Charlie paid for the coffee and muffins while Amita had found a good place for them to sit. It had become a sort of tradition that whoever paid got to chose the flavor muffin. Charlie decided today would be a good day to try the apple-cinnamon. As he approached Amita he couldn't help but smile. She was still out of breath from the sprint.
"Professor young, vibrant and conceited seems to be in better shape than you" Charlie teased.
"Though surprising, it's true. I'll have to do something about that. We can't have conceited stuffy math professors be more fit than a younger student now can we." Amita replied with one raised eyebrow.
"Alright, alright, enough with the conceited and the math professor routine. Let's just enjoy the coffee and the muffins. Hope you like apple and cinnamon; it's one of my favorites."
One other thing Charlie loved about their walks in the park followed by coffee and muffins was watching Amita drink her coffee and eat her muffin. She would crumble her muffin into little pieces and make tasty sounds with every bite. The way she held her coffee mug with both hands and never failed to make a slurpy sound with every sip she took made Charlie love going to the park with her even more.
While Amita had engaged in her muffin eating routine and started slurping her coffee Charlie had not even touched his. He was just observing her watching her every move and enjoying every second of it.
"What?" She asked when she realized Charlie was staring at her.
"You make cute sounds when you eat your muffin and you slurp your coffee. It's sweet"
Charlie had said it before he even realized he did.
Amita giggled.
"I do not make cute sounds when I eat, and I do not slurp my coffee" She chuckled.
Charlie's face showed a huge smile on his face as he knew what was coming.
"Yes you do." He countered.
"I do not!" Amita cried out in laughter.
"Sorry, but you do." Charlie tilted his head closing his eyes and nodded.
"Fine, then I slurp my coffee and make sounds when I eat" Amita said with a sly smile and slurped her coffee so loud everyone turned to look at them.
Charlie broke into laughter, but as he was just ready to take a sip of his own coffee the sudden gush of air produced by him laughing caused his coffee to splash all over the table thankfully missing his clothes by a hair. Now it was Amita's turn to laugh but it didn't take long for Charlie to join her quickly scattering napkins all over the table to prevent the spilt coffee to drip down the table.
When they had finished their coffee and started walking again they had talked a bit more about frivolous subjects when Charlie had come to realize their walk was soon to come to an end. Not knowing when the next time would be he would get to spend time with her outside of Calsi he decided there and then it was time to make a long overdue bold move…
"Would you like to watch a movie with me tomorrow night? Charlie asked.
"Charlie… I… remember our last date?" Amita said in a little voice.
Amita looked up at Charlie. What she expected to see was a nervous, anxious Charlie seeing she had brought up the dreadful first date, but instead she saw a confident smiling Charlie obviously not taken aback by her comment.
"It's just a movie Amita, at my place. You get to chose." Charlie offered.
Amita smiled and nodded.
"A movie it is then." She said softly.
And they walked back to campus in silence. But not the kind of silence both had feared since the last time they had dinner together. This was the silence that screamed they were enjoying each others company and that they were comfortable without feeling the need for words. In this silence it was their body language that did the talking as they strolled through the park on their way back to campus.
---
Charlie had rushed home after he nearly threw out the last student in his final class of the day. This morning he had been fine, but as the day progressed his nerves seemed to have taken the upper hand.
He had not told a soul about Amita coming over to watch a movie. His father was out with some old friends and Don was busy attending an FBI training that was to be followed by a long dinner at a Japanese restaurant. He had avoided Larry all day as he didn't want his old friend to know about their plans, not yet at least.
He already had been tormented enough after he had told everyone about their first date and didn't feel much for a second round, should that be the case. Although he was convinced it wouldn't. He was determined to make it work this time.
Charlie ran upstairs to change and clean up a bit. As he walked in the bathroom to wash his face he again was confronted with obstinate hair.
"Of course today couldn't be a good hair day" He complained as he wet his hands to tame his frizzed curls.
When he was mildly content with his hair and freshened up he went off to his room to change into something more comfortable. It had to be smart, but still casual and comfortable. Charlie had a thing for clean clothes, ever since he was a little boy. He needed them to smell fresh and they had to be spotlessly clean. Anything other than that earned a one way ticket into the hamper.
Just as he had finished changing and walked down the stairs the door bell rang and Charlie skipped the last four steps and rushed towards the door. As he held his hand on the door handle he took one last deep breath before opening the door.
"I hope I'm not early"
"No, no. Not at all. Come in. So what movie did you bring?" Charlie had to use all he had to try and sound as normal as possible. God, she looked breathtaking.
"I brought two actually; I was not really sure what kind of movie you would like to see. So I brought Pride and Prejudice and Bewitched. There wasn't much to choose from I'm afraid." Amita said as he walked in.
"That's ok. I haven't seen either of them yet. As I said yesterday. You get to chose. Have you had anything to eat yet?"
Amita shook her head. She was so busy stressing out over what to wear she hadn't even thought of eating until Charlie brought it up.
"Me neither. Want to order a pizza?" Charlie asked as he ushered her to the couch.
"Sounds good to me. Anything with vegetables on it is fine"
"Anything with vegetables it is then" Charlie said as he dialed the number.
When the pizza was ordered Charlie felt more nervous than ever. He prayed that their ability to communicate was not exclusive to their walks in the park.
It turned out his prayers were answered. Until the pizza arrived they had discussed their day and favorite pizza toppings.
When the doorbell rang Charlie got up while Amita picked up the two DVD's to make a decision on which one to watch. She chose Pride and Prejudice and placed the DVD in the player.
"What would you like to drink? Charlie asked as he put the pizza boxes on the table.
"Water is just fine, thanks"
"Should have known that one. It's all you drink next to coffee." Charlie said and he winked at her.
Amita's cheeks turned pink at Charlie's wink. This was not the Charlie she was used to. Not that she was complaining. It was just that she was so used to Charlie the professor, Charlie the genius mathematician, not the Charlie that winked at her. Over the past few weeks she had learned so much more about Charlie during their walks. She learned more about Charlie Eppes. And she liked what she had learned. She liked it a lot.
Charlie came back with two glasses of water placing them next to the pizza boxes and nestled himself next to her.
"So, what's the verdict?" Charlie asked while nodding at the DVD's
"Pride and Prejudice. It's a movie based on a romance novel written by Jane Austen." She answered.
Charlie nodded and reached for his pizza and the remote to press play. Romance is not bad. Not bad at al.
---
They had finished their pizzas and as the movie played both Charlie and Amita had moved closer together. Charlie had a hard time staying focused on the movie as every time Amita changed position she would come to sit closer to him. Their arms touched and on occasion her hand would brush against his when she moved position.
When the movie was half way through Amita reached over for the remote and gave it to Charlie.
"Could you put it on pause please, I need to use the bathroom."
Charlie, slightly startled by her sudden move took the remote and did as she asked. As she got up he immediately missed her contact and figured the movie was already midway they would not have enough time to work towards sitting as closely together as they had been before she got up.
But to Charlie's great surprise when Amita returned she positioned herself as close, if not even closer, to him as before. His heart surely must have skipped a beat at the touch of her body.
"Ok, I'm ready if you are" She said as she stared him in the eyes.
Charlie was ready alright. But it had nothing to do with resuming the movie. Charlie locked his eyes with hers and slowly moved his hand to find hers.
At that moment Charlie heard some noise coming from the front door. The door swung open and his father stumbled in nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Tsarlieee! Yur home! Alan cried out in a double tongue."An' 'Mita too, how nice tsee you both!"
Charlie jumped up to father and guided him to the nearest chair.
"Dad, what have you been drinking? Charlie asked.
"Drinkin'? Yeah… I wazzout with the guys an' we had some beers an' then Rob, my friend……., brough some'ouzoooo. That'sa Greek drink son." Alan said pointing a wobbly finger at Charlie."Th' Greek drink's a bit strong though….
Charlie looked at his intoxicated father and couldn't remember ever seeing his father drunk before.
He turned to Amita who had gotten up to get her coat.
"I'm sorry… but I…" Charlie started.
"It's ok. We can finish the movie some other time. I think your dad needs you right now." Amita replied before Charlie could finish his sentence.
"Ok, dad, you stay put while I say goodbye to Amita ok dad?
"Say g'bye to "Mita? Nooooooo. Kissssss 'Mita goodbye son." Alan blabbed.
Charlie turned scarlet at his father's outburst. He could not believe this was happening. An almost perfect evening and his father had to return completely plastered.
He turned to Amita as she put on her coat.
"I'll see you tomorrow. We'll finish the movie some other time. "
"Ok, thank you for a wonderful evening Charlie" Amita said and she kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck with your father and I'll see you tomorrow."
Charlie stood nailed to the ground. She had kissed him on the cheek. She had a wonderful evening. Charlie rubbed the cheek Amita had just kissed. But his father didn't allow him to enjoy his brief moment of romantic glory for much longer.
"Ooooohhhh Tsaaarlieee, I don' think I'm feelin ver' well….! Alan bellowed.