"Charlie, you can't do that! It's not allowed!" Amita cried out.
"I sure can, mathematically speaking that is"
"Well it's not allowed in the instructions and that overrules math Dr. Eppes"
"Where… where does is say that it's not allowed! Mathematically speaking it's a very valid strategic move that should be allowed simply because it's possible!"
"You just WANT it to be a valid strategic move because it will be in your advantage Charlie, leave the match out of this one and just make another move because the rules say you can't do this!" Amita said while placing back the pawns prior to Charlie's attempt to cheat in to finally winning.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were sabotaging me winning" Charlie said with a playful accusing grin
"And if I didn't know any better I'd say you were cheating!" Amita replied to counter his playful accusation.
They smiled at each other and continued playing; not noticing Larry dimmed the oil lamps at the fireplace while Megan silently snuck into the left bedroom only to be followed by Larry himself after a few minutes.
While Larry disappeared into the bedroom Don acted as another distraction for the two by joining them diverting their attention away from the board and the fireplace to him. He pretended not to have any idea on how the game was played and asked them to explain. This both of them did vigorously with hands gesturing in the air referring to the instructions they had given him from time to time, finishing each others sentences…..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don sat at the table playing along with both of them attempting to finally have either of them finally win the game. It was getting very late and they had to wake up early the next day to continue their hike if they wanted to make it to their next stop before dark.
"You guys, nobody's doing to win this one, what do you say about getting some sleep. We have an early and long day ahead of us" Don said.
Amita yawned and nodded. She was tired.
Charlie moped a little as he was not used to quit anything without resolving the issue first. But he knew this indeed was a lost battle and he did feel a tired.
They cleared up the board and that's when Charlie noticed Larry and Megan had gone to sleep.
"Larry and Megan already went to bed? They didn't even say goodnight!"
Amita looked equally confused as Charlie did when she finally caught on that she hadn't even notice them leaving the room for bed.
"Yes they did, but you two were too wrapped up in your game" Don lied. By the expressions on their faces he knew he could tell a little white lie to keep their plan on track.
"Well, I'm off to bed as well, you too take the other bedroom, I'm bunking with Larry and Megan"
Charlie's hart almost came to a full stop and his mind raced at lightning speed as it sunk in what Don had just said when he pulled Don closer and away from Amita leaving her even more confused with the situation.
"There's only a double bed in that bedroom with one single cover!" Charlie hissed at his brother. "What do you mean you're bunking with Larry and Megan!"
"Well, if you don't mind me sharing the same bed with Amita, you can go bunk with Larry and Megan as there is one bunk bed and one single bed available in the other room." Don replied careful not to reveal the joy he felt with his plan nearly falling into place. All Amita had to do later was to convince Charlie that it would be ok to share a bed which he was counting on she would do.
"What!" Charlie hissed to a near shout.
"Good. I thought as much. As I said, I'm bunking with Larry and Megan, go tell Amita, stop fussing and go to sleep. We have an early morning tomorrow."
Don patted his little brother on the shoulder, nodded goodnight to Amita and disappeared into the bedroom leaving a dazed Charlie and a very confused Amita behind.
"Charlie, what's going on?" Amita asked while she touched his arm.
That brought Charlie back to reality. The reality that he had to spend the night in the same bed with the woman he could barely keep himself together with under normal, controllable circumstances.
"Erm… W-we are supposed to sleep in the o-other bedroom… together… y-you know the one with the d-d-double bed in it? Charlie stammered and flustered.
"But don't worry! You can have the bed, I-I'll stay here on the sofa." Charlie ran his hands nervously through his hair avoiding having to look at her. He started to walk up the room to get his bag when Amita stopped him and whispered to him.
"You can't spend the night on this old hard sofa Charlie; we have to long hike tomorrow Don told us. You'd be wrecked. Unless you'd feel really uncomfortable sharing a bed with me, I don't see any reason why we can't share a bed. We've known each other for quite some time now. No reason why friends can't' share a bed together"
Friends…. That's how she felt. Charlie was painfully reminded of the reason why he had done everything in his power to keep her from finding out how he really felt and calmed down a bit.
"Sure, ok, you're absolutely right. You go first, I'll come later. I want to make sure the fire stays on. I'll come later" Charlie bluffed trying to compensate for nearly losing his cool earlier.
Amita walked towards the bedroom, but before closing the door she turned around and said in a soft voice:
"Don't stay up too long Charlie…. Good night."
"I won't… Good night." Charlie replied and smiled to reassure her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie stared into the flames while gathering the courage to finally go to bed. It had been twenty minutes and he had build the fire so that it would last till the morning.
He could not believe he didn't think to bring an extra t-shirt, or at least pj's or something. But then again he wasn't counting on sharing a bed and cover with Amita or any one else for that matter. The pullover he wore earlier in the evening he had taken off as the fire provided enough warmth to sit in his t-shirt, but he spilled soup over it. Now he had to go to bed where Amita was sleeping without a clean shirt to wear because the only extra one he had brought might need in case they would be caught by rain again. And he hated wearing dirty clothes, a thing that drove his mother close to insanity while growing up refusing to wear anything that remotely smelled funny. He decided he would wait a little while longer to ensure she was asleep and was determined to wake up before she did to get dressed properly.
When he thought it was safe to got to bed he quietly got up and made sure all the lights were off. He had to be careful not at make any noise to wake her up. As he opened the bedroom door he saw a small beam of moonlight seeping through a small split in the curtains light up her sleeping face. She looked so beautiful and peaceful he just stood there looking at her for a while before getting ready for bed.
He undressed to his underpants, got in to bed as quietly as possible while covering himself quickly pulling the cover all the way up to his chin. He could feel his heart pound in his throat as Amita turned around with a moan pulling one knee up to his thigh and a hand up on his chest. He could hear her let out a peaceful sigh before her breathing continued to a steady rhythm. There was no way in hell Charlie would be able to get any sleep tonight…….. Or so he tried to convince himself before dropping off into a comfortable sleep.
---------------------------------------------------------------
He almost jumped up realizing he has fallen asleep with Amita way too close for his own comfort. This was not really true because it actually was all but too comfortable but he didn't want her to know that. He shuffled to the edge of the bed trying his best not to wake her, but failed miserably in the attempt.
"Good morning…" She whispered while Charlie was already half way out of bed.
Hearing her voice his instant reaction was to pull the cover back up to his chin causing Amita to be left without looking at her with a horribly alarmed expression on his face.
She giggled and seemed very amused with his startled reaction.
"A good morning to you too would have been a bit more appropriate than leaving me without covers Charlie" she joked as she moved to get out of bed.
Charlie still unable to respond and still holding the cover up to his chin and still looking horrified feverishly tried to find a way out of this predicament he found himself in.
Amita walked over to the window and opened the curtains. She turned around and burst out in laughter at the sight of Charlie.
"Oh Charlie! Your curls! They're completely out of control!"
Charlie, now even more horrified than he was before let go of the cover to run his hands through his curls in attempt to tame them a bit , of course making matters worse from him as the cover slid down revealing his bare chest.
Amita's stopped laughing while taking a good look at Charlie… She'd never seen Charlie this way before or even considered Charlie being able to look like this before….
"I'll leave you to get dressed and ask Don to get you some water to wash up with". She said abruptly and she left the room.
Charlie let out a breath wishing the past few minutes never happened. He waited a while to gain back his sanity as he felt he has lost touch with all reality as he knew it. He messed up. He didn't handle this at all as he should have. He just knew; it she laughed at him and then stopped. This was it; everything was going to be different from now on……
-------------------------------------------------------------
Don knocked on the bedroom door before he entered. He saw his brother sitting on the edge of the bed with one hand running through his curls, head against the wall and his eyes closed when he put down the jug with water on the side table.
"Well. When she said out of control, she reallymeant out of control. Man, no wonder you take hours to get ready in the morning"
"Oh God! Don!" Charlie jolted. "Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!
Don laughed and threw a towel at his little brother.
"Go clean up, restrain that jungle on top of that head of yours, breakfast is almost ready."
Amita was preparing breakfast with Megan while Larry was staring out the window praying that it wouldn't rain today.
"Have a good night sleep last night?" Megan asked Amita.
"Yeah, just fine. Hey Megan, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, ask all you want" Megan was curious what Amita wanted to ask her.
"Have you ever felt you had to change your opinion about someone or a situation even though you're not really sure you should because of the consequences that it might have?" she asked with some hesitation.
"I'm not quite sure I understand your question" Megan said.
"Well, I mean, what if the due to new events the old turns out not to be true any more?"
"Oh you mean, your perception towards someone has changed and you're not sure if that's a good thing?" Megan replied.
"Well, yeah, I guess that's what I mean.
"Amita, is this about Charlie?" Megan hoped that the direct approach would be the best way to get Amita to talk.
"No" Amita lied. "Not directly, but never mind. Forget I asked anything"
She turned away walking towards Larry without looking at Megan.