Amita sat on the bed reading when she heard the rattling of the doorknob. She put her magazine aside and picked up the glass of Charlie's favorite scotch she had poured moments earlier. When she caught sight of his face, she decided the scotch might not be enough. "Oh, Charlie, you look…"
He silenced her with a kiss. When they drew back from each other he murmured, "I do not want to hear one more comment about how I look." He accepted the glass she handed him. "Thank you. How was your day?" He took a sip and grimaced at the burn.
"My day was wonderful," she said as she took his hand and led him to the bed. "Sit." When he complied, she bent and removed his sneakers. "Put your feet up, drink your scotch and tell me about how it went. Was it as bad as you feared?"
"Not really. I do feel like my head is going to explode. The rules made a lot of sense when they explained them, but once I was surrounded by clothes, my mind went blank. Luckily, they sent a stylist along with me to help remind me of the rules."
"Really? I didn't know they did that."
"It helped a little, and I think by the end of the day I actually started to understand what they were trying to tell me."
Amita noticed the small bag he had dropped onto the bed. "That's all you bought?"
"They took all my new clothes back to the studio. I heard it was so they could go through them and return my mistakes." He smiled and handed her the bag. "Open it."
She pulled a beautiful silk negligee from the bag and leaned over to give him a kiss. "Thank you, Charlie."
"I actually bought it for me. Not for me to wear," he blushed, "After the day I've had, I need to see you in it. This," he pulled a small box from his pocket, "is for you."
Amita opened the box and gasped. "It's beautiful." She picked up the pendant and quickly put it on. "What kind of stone is this?"
"It's a fire opal. No real significance other than I thought it would look incredible against your skin." He bent and kissed her throat. "I was right. I guess this one was for me too."
She snuggled against his chest. "But you're still going to have to tell me everything that happened today."
"Watch the show. It'll be on in a few weeks." He grunted as she punched him playfully. "Ouch. Okay, they ridiculed every piece of clothing I brought. I think everything except what I'm wearing ended up in the trash can."
"On the bright side, you do know that they don't really throw the clothes away. They donate them to charity."
"Yeah, they told me. I'm going to ask them for a receipt for my taxes. I'm going to be taxed on the cost of this trip and the $5000, so I might as well get something back for it."
"So what are your rules? What do they want you to wear?"
"Well, they want my shirts fitting better. They said my collars are too big and my sleeves are too long. They suggested that I wear sport coats and slacks in similar color. Breaking up the vertical lines makes me look shorter. Clinton also thinks I dress too casually. But he's a New York guy. California is a whole different world." He paused to sip his scotch and give Amita another kiss.
"But there's a lot about the way you dress that I like."
Charlie gave her a wry grin. "You should have thought about that before you sent in the application. Everything we brought out here is gone. They did like the black jacket, but the elbow patches ruined it for them. So I found a similar jacket that followed the rules."
"That's good. I always liked you in that jacket. You look good in black. But that red tee shirt… Everything's gone?"
"Everything. Say, Tony told me about a great restaurant two blocks from here. I took the liberty of making reservations for 8:00. That is, if you don't mind being seen with me looking like this."
Tears sprang to her eyes as she hugged him. "Oh, Charlie! I love being seen with you. I hope you don't think…"
He shrugged. "What else was I supposed to think? I saw the video." He sat up and stretched. "I'm going to take a quick shower." He leaned over and gave Amita quick kiss. "Don't worry. I know you're just trying to help. I love you."
As she watched him walking to the bathroom, Amita wondered for the first time if signing him up for the show had been the right thing. He's so sweet, she thought. She fingered the pendant around her neck. Even after I did this to him, he bought me this beautiful necklace. But it was too late now. The damage had already been done.
Tony had told Charlie that the restaurant was a quiet little place, frequented by more locals than tourists and that they made the most amazing prime rib in the city. He had been right about the place being quiet. The narrow first floor had a bar and an elderly lady playing piano. The hostess took them to the second floor dining room, where there were only three other couples seated, and gave them a seat next to the window.
By the time their waitress arrived, they were ready to order. "After Tony's recommendation," Charlie said, "I am going to have to have the prime rib. How about you?" He turned to Amita.
Amita closed her menu. "That sounds great. With all the walking I did today, I think I burned off enough calories."
Charlie squeezed her hand. "You don't have to worry about calories. Speaking of walking, what did you do today?'
"I slept for a while, but then I decided that was dumb. I mean, here I am in one of the most incredible cities in the world, and I'm sleeping. So I went to the J.P. Morgan Library for a few hours, and then to the MOMA."
"I was thinking of spending a couple of extra days here so we could do some sightseeing together."
"I'd like that!" Amita smiled shyly. "I'm glad you're not mad at me."
He gave her a shrug and sipped his ice water. "Do you think we should have ordered an appetizer?"
"Not for me, thanks. Did they feed you today?"
"Yeah. They gave us sandwiches and soda. I want to leave room for the prime rib. Tony also says they have great cheesecake here."
When the waitress returned with their meals, Charlie's eyes grew wide. "I'm glad we didn't order appetizers. This is huge. Or, as the locals say, 'yooj.'"
Charlie's jet lag caught up with him after he finished his cheesecake. He yawned. "If we don't leave soon, you're going to have to carry me back to the hotel."
Amita laughed. "Could we call Tony for a ride? This is his fault, you know. I don't think I've eaten this much in months."
"It was good, wasn't it?" Charlie hailed the waitress and asked for the check. "If we do end up staying, I'd like to come back here at least once."
"Let's stay. I don't have anything that can't be rescheduled. We can call Millie and let her know we were unavoidably detained."
Charlie took Amita's hand. "I love being unavoidably detained with you."
They walked back to their hotel, hand in hand, taking in the sights and sounds of the city, chattering about how they were going to spend the extra time off. When they arrived in the room, Charlie dropped onto the bed, yawning. "It's been a long day," he said as he took off his shoes. "I'm afraid I'm not going to be very entertaining tonight."
"That's okay. You've had a long, stressful day."
"And I have another one ahead of me."
"Is Tony picking you up at the same time tomorrow?"
"Yep. And tomorrow is the hair day." He gnawed on his lower lip. "I think I'm more worried about that than anything."
"Whatever they do, it'll grow back," Amita said gently.
"And I can always wear hats until it does." He got slowly to his feet. "I'm going to brush my teeth and go to bed."
When he returned, Amita was checking her email. She glanced up and smiled. He was wearing his red striped pajamas. She wondered what Clinton and Stacy would think of them, but she was wise enough to not say anything. "You don't mind if I stay up for a while, do you?"
"Not at all. I don't think anything will keep me awake at this point. Not even that new negligee."