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Such a silly blogger!

Was my Dan in a sticky situation?


Published by: Judy Broadbent
Published on: 24 November 2011

Sometimes you just have to ignore what other people say, and listen to your heart. That's what I'd done with my fella Dan Mardell, 22.
Ever since I'd clapped eyes on him in the Mantra nightclub, my mates had warned me not to touch him with a bargepole. They said he was always surrounded by women and I'd be just another conquest.
So, when he'd mouthed ‘Fancy a drink?' over the pumping music, I'd ignored him - as much as you can ignore someone who is over six foot and totally gorgeous, with floppy, dark brown hair.
But Dan was determined to win me over. Why wouldn't you let me buy you a drink last night, Gorgeous? he wrote on Facebook.
He kept sending lovely little messages and, a week or two later, I caved in and agreed to go to the cinema with him.
Rather than being arrogant, he was just a normal, down-to-earth lad. Seemed my pals were wrong and my heart had been right. Soon we were dating.
‘You're lovely,' he'd tell me, nuzzling my shoulder and making me feel special. But though Dan never put a foot wrong, something - call it a woman's instinct - kept niggling at me. My mates had always told me he was a real ladies' man, so maybe he was just playing me.
I tried to tell myself I was being paranoid but, two months later, when he was asleep at mine, I couldn't resist checking his phone.
Fingers trembling with guilt, I scrolled through his sent messages. Suddenly my stomach tightened.
If my girlfriend sees this, she'll kill me! he'd written. What the hell did he mean, and who was he talking to?
I clicked the original message. Check out my blog... it read, followed by a website address for the online diary.
Anger boiled. I marched into the bedroom and shook Dan awake. Eyes still closed, he simply groaned, rolled over, and went back to sleep, even though I was shouting at him!
Heart thumping, I furiously logged on to the website address. Its title made my stomach turn: Breaking Hearts Has Never Looked So Cool...
Was I about to have my heart broken by Dan?
The blogger, a Rosalie Game, had posted pages of entries talking about her life and different blokes she had dated, or was interested in. They had little code names such as Sticky and Blades.
Was Dan one of these mystery dates? I couldn't find his name anywhere, but by now I'd gone from plain angry to blood-boiling fury. This time when I shook him, he woke up!
‘Are you one of the blokes in this girl's blog?' I raged.
‘Er...' he rubbed his eyes, trying to think. ‘I-I don't know who she is. One of my mates must've used my phone...'
But I wouldn't let up and, suddenly, he changed tack. ‘She's just a friend,' he insisted, reaching over to cuddle me.
Maybe. But right now, I was so furious that, if he'd said that the sky was blue, I'd have had to check.
‘Get out!' I screamed, chucking him out. ‘Just leave me alone!'
The next morning, he was on the phone, though. ‘She's just a good friend!' he swore to me.
As much as I hated to admit it, what proof did I actually have that he'd done anything wrong?
‘She doesn't even mention his name,' I told my friend Gemma.
Eventually, I cooled off and took Dan back. He was now the perfect boyfriend, spoiling me on my 18th birthday, taking me to a flash hotel, and surprising me with a gold bracelet.
Still, I couldn't get the mystery girl out of my mind though, checking her blog all the time, scouring for references to Dan.
Then I thought maybe I was going the wrong way about finding out what was going on. Maybe the answers lay in this Rosalie's Facebook page.
So I checked it out. There she was, beaming away, with... my Dan! The caption didn't call him that, it referred to him as Sticky, but I'd recognise him anywhere.
Hold on... Sticky? That was one of the names on the blog!
Heart thumping, I clicked on to the blog trying to find the reference again. It didn't take long. On November 14, 2010, just a week earlier, she'd written how she'd gone for a drink with this Sticky.
We chatted inevitably about his current girlfriend. He's not happy with her - and that's not just me saying it! He told me himself.
Tears pricked my eyes as I read on. I told him he just needs to man up and finish with her if he's not happy. But he worries too much about how much he'll upset her! At the end of the day though, the longer he leaves it, the worse it will be for her!
Pain and anger coursing through me, I couldn't tear myself away from the screen as more stuff came spilling out.
There it was in black and white. My boyfriend had been texting Rosalie, going for drinks and bites to eat - and his mum had even invited her to an underwear party round hers.
And this Rosalie didn't hold back on how she felt about me, either! He's been telling me how fit she is! I'm sorry, but the boy needs to get himself down to Specsavers!, she wrote.
What had I ever done to her to deserve such awful comments? Nothing! The blog swore blind they were still only mates but, whether or not that was the case, Dan had still betrayed my trust. They were welcome to each other.
I didn't know what to believe. Had they cheated on me? And why had he told me she was just a friend when her blog said she was one of his exes!
I'd had enough, called Dan. ‘It's over!' I raged. ‘You disgust me.'
‘I never cheated on you!' he insisted. ‘Meet me... let's talk...'
But I wasn't going to buckle this time. Ignoring his calls, I threw myself into my college work.
Still, I couldn't stop myself from reading the blog. I bristled when I read that now we'd broken up, they were officially an item. But I did chuckle when she wrote that he spoiled me more than her.
It hurts to think some little idiot he went out with for three months gets the hotel and dinner treatment, and I get a f***ing chicken tikka and some petrol station flowers!
Well, as far as I was concerned, Rosalie was getting what she was worth. And now, a year on, I've heard she and Dan have split up.
As for me, I've met someone new who treats me wonderfully. And what's more, my mates love him, too - if only I'd listened to them in the first place...

Dan Mardell, 22, says: ‘Rosy was obsessed that I was cheating on her with Rosalie. She'd check that stupid blog thing every day as soon as she realised we were friends, but that's all we were. After we broke up, things happened with me and Rosalie, but I'd already broken up with Rosy, so it's none of her business. Who checks up on their boyfriend online anyway? It's pathetic.'

Rosalie Game, 23, says: ‘At the time, Sticky and I were pals and that was it, and we were only just realising how well we knew each other as people. The conclusion was that he finished with his girlfriend and then he and I got back together.'


Rosy O'Brien, 18, Nazeing, Essex