i didn't exactly jump out of a cake...

I decided somewhere around last December or so that i would lie to Melanie (my girlfriend) about when i was returning to the states; thus the beginnings of...the surprise...Mel is back in CS now, so even though she thought i wasn't coming in until Friday i came in on Monday, got over jet-lag, spent a day with my family, and then drove down to college station to commence the operation. Mel's best friend Elaine deserves much credit for assisting in this undertaking because she was the one that convinced Melanie that the two of them were hanging out that night and had Mel ready at the appointed time. She also took care of publicity apparently as everyone in the city except for Melanie knew of the impending events. so... one of the only obstacles to overcome was convincing Melanie that i was still in Paris for three days after i actually came home, i thought i might just have to make up excuses why i couldn't call her and just stick to email thanks to the innovation of caller ID. my sister, a former prank calling specialist, informed me however that i could use *67 and my # would not show up. so, i was able to call mel from my cell phone for those three days and just make up lots and lots of lies about what i was doing in Paris (which really started to weigh on my conscience); anywho, as the hour of the surprise approached i was of course quite nervous with anticipation..i showed up at her house and called her (from Paris) since 6pm US time is when i would usually call her anyways. that was the signal to Elaine that i was outside; she came outside and whispered to me that Mel was upstairs in her room and had been instructed not to leave (for some reason this was not weird to melanie, but instead something to be expected from Elaine); I was going to keep the conversation short and the plan was to still be talking to her on the phone and then just bust in and be there (this portion was actually suggested by my mom); but mel kinda started in on a 'real' conversation, not knowing i was standing in her living room. my whole plan was to talk about our four months apart, and how it was finally over, and to walk in as i was saying that it was over (a bit melodramatic perhaps) so i had to wait another couple of excruciating minutes until i could begin my spill. it all worked perfectly and as i kinda repeated that 'we had made it' i walked into her room (though it would have been arguably better for me to kick the door in). She was facing away from the door at her desk so she didn't even realize until i got closer (still talking on the phone) that someone had come in; she definitely did a double take and then the high-pitched screaming began (along with a whole lot of hugging); the first hour or so consisted mostly of us excitedly talking about nothing, and staring at each other with that 'I kinda forgot what you looked like' stare..and of course intermittent squeals...i planned a little 'european travel' for our evening by buying foods specific to the main three countries that i visited in Europe (since she couldn't be there with me) we had: beer and pretzels from Germany, wine by the river (research park pond) for France, and italian food for dinner; the dinner didn't work out because we weren't through with 'France' until 10:30 so we ended up having, conveniently, an asian salad instead. after that we went back to her house and just talked a little more, with Mel often saying things like 'wait, how did you...' 'so when you said...' 'how long have you been planning this...' 'how long has Elaine been in on it..' 'how did she keep it a secret..'; i'll be real honest in saying that of all of the times in the four months that i was gone that i thought about how our 'reunion' would go, it was better than i ever imagined. she was really surprised (i had worried that she might find out, but when i called her she told me about how her and Elaine were going out that night and even guessed what she thought they were going to do) and it was so good to see her again. i'll spare you any additional mushy-ness.