2. Surprise

We didn't manage to surprise her. Five above average brains put together for five days couldn't surprise her. We had planned and planned and figured we had gone over every possible loophole. We were confident we had covered all bases.

There was a beach she particularly loved, but hadn't been to in a long time. We decided to take her there. Two days before her birthday - when she would least expect it.

That night, two of us went ahead with a tent. The beach was moonlit and they found a spot under a huge dark tree to pitch it up. It would fit six in and the smokers would have to stand outside. Inside, a huge scented candle would be lit. We’d have a cake but we won’t have any paper plates. We would eat it with our hands in our sand floor cave. The cake – well, I raced the levels of our local mall trying to find the best black forest cake available. There were five shops which sold cake, and four of them had black forests staring at me from behind the glass windows. I made two rounds, ogling at each of them twice with pondering eyes before I made a decision. I based it on the looks - thankfully looks which later did not deceive. Meanwhile, our fourth accomplice was in the basement shops trying to figure out the right mix of balloons and caps and masks and whistles and horns and confetti and poppers to go inside our tent. They came in different hues and different sizes and the whistles all blew in different tones and loudness. On the other side of the town, after work, the fiancé was meeting her for dinner. Their dinner would give us a buffer in case of any delay for he had been instructed to stop eating only when we had given him the go ahead. The plan was reaching a symphonic frenzy and we waited expectantly for the dreamed crescendo.

We picked our cake, bought the right candles and loaded all kinds of birthday paraphernalia. We reached the tent and we sent him a message. All was as planned and he could now lure her for a walk on the beach. He made his most lovely face, put his arm around her right shoulder, pulled her close to him and sweetly lured, “Lets go to the beach.” She said startled, “Why ? Are you guys planning something ?” And then he gave it away.