High Maintenance–a Venus-Pluto Vignette

(c)2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

In a creative writing class, we were assigned to choose a photograph and write a short story based on it. I found this photo so evocative of the qualities of Venus-Pluto aspects and, to a lesser extent, of Venus in Scorpio.  

 He wondered, are beautiful girls always this high maintenance?  “All I’m saying is that I’m going to the game with the guys this Saturday night.” 

            “But I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all week. They’ve been so mean to me at work.” Her dark, smoky eyes teared up.

His groin began to stir at the sight of her. It was that wounded look that had grabbed him in the first place. That and the story of how badly she’d been treated by the last man she was with—neglected, verbally abused, cheated on, and finally dumped. The guy had to be nuts to cheat on a sexy gal like her!  “But we’ll be together all day Sunday. I thought I’d take you for a nice brunch—champagne, the works.”

            “So it’s back to me being alone on Saturday nights, just like it was with John.”  She turned her face away from him as her voice caught. “You’re putting me at the bottom of your priority list, the same way he did.”

            He felt a tinge of guilt. “Babe, you know you’re Number One with me. But these are season tickets that the guys and I split. We’ve been doing this for years. Hey, I don’t want you to feel neglected….why don’t you come to a game with us some time?”

            “With a bunch of MEN?  I’d feel completely out of place.”

            “Why don’t you go out with one of your girlfriends?”

            She bit her lip and looked down. “I don’t have any friends any more. I gave them all up for John. There’s no one I’d rather be with than you. Obviously, you don’t feel the same way.”

I can’t believe this! After only six weeks, I’m actually starting to feel trapped. But she’s so drop dead gorgeous, all the guys envy me. “That’s not healthy. We need friends, too, and interests of our own, as well as sharing things. That’s all I’m saying.”

            Her nostrils flared. Her eyes burned. Her voice rose. “I know what you’re saying. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING. You want to see other people. Who is it now?”

Oh, shit, she’s escalating! This isn’t the first jealous scene she’s pulled, but each one is worse than the last. “Don’t be ridiculous, Babe You know there’s no one but you.”

            “RIDICULOUS? John said I was being ridiculous, too, when he started missing our Saturday night dates, but I could tell he was seeing someone else. He denied it and kept on sleeping with me right up to the night he finally told me he was engaged.”

            He held her while she sobbed. “I’m not John, and I’m not seeing anyone else.”

            “Prove it then. Give somebody else the ticket. If you really loved me, you’d get rid of that season ticket altogether. Saturday night should be OUR night.”

 Is she right? Is it selfish to want a night with the guys a couple times a month? It’s been a while since I was with somebody. Does being in a relationship mean changing your whole life and giving up all your friends?

Suddenly his throat clamped down, and his lungs spasmed. As he gasped for air, he thought, Jesus, it’s an asthma attack! I haven’t had one of these since I left home. This woman is every bit as possessive and controlling as Mom was.

          “You know what? I can’t do this!”

 Note: This has been an excerpt from my ebook Outer Planet Aspects to Venus and Mars (The Outer Planets and Inner Life, v.2), available at Moon Maven Publications.

Another snippet from the book:   Below is a list of celebrities with Venus-Pluto conjunctions. Conjunctions are the strongest aspect of any planetary pair, since there’s virtually no distance between them, and thus it’s harder to get perspective.  You’ll note a number of the celebs in yesterday’s post, The Steamy Side of Venus-Pluto Aspects—A Photo Gallery , in the list below.  The ones with the asterisk have Pluto in Virgo but it is NOT conjunct Uranus, so they show you a pure case of Pluto in that sign:                                                                               

Name:	Field:	Pluto  In:	Venus In:
Raquel Welch	Actress	Early Leo	Late Cancer
Dr. Phil McGraw	Psychologist, TV host	Leo	Leo
Donna Karan	Fashion designer	Leo	Leo
Jeremy Irons	Actor	Leo	Leo
Antonio Banderas	Actor	Virgo*	Virgo
Sara Ferguson	Duchess of York	Virgo*	Virgo
Sean Penn	Actor	Virgo*	Virgo
Simon Cowell	American Idol	Virgo*	Virgo
Emeril Lagasse	Chef	Virgo*	Virgo
Kobe Bryant	Basketball player	Libra	Libra
Beyonce Knowles	Singer	Libra	Libra

 More Articles about Venus & Relationships on this Blog:

• The Steamy Side of Venus-Pluto Aspects—A Photo Gallery
• Venus-Saturn Aspects—Waiting for Love  
• Venus-Uranus Aspects among the Glitterati
• Venus-Uranus Aspects: Two-Minute Friends and other Modern Relationships
• Relationship Patterns of Venus-Neptune Aspects: The Sociology of Thrice-Married Venusians
• Venus in the Elements: Fire, Earth, Air, & Water
• Saturn Transits the 7th House—a Rare Interview with Father Time Himself

More Posts about Pluto on this Blog: 

• Things You May Not Know about Pluto
• Pluto in the Career Houses–The Power to Manifest or Fail for Spite
• Vocational Angst for the Pluto-Uranus in Virgo Generation
• The Steamy Side of Venus-Pluto Aspects—A Photo Gallery
• Mars-Pluto Aspects? Use your Manifestation Mojo!
• Planet or Not—Pluto IS Something!    
• Pluto in Capricorn: A Laugh and a Half, by John Marchesella
• Pluto and the transiting Antiscia–not Over ’til It’s Over

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