5. Liar and Hypocrite

"Let's get together!" said the Liar to the Hypocrite.

"We have lied for so long, now is the time to show what idiots they have been!"

"Yes yes!" answered the Hypocrite.

"We have pretended long enough! Now they will know what idiots they have been!"

Don't the two go so well together?

They both put on a mask of deceit, a veil of confusion, a visor of untruths.

They fool the people around them, they cheat the people who love them, they humiliated the people who trusted them.

All that was, is never. All that was past, was never history, only fables.

Now the masks are off, the faces shown, the truth revealed.

The truth shall set you free, they say, but Liar and Hypocrite is never Truth.

****

Jess put down her pen, sighed and massaged her temples. Her headaches were coming back, more and more frequently this time, with higher intensity than usual. She knew it was due to her lack of sleep, unnaturally high intake of caffeine, messed up eating habits, and her skyrocketing stress.

It was 3.00am, around the coldest time of the night. She should be in bed, sleeping by now, but there was still mountain of work waiting to be done. Jess took another sip of the strong black coffee that she had made. It was customary now for her to hav a mug of coffee next to her as she worked late at night.

She was in denial, she knew. As much as she told herself that she did not mind, that Josh and Xue Xing can both go and die together if they want to, that she was ok with the betrayal, Jess knew that deep down, she was still angry and hurt. Very angry and hurt.

Josh and Xue Xing....

How could they?

If Josh would have ended up with some other girl, the hurt would not have been so deep. If the other girl was someone he picked up at work, she could accept that the distance had drawn him to someone other than her. She would be hurt, yes, but not as much. She was practical to a certain extend in their relationship after all.

But Xue Xing? Seemingly innocent, cute Xue Xing? The one that he always said was too docile for him, too gentle for him, too ditzy at times for him, too dependent on a guy? The one he always said was not his type of girl, that she was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The one where he said that she was more like a little sister to him, that he would be so proud of her if she ever managed to find a good guy to marry?

Lies... All lies...

And that hypocrite of a girl. That hypocrite seemed so righteous. That hypocrite with that innocent front. The hypocrite that claimed that she wanted a clean relationship after seeing what betrayal did to other couples. The hypocrite that said that she would never want to be the third party in any relationship. The hypocrite that was a friend.

Jess picked up her pen again. The best way to deal with the hurt was to keep herself busy. Busy enough to forget about everything else. Busy enough to have no time to think. Busy enough to be so tired at night that when she went to bed, she fell asleep in seconds. With the work cramming into her, her mind was clogged up and focused on other things.

Her mind was clogged, but not her heart.

****


"We should get together," said the Liar to the Hypocrite.

"I won't lie to you, I promise you so!"

"Yes yes, we should!" answered the Hypocrite.

"I will never pretend in front of you, I promise you so!"

Liar and Hypocrite, aren't they just matchmade to be together?

Masks of deceit, veils of confusion, visors of untruths.

People around them are fooled, people who loved them are cheated, people who trusted them are humiliated.

All that is, was never. All that is present, is never what it is, only make-believe.

The masks are off, the faces shown, the truth revealed.

The truth shall set them free, but Liar and Hypocrite was never Truth.