and be exactly what you do not expect her to be. More than anything, she is the ultimate non-conformist. Aquarius is an air sign, but unlike her other light-hearted zodiac sisters, an Aquarius woman is no gentle breeze or dreamy zephyr. She is a tempest filled with an inner force and power, which can be a little scary when you first come into contact with her. Hold on tight and go along for the ride. If you pass through the eye of the storm, you will find a smart, independent, and most of all, original woman at the heart of the hurricane. […]“

GEKKO: That’s what I said. 🙂 There are descriptions in there that I would also like to have as a shooter (More than anything, she is the ultimate non-conformist). But there’s no doubt that I see myself that way too; Sagittarius or not.

LEELOO: Sagittarians are the non-conformists among the fire signs 😉

GEKKO: LOL – well then

LEELOO: So, you non-conformist nighthawk, I’ll leave you in peace now … I don’t want to put too much strain on you … unless there is still a need for communication on your part … if esoteric questions should arise at some point, I’ll be happy to try to help … and if I think of anything else, I’ll just bug you again 😉

GEKKO: It’s fine. I might be able to tell you more at coffee time. Provided your dogs let you sleep. 🙂

A small problem started to arise for me. The astrology topic had been exciting, but that would soon come to an end. We talked enough about music and films in public. There was no real reason to have any more private conversations. But I needed to. Because after this very private exchange, I was dangling even more from his imaginary hook than before.

Everything I had learnt in the meantime indicated to me that there was someone, sitting on the other side of the world hoping that the waves that were raging (for whatever reason) at home in faraway Germany would have calmed down enough in three years‘ time for him to find his feet there again. As his time in Thailand had apparently just been extended, the situation had obviously not gotten under control again within a year. Therefore my personal prognosis for him was rather gloomy, based on what I knew at the time. I wanted to hear more in order to get a better picture. As interesting as Gekko was, I didn’t wanted to interfere in a functioning marriage, but it didn’t looked like that was a given. Who chats about all this stuff with a stranger when everything is great relationship-wise?

I looked again at the pictures of his friend Tom, with whom he met regularly to play squash and … chess! Ha … play together, stay together … this saying from a dog training book spontaneously popped into my head, I laughed out loud and made my first move:

LEELOO: Good morning 🙂 What I forgot to tell you yesterday: if you ever need a chess partner, I would be happy to „sacrifice“ myself 😉 You can play online chess >>here for free. I already registered and sent you an invitation – no idea though if it works that way 😉

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