A/N: This is the fourth story in my Flack/Angell series that started with Baseball and Cookies. You don't have to have read those to follow this one. Also this story does not follow the time line of the last couple of CSI: NY episodes, the amazing kiss between Flack and Angell in Dead Inside did not happen.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own. The rest are figments of my imagination.
Tonight's the night, thought Flack. Tonight he was going on his first date with Jessica Angell. He had made reservations at Chez Pierre's, an exclusive French restaurant that had opened a few months back. He didn't really care for French food and he knew it would probably cost half a week's pay, but he wanted to do something extra special for their first date. Ever since that night when Flack could have lost Jess, he knew he didn't want to wait any longer to move forward in a relationship with Jess. However he wanted to give her time to deal with what had happened. After several not so subtle hints were dropped by Angell that she was ready to go on a date, Flack asked her out.
oooooOOOOooooo
Standing in front of her full length mirror, Angell was checking herself out. She was wearing a new dress she had bought especially for the occasion. After everything she had been through lately, she decided to treat herself. Besides she wanted to look her best for Flack. She had been on first dates before, but none were as important to her than this one. Since Flack refused to tell her where they were going, she hadn't been too sure of what to buy, but you can never go wrong with black she figured.
Maybe he's taking me to Carlucci's, she thought. They both liked the warm and relaxed atmosphere of the little Italian bistro and the food was wonderful. Of course, it didn't matter where they ate at as long as they were together.
oooooOOOOooooo
At a quarter to seven there was a knock at Angell's door. She opened to find Flack standing there holding a bouquet of red roses.
"Wow!" was all Flack said when he saw Angell.
"Don, the flowers are beautiful, thank you."
Stepping inside her apartment, Flack couldn't take his eyes off of Angell. She looked stunning in her little black dress that flared at the bottom. Around her neck was a sapphire pendant that had been a gift from her parents when Angell graduated from the police academy. She hadn't worn it in a while. When she spotted it in her jewelry box she couldn't help, but think of Don's blue eyes.
After placing the flowers in a vase, Angell grabbed her coat and purse. "So, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
Angell couldn't help, but smile at the twinkle in Flack's eyes.
oooooOOOOooooo
Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of Chez Pierre. Angell was unable to keep the look of surprise off of her face when she saw the restaurant. She hadn't been expecting Flack to take her someplace so expensive. There was a mix up with the reservations, the maitre'd was insisting that Flack had never made reservations, and the couple ended waiting a long while before being seated.
Their waiter, who was named Claude, led them to a small table in a dimly lit corner. There were was a lit candle in the center of the table that gave off some light, but not much. After taking their drink orders and quickly rattling off the specials of the day, the waiter handed them each a menu and scurried off.
"That as got to be the most fake French accent I have ever heard," said Flack as he opened his menu.
Angell gave a chuckle as she looked over her menu.
Due to the lack of proper lighting, it was hard to read the menu so Flack held it close to the candle to be able to read it better. After a few seconds he smelled something burning. That's just great, they're burning the food, he thought.
"Oh my God, Don!" shouted Angell once she realized that Flack's menu was on fire. "Your menu."
"Crap!" Flack started waving the burning menu around and blowing on it to no avail.
When Flack's attempts at extinguishing the fire failed, Angell grabbed her glass of water and threw it at the menu. It immediately squashed the fire, unfortunately in the process Flack got wet.
"Oh Don, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Jess." Don grabbed his napkin and started wiping his face. He silently hoped that that would be the last of their troubles for the evening.
Claude wasn't too happy when he came back to the table and found it all wet and the menu burned. However, he did have a busboy change out the table clothe for a dry one.
After things settle down, Flack and Angell placed their orders and engaged in some small talk while waiting for their food to come. After what seemed like an eternity, Claude arrived with their food. Flack took one look at his steak and wondered where was the rest of it. He was by no means a pig when it came to eating, but he couldn't help but recall a line from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas about the crumbs left behind being to small for the Whos' mouses. He was about to say something to the waiter when he realized something was wrong with Jess' order.
Angell had ordered what she thought was fish, but what was on her plate didn't look like fish. "There must be some mistake. This isn't what I ordered."
"You ordered the special, no?" asked Claude.
"Yes, but this doesn't look like any fish that I've ever seen," replied Angell.
"That's because it's eel."
"Eel?" Yuck, thought Angell. She wouldn't have ordered it if she had known it was eel.
"Yes, the fish of the day is eel," replied Claude.
"Eel's not a fish," said Flack, earning him a glare from the waiter. "Jess, why don't you get something else?"
The waiter gave an exasperated sigh upon hearing this. "If you want to put in an order for something else, you can, but since I've already brought out the special, you'll have to pay for it."
Knowing how expensive the restaurant was, Angell didn't want Flack to have to pay for food no one was going to eat. "That's okay, I'll have the eel. It's probably not was bad as it looks."
The waiter bristled at Jess' comment. In a very snooty tone he said "Excuse me, but Chef Jean-Luc studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Perhaps your palette isn't delicate enough to appreciate French food."
Flack couldn't help, but glare at the waiter. He didn't like the the guy insulting Jess. "There's no need for you to cop an attitude and talk to Jess like that."
"Don, it's okay." It really wasn't okay with Angell, but she didn't want it to spoil their evening.
"Attitude, you nearly burn the restaurant to the ground and you have the nerve to say I have an attitude," said the waiter.
The commotion going on at Flack and Angell's table caught the eye of the manager and he headed over to intervene. After pulling Claude aside and speaking to him, he turned to the two detectives. "You two have have been nothing, but trouble since the moment you walked in the door. I think it would be best if you left."
"Are you kidding me?" asked Flack. "We've been trouble? You're the ones who couldn't find our reservation and then you insult Jess because she doesn't like eel and you have the nerve to say we're causing trouble."
Suddenly the manager lost his snooty French accent and sounded more like someone who grew up in Brooklyn. "You two, get out now before I call the police and have them throw you out."
Flack was about to pull out his badge and let the manager know that New York's finest were already at the restaurant, but Angell's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Don, let's just go." She didn't want to cause a scene.
oooooOOOOooooo
Once they were outside in the fresh air, Flack felt the need to apologize for what happened. "I'm so sorry, Jess."
"It's okay, Don."
"But our date is ruined."
Maybe not, thought Angell as she spied something out of the corner of her eye. Grabbing Flack's hand, she started moving. "Come on."
Flack was silent as Angell led him over to the silver cart with the familiar blue and yellow umbrella advertising Sabrett's hot dogs.
"Two hot dogs with mustard, please."
"Hot dogs?" Flack cocked an eyebrow.
"Sure, why not?"
After Flack paid for the hot dogs, he and Angell headed to the park across the street and sat down on a bench.
Now this is a meal, thought Flack as he took a bite. One hundred pure American beef. Looking at Jess he gave a small chuckle when he noticed a small yellow glob on her cheek.
"What," asked a perplexed Jess.
"You got a little mustard on your..." Flack made a swiping motion against his cheek.
"Where?"
Instead of answering, Flack reached over and gently wiped the mustard off of Angell's left cheek. "Got it."
"Thanks."
After they finished their food and properly disposed of the trash, Angell suggested they go for a walk. With Flack's car still in valet parking they could take their time and not worry about getting a parking ticket.
As they started their stroll, Flack reached for Angell's hand linked their fingers together. For both of them, it felt like second nature to be holding hands.
"Jess, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For the way things turned out. I just wanted everything to be perfect for our first date."
"Don, it's a lovely night and the park is beautiful. But most of all, I'm with you and that's all I need to make my evening perfect."
Angell stopped walking and turned her eyes towards the sky. She loved night's like this when it was clear out and the sky was lit up with millions of beautiful stars. "Doesn't the sky look beautiful?"
"She sure does," replied Flack, not taking his eyes off of Angell.
Angell turned towards Flack with a smile on her lips. Seizing the moment, Flack leaned down and captured Angell's lips with his own. His hand found its way to the back of her head and his fingers wound their way through her dark locks. The kiss started out slow, but soon grew heated and Angell returned it with enthusiasm. With the stars shining bright above them, Flack and Angell stood arms wrapped around each other and lips locked together. It was the perfect ending to their first date.
Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I Only Have Eyes For You
The End
Lyrics - I only Have Eyes for you by The Flamingos
Thank you for reading! Reviews are always greatly appreciated. Please let me know what you think.