It was his 30th birthday and I had been planning a surprise party for him. We were living together so I had to be very careful about hiding it from him. I used to spend one extra hour at work trying to coordinate with all his friends and extended family, making arrangements for the party, and sending out invites. When he asked me why I was working so late these days, I told him it was for an upcoming presentation that I had to complete this week.
I had planned everything properly and methodically and was very excited. I even got a customised cake made for him. I spent hours making a present for him because I knew he would appreciate and love it. I picked up some food and cooked some his favourite dishes myself. From buying and storing the booze to decorating the house, I had it all under control without him having the slightest hint about this badass surprise. I was kinda proud of myself.
Then the day finally came! We were bringing in his birthday at 12 am. We kept that night simple and intimate with just the two of us clinking our glasses of champagne. We woke up and went to work as usual. I asked him what he wanted to do in the evening and how will we be celebrating his birthday. I was disappointed when he said he’ll be working late for some urgent reports. How was I supposed to get him to come home early? I was in a fix.
The only way to make this situation better was to pretend like I had a minor accident and that I wasn’t feeling well… I knew that would make him come back in a jiffy. But even so, all the guests had arrived and we were ready to surprise him… He still couldn’t make it for a good two hours. I was still hopeful and kept waiting for him, optimistic that he would come anytime…
… And so he did. And as he walked into the hallway and I walked out to open the door so that everyone could shout out and say ‘Surprise!’
And that’s the time he held my hand and told me something I’ll never forget. He said he was in love with someone else. He had been spending extra time at work because he had fallen for his new co-worker. He was mustering the courage to talk to me about this the entire week as he had grown very serious about her and wanted to break up with me. This moment changed my life, my perceptions and my trust.
I walked in and everyone screamed ‘Surprise!’. I was crying and rushed to my room and locked it. Even his best friends had no idea about this and were equally surprised when he decided to drop this bomb on everyone. While I don’t know about how everyone else reacted or felt, I was definitely shaken up.
I had planned this surprise thinking that we’d been together for so long, maybe it was time to take the next step. But in the middle of all this, I did not realize that while I was falling in love with him every day, he wasn’t. Our relationship had grown but in different directions. Our love had faded away and he had found another person to love. He moved out the next day while I spent the day thinking about how I could not see this coming, at all. He surprised me on his birthday with the worst news when I was planning to make him so happy.
Images: Shutterstock
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