Title: India
Author: Flashes09
Pairing: Charlie/Amita
Disclaimer: Yeah, I do not own any of these people or places or anything. I came up with names for Amita's relatives but that's all.
A/N: See, I'm getting better at updating...sort of...yeah, not really...
Chapter 4
Charlie's POV
(2 weeks later)
I rang the doorbell to Amita's grandmother's house. Amita opened the door and ushered me in. Amita's grandmother had an elegant taste. Her house was tastefully decorated, neat, and clean. Delicious smells were coming from the kitchen. Amita's grandmother came out of the kitchen in an apron. She was short, but she seemed taller because she walked with her back straight. She certainly had wrinkles, but she didn't look old enough to be Amita's grandmother.
"Hello, you must be Charlie. Amita's told me a lot about you."
"Hello, Mrs. Ramanujan, it's nice to meet you." I said, shaking her hand. It was warm and dry.
"Oh, please, call me Gran, everyone does." I smiled. I liked Amita's grandmother already.
A soft beep went off and Amita's grandmother went back into the kitchen, taking with her the bottle of wine I had brought.
"Well, you met the semi-normal person in my family, ready to go meet my cousin?" Amita asked.
"Come on, she can't be that bad." Amita took my arm.
"Yeah, we'll see what you think at the end of the evening." She steered me into the living room where a woman a few years younger than Amita sat, talking animatedly with a rather catatonic looking young man.
"Charlie this is my cousin Mallika, and her boyfriend, Achintya. This is my friend Charlie." Both nodded in my direction, but Mallika quickly lost interest and began to chat again while Achintya reverted to his catatonic state.
"Having fun yet?" Amita asked.
Dinner was excellent. Amita's grandmother served several Indian dishes, most of which came with names I couldn't pronounce. Nonetheless, the food was excellent. Most of our conversation revolved around the upcoming trip and various plans.
The plane was leaving tomorrow at six in the morning, so we had to be here at four to go to the airport. Amita was staying the night with her grandmother; the same went with Mallika and her boyfriend. I was going home. I gave the excuse that I had some math to go for Larry, but in reality, I had hardly packed.
At one point during the meal, Mallika's cell phone went off, and after receiving a stern look from her grandmother, she excused herself and went outside to talk.
"So Charlie, what are you working on at the moment?" Amita's grandmother asked me.
"Well, right now I'm working on a case for my brother. We were looking for patterns in some kidnappings that didn't have any common aspects. But that was on the surface. After we got a good look at the files, Amita realized that all of the kidnap victims had the same background in technology. As it turned out, the company that had previously employed them was having them all kidnapped. I guess some top-secret information had been leaked. Anyway, we got it all sorted out." Actually, if it hadn't been for Amita, I thought, those people would still be missing.
I had been working on areas to search around the victims' homes, but Amita pointed out there were more similarities than where they lived. I changed my equation and focused instead on the fact they had all been employed by the same company. Sure enough, they had been hidden in an empty warehouse belonging to the company.
Amita's cousin came back and we finished our meal.
Amita walked with me to the car.
"So, what do you think?" She asked.
"Well, your grandmother is possibly the nicest person I have ever met. And your cousin...likes to talk...a lot." I tried to make it sound nice, but by the time the evening was half over, I was contemplating getting some duct tape.
Amita merely laughed.
"Just wait until we get on the plane and she can't use her cell phone. Then all of the mindless chatter will be directed at us." I raised and eyebrow and we both laughed.
"So, I'll see you in the morning?" She asked.
"Bright and early." I waved good-bye and pulled out of the driveway.
Hey, people please review. I would be extremely grateful!
