Author's Note: So the idea stems from Season 6: Dressed to Kill. Kate Beckett is a model and Castle is a celebrity. Chapter 1 is a retake on their first meeting. This is my first ever fanfic, and the characters are a little OOC but they're younger and more fiery than at the beginning of Season 1. I'm open to suggestions on direction and writing!
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle
Kate Beckett was in her element. Parties like these were the reason she loved her job. She had been modelling for almost two years now, and was already notorious in certain circles. She partied hard, but only upper class events like these. She had had her fair share of one night stands, but was classy enough to maintain her reputation. Under no circumstances would anybody consider her to be easy. Kate Beckett was a rising star in the fashion industry, and she lived the part. She didn't know herself where the model began and Kate ended, but she loved the anonymity her job gave her. At parties she was perfect. Flirtatious, gorgeous, sharp.
"K-Bex!" The shrill voice of her handler made Kate look away from the handsome young man she was having a conversation with.
"Duty calls." She smiled lazily at the guy, brushing his arm with her hand as she turned away. Her handler, Patrick, was one of Modern Fashion's representatives at events. He made sure all the girls, and sometimes boys, were on their best behaviour and handled the requests. She supposed he was sort of her agent. Really all he did was piss her off, but the fabulous "K-Bex" would never let that on.
"There's a celebrity author arriving outside in ten. Ruby's already outside. Meet him at the limo and walk in with him. Standard bull for the cameras." He snapped at her.
"You've got to be kidding me! You just dragged me away from a compelling conversation for that!" Kate exclaimed, sarcasm and humour dripping from her voice.
"I haven't got time for your shit right now. You'll have another one drooling in a heartbeat."
Okay… so maybe his mood was a little worse than usual. But they understood each other. On a fundamental level.
Kate hated the whole camera stunt thing. Celebrities who were too lazy to get themselves a girl, would just hire them for the pictures. It was almost prostitution! Okay, so maybe that was a bit extreme, but these jobs were the ones Kate hated most. First she had to stand, in the cold, pretending she was superhuman and looking great for the cameras, to enter a building she had already been inside, so some arrogant jack-hole could look like a player. Which he wasn't, because then he wouldn't have to pay the girl to walk in with him! Also, it put somebody else in the spotlight, somewhere she'd rather be herself.
Kate walked towards the side door, it wouldn't do to be seen leaving through the front without actually leaving. As she walked past the bar, she lowered her head and sped up to avoid talking to the man she'd been entertaining before. He'd been dull, not worth getting into trouble with Patrick over. She took a deep breath, and stepped purposefully into the nippy November air.
"Hey Charlotte, you alright?" Kate asked, standing next to her fellow model to one side of the main entrance.
"It's Ruby out here!" The girl hissed in reply. "But yeah, I'm good. Apart from freezing my tits off, of course.
That stupid cover name thing annoyed Kate so much. But she understood why. As a model it was easy for stalkers and other unpleasantries to latch on. Keeping your real name far away from the tabloids was helpful. Kate liked to dig the other girls by letting real names slip occasionally, just for fun.
"Same here, same here. Do you know who this bloke is anyways? Is he really worth our time?" Kate joked.
"It's that author! Richard Castle?" Ruby added, seeing Kate's nonplussed expression.
"Never heard of him." Kate confirmed, after thinking for a beat.
"God! K-Bex, don't you read?"
"No! I don't! Why would I bother when I can go out and live the stories myself?" Kate scoffed. She was 21 for Christ's sakes! She had better things to do than read. She'd long since forgotten the freedom in completely immersing in another world.
"But still! Richard Castle! I thought he'd be right up your street." Ruby said. "He's a rich, gorgeous bad-boy with a brain! What more can a model want?"
Luckily for Kate, she was saved answering the question by the sudden flashing of cameras. Clearly, the infamous author had arrived. Ruby and Kate positioned themselves either side of the limousine's door, turned to the cameras and smiled. The door opened, and a male back, slanted awkwardly faced the cameras. The man turned and the face of some hot chick was visible through the door. The lip-gloss all over Richard Castle's face said it all. For some inexplicable reason, the idea of this guy making out with some girl and then being delivered straight into the hands of two models really pissed Kate off. It made her feel cheap, like something that could be bought and discarded. She buried the annoyingly true fact that, essentially, she could.
The cameras were loving the theatrics as the girl wiped Richard Castle's face with a handkerchief, before he faced the paparazzi, beaming, and placed his arms leisurely around the two models waists. Kate and Ruby snuggled close to him, knowing what the cameras wanted to see. Kate was fuming by now. Had this man no shame?! She had never yet seen anyone quite as cocky and arrogant as him. And coming from her, with the experiences she'd made, that meant something.
Richard Castle was thoroughly enjoying his entrance. He loved making a scene, being the centre of attention in as controversial a way as possible. He looked at none of the cameras, acting as if he was above them. He had nearly reached the door with his accompaniment, the cameras were behind them. A devilishly fun idea crept into his mind. 'Let's give the cameras something to see.', he thought. He reached down the girl on his right's waist, nimbly squeezing her buttocks. He felt her tense, and grinned lazily to himself.
Kate froze. 'Surely he didn't. He won't have… That asshole! He just squeezed her arse, as if she was some kind of classless floozy!' She turned towards him, stepping away simultaneously. She hardly registered the Cheshire Cat grin spreading across his face before she slapped him. Hard. She was well aware that her act had been immortalised by at least fifteen cameras as she stalked through the door, on her own.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, it's my first story and some tips would be great :)