Not even if you were Brad Pitt.

Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008 @ 6:11 p.m.

Once upon a time (or more specifically, last summer), I had a thing for this guy whom I called Pete. I mentioned him in my entries back then - he had a boyfriend, and thus nothing could happen between us, although we were both attracted to each other.

A lot has happened since then. For one, I got to know him a lot better, and I am now so glad that nothing happened between us back then. He's fundamentally a good guy with a good heart... but his biggest, most annoying quality is his ego.

He's an egomaniac. He thinks very highly of his looks. He's not a bad looking guy - not by a long shot - but his ego just makes him appear uglier and uglier to me. When we're out and I point out some guy whom I think is attractive, he would sometimes ask me, "Is he hotter than me?" I know, CRINGE. I refuse to lie just to boost his ego, so I usually cop out by saying "Well you two have very different looks"... which isn't a lie. But each and every single time, my ideal answer would have been "Heck, YEAH!". This character flaw of his is the main reason why we've grown apart. We used to hang out together all the time, but after I got disillusioned, I started withdrawing, and now I only see him out at the bars.

Why do I still consider him my friend? Because it's hard to demonize him. During my birthday dinner this year, the final check came up $50 short. Doug wanted to pay it off (I wanted to pay - I didn't mind at all - but Doug told me to shut up), but Pete offered to split it with Doug instead. Deep down, he's a good guy with a good heart. But his character flaw just makes it very hard to access that good guy buried under all that ego sometimes.

Anyway, his birthday is coming up this week... and he has pissed me off with his demands. Get this - he left for a family visit last week (he'll be back a couple of days before his birthday), but before he left, he told a few of us - his "closer" friends - that he wanted a huge birthday party when he returned. And he wanted us to plan it for him.

But that's not all. Almost every single day, we have been receiving text messages from him about his damn birthday. He said that he would like to have dinner, and then a huge after-party at Trunks (the dive bar we hang out at regularly). And he said - get this - "I kinda would like to be surprised". HE'S PLANNING HIS OWN SURPRISE PARTY. That's not all... oooh no. He's expecting balloons and banners. And from what I've gathered, I think he's expecting a scenario that as we walk into Trunks, people are gonna burst out in jubilations, and the entire bar will be singing his name.

I'm gonna organize the dinner for him, and that's it. He helped me out during my birthday dinner, and this would be the least I could do. I'm sorry, but I am not going to go out of my way to give him what appears to be a sweet-sixteen bash for some spoiled rich Hollywood princess. I'm not gonna spend money on balloons and banners. I'm not gonna go around, asking people to chant his name as he walks into the bar. These things come from the heart. And the more you ask for these "surprises", the less people are gonna give it to you.

And the other thing is - he's not as popular or "adored" as he thinks he is. I've been trying to work out a guest list for the dinner, but I couldn't even think of more than 10 people who would show up. The other flaw about Pete - when he's drunk, he's a complete obnoxious ass. And he's pissed off many many people through that. So if I were one of these people whom he pissed off, I would rather get a lobotomy than wish him a happy birthday.

It's not my fault that he's limited his own list of potential party guests. And when he sees that the turnout is lower than he's expecting, I'm sure he won't be very thrilled. When he realizes that I didn't hire Cirque du Soleil acrobats and animal-balloon making clowns for his birthday dinner, I'm sure he would be disappointed.

But I really don't give much of a damn. If after this party, he gets pissy and refuses to talk to me forever, I would really not mind it one single bit. If this is how he measures friendship, then he should definitely go look for it elsewhere. I really don't have the patience to soothe and worship his ego.

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Not even if you were Brad Pitt.