Chapter 15

After the tape had finished playing, Don and Terry both had to struggle to stay cool (not so much because of what was said on the tape, more that this woman had somehow gotten into Charlie's office only moments before Amita joined him to tape them both without their knowledge

"So, now you can either tell Charlie to drop this accusation or I take the tape to the dean" Dr. Harris said smirking while leaning back in her chair. Don sat and thought. I could haul her out of here and book her for libel or maybe I could do something about her using classified information.

"The tape may prove that he did something with Amita but it still wasn't illegal. What you did, however, was. Now give me the tape and we'll drop this whole thing"

"I can't do that you know. Give up the only proof. Besides, you don't have any proof that I blackmailed him other then his word. I mean who's to say that I didn't work with the FBI on my own? Come back when you have something more" With that Dr. Harris locked the tape and recorder in her drawer and then made a show of continuing the work on her papers that she had been working on before Don and Terry had showed up. Don and Terry exchanged a glance, before standing up and slowly walking out. Before he exited, Don glared at Dr. Harris. Walking back to the car, Don and Terry talked about what the action could be. What neither of them noticed however was that Charlie had not been far from Dr. Harris' office and that her walls were not as soundproof as she would have liked to believe.

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"Are you almost done in there hun? The bed's getting cold" Amita called out to the bathroom. She got a muffled answer which means that Charlie was now brushing his teeth, the last step in his routine

"What am I going to say? 'Amita, there's something I need to tell. Dr. Harris has a tape of us in my office and she blackmailed me and she can still blackmail me'. Nah, she'll get mad at me for hiding this from her. Then again, if I mention the blackmail in anyway she'll get mad at me. Oh forget this, I'll just let it all spill"

"Charlie!" Amita called again softly "You won't die if you don't every brush every single tooth"

"Sorry, I'll be there in a minute" Charlie looked at himself hard in the mirror, took a deep breath, let it out and walked down to his bedroom. As he opened the door, the light fell softly on Amita and she looked so content and peaceful, Charlie almost changed his mind about telling her but realized that he needed to say something before the matter was fully taken out of his control.

"About time" Amita said placing a soft kiss on Charlie's lips and then rested her head on his chest. Again, Charlie almost changed his mind. They had something so perfect, so untainted

"Darling, I need to tell you something" Charlie spat out before he could stop himself

"What is it?" Amita asked, fear slowly creeping into her voice

"I um" Charlie took a deep breath and spoke before part of his brain could tell him to shut up

"Onouroneyearanniversary,wedidn'tclosethedoorand

Cindyheardourconverstaionandsheblackmailedmeinto

writingthearticle,whichiswhyIsnappedatyoubecause

Ihadadeadlineandshewasgoingtogotothedeanandtell

himeverythingandIfoundouttodaythatshehasatapeof

usandwellIdon'tknowwhattodo"

I don't think he breathed once, but wait did he say? "Wait, say that again, slower this time"

"On our one year anniversary, we didn't close the door and Cindy heard our conversation and she blackmailed me into writing the article, which is why I snapped at you because I had a deadline and she was going to go to the dean and tell him everything and I found out today that she has a tape of us and well I don't know what to do"

"Oh…I think we should go to the Dean and tell him ourselves. We need to take away all the power that the tape holds"

"Are you sure? This could have serious consequences, like one of us losing our jobs"

"Charlie, I think Id be able to find another teaching job, and well there's no doubt in my mind that you'd be able to find another job"

"Not the point…"

"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, lets just sleep" Amita kissed Charlie again and laid her head on his chest again. Charlie kissed the top of Amita's head and closed his eyes, though he knew it would be a long time before he would get to sleep.