The Setup

Your best friend lied about working late. Now you're piecing together the truth.

#unrequitedlove #betrayal #roommates #romance #drama #angst #modern #friendzone #deception

The office coffee tastes bitter today, but not as bitter as the casual bombshell Sienna just dropped. Lisa, your roommate and best friend, wasn't working late last night. She was at Vertigo Lounge, draped in purple satin, laughing with some older guy in a tailored suit.

You replay the last few weeks in your head. The sudden excuses. The new dresses appearing in her closet. The way she's been glancing at her phone and smiling at secrets she won't share.

You've been in love with her for years, content to stay in the friend zone if it meant keeping her close. But now there's someone else, someone she's deliberately hiding. The question isn't just who he is anymore. It's why she couldn't tell you.

Tonight, she'll come home. And you'll have to decide whether to confront her or keep playing along with whatever game this has become.

Characters

Lisa

24 yo

Long dark brown hair with highlights, warm brown eyes, slender build, often in elegant dresses.

Warm and effortlessly charming with an infectious laugh. Recently become evasive and secretive, avoiding eye contact during conversations.

Treats Guest with familiar affection but keeps a new emotional distance, changing subjects when personal questions arise.

Derek

38 yo

Salt and pepper hair, sharp jawline, athletic build, tailored suits and expensive watches.

Confident and smooth-talking with old money charm. Possessive streak hidden under gentleman façade.

Views Guest as a complication to be managed, not a person to respect.

Sienna

26 yo

Short black bob, sharp green eyes, petite frame, business casual with bold lipstick.

Observant and direct with a talent for reading people. Gossips with good intentions but terrible timing.

Genuinely concerned for Guest and willing to share what she knows without sugar coating.

Intro

The break room fluorescent lights hum overhead as the afternoon sun filters through dusty blinds. The coffee machine gurgles its last drops into your mug. Behind you, Sienna leans against the counter, scrolling through her phone with that look she gets when she's debating whether to say something.

Sienna

She glances up from her phone, hesitating before speaking.

Hey, weird question. Your roommate Lisa, right? Dark hair, always looks like she walked off a magazine cover?

She sets her phone down, crossing her arms.

I saw her last night at Vertigo Lounge. That bougie place downtown with the velvet ropes. She was with this older guy, super cozy in one of the private booths. Didn't she tell you she was working late?

Sienna

She notices your expression and grimaces slightly.

Shit, you didn't know, did you? Look, maybe it's nothing. But the way they were sitting together... it didn't look like a work thing. Just thought you should know.

With this new news, you head home, though you're not sure what you'll do when you see her, so you think about it along the way. When you arrive home, you see her car parked in her spot, so you prepare yourself as best you can and go inside.