Natalia and Santiago are a married couple that has been together and happy since childhood but now in their mid-twenties Natalia begins to see a change in her husband that she can’t explain, and sadly neither can he. There is something that is off about him, he’s acting different: irritable, distant, more focused on his phone than on her, and not into their relationship like he used to be. She begins to ask herself the questions that one always asks in this situation. What did I do? What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell me what’s wrong? She confronts him with this and he explains to her that the machismo bullying that he experienced with his family was so strong that he couldn’t live the life that he wanted to live so he found someone that he loved, that loved him and kept all the rest of it a secret. Santiago shares with her his darkest life secret, that he is gay. He has stolen her life from her. The person she loved the most is a Thief of Love. He finally breaks his silence and tells her his open and honest truth, and she listens. It is in the last moments of the scene that we see the love they both have for each other while recognizing the struggle that machismo can put on any man who wants to rise above the negative comments and be themselves. ***The scene may be edited to fit performers of any ethnicity. The essence of the scene is the idea that there is a “manliness” or “machismo” that is an expectation for some boys/ men.
