Allie woke up to breakfast in bed from her roommate and best friend Emily. There were balloons all over her room and a banner that read "Happy Birthday Allie!" on it. She smiled to herself as she read the note attached to the breakfast tray.
"Had to pick a few things up, but I'll be back soon. Enjoy your breakfast, birthday girl!"
Allie smiled and ate her food, texting a thank you to Emily. She cleaned up her dishes and got dressed for the day. As she came downstairs, Emily came in the door with a big box that was wrapped in penguin wrapping paper. Allie smiled over at her and shook her head.
"What on earth is all of that?" she asked.
Emily smiled and set the box on the coffee table. "Your birthday present. Come over here and open it, this is time sensitive." She joked.
Allie smiled and walked over. "You know you don't have to do all of this." She said.
"I know, but you're my best friend, Allie. Open your present." She smiled.
Allie opened the box and pulled out a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey out. It was a Malkin jersey and she couldn't help but smile. "You didn't." she smiled excitedly.
"I did." Emily smiled. "There's a part two to this. It's under the tissue paper." She explained.
Allie moved the tissue paper and saw two tickets lying there. She picked them up and her eyes went wide. "We're going to the game tonight?!" she asked.
Emily smiled and nodded. "They're playing my team so I thought it was perfect. The doors open at six so we have to be down there around five-thirty."
Allie smiled and hugged Emily tight. "Thank you so much, Em. I'm gonna go get changed." She said.
Allie went upstairs and got her jersey on over a white t-shirt. She put her hair in a high ponytail and came downstairs to get her shoes on. Emily was in her Flames jersey and had her hair in a low braid. The two girls went to their favorite restaurant to get something to eat before the game. They ate and took pictures together to post all over social media. When they got to the arena, they walked in and looked around since neither of them had been there before. After a little bit of wandering, the girls found their seats which were right behind the Penguins' bench. Allie looked around the arena in absolute awe. She was going to be seeing her favorite team on home ice for her birthday.
"Hey, I'm gonna run to the bathroom really quick." Emily said and walked up the stairs to the bathrooms.
Allie watched as the teams skated onto the ice for warmups. She took pictures of the players and waved to Evgeni Malkin as he skated by. He waved to her, smiling which caused her to grin from ear to ear. She took some pictures and smiled as Emily walked to her seat again.
"Hey, sorry, what did I miss?" she asked.
"Evgeni smiled and waved at me." Allie said smiling.
"That's awesome. Now he knows what his future wife looks like." She joked.
"Yeah, in my dreams." Allie said.
The game started and Allie and Emily were cheering, dancing and having a great time. The Penguins ended up winning by two points which made Allie ecstatic. She even caught a puck during one of the intermissions. After the game, Emily walked Allie towards the bathrooms.
"Do you have to go again?" Allie asked.
Emily smiled. "Nope." She said and walked Allie to the "employees only" door.
"What are we doing here?" Allie asked.
"You'll see." She smiled.
After a few minutes, a security guard came out and took the girls down a long hallway. They took an elevator down a floor and walked down another hallway. Allie looked around and got a little nervous. When they got to the end of the hallway, the guard led them into a meeting room with a large table and eight chairs. He nodded to Emily and looked at his watch.
"He should be here in about five minutes or so, I'll just send him in." he said.
"Okay, thank you so much." Emily said.
The man left and Allie looked at Emily. "What is going on? Why are we here in this weird room?" she asked.
"Well I wanted to give you one more birthday surprise." Emily smiled and looked at the door as it opened.
Evgeni Malkin walked into the room in a black t-shirt and some shorts. He had a card in his hand and smiled. "Which one of you is Allie?"
Allie smiled and stared for a minute. "Um, I'm Allie." She said.
He smiled and walked over. "I heard it's your birthday today." He said
Allie nodded and smiled. "Yeah." She said shyly.
"Well happy birthday." Evgeni smiled, handing her the card.
"Thank you so much." Allie said softly.
Emily smiled. "I've gotta use the restroom." She said and snuck out of the room leaving Allie and Evgeni alone.
"I saw you in the stands earlier." Evgeni smiled. "You've got a beautiful smile."
Allie smiled and felt her cheeks turning pink. "Thank you." she said.
He smiled and bit his bottom lip. "I'm sorry, I'm normally not this forward with women, but something about you just...it's like a spark." He smiled.
Allie smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear nervously. "I've never gotten that before." She said.
"I'm sorry I'm probably really freaking you out." Evgeni said shyly.
"No, no it's okay. Really, you're not freaking me out. I'm just not sure if I'm dreaming or not." She said.
He smiled at her. "Definitely not a dream." He said. "So I was thinking maybe if your friend says it's okay, maybe we could go get some dinner." He said.
Allie smiled and nodded. "I'd like that." She said.
"Great. I've gotta go get changed but then I'll meet you back here, okay?" he smiled.
"Sure."
Evgeni walked out of the room and went to the locker room to get changed. Emily came into the room with a big grin on her face. Allie told her the plan and Emily couldn't help but hug her.
"Em, this is all just...I don't know he said he's never this forward with women." Allie said.
"Allie, he obviously likes you. Just take it one step at a time and don't overthink it." She said.
Allie took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."
After a few minutes, Evgeni came out dressed and ready to go. Emily said goodbye to Allie and went to her car. Allie and Evgeni went to dinner and ended up really hitting it off. They talked and laughed and had a really great time. They exchanged numbers before Evgeni drove Allie back home. He walked her up to the door and smiled, holding her hands.
"Well I know this probably wasn't in your schedule, but I hope you still had a great birthday." He said.
"Evgeni, this was the best birthday I've ever had." Allie said sincerely. "Thank you so much for dinner and the card and everything." She smiled.
He smiled and nodded. "No problem. Listen, I was kind of hoping we could do this again? Maybe I can cook for you." he said.
Allie smiled and nodded. "I'd like that a lot. I'll make dessert and bring some movies." She suggested.
"Great. It's a date...again." He smiled.
Allie nodded and smiled. "It's a date." She said. "I better get inside." She said.
Evgeni smiled and nodded. "Before I go is there anything else that could make this birthday better?"
Allie smiled. "There's one but I don't want to push it."
"Tell me." He said and rubbed her cheek gently.
"A goodnight kiss." She said softly.
Evgeni smiled and nodded. "That's fine by me." He said and leaned in. He kissed her gently, holding her chin softly.
She kissed back and, as cheesy as it sounds, felt fireworks. She smiled up at him as he pulled away slowly. "Now it's the best birthday ever." She smiled.
Evgeni smiled and nodded. "I agree." He winked.
Sure, the night didn't exactly go as planned, but Allie wouldn't trade this birthday for anything.