Your fourth grade class was impatiently waiting for their special guest speaker. They fidgeted in their seats and whispered among each other until you asked them to be quite. As you introduced the guest speaker, Capitals defensemen Mike Green, they giggled and whispered excitedly. He thanked you for letting you talk to the class, and then you slipped to the back of the room to grade papers while he spoke to your students about the importance of hockey and being active. You kept glancing back up at him from the spelling tests you were trying to grade, occasionally catching his eyes.
After his presentation, he stayed to sign a few autographs for the kids, while the rest of them hurried off to recess. As the last student shuffled out the door, you approached him to thank him for talking to your class.
“It was my pleasure, I love talking to kids about this kind of stuff,” he smiled and you felt your heart skip a beat. He had surprisingly nice teeth for a hockey player, and they lit up his electric grin.
“The kids were so excited; they’ve been talking about you all week. How could I ever thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule just to talk to a fourth grade class?” You smiled again.
“I’m actually not too busy now that the Capitals are out of the playoffs,” he said with a sigh. “You don’t watch too much hockey, do you?” He asked teasingly.
“Sorry, I don’t; hockey isn’t very popular in Oklahoma where I’m from,” you blushed at your inadequate knowledge of local sports.
“So you’ve never been to a Caps game?” He asked.
“No, I’ve never been to any hockey game,” you smiled, slightly embarrassed.
“We’re going to have to fix that once the next season starts,” he jokes. “But in the mean time, why don’t I take you out for dinner?”
“I don’t know…” You were trying to think of a way to politely decline, even though you really wanted to say yes.
“Oh, do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, sounding a little disappointed.
“No, it’s nothing like that, I just feel like I already owe you for talking to my students, I wouldn’t know how to repay you for taking me out to dinner.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re a public school elementary teacher, you have one of the most important jobs in the world, you deserve to be taken out to dinner once in a while,” he smiled, and there was no way you could say no to that.
As you curled your hair that weekend, you tried to decide if your outfit was appropriate enough for the restaurant he was taking you to. It was one of the nicer ones, somewhere you had never dreamed of going. You had on your best dress, a pair of heels you never dreamed of wearing, and some beautiful earrings you had inherited from your grandmother. Just as you were thinking this was crazy and you should never have agreed to go on a date with a famous NHL hockey player, you heard him pull up outside of your apartment.
“You look absolutely stunning,” he said as you came out of the apartment building. He opened the car door for you like a gentleman and you slipped in the front seat of his nice car, and the two of you were on your way to dinner.
“Mr. Green, your table is ready,” the host said to him before he had a chance to ask. It must be nice being famous, you thought as you were escorted past the few people waiting for their own tables. You were seated in a quiet part of the restaurant, near a window, but not close enough that passersby outside could look in and see you. You picked up the menu and gasped when you saw the prices.
“Don’t worry about it, dinner’s on me tonight, get whatever you want,” he said when he saw your reaction. “You’re beautiful and talented, you deserve to be taken out every now and again.” He smiled again and you relaxed, feeling a little less nervous. “Maybe we should start with some wine, do you like white or red?” You shrugged, not really having a preference, and he ordered something that sounded foreign and expensive.
When the waiter returned with your wine, you ordered a salad. Mike shook his head. “No, you can have whatever you want. You deserve this,” he smiled, and you looked back at the menu. The waiter suggested the chicken, so you went with that.
“You’re earrings are beautiful, are those real pearls?” He asked. You nodded and told him the history behind them, how your grandmother had gotten them your grandfather on their first Valentine’s Day together. “That’s really romantic,” he smiled thoughtfully and you agreed.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” you smiled, and glanced up at the waiter as he returned with the bill, which he handed to Mike without even looking at you. “No dessert?” You joked, and Mike smiled back at you.
“We’re going somewhere else,” he said quietly with a mischievous grin. You waited in curiosity for him to tell you, but he said it was a surprise. As you drove to this mystery destination, you tried to figure out where you were going, but you didn’t know this part of DC well. Finally, you stopped on a little one-way street. He led you into a small Italian looking café. The owner knew him by name and smiled when he saw the two of you enter.
“And who is this lovely lady?” He asked Mike in his think Italian accent.
“This is (Y/N), she teaches elementary school,” Mike smiled at you as he introduced you. You admired the many flavors of gelato before finally picking one. You and Mike sat at a little table by the window, watching some kids play across the street while you ate your gelato.
“Thank you so much, Mike, I had a lot of fun tonight,” you said to him as he walked you back to your apartment.
“It was my pleasure, you’re a beautiful young lady,” he smiled back at you, and slowly moved closer before hesitating. You expected him to give you a hug, or maybe a kiss on the cheek if you were lucky, but he leaned in and carefully kissed you on the lips. “I hope we can do this again sometime.”
“I’d like that,” you blushed, and smiled up at him. “And I hope I can finally see a hockey game this fall!”
-Lila
