A Surprise Birthday Party

Ted had a new girlfriend. His friends were pleased. Ted had dated Samantha for two years. When Samantha told Ted it was over, he was very upset. He was sad all the time. A few months later, he met Angela.

"I am arranging a surprise birthday party for Angela!" Ted told the people in his office. "It will be great!"

"Who's Angela?" asked Tony. Tony had just come back to the office after six months working in America. "I thought your girlfriend's name was Samantha."

"Samantha was my girlfriend last year," said Ted. "We broke up at New Year. I met Angela three weeks ago. Angela's my new girlfriend."

"Where did you meet her?" asked Anne.

"I met her at my kick boxing club. She has been a member for a long time."

"When's Angela's birthday. Are we invited?" asked Anne. She likes parties.

"It's on Saturday. It's in the back bar at the Highlander Pub. Of course you and Tony are invited. It will be great!"

"Are you sure a surprise birthday party is a good idea?" asked Tony. "She might have other plans for her birthday."

"No, no. I asked her out on a date on Saturday and she said 'yes', so she doesn't have other plans."

"Are you sure it's her birthday?" asked Tony.

"What do you mean, Tony?" Ted was angry. "Of course it's her birthday! When I changed the page on the calendar in my kitchen I saw 'birthday' written in pink pen in the space for Saturday. And there's a big heart drawn around it. Angela must have written it there when she was in my apartment."

Unfortunately, neither Tony nor Anne could go to the surprise birthday party. Anne caught a cold and Tony's parents came to visit him so he couldn't go out. When Ted came into work on Monday morning, Angela said. "How was the party? I was so sorry I couldn't go!"

"Me too," added Tony. "Did you have a good time?"

"No," said Ted. "It was terrible!"

"What happened?" asked Anne.

"Well, I told Angela I would meet her at the pub. I don't know Angela's friends, so I asked my friends. I thought it would be a good chance for them to meet her. I put up a big poster that said Happy birthday to my best girlfriend. I put the cake with Happy Birthday Darling on it on the table. Then Angela arrived, and at the same time, Samantha came in with her new boyfriend. We all shouted 'surprise!' and sang happy birthday. Angela was very surprised. And then she was very angry."

"Why?" Tony and Anne asked together.

"It wasn't Angela's birthday at all! It was Samantha's! I forgot. But Samantha had given me the calendar just before we broke up. She must have written the message on the calendar."

Tony and Ann could not stop laughing. "I'm sorry, Ted," said Anne. "It's terrible. But it is funny too."

Ted started laughing too. "I can't believe I made such a terrible mistake. And of course now I have no girlfriend again. But the cake was very nice."