- A FINAL GOODBYE -
Kate had been frozen on their couch for days now. She was wearing one of his shirts as she hugged her knees close to her chest. Her eyes were focused on his office and had not dared to blink. She could bring herself to enter it yet. The pain was still all too fresh.
Her ring caught the morning sunlight as she saw it light up the whole dim room. The sudden light caused Kate to break her gaze. She looked down at her left hand, admiring the large, and very expensive rock that was place on her hand a year ago tomorrow. She was overcome with too much emotion that she finally broke down and began to cry. Her body began to tremble as she quietly sobbed. She was alone at the moment.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. After everything they went through, she figured it was over. Their wedding was the start of their happy ending. Kate had resigned from her job not wanting to live that life anymore. They were settling down and thinking about starting a family. Their fairy tale ending was finally within reach. However, in a split second it was all over.
But that's just how life works. When everything seems perfect, that's when it is all comes crashing down.
A fluke goodbye, and quick kiss on the cheek as he left their apartment to buy a couple of morning coffees.
Who would have thought that would have been their last goodbye. After everything they went through, all the near misses, all the brushes with death, all the would-be goodbyes. One simple mistake of being in the wrong place at the wrong time ended his remarkable life.
After taking a few deep breathes, she collected herself. She ran her hands through her hair that was very wild and untamed at the moment. Kate's focus all on a sudden had changed to the laptop that still laid open in the middle of his desk. It was truly one of his most prized possessions. It was how he became what he ended up to be.
Kate finally grew enough courage to at least enter the room. A room where they had shared so many special moments over the years. She just couldn't sit on a couch for the rest of her life. She needed to get up and do something. Her brain was telling her it was time, but her heart continued to tell her she wasn't ready.
Of course, she trusted her brain more as she has always done.
Kate unsteadily walked into the room and picked up the laptop. Her eyes were greeted with an image of the two of them from their wedding, laughing and smiling. The way they thought they could live the rest of their lives. They were too naive.
The login page appeared to which she of course entered his password mywifekateishot.
And what she saw physically make her heart sank. Their was a folder open on the screen containing a few documents. She scanned through them and found one labeled 'Dear Kate.' Of course her immediate response was to open it. She sank back into his comfy chair as her mind filled with the words written on the screen.
Dear Katherine,
If you ever stumble across this letter, it means that I am no longer with you.
I have planned this letter out hundreds of times but could never find the right words to describe what you mean to me. I pray with everything I have that you don't have to ever read this until we are old and gray and sitting on some porch in the Hampton. But time can not stand still forever.
I'm a writer for god sakes and somehow when I'm around you I lose my inability to comprehend the world around me.
That's how much you mean to me.
You changed me Kate.
I went from being this crazy, rich author with an obsession with murder, to being head over heels in love with a detective that has a passion for finding murders. It seemed like a perfect fit.
But the funny thing is that the craziest thing I have ever done, is fall in love with you.
Together we were a writer and his muse fighting crime and living fiction.
I would never change our past for anything.
I sit here typing away on my laptop and think about the future I look forward to what life may bring us.
If someday we have a child, I want it to be exactly like you. If it's a girl, I can imagine her having your drop dead gorgeous looks because you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman to walk this earth. This may in turn cause me the pain of watching boys drool over her, but I know you'll beat them up. If we were ever able to grace this life with a son, it would need to have your strength (and my ruggedly handsome looks of course.) You should never doubt your strength Kate, the fact alone that for all these years you have dealt with me proves that you can over come anything.
I say all these things now for what seems light years away but know that the future can arrive at any second.
And that is the main purpose of this letter. On this laptop you will find a series of document's that you need to read.
It's our story Kate. This is everything that brought us together and everything obstacle we overcame. It's shows you how I slowly fell in love with you since the first day we met. How through every case I learned more and more and became intrigued by the minute. How once I met you no one could live up to you standard.
The happiest day of my life was when you became my wife. I never thought I could ever look back on a day and say it was perfect, but it truly was.
I don't really know how to end this letter because these are going to be the final words I leave you with. But I'll try the best I can.
So I leave you with this final goodbye,
Katherine Houghton Beckett. You are my one, my only, my always.
- Richard Castle
Kate stared at the laptop screen not daring to blink. She was confused as her eyes scanned the screen falling upon that last edited date. The letter was last edited 6 days ago. Late in the evening of their final night together. It was if he knew. Some part of him knew that he needed to write all this down.
She felt a wave of nauseous approach. She quickly sprinted to the nearby bathroom. As she slumped over the toilet bowl her mind began to go into overdrive. She collapsed against the titled wall and ran her hand back though her hair.
No, it couldn't possibly be.
- Kick Caskett