Finally

finally, an acquaintance got her wish, and she deserved it.

last month, talks on ericka's wedding were going around. some of her friends wrote messages of greetings on her multiply site, telling their best wishes. i am not one of her close friends. but being buddies online, we have shared a lot just the same.

during downtimes, i was her online confidante. after a few hours of chatting, she'd feel fine and she'd thank me much. i did the same. but the story behind our friendship was somewhat twisted. others may call it crazy. but let me tell you about it.

my ex-bf, the one i had broken up with on February last year, was once ericka's first boyfriend. they had been on for four and a half years. after a year or so, ericka dated suitors till she met her would-be husband, the one she married last december. my ex-bf, who was her first ex-bf remained single at the time and hoped and prayed to get back with his first love. but sadly, it did not happen.

he failed to win ericka back. and despite the pain of letting her go, he did not stay away. ericka never wanted him back, except for being a friend. so, he accepted his fate. they remained friends.

during those times, he started looking around for a girlfriend. but unfortunately, he did not have one at once. and the truth was, he still loved ericka so much. so each time ericka called him for company, he'd always be there. they were friends, and what are friends for, right?

this went on for another year till he met me. i was nursing a broken heart then from a year-old breakup. i told him the story behind and remained honest about everything. he wanted me to stop any form of communication with my ex-bf, and i did. even if he might not have ordered me to do so, i could still have done the same. it was my idea of a fair play: to stop communicating with an ex-love to be fair with the new suitor.

we refrained from talking, providing company or even doing errands for an ex-love. it was an unwritten rule between us, or so, i thought. he set a lot of rules around me, too. i was not allowed to join friends in any kind of outing or get togethers without him. if the nightout or gathering did not fit in his schedule, it was good as a missed one. texting new friends or even groupmates/classmates in MBA was not allowed, too.

This did not sit well with me. but believing things were fairly the same on his part, i obliged to avoid any dispute. however, it would always be fine with me if he goes out with his barkasa, as long as i know about it. but to be fair, he never went out with them, too, especially if it did not fit in my schedule. i found this stifling, so i suggested for any of us to go even without the other, but he said, i only wanted him to go out so i could go out alone as well. some kind of illogical thinking. i let this passed later on.

honesty is still the best policy within a relationship. this had been working on my part. but on the other side of the coin, it was secretly not happening. without my knowledge, ericka continued texting and calling him but he never told me about it. in short, the communication between them as `friends' continued.

i discovered this when i started chatting with ericka. how was i able to talk with her, you asked? simple. at first, curiosity kicked in when i saw ericka's email add still on his email directory one day and her phone number still on his phone directory. i found this odd so i found a way to talk to ericka online. it was my attempt to get to know more about what really happened between them, since he never told me everything and curiosity got me into it.

i was never good at lying. but in the name of truth, for once, i mastered the craft of a liar. with ericka mistaking me for a guy when i added her on ym (yeah. she's a bit gullible, too trusting i should say), i never told her the truth. instead, i played according to her assumption. she would air out her sentiments each time she'd feel down with her then bf (now her husband). i told her i was an artist. to prove this, i did a sketch on one of her photos on multiply.

we chatted for 2 years without revealing who i was. i succeeded getting all the info i exactly needed. i became a friend. she even wanted me to see her in person. and i discovered all the lies my ex-bf told me. DISHONESTY 1: it was a lie when he told me he forgot to delete ericka's number. he said, it was his nature to just leave things as that, not cleaning up emails and phone directories.

i trust him, so i believed him then. but it was a big lie. the truth is, he never deleted her number cuz he changed his phone (according to ericka). meaning, the number would have stayed with the old one, but i still saw it on his phone directory. why was the number still there? i guess, he never wanted to lose comm with ericka after all.

DISHONESTY 2: i also learned from her during our pseudo-relationship (3-5 month courtship) that he stayed in the hospital to look after sick ericka without me knowing it. how do i know she was telling the truth? ericka believed she had been talking to a cute guy online all along. and she was revealing me her heart's content about everything.

DISHONESTY 3: he gave me his password for his friendster account so i could upload our pictures. when i teased him he was still friends with ericka, he outrightly said he forgot to do so. DISHONESTY 4: ericka called him at work but he never mentioned it to me.

it started out after i asked her casually about her first love and the like. she told me the whole story. that was then i discovered my ex-bf who was her first ex-bf was a big liar. he never stopped the communication between him and ericka. when i saw her pictures on his wallet when he started courting me, i should have been warned that he was not over her yet. but being not the jealous type, i ignored it. i did not get it early on that he wanted a gf to finally forget her in the process.

it hurt me a lot knowing this from another person and not from him outright. i am not the jealous kind, but i lost my trust on him. he concealed a lot of things. he broke his own rules: e.g. he provided company for his ex-gf; he talked with her behind my back, etc. and losing trust, i began being suspicious all the time. i even broke up with the guy a lot of times, but with him being persistent, i would cave in with all his pleas.

i was deeply hurt. but i found ericka a nice girl. so i remained friends with her online. she never knew the truth about me till i finally broke up with her ex-guy on February.

she shared a lot about her life online. her heartaches, her down times and most of all, her rollercoaster ride about her then boyfriend. i was lucky to have known her even if it just happened online. i would never forget her.

i met with her in person 2 weeks after my breakup with her ex-first love and told her the truth. she got mad. that was expected, but we remained friends. i ceased communicating with her after the revelation. i know she went through a lot. and now that she is married with the guy she deeply loved, i should say, cheers! finally, you got your wish.

note: without ericka's life and love stories, i could have remained a fool in a relationship with her ex-first love. thanks to ericka for all the stories she told me online. =)