Game Over

Playing the game was meant to be fun, until it wasn’t. No one likes to lose, especially when you have just managed to buy 3 hotels in Monopoly. However, sometimes one wrong move can see you mortgaging your miniature green empire, and your not-so-fictional heart is put on the line when your top hat lands on the forceful whistled man square that tells you to 'go to jail'.

Often we go into things with a game plan, a tactic that aims to conquer. I myself have been known to play a good game, have a bit of fun and then pull out at the peak of my success. A fool proof plan, until one of the fools playing pulls at your heart strings and you don’t know why there are butterflies invading that simple game of Jenga which you thought you had mastered. Suddenly that Jenga tower is falling and you are a victim of the very game you created.

I will draw reference to the previously mentioned bad boy. A true bad boy possess an amazing grasp of the game, the age old concept of finding that perfect restaurant in order to create that exact mood he knows the girl will swoon over, all within close proximity to his bachelor pad is just the first move. A good friend of mine and self-confessed bad boy told me via text just the other day ‘I’m too good at being a seducer, my down fall is my amazingness’, clearly he suffers from a large scale self-confidence problem- Ha!. That’s the thing it’s the confidence, which the bad boy possesses which makes him so good at the game. His poker face, so to speak is one of the best in town.

So what happens when the lady friend they long for, calls their bluff? The board game equivalent of ‘not passing go and not collecting 200 dollars’, that’s what. This same bad boy it seems can be a sufferer of the very means of his own game. Actually falling for a girl, who is ‘playing’ hard to get, is Mr. Murphy biting him in the behind, for all those times he ever promised a lady a follow up date, a call the next morning or a souvenir from his business trip.

Now before we go burning our bras and go observing October 11th as the day of Bad Boy Banishment, let’s not forget that us ladies can also play a good game. Perhaps not to the same extent, which a bad boy can, but we know that, if we blow on those die just before rolling them and use enough of our charm, alongside the batting of those mascara laden lashes, we can quite easily venture into the community chest.

I guess, recent events have brought to light the fact that playing the game has to end at some point. That at some point there will be a genuine emotion, which takes over. Don’t go building ridiculous amounts of bad karma. I mean, by all means have fun, but being upfront with what you seek from that ‘relationship’, ‘twice a week pash’ or ‘thrice a week dash’ is essential. Put all your cards on the table; give those involved a chance to make their next game move. Otherwise sooner rather than later you will hear the not so playful words ‘Check Mate.’ - Agi

Beautiful Friendship

In 1989, When Harry met Sally, we learnt that maybe ‘the one’ had been standing next to us all along; making us laugh, giving us dating advice and singing "Surry with the Fringe on Top." Maybe our last option for a date to that New Years Party, really is the best option? It may be weird to start thinking of him in ‘that way’, but it all comes down to two words: Shared History.

But is friendship enough? Is your shared history, the key to your future happiness?

Sally believed so, and when you think about it, she had a plethora of reasons for choosing Harry to live happily ever after with...

Your best guy friend already knows you want a dressing room to rival SJP’s, require His & Her bathrooms to survive a relationship, and want to name your first born Alicia. Friends have these discussions; there is no fear of the truth, no asking yourself, What if he doesn't like the name Alicia?

And if you’ve been friends for a while, chances are he knows a lot more about you than your taste in girls names…That drunken hookup with your friend's ex-boyfriend? He knows about it. The stripper he dated in his early twenties? You're her Facebook friend. These secrets we’re normally too scared to share with a new partner for fear of judgment; our friends already know. And we're also less likely to care about them, when we know they're just one small part of someone's past.

He’s already seen you in your less than stellar moments; he's wiped away your drunken tears, he’s seen your morning panda eyes, post-workout headband hair, and with a spoon gripped in your palm halfway through a tub of ice cream—and he still loves you.

He really knows you (this is the big one!) We let our friends see the real us. There is no pressure to be liked, no worries about whether or not we look good enough, and no little lies. The best relationships are built on honesty, so who better to be with than the person you've been honest with from the beginning?
You can spend your whole life looking for a man who loves you for who you truly are, including your collection of babushka dolls, Glee obsession and tendency to dance like Eileen after one (or four) too many Margaritas. Yes, you can spend your whole life looking for such a man. Or…. you can pick up the phone and call your best guy friend; talk about your new babushka doll while watching Glee, sipping a Margarita and busting a move like Eileen.

Bit of a no-brainer, Ladies! - Rhea