Pieces of Me (Excerpt)

I refilled my empty glass with the last of the Riesling and bantered for several minutes with some friends, both old and current. My best friends thought they knew how involved my life was, others could only guess. With all of them, I was just elusive enough so they remained uncertain. A private person at heart, admitting just how lonely I’d become would be acknowledging something I just wasn’t able to. Loneliness, along with anger had become my constant companion as well as my greatest motivator. All we ever are to the world is what we pretend to be. We are in constant conflict between the person we are meant to be and the person the world expects of us. My life, however outwardly functional, was a dismal mess.