Hena left the restaurant bathroom to find a waiter telling her to hurry because something had happened to her partner. He led her into a side room. In a few steps she imagined a fall, a hospital, and his mother's telephone number she could not find. The doors opened, lights came on, and around twenty people shouted surprise. Nermin stood beside a cake, perfectly healthy, while phones pointed toward her face.
She did not smile. Her hands shook so much she had to put down her bag. Nermin approached saying everything was fine, that it was merely a trick to keep her from suspecting a party. Hena asked who had decided fear was a good introduction to a birthday. A friend replied that the reaction looked excellent on the recording. Then she told them to stop filming immediately. Nervous laughter moved through the room, as though they still expected her to join the agreed version of events.
Hena went outside. Nermin followed carrying a piece of cake, then abandoned it on the first table. She had worked in dispatch for years and knew how many real disasters began with the words that something had happened to someone. But she did not think she needed a special justification for disliking such a joke. She said she felt used: everyone else got an entertaining scene, while she alone had not known what she was agreeing to or why cameras suddenly surrounded her.
Nermin first defended the guests' effort. Then he noticed her hands still shaking. He went back inside, stopped publication of the official recording, and asked those present to remove their own footage. Some apologized; others said nothing was allowed anymore. The celebration fell apart before candles. Hena did not undertake to reassure everyone that she still loved them. She went home with her sister and spent the evening in comfortable clothes, far from the cake intended as the main evidence of good intentions.
Nermin apologized the next day without the word but. Later they also spoke with friends who did not understand why the party failed. They did not agree with everyone. Several weeks later Hena invited a small group for dinner herself and said she wanted to know who was coming and when. Nermin brought flowers, rang the bell, and waited to be let in. Cake arrived after the meal. When they sang, she smiled before noticing that not one phone was raised.