Hey guys! cute little one shot to relax until 'Always'. CastleandBeckett13 had the idea and I immediatly imagined something like the adorable film 'You've got mail!'. Hope you like it!
"Let's meet!" he wrote, his heart beating as fast as his fingertips on the keys of his laptop. This was such a bold move, something only young ones do, or desperate people. Yeah, maybe he was desperate. He was desperate to fall in love again, maybe this time for the right one, and feel free. Free of her, of the neverending disappointment that was being around her, knowing that she didn't feel the same; she would never feel the same.
He had been talking with 'javajunkie123' for about two weeks now. She had survived his complaining about his life, his problems. Alexis wanting to go to a university far away, maybe overseas, him being so uninspired lately, being in love with the wrong person. Names were never mentioned. They had agreed on that. But now he needed to make it real, all the good feelings she brings to him, he had to have it personally. No emails anymore, let's just do it like real people.
She took a few minutes to write back, and he was just staring nervously to the screen. When the message appeared 'javajunkie123 is writing a message...' he took a deep breath and only released it when the message appeared on the screen.
"Okay. Let's do this!" a smiley face next to it, matching the smile on his face.
They arranged the meeting at a coffee shop not too far from his loft, at 5pm. She was going to be reading a book, waiting with a white rose on the table. It was going to be just coffee, but you never know.
'Everyone needs to have dinner, you know? And I know some of the best chefs in this town'.
She replied with a wink emoticon, and then wrote.
'See you tomorrow, then'.
And logged out.
Next morning he came into the precinct wearing a big smirk, glowing and catching all the eyes. Silly grins and cocky comments were fired away all morning, and anyone could tell that he was happy.
"Wow, Castle! Feeling good this morning, bro." said detective Esposito, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Are you going to get lucky tonight?"
"If you must know, my dear friend Javier, I am" he said with a silly grin, and Javi laughed out loud.
Kate was approaching slowly, carrying her mug recently filled with hot coffee as she heard the conversation.
"And who's the lucky lady? Another one of those spetacular stewardesses?"
"No. this one is special" Castle said, and she nearly dropped the hot liquid on the ground. Her heart stopped at those words. Seeing him with disposable women was one thing. Now he had a special one? 7 months ago, he had said he loved her. Maybe she did wait too long.
She instantly turned away, trying to run away from the conversation, but Javier called her in. She was going to kill him later. Tell Lanie to do it for her.
"yo, Beckett. Castle here has a date!"
"Well, that's obvious, he has had this stupid smile on his face since he arrived" she said, her voice coming out harsher than she wanted. Fine, then.
"If you must know, I've got a date, too" she said, taking a sip of her coffee, and burned slightly her tongue.
"Oh really?" Castle said, his voice almost hesitating, the cockiness totally gone. "And can we know with whom?"
"No, you can't" she said, and turned away, heartbroken but sure she had done something good. It wasn't a lie, after all. She had agreed to have coffee with her new e-pal, 'literaryboy15', and it was a date, as a matter of speak. She didn't want to be this way, after all her heart was still Rick's, but apparently he didn't want it anymore, so it was probably best if she just takes it back before he breaks it, because, being a nine year old on a sugar rush, he would make a huge mess.
She felt stupid, going out on a blind date with a guy she met on the internet after a few shots of tequila, late night alone in her apartment. It wasn't suppose to last so long, but he sent her an email the next day, and it was so good to hear from him, her hands shaking every time she checked her email and saw she had received a message. When he asked to meet, she was sure she would say no, but her hands wrote 'yes' instead and now there was no way back. And somehow, after spending the day with Castle grinning over the fact that he had a date tonight, it felt reassuring she would probably have a nice conversation with someone different.
It was 4:30 when she left the precinct, telling Esposito that she was available on her cell, but only for real emergencies. Her friend agreed with thumbs up, and then waved her goodbye. She took a last look at Castle, who was looking at something on Ryan's computer and laughing, completely unaware that she was leaving.
She sat on the high table of the cafeteria, ordered an espresso, and waited, her heart startling every time the tiny bell over the door rang signaling someone was coming in. Men would go through it, look around, sometimes meeting her anxious gaze, but then move around. It was still early, after all, so she just did was she has arranged with him. She put the rose over the table after the coffee arrived, and opened the book she had brought. 'A Rose for Everafter', and she felt so sorry she had chosen a book by Rick to remind her over and over that he was somewhere around her city with another woman on his arms.
He came into the coffee shop exactly when the clock stroke 5 o'clock, anxious to finally put a face to all those words that helped him all this time. The place was full, and it was hard to see all the tables. He had to look for the sign; otherwise he would never recognize her. Table after table with women, but no rose, until, further back into the shop he found it. The white rose on the table, next to a cup of espresso. He continued, his eyes going from the fingertips that played mindlessly with the rose petals to her arm to what her other hand was holding. A book. His book. He grinned at the irony. She never knew it was him, and he wondered what she would say when she found out.
His book was covering her face, and he could only see a bit of her eye and the corner of her mouth, her tongue licking it slowly while he approached, as if she could feel he was coming. Or because she was reading one of the exciting moments Derrick Storm lived in the story.
He cleaned his throat and took a deep breath, taking a while to decide if he would just sit, or introduce himself first. He decided that the second choice was less creepy and cleaned his throat again, now making noise so she could hear him.
She was so entertained by the book that he had to touch her lightly on her fingers to call her attention. Her hand was soft and warm.
His heart was beating fast. He was looking down when he started talking, as if he was 12 years old.
'Hey. Don't get me wrong, but are you 'javajunkie123'?
'Castle?' he recognize the voice, and turned around, but he didn't find her. When his eyes went back to the woman he was talking too, he realized. There she was.
She couldn't believe it! He was 'literaryboy15'? Really? It would be funny if it wasn't tragic. They both spent a couple of minutes staring at each other, both incredibly surprised this was really happening.
'Are you 'javajunkie123'?' he asked, breaking the silence. She only nod in response.
'I can't believe it' he said, sitting at her table. He then noticed he hadn't asked 'oh, may I?'
'Yeah, sure' she said, still stunned. The waiter approached smiley asking if he wanted anything, and he just waved her away. Then turned at Beckett again, shocked.
'So, all this time, you were gloating over your date, and it was a blind date with someone you met on the internet?' she teased, and he understood.
'So were you' he said, throwing the ball back to her.
They stood a few more minutes quiet, not knowing what to do. She then decided this was ridiculous. They knew each other perfectly well, and had just discovered they knew even more that they thought they knew.
'So, has your daughter decided were to go already?' she asked, trying to sound as 'javajunkie123'.
'Yeah. She's going to Columbia'
'That's not too far! You must be happy!"
"Yeah, but she's leaving anyway. She doesn't want to live at home during college.'
"It's only natural. At least she'll visit more often than she would if she had chosen Oxford'
'That's for sure." He smiled.
They shared gazes for a few seconds, their minds still getting used to that coincidence. Or was it fate? Anyway...
'So, the woman...' she said exactly when he said 'I won't have anyone to play laser tag, though' she decided to put away that subject for a little longer. She was almost sure the woman he described as being the one who broke his heart when he was just 'literaryboy15' was she. She took his hand on hers and said, reassuringly.
'I'll play with you, if you want.'