Met up with my university friends today. It was good, to say the least. I laughed a lot, and managed to take the mickey out of some friends, which is something I do enjoy doing. I don't do it maliciously though, it's just my way of having fun and showing affection. Okay, just having fun, really.

It turns out that a friend of mine had a job offer in London. He went over there, tried it out for two weeks and decided to give it up and return home to be with his girlfriend, also a friend of mine. He didn't tell her that he had decided to return and kept it a secret so that he could surprise her. He turned up at her doorstep a few strokes shy of midnight, due to some technical difficulty, and yes, she did cry. My female friend laughed as I said, with evident approval, "That's the right way to do it."

It's so like a soap opera that I asked the guy if he had headed straight for her place from the airport, luggage in tow, rung the doorbell and done the dramatic dropping of luggage just as she opened the door. Unfortunately, no. That would have added more spice to the story. But it's so sweet as it is.
On another note, given that the job he turned down is very much similar to the job I'm doing now, I did threaten to stab him with my knife after telling him that his story was incredibly sweet.

My friends' story did remind me of the time that I returned early from my Eastern and Central Europe backpacking vacation to surprise my then-boyfriend (also known as "the ex"). Ostensibly, part of the reason was because I realised I needed more time to pack up and move out of my hostel, but a very large part of the reason was because I really did miss being with him, and wanted to spend as much time as I could with him before I had to leave the UK. I was incredibly nervous, as I wasn't sure whether he'd be in his room and didn't want to have to go to all this trouble only to be thwarted at the last step. I like plans, but I do get a little nervous towards the end of them, as I've put so much of my hopes on them.

But I went up to his room and knocked. When he opened the door, the expression on his face was incredible. Filled with surprise, followed by happiness, and then I was engulfed in a very big, powerful hug. If you could bottle the emotions that were in that moment, it would be a guaranteed bestseller.