Katie had no idea where they were going. They drove to Boylston Street then Tuukka stopped the car and got out. A valet opened the door for Katie and she stepped out to the famous French restaurant she'd heard about a few times.

Tuukka smiled and opened the door for her as they walked in.

"Hi, Rask for two."

"Yes sir. Right this way," the waiter said as she led Tuukka and Katie upstairs to the main dining room. They sat down at a table for two. Tuukka ordered a nice wine and they sat down across from each other.

They both looked at their menus for a minute. Katie took Spanish in high school, so she had no idea what any of the French words meant. Tuukka knew a little of it.

"I don't know French!" She spat out quickly after a minute of staring at the menu.

Tuukka began to chuckle and said, "Well, I know a little bit. Don't worry... what were you thinking of? They have roasted chicken, lamb, steak..."

"The roast chicken sounds good."

"Yeah, I was thinking of that too. They have an option for two people with chicken, but it says it will take an hour to roast, present and carve. It has lemon and potatoes and... I think that says vegetables..." he said, squinting at the menu in the low lighting. God he's adorable, Katie thought, smiling a bit to herself.

"That sounds good."

"Guess we're getting the Plat au Four," he said, struggling a bit with the pronunciation.

Right then the waitress came with french bread and a bottle of white wine and began to pour it into two glasses. She then asked if they were ready to order.

"Yeah, can we get the Plat au Four," he asked, clearly with the wrong pronunciation because the waitress began to smile as she wrote down their order.

"Sure. That'll be ready in about an hour," she said, then left, leaving the two of them there.

"So, tell me about yourself" Tuukka said, smirking as he began to rip a piece of bread and put it into the oil.

"Oh God. Well, I'm from Cambridge. My brother goes to college in Michigan, my dad's in Afganistan in the army. I like to run, I do it almost every morning. My favorite food is chocolate covered strawberries. Uhh, I've ran in the Boston Marathon the past three years. I'm studying to be a trauma surgeon at Boston University. I used to play hockey and softball in high school. I want to get a puppy soon... My favorite place is the Charles River... My favorite movie is Goodfellas."

A trauma surgeon?? Shit, Tuukka thought. This girl's legit.

"Wow" Tuukka said, analyzing each piece of information. "Goodfellas, haven't seen that one. And you used to play hockey? No way."

"Yes way. 50 bucks says I could score a goal on you."

Jesus this girl is cocky. I love it, he thought. "You're on. You know I'm a professional, right?"

"And?"

"It's literally my job."

"Well then it's really going to suck when you screw up and owe a girl $50."

"Ouch. You're on, I hope I don't make you cry when I block it though."

Katie smiled and took a sip of the wine.

"Okay. Well, tell me about you now."

"Well, I was born in Savonlinna, Finland. It's really cold in the winter there. I have a younger brother, Joonas, who also plays hockey. My parents live in my hometown and I see them in the summer, and they visit sometimes. I like to run, too, and my favorite food is steak. I play hockey for the Bruins and I actually want a dog too. My favorite place in Boston is the harbor. My favorite movie is Fight Club."

"Boston Harbor is beautiful. And I gotta admit, Fight Club isn't that bad."

"Right! What kind of puppy were you thinking of getting?"

"I was just thinking of a chocolate lab, like as a puppy."

"Seguin has one, you should talk to him about it. I actually like labs too," he said.

Katie smiled and popped a piece of bread into her mouth.

"Well, we'll have to watch Goodfellas sometime," he added. "What's it about?"

"The life of this gangster, Henry Hill. It's realllly good, and Ray Liotta's in it. Bonus."

"Who's Ray Liotta?"

"Only one of the sexiest actors of his time."

Tuukka sat there for a minute with a strange look on his face. It sounded weird, but he didn't like to hear her call another guy sexy. Even if it was a famous actor.

"...so you play hockey... and love gangster movies?"

"Yeah, that's basically me in a nutshell," she said laughing and rolling her eyes. Little did she know, she was flawless in Tuukka's eyes.

Tuukka thought for a second about how she mentioned her participation in the Boston Marathon. He didn't want to be rude, but he kind of wanted to know her perspective on what had happened. "So.. you ran in the Marathon this year?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah. I was actually at the finish line when it happened."

"..do you remember it?"

"Vaguely," she said hesitantly, "I remember the blast, then looking at my legs, then having someone in a black shirt carry me to a medical tent."

Tuukka thought for a second about telling her that he was the one in the black shirt, but he decided against it. It's just the first date. It'd freak her out to know that it was me.. she needs time, he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry to hear that... do you remember who saved you?"

"Again, vaguely. I really wish I could remember though, and meet them. And thank them, because I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for them.." she said, looking to her right for a minute.

Tuukka nodded and sipped his wine because he didn't know what to say. She didn't know that she was literally thanking her rescuer.

---

After about 10 more minutes of small talk, the dinner came. It was a huge chicken and was much too big for just two of them.

Tuukka looked at the huge chicken breast on his plate, then at the one on Katie's.

"Well... this is a lot.." he said quietly, trying not to laugh.

"Sure is..." Katie said, sneaking a glance at him and smiling.

They both started laughing and began their attempts of eating the Plat au Four in front of them.

---

Once they both finished as much of their chicken as they could, they both had a coffee as dessert. Katie had hers with cream and sugar and Tuukka had his black.

They argued a bit over which one was better.

"How can you just drink it black, though? That's so bitter."

"I don't like having 1,000 sweeteners in it! What's so bad about plain coffee?"

"Plain is boring. You don't like any sugar in it at all?"

"No! The milk just makes it a weird color, too."

"Are you kidding me? You're not putting milk in it because it makes it a weird color?"

"Sorry."

"I can't believe this."

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Drink it with milk. Or sugar. Or something."

Tuukka smiled and taunted her even further by simply saying "no."

Katie rolled her eyes and tilted her head back, sighing. Tuukka just kept looking at her and smiling. He was smiling like an idiot, and he had no idea why.

---

They pulled up to Katie's apartment around 10. Tuukka ran around and opened the passenger door for her. Such a gentleman, Katie thought, smiling to herself.

Katie walked up the steps next to Tuukka. Once they reached the top step, she turned around and looked up to him.

"Thank you so much for everything tonight. I really had a great time," she said, smiling up to him.

"I had a good time too," he said, grinning.

"Do you still want my number?" Katie asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

Tuukka smiled and pulled out his phone while saying, "God, I'm not sure... do I?"

She playfully smacked him on the chest before taking his phone and putting her "name" and number into it.
She smiled, happy with what she had done, locked his phone and handed it back to him.

"What did you do?" He asked, unlocking his phone.

"You'll see... eventually," she said smirking, opening her door and stepping in before turning back to him to say, "Goodnight Tuukka. I'll see you soon."

"Goodnight Katie. I'll be seeing you."

She shut the door quietly and Tuukka smiled to himself as he walked down her steps to his car.

---

Notes

this chapter made me happy