Warning: Some inappropriate and slightly mature things are said in this chapter. I had to do it to give Amita a valid reason to do what she does

Chapter 17

As Amita pulled up to the restaurant she could feel the butterflies flapping in her stomach. She didn't know what to think of this dinner. The note just said 'hey Amita, I bumped into Mary in the café and it made me realize I haven't spoken to you in awhile, so I was wondering if you wanted meet me at Formia Ristorante at eight o'clock for dinner. If you can't make it call me. If you can, don't bother calling cause I'll see you there…Charlie'. Amita reached the door and she could see Charlie sitting on the bench inside waiting for her. She smiled when she saw his leg bouncing, a nervous/impatient habit. She wanted to watch him for a little while longer but realized that she was already ten minutes late, thanks to traffic, and didn't want him to think that she was standing him up.

"Hey Charlie" Amita called crossing the room

"Amita" Charlie said rising eyes sparkling to give her a hug she looks so beautiful

Wow Charlie looks really cute tonight "So do we have a table?"

"Yeah. I put our names in. It should be ready-" Charlie didn't get to finish because the host called out Eppes for two. Amita started to walk towards the host so they could be seated and Charlie hung back for a minute just watching her walk

"Come on Charlie" Amita called realizing he wasn't behind her but…was he watching me?

"Sorry. I got a little spaced out"

Charlie and Amita walked to the table and were seated quickly. They ordered their food and nibbled on breadsticks and shared some wine. Again the night was spent sharing stories, again Charlie knowing he wouldn't remember a thing she had said the next day. As dinner progressed Charlie relaxed a little, letting himself have a good time, all the while reminding himself that she liked him back. When the entrees arrived Charlie surprised himself by feeding her a piece of his food. Amita seemed to enjoy it though. Desert came and Charlie knew that it was time to tell her.

"And I'll have the chocolate mousse" Amita told the waiter after Charlie ordered a piece of cake. As the waiter left Amita noticed that Charlie was tracing numbers on the table (another nervous habit). She reached across the table and took his hand.

"Amita I have something I need to tell you" Charlie said suddenly. Amita almost dropped his hand at the suddenness but soon felt her stomach drop not knowing what to expect. It couldn't be good news, right?

"Go ahead Charlie"

"Well Amita, I've been thinking about this for a very long time and I decided that its time to tell you. Amita I-" Charlie started to say before Amita's cell phone rang

"Go ahead Charlie, I can get it in a minute"

"No go ahead answer it now. It might be important"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry before they hang up" Amita hesitantly picked up her purse, dug out her phone, and pressed send

"Hello?"

"Hey baby"

"Who is this?"

"It's Orlando. How many people do you know that call you baby when you pick up the phone?" Orlando answered laughing

"Roughly twenty four. About ten men, all of them gay though" At the last part of the sentence Charlie raised an eyebrow and Amita laughed

"What's so funny?" Orlando asked curiously why she was laughing. He didn't say anything to her that was funny, and surely she wasn't laughing at her own joke.

"Just the face Charlie made"

"Charlie? Which Charlie?" Orlando said getting angry. He hoped it wasn't that dork math professor that she spent so much time with. He could put up with it when she HAD to spend time with him but now that she was done with school what was she doing with him?

"How many Charlies do you think I know? Dr. Charles Eppes"

"Oh" Orlando's voice died

"What does that mean?" Again a look from Charlie but this time it wasn't one of amusement and/or curiosity

"Nothing. Just surprised that's who your with"

"Excuse me Charlie" Amita said standing up from the table. Charlie nodded knowing that this was mostly likely serious "Why are you surprised?" Amita said as she reached the bathroom

"Someone as beautiful as you spending time with a dork like him"

"Excuse me? Who are you to talk?"

"Are you actually telling me that I'm a dork like him! He has no social skills, loses himself in a math world, worships his brother, and still lives at home with father"

"Who are you? What did you do with Orlando?"

"It's still me baby. Why don't you ditch that dork and come home to me?"

"Ew. No"

"Did you just tell me no? No one tells me no"

"I can see why you can't hang onto a girlfriend"

"That's it! I'm not standing for this, either you ditch that dork or we're through"

"Then we're through"

"Thank God! I was only with you cause I thought you were easy! Now I can go after some sexy skinny blonde" Orlando yelled into the phone before hanging up. Amita just stared at the phone for a moment while the words sank in. Then she started to cry. She knew that she couldn't stay in the bathroom crying so she made up to her mind to ask Charlie if they could leave.

"How did- Amita what's wrong?" Charlie said standing up and rushing to Amita's side after seeing her tears

"I-I-got into a fight with-with Orlando. He's such an ass. Can we just go now?" Amita asked between tears

"Of course" Charlie said running back to the table gathering their stuff and dropping the money it cost for their dinner and tip onto the table. He put an arm around Amita and led her out to the car. When they reached the car, he put Amita in the backseat and climbed in the other side. He couldn't drive and until Amita calmed down she couldn't drive either

"I'm so-so sorry Charlie" Amita said sitting next to Charlie, embarrassed at him seeing her this upset

"Don't worry Amita. What- what happened?" Charlie asked hesitatingly

"He-he wanted to know why I was with you. Called you a d-dork. I yelled at him cause it wasn't like him or at least I thought it wasn't lik-like him. He said ditch yo-you or we're through so I said that we were through. He said thank God cause he only went out with me cause he thought-thought I was easy and he said now he could go out with a sexy skinny blonde" As Amita finished she collapsed into another fit of tears and Charlie pulled her to next to him and put an arm around her

"It's ok. Ignore him. You don't want to be with a guy like him"

"I just thought he was nice. Guess I was wrong. How could I have been so stupid!" Amita said yelling at herself

"Amita look at me" Charlie commanded turning her head lightly with his hand so she would look at him. He gently wiped away a tear "You are brilliant but you made a slight miscalculation. You ARE beautiful and you ARE skinny" he added with a laugh. Amita looked at him long and hard, took a deep breath and kissed him, but it lasted only a second

"Oh my God!" Amita said pulling back and shrinking to the other side of the car. I can't believe I just did that. How stupid can I get!

"Amita-" Charlie said taking her hand pulling her back to him. He looked her in the eyes and kissed her back. Softly, sweetly, and shortly. Amita was shocked but happy. She couldn't stop crying though. Charlie knew that what words he couldn't speak in the restaurant were said in those kisses. He knew that she needed him to just be there, so he pulled he in a tight embrace, Amita rested her head. Amita cried herself into a sweet dream. Charlie slipped out his phone, called and told Don what had happened, and sat there holding her till Don came to take them home.

Author's note: I had someone reread it cause I wrote this a little late at night, and the chief criticism was not spelling, grammar, or punctuation (surprisingly). It was why did Amita cry? Well I don't want to explain it right here, so I'll write it into the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one.