How do you view Surprise?

When you hear the word 'Surprise', what comes to mind? Is it a pleasant feeling or that of shock - as in bad shock?
Well, I've heard people say with emphasis, 'I HATE surprises!' To these ones, they don't care if it's good or bad; they just prefer to be in the know before anything happens - but this does not always apply in reality (the world is filled with many surprises).


Yet on the other hand, I've also seen some people blush bright colours at the slightest surprise (the good ones of course) and they are like - with wringing fingers-'Oh...oh!' (grinning and usually at loss of legible words). Personally, I fall in this category - Oh how I love surprises!

Perpetua (or Pepe like she prefers to be called - she still has not forgiven her parents for coming up with such a queer name) was easily the stand out in my office - she stood at a little over six feet in height. As she is tall, so is she also graced with rare beauty (I usually don't consider ladies who are too tall as pretty - personal prejudice). This morning, I noticed that she was a little over excited and I was eager to know why. It is her birthday. Wow, no big deal. We quickly did the wishy wishy and got back to work.

But of course dear Pepe was still running around, bustling with adrenaline, toothy smiles and incoherent phrases - we understood her excitement. Even me, totally in no mood of ecstasy, understood her - birthday thing was a girl thing. Everyone was shouting at the same time!

Yet another shout by one of my colleagues pissed me off to the point of derision and an outburst ensued from me - they were distracting my work. Nobody noticed my perturbed countenance! This further infuriated me, however, I decided to concentrate on my work. It was then that I noticed that every eye looked out the window and they had the same look on their faces - wonder.

I joined them, curiosity overriding my earlier mixed emotions.

There he stood, fussing a large package out of the back of a black Jeep - trying not to destroy the content. As I looked at him, I noticed that he looked strained and anxious. The content of the package must be very important; his expression said so.

Still staring like the others, I did not understand why the man was such a big deal. It was then it dawned on me that the extra-large white package the man struggled with (now, about two other men had joined in carrying the package) held some kind of significance. It was a birthday cake - for Pepe.

Wow! This was the most beautiful thing that I have ever witnessed. But what kind of cake is this? It was about 45" in size. Too large to enter the door gracefully. I turned to ask Pepe this question and I saw her flushed face. I don't know how to describe the torrent of emotions that displayed on her pretty face. Shock, surprise, joy then embarrassment. Arriving at the last emotion, she dashed into the ladies and refused to come out for another 30 minutes.

The man succeeded in climbing the stairs - with the cake intact and then introduced himself. He was the smitten boyfriend of Pepe. Awww, I said. I've never seen anything more romantic (apart from scenes in Hollywood). It was a pleasant surprise. Not just the huge, scary cake, but the gesture of the love struck young man; it was endearing.

The next scene was not anticipated (like the first). It seemed that Pepe did not take the surprise very well because we spent another 15 minutes begging her to unlatch the toilet door! When she finally did, we decided it was time to view the monumental cake.

When the lid of the package was lifted, the sight took our breath away and this time, Pepe disappeared, for real...