Playing Detective

The Boyfriend went to elaborate lengths to surprise me with a party held in my honour, tossing red herring after red herring in my path to throw me off the scent. But the red herrings were his own fault - originally unnecessary, they were only introduced after I discovered a piece of paper lying in his room that looked suspiciously like a BBQ session to be held very close to the day of my birth, with a list of people's names and things like "cooler" and "tongs" (the latter of which he'd asked me the whereabouts of just a couple of days before).


I knew that we were planning to meet up, but the date wasn't the one we'd agreed upon. Ahh, I told myself, he's planning to surprise me!


And so I asked him about it, and really his first reaction was the most revealing - "Oops!" and an expression a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. And, come to think of it, amusement at his own lapse (ie dumb-ibity). Lucky for him, he managed to recover quickly enough and brush it off as another gathering session he'd been asked to oversee, but unluckily for him, it not enough to pull the wool over my eyes completely. Heheheh.

Hence commenced a detective game of trying to figure out whether this party was imagined or real. But wanting very much indeed to be surprised, this detective, like any other with conflicting interests, didn't go all the way to find out the truth. Still, many questionable inconsistencies arose.

Shortly after my discovery of The Paper, he told me that the day they'd been planning to have that gathering had to be postponed, because many people couldn't make it, and also because Gee Hock's place could not be utilised because he'd already booked the pit for his FOC (note this point because it comes into play in an important way later on).
(Inconsistency number 1: I'd noticed many ticks next to people's names (and annotations next to those who would be late).)

We-almost-blew-it moment number 1 (But which went right by me without my even realising): Linghui accidentally referring to a meeting which I was not privy to. When I went "what meeting what meeting?", much on-the-spot covers up had to be ad libbed, causing many Academy Awards to be given out after the performance.

So these were the inconsistencies to the lead-up of the day of my Surprise!. Still, they weren't major enough beacons, so even though I had my suspicions, I promptly forget them. However, on the night before D-Day, a plot development almost foils Significant One's plan:

And this is "Inconsistency number 2".

Inconsistency number 2: Barry asks me out for dinner and I say yes, but Chye starts to whine about not being not my priority list and refuses to go home for a half-hour til I finally give in. The thing is, we'd previously agreed that, if either party wants to spend some time with personaly friends, that the other party would be gracious about it. But Vanity proved triumphant over the more obvious but dull Logic, and I just felt gleeful about his showing of possessiveness. (Okay that sounds psycho, but what I meant is, it felts good that he (seemed to) be jealous. Okay that sounds like some dumb woman thing too. Whatever, you know what I mean.) I mean, come on, the moment my friend tells me he wants to have dinner with me, you come and tell me you wanna have dinner with me too? If that isn't jealousy/the first sign of a possessive streak since I started going out with you, then what is? You can't blame a girl for thinking that, ok.

The plot thickens on D-Day:

Gee Hock calls up unexpectedly (and, come to think of it now, really well-timed - coz I'd just gotten home from the airport) and asks to borrow my cooler and tongs.

See that? See that? Chye had written "cooler" and "tongs" on his little piece of paper!

But I was swayed by Gee Hock's acting skills, because he sounded earnestly in need of these things, and really paiseh that he had to trouble me for them. However, it seemed out of character for him, I guess for most people really, to organise a BBQ so last minute. And having to trouble more than one person to get things which you are responsible for, down to your place for you. So the doubts stayed on.

And, when I told him that I couldn't pass him the items because I wouldn't be home - I'd intended to stay out with Barry til I needed to go to the dinner place, the venue of which by the way had shifted from the zi char place downstairs to another zi char place near Chye's - he declines to allow Eugene, who was gonna help him do the transportation of goods, to come up to my place and collect them. Which was weird on hindsight, because if you were so desperate as to call me last minute to get the things, then this wouln't be much further of a stretch of the skin - but we now know the real reason why. Anyway, Chye informs me maybe half and hour later that the zi char stall was fully-booked and we were going back to eating at my place.

Weird, what a coincidence, I thought. But I just shrugged it off and called Gee Hock and told him I could, after all, pass him his damn things. And Chye brilliantly acts all surprised when I tell him about it, even joking about asking for free food from Gee Hock. He pulled the wool at that point.

Is this getting tedious to read? But I really must finish my story, because I am still so utterly amazed at all the trouble everyone, The Boyfriend especially, took to cover this up until the moment of unveiling. So scroll down and look at the pictures if you're bored. Continue I will.

Along the way however, a stupid inconsistent thing happened: Gee Hock calls me and tells me the designated driver has been changed, to be substituted with Da Hua, and that he'd come and pick me around 730-800pm. Which is totally, way past our meeting time of 730pm! And when I decide to call Chye and tell him about this, he acts as if he didn't know. Which is totally out of character of Da Hua!

So that's when I start seriously wondering, gee, are they really planning something behind my back? But I considered the work that had to be put behind the scenes to pull something like this off, and I came to the conclusion (and oh how totally wrong I was!) that no one would take the trouble.

And, things just continued to get curiouser and curiouser:

The Boyfriend and Da Hua insist I go along for the ride, instead of joining Eugene, who I presumed to be waiting all alone at the table. Their lame excuse? So we could go and kapok some food from Gee Hock. And leave poor Eugene, all hungry, alone? But I wanna go, coz I wanna to be surprised, but I had to question Chye, so he calls to check on Eugene, who tells him that he had been joined by Mingfang and Linghui, when all along he was lying in wait at Gee Hock's.

The detective in me decides to test them. As we drive past the coffeeshop, I wondered out loud if we could spot Eugene. But there were too many people that even if he were there, I wouldn't have been able to see him. And, oh, I just realised something: Chye decided to sit in the front instead of at the back with me. Probably he was worried that his facial expressions would give himself away, hawhaw. And yes, I did detect some nervousness. But I couldn't be sure if I'd imagined it.

When we finally get to the pit, Chye, still in character, makes some remark about how he didn't recall the pool to be as big as it was the last time we were there, when in fact he'd been there since the afternoon - and that threw me off course. They even let me lead the way - the wrong way - until one of them noted that, hey, that guy in the distance over there looks like Gee Hock! So we walk back. Wool over my eyes.

When we approach, I notice an absence of young, rowdy, radio-blasting kiddos befitting an FOC, only they bags. Gee Hock says they are upstairs. Crikey, they hadn't even started BBQ-ing!

"Wah lau, they so lazy ah, make you do all the cooking!" I rant.
"Yah lor, " came the reply. Then, suddenly, he looks up, into the distance, a weird look on his fact. "Hey, look!" he points.
"Huh?" I look, and I start to think, okok so it was true! Surprise! Surprise!

Nothing.

I look back.

"Huh?"

He tries again. "Uh, look!"

What the... ok I'll play along, but this is the last time. I look.

.... And nothing happens.

And he gives up his poor cue-giving.

"Oei, come out la! Why you all never come out?"

And there they were, all my friends from secondary school, grinning from ear to ear and popping party poppers the air.

Best birthday present in a while.
Best boyfriend.

Thanks, guys! Thanks so much for gracing my surprise party. It meant a lot to me that you guys were there last night. Thank you all for the effort! *muuuuuuuuuuaaahhh!*

Happy Birthday to me. Hee.