Let Them Eat Piecaken

When life happens in layers.

I once dated a guy with two identities.

That sounds more compelling than it was. He wasn’t a spy, nor a grifter from a Netflix series. He wasn’t a pilot with homes in different cities, toggling back and forth between them. But in a way, he did lead two separate lives.

He was a performer who went by his stage name. Hardly anyone, save for family and a few close friends, knew his given one. Whenever we went out, it was like watching him slip into another being, his shiny public persona. Behind closed doors, he was a different person — a more reserved creature the larger world never got to see.

I used to think he was an anomaly. But the more I look around, the more I’ve noticed that almost everyone I know is living at least two existences — oftentimes more.

There’s the deeply introverted friend who dons an outgoing mask for her customer service job, then spends the weekend recovering in silence.

Or the friend who is a buttoned-up corporate professional by day and a celebrated drag queen …