An International Women’s Day Surprise

The whole setup had to be classified absolutely top secret. Sunny definitely mustn’t have the slightest idea! The video was shot two days before the planned surprise. “I was a little nervous, because I have zero experience with standing in front of a camera. I had to have a little shot of Becherovka first,” Radek admits with a smile, although he certainly does not give the impression of being an introvert. The whole thing was done in a single take and we had to leave the apartment without the slightest trace that anything had gone on there. Everything was meticulously tidied up and scrubbed, the refrigerator and microwave plugged in again, as these had had to give way for filmmaking lights, and we speedily exited our improvised studio. It was a pleasantly conspiratorial adventure, and we felt a bit like Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in the movie How to Steal a Million.

D day is here, and we have barely slept a wink out of nervousness. Everything has to be prepared before Sunny arrives. Unluckily for us, Sunny isn’t much of a sleepyhead and tends to get into the office early. Therefore, at 6:30 a.m. we’re already on our marks and we’re installing a TV screen that will deliver Radek’s message to the unsuspecting Sunny. Get the hidden cameras in place, agree every member of the film crew’s exact position during the event, and everybody clears out. Our colleague arrives shortly thereafter and seats herself at her desk, the morning being nothing out of the ordinary so far. But in a few moments the screen flashes on and the surprised Sunny watches her husband’s romantic monologue. When Radek arrives in person at the scene with a huge bouquet after the video ends and surprises his wife for the second time, Sunny’s astonishment seems to know no boundaries. Visibly moved, Sunny smiles brightly and we know we’ve pulled it off!

The next item on the string of unexpected moments is a prepared breakfast, during which they can work out what they will do with Sunny’s last “gift” – the day off work. They both agree that they will spend it at the shooting range. It was a passion for shooting that had brought them together in the first place, and it accompanies them through their whole partnership. “Sunny isn’t much of a girly girl in a pink dress but kind of a man in disguise – mentally, I mean. In fact, she can be pretty punk sometimes,” Radek reveals. Shooting with a wide range of guns, such as a shotgun, pistol, or rifle, and other activities we usually consider as “masculine”, such as driving a car and knowing how to park it well, are things that metaphorically hold their harmonious relationship together.

“Our daily activities are pretty balanced,” they agree, almost in unison. Cleaning up, cooking, doing the laundry, or even chopping wood are done by whichever has the time or is in the mood for it. And that can mean work that anybody else might turn their nose up at. “You know, we live in a house just outside Prague, and we have chickens. And the coop needs to be cleaned out from time to time,” Radek laughs.

For the upcoming weekend, they’ve planned not only activities that bring them together but also some that can bring out some slight differences of opinion between them – in particular shooting and a parking contest. “I don’t rack my brain over it much, but Sunny always gets angry when I park askew. I want to prove to her that I can park straight, even better than she does,” Radek laughs again. “We need to establish some rules for the parking contest and also get a referee,” Sunny adds with a smile. “Otherwise, we’ll get into an argument over it.”

We bid farewell to both our participants. Sunny thanks us, adding that she was really pleasantly surprised. “Even though Radek is more of an action type of guy, his willingness to do something like this really surprised me a lot. I’m very conscious of the fact that we’re having a beautiful life together, but this single moment made it all seem really tangible,” Sunny concludes, deeply moved.

We can only hope that you, too, will enjoy International Women’s Day as much as Sunny and Radek did.