I told her that I wanted to take her out to dinner – just the two of us – to celebrate her birthday. Jan had wanted to have a little party with her friends, but agreed that a romantic evening alone would be nice. Little did she know, I had called 10 of her dearest friends and arranged a litle surprise party in a bar across town.

It all would have gone off without a hitch if Val had not sent a text message to Jan’s phone (instead of mine) saying, “We’re hiding at the back of the bar.” Luckily, I heard Jan’s phone beep when the message arrived and I quickly read and deleted it. Jan also heard the phone beep so I had some fast talking to do. I skillfully took her attention off the phone and we were on our way. Crisis averted. Trying to cover up her tracks, Val sent Jan another message which said, “Sorry, that last message was for James.” I think this was where Jan started to get an inkling that something was up. Again, I started making witty conversation in an attempt to regain the element of surprise.

We passed by the bar and I told Jan that needed to run in and get some change. I thought she would have followed me in. So I ran out and asked her to borrow some cash. She handed it to me and stayed outside. I finally just grabbed her and dragged her into the bar where all her mates jumped out and yelled “Surprise!” The effect was achieved, Jan was happy, we all went out to dinner at a lovely Sirian restaurant, then spent the rest of the night playing pool and foosball and talking about sex back in the bar. Good times.