Many Happy Returns

No. Absolutely not.

"I'm not going out. Nope. Never going to happen." Jenny crossed her arms and sat back.  Her best friend Julie was trying for the hundredth time. to get her to go out for her birthday that weekend.

"We're going to have a spa day, get our hair and makeup done and go out after. Pleeeeeeeze Jenny, it's been ages since we went out. I miss our giggles!" She wheedled and pouted with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Jenny closed her eyes and sighed loudly. She was a sucker for Julie's pleading. They'd been friends for years, working together, sharing a secret love for trash tv and a not-so-secret love for Tom Hiddleston. They worshipped him like the God he truly was. No one else seemed to understand, but then that was just fine by them. More of Tom for them.

"Ok, Ok, you win" she relented and opened her eyes just in time to see Julie launch herself at her with a shriek.

"Yay! This is going to be the best birthday EVER just you wait!" She crowed. 

"Can I please get back to work now?" Jenny asked, good humoured exasperation in her voice. She loved Julie dearly but sometimes she was just so full on!

"Ok, ok, ok, I get the hint!" Julie laughed good-naturedly and wandered away back to her own desk. For the rest of the afternoon, she sat with a smug expression as she flicked through spreadsheets she most definitely wasn't actually reading.  Now to put the rest of the plan into action.

Julie loved Jenny like a sister. They'd had their ups and downs just like all friends but in the end, they were always there for each other. When Julie's marriage hit the rocks, it was Jenny that picked up the pieces, gave her somewhere to stay and someone to lean on. When Jenny had decided she was going to quit her job and go backpacking it was Julie that had literally prised the wine bottle out of her hand and given her the black coffee.

Jenny hadn't let her down once, in all the years she'd known her, Julie had never once felt like she wasn't there for her day or night. Now, it was time to repay her in some small way. She was going to move heaven and earth to make it happen.  A birthday Jenny would NEVER forget!
       

Saturday dawned bright and clear. Although it was early in the year, the sun shone like midsummer, hiding the chill behind a warm yellow blanket.

Jenny woke to the sound of her mobile ringing. Groaning slightly, she scrabbled about on the bedside table and pulled it to her groggy face.  She knew who it was by the ringtone. Only Julie could be announced by the Loki theme tune!

"Happy Birthday to you..." the voice on the other end of the phone trilled as she murdered the most famous song in the entire world, ever. 

"Do you KNOW what time it is you cruel woman?" Jenny laughed into the handset, squinting as she tried to make her eyes work. She could have sworn the clock said 7am.

"Well thanks! I practised that all week and all you can do is moan about the time? " Julie pretended to be hurt. She wasn't a very good actress. Jenny laughed out loud.

"No, I'm not moaning about the time, just the fact that I can SEE it on a Saturday. AND my birthday too. This had better be worth it."  She rolled onto her back and looked out the window as she did so.

She could just about see the skyline of Canary Wharf from her flat.  Just a little more to the left and round the corner she used to tell people, trying to sound like she had a cool loft apartment in the Docklands, overlooking the Thames. Sadly all she really had was a studio flat that had once been earmarked for the London Olympic village. 

"Don't you worry, get dressed and I'll see you at 11 am outside Charing Cross station ok? Wear something NICE! I'll be the one with the birthday balloon.  " Julie sniggered and Jenny rolled her eyes.