Chica con Chisme

Inventing a Lover

I've had some time thinking about how to go about writing this down. I'm pretty sure I've wrote this story somewhere in my diary a few years back when I first found out about it. There has been some developments since then, so I want to write them down in a place I could backtrack easily. For my own amusement.

This story isn't about me, but since I'm a nosy bitch who opened Pandora's box, I thought it was a good idea to be a part of it.

Here are the main characters:

The story begins sometime in 2019 or 2020. My high school friends and I always meet with each other on Christmas day to catch up and eat dinner. After that, we go wherever to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Alice, who I think is the friend who has gotten through most things from all of us (we are 6 by the way but I didn't include the other ones, they don't play much role in this saga), told us that she was in a long-distance relationship with a man named "Bryan."

We were so happy for her. It's been a long time coming, and as her friends, of course we were happy to see that she was happy. It was a cause for celebration.

She didn't mention much but she did say that he used to live in our country but he had to migrate to another continent to join his family and continue his studies there. We told her, then that would be awesome if they ever decide to marry each other in the future, she wouldn't have to worry about the visa anymore!

Years passed, she always mentioned this Bryan, but she never showed us any photos, videos, messages, none of those stuff. We never thought bad about it at first, but it has come to a point where it started to look weird.

By that time, I didn't have a boyfriend yet, so in my head, I just thought maybe some people like that anonymity and some people are just too private. There came a time where she said she didn't want to show us his face because she's afraid that we might just the situation because Bryan was handsome, and she was not. A statement that shocked all of us because, what the fuck do you mean we'll judge you? At this point, we have been friends for more than years, as I've mentioned earlier so her comment just didn't make sense unless she really doesn't trust us that way.

A few months have passed, she still didn't show us his photos but she kept mentioning him wherever we go.

2023 - she got hospitalised and is needing surgery. She has a complicated life at home so Charlie and I took the time to be her guardian for the day and assist her during the surgery.

I was there the entire afternoon, and the ring didn't even ring once from Bryan. I thought that was fucking rude. You are in a relationship with someone who didn't even bother to check on you while you were in the hospital about to get a surgery? Yes, it was minor, but it was a medical procedure nonetheless. By the time I was with her at the hospital, I was already in a few-month old relationship with my boyfriend.

While she was preparing for her surgery, she handled me the phone to assist her with the insurance company. I had her phone, and I was on hold from the insurance company, making sure they get all the details they need, and to make sure that she gets out of the hospital without having to worry about the payments, whatsoever.

I had to go the ground floor to talk to the hospital admin, while I was in line, my intrusive thoughts told me to look into her phone and see what is going on with Bryan. Why hasn't he texted? Why hasn't he called? Maybe he called earlier in the day when I wasn't in the hospital yet? Maybe he had to spend an entire day in his company? I wanted to know.

I checked all of the usual messaging apps, Viber, Whatsapp, Messages, Messenger - nothing.

That's weird. Maybe she didn't say what his real name was? But why would she lie about that?

I then went in on Instagram. There it was, a guy called Ian who hasn't replied to her in days. Wait? No response in days?

I couldn't believe my eyes, and I thought, maybe I had the wrong guy? I was certain that people in a relationship would not let 3 days go without replying to their partner. No call logs. No reactions, not even a good morning or hello in the past couple of years. What the fuck is going on?

As the nosy bitch that I am, I scrolled further to see their earlier messages, boy oh boy, I was in for a wild ride.

It turns out, this boyfriend, is not an actual boyfriend. From my perspective, he seems to be a normal guy acquainted with Alice. They knew each other, for sure, but they were not in that type of relationship that Alice said they were in.

Bryan's replies were dry, uninterested, not inquisitive. Alice on the other hand was very enthusiastic and excited, and you can clearly see that Alice was the one pining for Bryan.

Here are some of the top stories I saw from that inbox.

1. Disneyland Fireworks

Sometime in 2023, Alice went to Disneyland with some of her friends. She told us she had to buy an expensive power bank so that she and Bryan can watch the fireworks together (Bryan is in another continent just to remind you.) I thought that was such a sweet gesture!

I found out through their messages that Alice actually didn't watch the fireworks with Bryan. She was trying to contact Bryan asking if he was available to watch the fireworks, she was trying to call, but he never picked up. In the end, she took a video of the fireworks and sent it to him. He didn't respond on the firework video.

2. Vietnam Trip

The same year, Alice told us they traveled to Vietnam together and even did the oral nasty by the bathtub. I looked into their conversation, and what I found was that she has been trying to invite Bryan to meet-up, he responded vaguely. In her gallery, they don't seem to have shared the room as well. That led me to believe that the oral nasty may not have happened as well.

3. Birthday Cake

She said that she would always buy cakes for Bryan on special occasions and that they celebrate together. I found it cute at first, because I would ask my boyfriend to buy cake for me on one of our monthly anniversaries. From what I saw, she actually just celebrates by herself and send the photo to Bryan. Bryan would say "Thank you" of course, but it wasn't a thank you that one would expect from someone's boyfriend.

It was too much for me to handle. I have encountered liars in my life but not to this much degree! I couldn't contain it for that much longer so when Alice was taken to the operation room, I immediately told Charlie about it. His first thought was "Why are you snooping around other people's property again?" Which was a valid statement to make. He was also shocked, but he didn't say much about it, which was expected because he is my nicest friend.

When Ezra arrived, I cornered him by the elevator and told him the story. He had a much more cartoonish reaction than Charlie, and told me "Damn, I didn't know our friend was crazy."

We didn't say anything to Alice, and I was convinced to bring it to my grave. But we all had an unspoken agreement to steer away from any Bryan conversations that Alice would bring up.

A few weeks after that, Alice brought up the conversation about Bryan again. I said "Can we see a photo of the Bryan? I'm really getting curious." Yes, it was a snarky comment despite knowing the truth. She said know as we have expected. Ezra said, "I don't think that man's real. I think you're just inventing a lover." Yet, another snarky comment knowing the truth. Alice got very offended and stayed silent the entire car ride.

Two years have passed, a lot has happened. Alice landed a job overseas. Charlie met his boyfriend, Daniel. Ezra now lives with his boyfriend, Francis, and I went to another country for almost a year to be with my boyfriend, Homer.

When I went back home, I started getting close to my friends again. almost a year gone would really make you feel closer to your loved ones.

Alice and I chatted for a few days when I got back. Talking about boys, and I teaching her ways to flirt and get a boyfriend and stuff. When all of a sudden, she mentioned Bryan again, and how she's still smitten from him. That's when I said, "I need to tell you something."

I confessed that I read through her messages and that I know the truth. It took me two years to admit, but I didn't know I would actually admit to it.

She said it was okay and then introduced another topic.

Fast forward to last week, Alice, Ezra, Francis, and I were singing karaoke at Ezra's house. It started raining, so instead of preparing to go home, we decided to stay the night and just talk. We did.

I mentioned I have something to ask Alice next time when we go on a trip. She said to ask her now, so I did. I asked about Bryan.

It was a long conversation that ended in tears.

She admitted that she knew she was not in a relationship with Bryan but she was hoping she would be after the conversation they had before he migrated. We asked what the conversation was. The conversation was about them not talking to anyone at that time...

It didn't make sense to us, but it does look like she was too obsessed to comprehend the obvious.

She said, even up until now they're still connected to each other via Instagram. He still views his stories, and still "replies" to her. But really, it doesn't mean anything. That's what we told her.

She mentioned she sends him reels regularly, especially when it's a video she knows Bryan would think is funny. We told her, it's not a good idea to keep in contact with the dude especially when it's obvious that the reels fall on blind eyes. Ezra even added that it seems creepy. The dude obviously doesn't want to keep in contact but she still did. Her rebuttal was "If he didn't want anything to do with me, why didn't he block me?"

She would always say that they're not in contact because Bryan was busy, but that's some bullshit. I explained how I would fucking leave a reaction in reels that my friends send me to make them know I acknowledge their message, but I am not in the mood to reply to anything in that moment. Bryan didn't do any of those, he just opened a message like it was a spam that needs to be removed in the notification number.

Alice said she just then acknowledge that she was making an excuse for Bryan's absence all these years. Yeah, no shit.

She also admitted that the Vietnam trip wasn't actually for the both of them, it was for her, and for him. They were in a separate trip and met each other at one point to take a photo. Ezra's theory was she knew he was going to Vietnam and followed him. She said it wasn't the case, so I'll put it in the probably folder.

But she was also stern that they actually did the oral nasty, which I vehemently doubted, and I let her know. I told my boyfriend about it and he said "Isn't it kind of mean?" Maybe it was, but I don't know how to deal with delusional liars to be honest. I tried.

She also showed me a video from 2018, where she compiled photos of her holding cakes for Bryan's celebrations (birthdays, valentines, etc...) She also added screenshots of their conversations, and I was able to understand the context of their relationship even better.

It looks like Alice has been a fan of Bryan ever since she watched her from a theatre play. Since then, Alice started reaching out. They became friends, and she designated him as her confidant.

The video was a confession video made by a 21-year-old, so I do excuse the cringe, but damn that was enough for me to understand that this girl needs to move on, and needs help.

I'm sure we'll still uncover other facts in the coming days, especially since we have a trip coming up next month. I would probably right about it again.

#CC