The Auction: Chapter 1
"Thank you all for coming tonight. Now it's time for all of us to open our hearts as we auction off some of the city's finest items for one of the finest causes. To start the bidding, please welcome Martha Rodgers."
Martha made her way to the center of the stage smiling and waving as the applause went wild. She knew that she could be eccentric at times, but having others applaud her, praise her for what she was doing, it always struck something in her that brought a sense of pride throughout her life.
Her son, on the other hand, look horrified as he turned to Powell, the elderly man standing next to him. "What have you done?"
"Just a little payback?" Powell said with a hint of a smile as he motioned back towards Martha.
"Thank you, thank you for that warm welcome." She said as the crowd got quiet, all eyes were now focused up on her. "First item on our list is a signed first edition of Storm Season," she told them, picking up the book and waving it around for all to see. "Written by…well, written by my son." She smiled proudly and glanced around the crowd for only a moment before spotting him in the back. "There he is." She pointed him out as the spotlight followed the direction her finger was pointing until it landed on him. "Wave, darling so everyone can see you." Rick glanced around him with a look of astonishment plastered upon his face. "Isn't he handsome?" Martha's voice continued to speak. "My still single son, ladies." She clarified as Rick slowly raised his hand, waving to the many eyes that were now focused on him; he didn't even have to look beside him to know that Beckett was dying with laughter. "So, as a special bonus the winning bidder will also receive an enchanting evening in his company. Alright ladies, that's the best I can do, the rest is up to you. Ok, do we have an opening bid?" She asked glancing around the room.
"Twenty-five hundred!" one of the ladies shouted out.
"Twenty-five hundred beautiful lady in blue. Thank you so much. Do we hear three thousand?" She asked getting into the energy the auction provided for her as she moved her hand around waiting for another bid. "Three thousand?" She asked once more then added, "Girls, don't be shy." She pointed at the man who had just raised his hand. "We have a gentleman bidder." The man stood, a bright smile upon his face. "Oh, and isn't he attractive?" Martha asked as a few snickers traveled throughout the room, while the man raised his glass in Rick's direction.
Rick forced a smile at the man, as Beckett couldn't help but laugh at the look upon his face.
"Oh my goodness, aren't we broad-minded?"
"Four thousand!" someone else in the crowd shouted out.
"There we have it, four thousand." Martha said after another woman raised her hand. "All right, ladies. The gaunter is down. And this is…"
Martha's voice trailed off as Rick looked over at Powell who was enjoying this entertainment quite a bit. "Now we're even." Powell told him with a smirk.
Rick quickly turned his attention to Kate, chuckling as he spoke, "Look, I have money. Anything you pay, I'll pay you back." He told her hopefully.
"Oh, not a chance in hell, Castle." She told him smiling. She really was enjoying watching him squirm.
"Why not?" he asked then added, "We don't even have to go out on the date."
She thought about it, wondering if she should help him out of this situation or not. The more she thought about it, the more she wished that her and Castle would go on a date—she wasn't going to tell him that though. "Tell you what, Castle." She said after a couple of seconds, "I'll bail you out of this one if you promise not to tell the boys or make this into a joking matter."
"Detective, is it my imagination or are you actually saying 'yes' to the date?" He smiled at her as his heart rate sped up a bit.
"Like I've said before, I like to keep my private life exactly what it was meant to be-private. And if you're involved in it, I'd like to keep it the same way." Then she added, "At least for now."
Castle smiled-she had just agreed to go on a date with him. He knew that he definitely wouldn't hold it against her if she wanted to keep it quiet being the first time they had ever gone out. And he wasn't about to screw up now, he'd been working too hard to get her to trust in him in the first place.
She was looking down and didn't look up at him for a couple of moments. She wasn't usually the type of girl that would basically state she wanted to go out on a date. She had walls and she knew the limits to those walls. Castle, on the other hand, had seemed to try every way possible to bypass those walls and even though she wasn't sure if she could trust him completely, she knew that it was better to give him a chance than none at all. Besides, this was just a first date and if it didn't work out…well she didn't even want to think down that road. She slowly lifted her head, till her eyes reached his.
He continued to smile down upon her. Just the thought of him being able to take her out and take care of her, at least for one night, sent chills down his arms. "Pick you up tomorrow?" he asked, quietly.
She smiled, "Alright." Kate turned her attention up to the front where Martha was still speaking and gesturing to the crowd.
"Last call! Five thousand, anyone? Five thousand?" She asked again looking out among the crowd.
Kate slowly raised her hand.
Martha's eyes stopped directly on hers. "Oh my, Detective Beckett." All heads turned towards Kate. Rick gave his mom a look that told her not to make any foolish comments and Martha caught on quite quickly. "Five thousand, it is! Going once, going twice, sold!"
The room applauded as Martha walked off the stage and down towards Kate-Rick's book in hand. "I'm guessing you probably already have one of these, so here's another to add to your collection." She said making Kate wonder how Martha knew she was such a fan. Martha leaned up to whisper to Kate, "Really darling, he's not worth that much. Besides I'm sure you could easily get him for free if you wanted to."
Kate turned a light pink when Martha told her that, but maintained her composure quite well. She smiled at Martha and took the book that she was handing her. "Thank you, Martha."
"You're welcome, dear. Now if you'll excuse me." She said turning to Powell. "We have a lot of catching up to do."
He took her arm gladly and led her over to one of the clear tables off to the side of the room where he ordered them both drinks and they caught up on old times.
"Sorry about that." Castle said turning towards her.
"How else was I supposed to win the bet?" She asked smiling at him.
"I could have gone up privately and talked to mother. That way they wouldn't know that you won, now everyone in here knows about our," he lowered his voice, "date."
"They would have figured out sooner or later. I still like to keep my private life private, so maybe our date won't have to be too extravagant."
"Too extravagant? Me?" he said, with a mocked horror expression upon his face. "When have I ever gone over the top with anything?" This made her smile and add an eye roll. He laughed, "Alright, fine. I'll pick someplace exclusive-just for the two of us."
"And if the boys find out?" Castle asked.
"You mean when they find out." She clarified, then added, "I'll trust tell them the truth, that you paid me to do it."
"Fair enough, detective. Fair enough." He said with a gleam in his eyes.