Monday Morning
Don waited at the front desk while a nurse wheeled Charlie out to the lobby. He was carrying a set of crutches and looked exhausted.
"How you doing, buddy?" Don asked.
Charlie nodded. "Fine."
Don worked hard at keeping things light, but by the time they were settled in the car and on the way home, he knew that something was up with his brother.
"So, the doctors said your head was okay?"
"Yeah."
"What about your knee?"
"Tore something."
Don was surprised. Charlie usually kept his thoughts to himself, but this was closed up even for him.
"What's wrong?" Even as he said it, Don knew that was the wrong thing to say.
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't want to talk." Charlie realized that unless he gave a reason, his brother would keep on hounding him. "I'm just tired."
Had Charlie said anything but that Don would've kept going. The bruises were starting to fade, although the butterfly bandages covered most of what was left. He had a brace on his knee that forced his leg out straight. But the shadows under his eyes worried the agent.
Don got him home and helped him settle back in. Charlie insisted on using the crutches, not really with words but the obstinate look that told Don not to argue with him. Alan settled him on the couch and left him with the remote as the two of them left to discuss Charlie.
"Did the doctors say anything about his head?" Alan said as soon as they got to the kitchen.
"No concussion. Just a bump and a couple cuts." Don helped put dishes away as his father continued.
"Then why is he acting like this?"
Don shrugged. "Something happened between him and Amita up there, but he won't talk about it."
"Did they fight, do you think?" Alan mused. "He's never handled rejection well."
"I don't know, but something was up."
Charlie ignored the conversation in the kitchen and took advantage of their absence. He took out his newly returned cell phone and dialed Amita's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey." He paused. "Sorry. I just assumed that you'd be at school. I was expecting your voice mail."
"I stayed home today. So, are you home from the hospital?" she asked.
"Yeah. Listen, we need to talk. I'm going to see if I can get Dad and Don out of the house for a while. Would you be able to come over when they're gone?"
"I should, yeah."
"I've got to go. Call you back in a little bit."
He hung up the phone just Alan walked in. "Who were you talking to, Charlie?"
"No one." He sat back on the couch and waited for Alan to take a seat.
"Is there something you need to say, son?"
Charlie sat up. "Actually, Dad, there is."
Don interrupted as he walked through and grabbed his jacket. "Charlie, man, I hope you feel better, but I have to go back to work."
"Thanks for the ride, Don."
"Bye, Dad. I'll swing by tonight." He pulled the door shut.
"Now what were you going to say?" Alan asked, turning his attention back to Charlie.
"Dad, is there any way that you could possibly, um, maybe go shopping for a while or something? I just need some time, you know…alone."
Alan frowned. "You want me to leave?"
"Just for two or three hours," Charlie said quickly.
"Why?"
Charlie tried to explain. "Look, Dad. I just need some time to myself. Please?"
"I suppose I can," he stammered. He got up and pulled on his jacket. Hunting absentmindedly for his keys, he said, "Well, since I'm going out, is there anything you, um, want? Or need?"
"Dad, I'm fine." He watched Alan stand hesitantly before the door. "By the way, thanks."
As soon as he heard his bewildered father pull out of the driveway, he dialed Amita's number. Within twenty minutes, she was sitting on the other end of the sofa.
"So, what's wrong?" she said as she stared at him.
Charlie looked at her. "Listen. I want to, um…ask you something." He inhaled quickly. "After what we did this weekend, do…you, um… Would you consider committing to me?"
A smile tugged at her lips before vanishing. "Are you… asking me to…be your girlfriend?"
"I guess I am. Look, Amita, you are the most fascinating woman I've ever met. I love the fact that you share my deepest passion. I've always been considered weird for my obsession with math, and you've never once made me feel anything other than normal. And the truth is, until you came along, I never knew that there was anything really missing. So, yes, I am asking you to be my girlfriend."
She stared at him through his whole speech. "That was really hard for you to say, wasn't it?"
Grinning in relief, he said, "You have no idea. But I really meant it."
She crossed the distance before he could react. Her enthusiastic kiss was finally broken by her grin. "By the way, that was a yes."
The kissing actually didn't last as long as they expected. Instead, they ended up reclining against the arm of the couch, Amita lying across his chest with her head tucked up against his shoulder.
Twisting a dark curl around her finger, she said slowly, "I suppose we need to tell everyone."
"Do you mind? I mean, will it bother you?"
She raised her head up to stare at him. "That we're dating? No. Why would it?" Amita looked surprised, then a little hurt. "Are you embarrassed to be with me?"
"No! Of course not," he rushed to assure her. "I was really thinking kind of the other way around."
"Charlie, nothing about you makes me embarrassed to be seen to you! You're …perfect! You're, you're good-looking, you're…brilliant." She grabbed a handful of hair and tugged.
"Ow!"
"I'll do more than that if you start doubting yourself like that again," she threatened. "Now, how shall we break the news?"
They discussed possible options, but the stresses and lack of sleep from the past weekend caught up with them and they both dozed off mid-conversation. That was how Alan found them when he came home.
