Disclaimer: I own 'Castle' seasons and 'Castle' books, but not the show.
Author's Note: Pardon the grammatical errors, will you? Tenses and punctuation are not my forte.
Beckett decides that it is time for her relationship with Castle to go public. This story is not part of my one-shot series.
Announcing the Inevitable
"Hmmm" Kate said in her sleepy state. "Castle, you left the TV on again over night. Go turn it off," she slurred. Getting no response, she rolled over and grabbed at the sheets. Feeling only the cold sheets, her eyes shot open. "Rick?"
A deep-sounding voice was emanating from the adjoining office. Kate slid out from under the covers. With every step, the voice became clearer and clearer. It also became louder.
"I don't care what you want me to do, Gina. I don't want… Yeah… I don't want…" Rick gritted. "Will you be quiet for just one moment?! I don't want to go you some stupid club."
Beckett was taken back by how angry he was. She knew that he had that side of him, as she had seen it last year when Alexis had been kidnapped, but she just hoped that she wouldn't have to see it again, at least for a very long time. To be honest, she didn't like to see her fun-loving, cheerful fiancé angry and in pain like he was. She peered through the open door crack to see how Castle was doing.
"You know that I hate that stuff." A pause passed. "Gina. I'm seeing someone. I don't want to be seen with some lady at this new club because you want me to."
'What? She was trying to get Castle to go out with someone else?' Kate thought. 'That… that… jerk!'
"Yeah, well I didn't like those girls either! If you had to set me up with someone, why'd it always have to be with some ditzy, young girl who didn't have anything in common with me?" By now, Rick's voice was loud enough to fill the whole east side of the loft. "All they wanted was my money, my fame or my connections!"
Tears started to sprout from Kate's eyes.
"What is your deal, Gina? Why are you trying to change me? Why are you trying to ruin my life?" Gina responded back through the phone. "Oh really? Well, let's see. First, my name was too boring. I believe your words were 'Nobody wants to buy mystery books from a guy named Rodgers'. Remember that? Then, there were all of those 'blind dates' with girls that you set me up with. And remember how it just so happened that the press would show up at the same place I would go with them?" he bellowed.
Shocked at the news that she was learning from listening to this conversation, the only thing that Beckett could do was watch and listen.
"And then, there's that time where you hired someone to pretend to be an old friend of mine and to get me drunk? You told him to get me to do something impressionable, so he dared me to steal a police horse and ride it naked! Do you know how twisted that is? Not to mention dangerous? I was lucky that the charges were dropped, or I would have been in big trouble!" Rick paused to let Gina respond. "What's the big deal?! I had a ten year old daughter to raise by myself! I was the only one that she had!
"Then…" he chuckled, "then there's my personal favourite. You invited press along with '10 lucky fans' to our wedding! Our wedding, Gina! It was more like a private book signing that a wedding!"
Having heard enough, Kate slowly pushed the door to the office more open. She swiftly walked over to the loveseat opposite of the desk and sat down. Trying to find eye contact with Rick, but failing, she just stared at him.
"Whatever. I don't know why you're even telling me to do this. Paula is my publicist; you're just my publisher." Rick exhaled a heavy sigh and combed his fingers through his hair. "What? You can't do that! I've written 27 Best Sellers for Black Pawn, and because I don't want to go to some club, you're gonna cut me loose?" Kate's eyes shot up from the desk where they had fallen a minute earlier. "Gina. That's not fair. You're being irrational!" he yelled into the phone before pulling it from his ear and pressing the 'End' button. He came out from behind the desk and sat down beside the detective.
"What's the final verdict?" Kate asked, not vocalizing, but telling none-the-less that she had heard most of the conversation on the phone.
"My witch of a publisher says that I need to go to the club and that if my name isn't in the paper within the next week, Black Pawn will drop my contract" he breathed. "Kate, without a contract, I'm done for. If I don't act out and get in the papers, my career is practically over" he said, staring at the desk.
"But…but. She can't do that! It's not even her department!" Beckett's blood boiled.
"I know. But even if she can't let me go for this, she'll find something else to hold against me". Kate reached for Rick's hand. Pulling his had into her lap, he spoke again. "The only solution is for me to go to this club-thing on Saturday night. I tell ya, sometimes I hate this job," he sighed. "Sorry if I woke you up this morning" he said.
"Oh, you didn't" she said, trying to make him feel better. "I was already up".
"Okay then. What do you say we go out for breakfast? I don't feel like cooking breakfast now," Castle said as he stood up. He kissed Kate's cheek then walked back into the bedroom to get dressed.
Kate sat still as she tried to digest everything that she had heard this morning. 'I have to help' she thought. 'I won't let anyone mess with him or take advantage of him again.'
