SCENE 1: THE MEETING

ACTORS: You (principal), 3 of your girl friends (leads), Marc (principal), club people (extras)

ACT 1 :
11: 47 pm, Friday night, some night club

The music is loud, club people become hard to look at after a certain time of night. You are standing around with your girl friends on the edge of the dance floor wondering if it's already time to go home.

Two of your girl friends suddenly spot a guy, it was him. They dare you to talk to him, you say NO. With cranberry vodka's encouragement, they decide to walk up to him and make him come your way. "YOU need to come say HI to our friend!! She's over there," they tried to talk over the loud music "Commme ON!" After a few exchanges of eye contact with you, as a good sport, he inches over across the dance floor, looks at you with the flirtiest smile and says, hey. The word that unfolds a series of events no one was prepared for while not knowing anyone else any of us were involving.

ACT 2:
12:25 am, Saturday morning, some night club

The music is still going, club people still don't look any better. He looks at you and comments, "You look so sober! You look like you can write an essay right now or something :)" With that, he buys you a few drinks and takes you to a quieter corner of the club so you two can have a decent conversation. The night goes on swimmingly, happily, butterflyly. At the end of the night, he asks for your number and the two of you agree to the next meeting in a few days. Smiley face.

SCENE 2: THE TIMES OF INNOCENCE

ACTORS: You, Marc, your blackberry, his iphone

ACT 1:
Over the courses of about 2 months

He likes txting. Only txting. From his iphone to your BB. Other than that, you are getting to know him and he seems like a substantial guy: he graduated from a UC undergrad in Economics and has an MBA from UCLA. He has a decent job and his room is nice and clean. Yes, you two have hung out a few times and you've been inside his room by now. You're starting to think, hey, not all guys you meet at clubs are bad news.

ACT 2:
11:28pm, Thursday night, his place

You try to take it slow because you kind of like the guy, and don't want to rush into things. BUT, things don't always go as planned, especially when he is the aggressive type. One night, in bed together, he asks you, "What do you think of my new mattress? I just got it not long ago." You brush your hand gently under the sheets and across the bed, and as you were about to say you think the mattress is a bit too soft, you find a strand of long hair. Not yours. You think to yourself, hmm, we're not exclusive or anything so he's probably seeing other people, like I am. That's cool I guess. Nothing to make a fuss about since you two are not exclusive even though you have become intimate in that way.

SCENE 3: THE PHONE CALL

ACTORS: You, your blackberry, his iphone, Her

ACT 1:
1:30am, Sunday morning, your bedroom

You just got home from Saturday night out with friends. About to go to bed, you plug your phone into the charger and there is an incoming call... it's him. You stare at the caller ID for a second "Marc Kavanaugh", you answer with slight excitement because he usually txts, never calls. "Hello?" It's a girls voice on the other end, "is this (insert your name)?" You don't know what to make of this but somehow dread this feeling, and... here it comes, she continues, "this is Marc's girlfriend."

You somehow always suspected, but didn't think she would call you up. You try to stand up for yourself and reply, "what do you want?" She says, "I just want to know what's the relationship between you and Marc? Why do you send him flirty txt messages?" How do you respond? For one, you've been sleeping with Marc not knowing he has a girlfriend; for two, HE is the one sending flirty txt messages and you are merely responding to his flirtation and that's how you two communicate; and for three, she just totally put you on the spot, called you with his phone at 1:30 in the morning. How do you respond? At this moment, you didn't want the situation to get nasty, and you have all the power to let it swing either way, you decide to take the high route and tell her, "there's nothing going on."

SCENE 4: THE LIES

ACTORS: You, Marc, AIM

ACT 1:
From the day after the phone call through weeks after

Marc IMs you the next day to apologize. He says he's been in an on-and-off relationship for a while and last night his girl saw him txting you, stole his phone to check the messages, flipped out, and called. You are turned off by him at this point, you have more important things in life to care about than to be sucked into their drama.

However, Marc continues to maintain communication with you, through AIM, he obviously never told that girl the truth. He tells you he's confused with the relationship and wants to see you. He tells you when he sees you, he's "off" with his girl. He says, "she's not the boss of me, I can have other friends if I wanted to," which does make sense, especially if they were "off". But deep down, you're pretty much done with this guy, since he's been stringing you along while he's still confused with what he wants.

SCENE 5: THE CARMA-GO-ROUND

ACTORS: You (principal), 2 of your girl friends (leads), Marc (principal), Her (principal), bar people (extras)

ACT 1:
10:55pm, Saturday, local bar

You are out with 2 of your girl friends joining a group of friends for a farewell party at a local bar. Among the crowded scene, you see a familiar face, your heart drops, you see Marc and her together, 5 ft away from you at the bar. He spots you, too. He does nothing. To think of it, if he were to say hi, she would then know it was you she called up that one night since she knows your name, and it might not have been a pretty sight at the party. That's probably why he ignored you. Coward. You look at her and feel sorry for her, poor girl if she only knew the truth.

ACT 2:
12:15am, Sunday, local bar

It turns out you have mutual friends, that's why they were there at the same party. Your mutual friend knows about the situation and says the truth has got to come out. You agreed. The mutual friend tells the girl, tells her that Marc cheated on her. The girl is devastated.

SCENE 6: THE AFTERMATH

ACTORS: You and Your Conscience

ACT 1:
In your head

What's the aftermath? She's upset, you're upset, and he's upset. Should you not have agreed to let the truth come out since ignorance on her part is bliss? Should she thank you for letting the truth come out so she's not with somebody of such character? Should you have told her the truth yourself when she called you that night?

How to deal with him:
Block him on AIM, of course. But if you had the opportunity to talk to him, what would you say? The best thing to tell him is that you forgive him. He knows he was wrong, there is nothing you want from him and the best way to cope is to forgive.

How to deal with her:
The worst thing she can do is to start bad mouthing you even though you are a victim in the situation, too. If she does, you should tell her your side of the story and let her know you feel sorry for her. You did not mean to hurt anyone and was stringed along by her boyfriend. You want to walk away as adults and always ask, what would your higher self do in the situation?