nein oder nine

Something happened to me today that was totally weird, so obviously I will share it with you. Today was back to school day and I caught up with one of my lovely colleagues. We talked about the holidays and anything related and the subject of the staff Christmas party came up. I had missed it because I had to leave early to catch my flight so I just asked her how it was. Some staff members had participated in the secret Santa woopla  : they were going to open their five-pounds presents during the party -without ever knowing who got them what. 

My colleague - looking around suspiciously for no one to hear- told me that she was really disappointed in her gift as it was obvious to her that the person offering it did it at last minute without putting much thought into it. It was a bar of soap and some chocolate coins. Really nothing special. She went on saying that the chocolate coins tasted like soap because of their close contact with it & at the end, she threw everything in the bin. 

Ok, until now you might think there is nothing weird to my story. Expect that the person who got it for her was...yep...me. I felt mortified. There is nothing like the feeling of hidden shame. My cheeks were burning & I kept trying to react naturally to her words.

To act normal when you are really really embarrassed is a tough job. I am no actress. Oh my goodness, I really struggled to stay casual. My brain was working full capacity telling me repeatetly: don't mess it up, don't mess it up, what would you act like if you weren't the one that got her that present? come on, come on."

I really thought I was doing a poor job but she didn't suspect anything luckily (maybe I am a bit of an actress  after all- or a good liar, hummmm). Being insulted in such a way is a new experience for me. To my defense, I did put thought into her gift. The bar of soap was no ordinary soap! It was from a Cath Kidson shop with a lovely label and package. It costed 5 pounds too! Ok, I guess it's not the most glamourous of gift but even though she's a lovely girl, I don't know her that well & I didn't want to take a chance by buying her a pair of earrings she would hate. I think I should have. 

Gutted.