From The Movies
Chapter 1
Caskett Actually
(Otherwise known as Love Actually)
Author's note:
For some time now I have wanted to do this, write stories based on movies. Finally, I have started the ball rolling. This is not going to be a single story but rather a collection of stories that I will be posting from time to time, or when the inspiration takes me. As the title suggests, I will be taking scenes from movies, and the occasional TV show, and giving them the Castle/Caskett treatment. Some of the stories you will recognise and others you may not. All the stories will be from movies that I've liked. There will be drama, comedy and some romance thrown in. There will be some of you who will remember the two stories I wrote based on movies. This project is a continuation of that but in a shorter form, either one or two chapters. I would love to hear what you think of this and whether I should continue with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first story.
XXXX
Richard Castle manoeuvred the early model Citroen through the narrow winding road past the vineyard on his left and the olive grove on his right. The late morning was clear of clouds and the sun was reasonably warm. It was only now, as he was nearing his destination that he was starting to relax.
It had taken him longer than he had expected to get a hire car at the airport. It seemed to him that the clerk at the hire car desk wanted to make him go through a number of hoops before he deigned to give him a hire car. Being a famous author, the writer of crime and mystery novels that were best sellers had no affect on the desk clerk.
Castle had been close to losing his temper as he was forced to go through this officious rigmarole. He had arrived late into Paris from a long trans Atlantic flight and had just managed to catch the connecting flight to Cannes in the south of France. He had wanted a sporty German coupé or an Italian one but the desk clerk had sniffed and told him he didn't have any of those models available. Castle said he would be happy with a late model French vehicle only to be told there none available. He had to settle with an early model but still serviceable Citroen. He took it and could not get out of Cannes fast enough.
The vineyard gave way to another olive grove. These older trees looked like they had been here for centuries had branches which over-hanged the road creating a shady canopy. It would have pleasant during the height of summer. A smile appeared on Castle's face. The villa that he had hired for a couple of months was less than a mile away.
Castle had been coming to this part of Provence for several years. He found it a great part of the world. Cannes and was less than a hundred miles to the east and Nice was a little further to the north east. Those towns came alive during the summer months as tourists flooded the region in their droves. During the autumn and winter months they were a little quiet. Provence in the off season was perfect and allowed him to concentrate on his writing and fishing his books.
This year Castle had not intended to come back. He was going to give it a miss and go some place else just for something different. That had been the plan but those plans had changed following the failure of his marriage. The last thing he wanted to do was remain in New York in the ruins of his second failed marriage.
Castle spotted the turn off for the villa a short distance up ahead and he slowed down. He took the turn and found himself on a dusty unpaved road.
Passing through the two stone pillars that served as a front gate the dirt road opened up fifty yards later onto a wide forecourt with the villa in the background. Castle saw that there was a car already parked in front of the villa. He parked his car in the spot reserved for the occupants of the villa.
Castle took a moment to gaze at the villa and a smile rose to his face. The villa was a single storey building with about seven or eight rooms. It had a wide verandah at the front. A small copse of fruit trees grew nearby and they provided welcome shade from the sun during the heat of summer. On the verandah itself there was a wooden table and a set of chair that was a perfect place to lounge away the hours late in the afternoon or early evening.
Castle remembered that there was another verandah at the back that was bigger than the one at the front and it overlooked a wide expanse of lawn that sloped down all the way to the lake that formed end of the property. At the water's edge was a small wooden jetty that was the perfect spot for tying up small boats and canoes.
What attracted Castle to this small villa was the impressive study the owner had created. Three walls of the study were lined with floor to ceiling shelves that were crammed with books that were mostly in French but there was a significant assortment of tomes in other languages including English. What sold Castle on the villa had been the large oak desk that sat in front of wide windows that over looked the back lawn. The complete collection of his published books did not hurt either.
The front door of the villa opened and Madam Eleanor stepped onto the verandah. Madam Eleanor was a woman aged in her early sixties with a jovial looking face and well coiffured dark brown hair. Her stout looking body was encased in a dark coloured business pants suit. She was a realtor located in the nearby village and acted as the agent for this villa.
Castle turned on his most charming smile as he got out of the car and crossed the small distance to where Madam Eleanor was standing.
"Ah, bonjour Madam Eleanor." Castle said happily in his broken French.
"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick, welcome back."
Castle was greeted in the traditional French manner, a kiss on both cheeks before he was released by the older woman.
"This year you bring Madam Rick?" She asked.
The smile on Castle's face faltered at the mention of his ex-wife.
"No. There's been a change of my situation. It's just me."
Madam Eleanor eyed the author carefully and nodded her head knowingly. Castle could tell that the news of his divorce had reached these shores.
"Oh. Am I sad or not sad?" She asked.
"I think you're not surprised."
Last year when he had been here with his then wife Gina they had gotten into a knock down drag out fight. It had started over the fact that Gina had wanted to fly up to Paris for the weekend to do some shopping and dine out at some of the better quality restaurants. Castle on the other hand had wanted to remain at the villa. He was engrossed in writing his book that he did not want any distractions like flying to Paris for the weekend. That's when the fight started.
Castle at the time had found it a little odd she would argue with him about finishing his book. She was his publisher after all. It was in the middle of their most serious fight when Madam Eleanor arrived and witnessed it. In the end Gina had taken the car and left, going to Paris for the weekend and then flying back to New York on the Monday morning.
"You will stay here till Christmas?" Madam Eleanor asked.
"Yes." Castle confirmed.
The plan was that he would spend the next few weeks finishing his latest novel and just before Christmas he would head home. He did not want to miss Christmas with his family, his mother and especially his daughter Alexis.
"Good." Madam Eleanor said. "Well, I find you a perfect lady to clean the house."
Castle stifled the groan that threatened to leave his mouth. He had not forgotten the cleaning woman Madam Eleanor had gotten him last year. She had been a nice enough old crone who spoke not a word of English. Gina had given up trying to speak to her within the first hour. When Castle tried to speak to her in his mangled French it reduced the old woman into fits of laughter. Reduced to communicating using pidgin sign language Castle managed to get the message across and on the whole the house had been kept clean.
XXX
Kate Beckett stood in the study of the villa that Madam Eleanor had brought her to. She was standing by the large oak desk and gazed out the window across the lawn to the lake in the distance. She and Madam Eleanor had arrived about half an hour ago and the realtor had given her a tour of the villa.
The place was not very large not like some of the other villas that were closer to the coast but it was comfortable, homey even. Kate rather liked it and came to the realisation that it would not take a lot of effort to keep it clean. She had a feeling that this was going to be the easiest money she would earn. And she needed the money.
Having finished a semester in Kiev where she had been brushing up on her Russian Kate had not been in any hurry to return to New York and back to her old life. Instead, she had decided to travel through Europe. Doing a grand tour of sorts on a budget. She found work where she could and when she had earned enough money she would move onto another city or country. It had been fun and interesting.
She had arrived in Cannes a couple of days ago after having spent two weeks in Northern Italy. It was in a small café where she ran into Madam Eleanor. Through a smattering of broken French and Russian Kate managed to convey to the older woman that she was looking for work. Madam Eleanor had been happy to offer Kate cleaning work so long as it was on the basis of cash under the table. Kate was happy to accept the terms and happier still that Madam Eleanor did not bother to ask for proof of identity or other kinds of paperwork. This was why Kate was standing in the study of the villa.
Dropping her gaze from the window she looked down at the oak desk. Her eyes settled on the old Smith Corona portable typewriter that held pride of place on the desk. It had been some years since she had last seen a typewriter and even longer when she had used one. These machines had gone the way of the Dodo, having been replaced by computers and laptops.
Turning away from the window Kate crossed the room and walked up to one of the bookshelves. She had been impressed by the array of books that sat on the shelves. It pleased her to see that there
were books in a number of languages not just in French. If she had the time she might brush up on her French or tackle Tolstoy's War And Peace in the original Russian again.
Reaching out she ran her hand along the spines of a set of novels in what was the English language section of the library. She smiled at discovering the owner of the villa was a fan of Richard Castle.
As she inspected the novels she saw that the complete collection was here. There were a couple of books sitting on the shelf that she had not read yet. Perhaps she might get the opportunity to read these books.
Madam Eleanor had intimated to Kate that the person who had hired the villa was an author and he was coming here so that he could finish the latest book he was writing. Kate had tried to prise out the name of the author from the older woman but Madam Eleanor had refused to divulge the name. All she would say was that Kate would find out when he arrived.
In the silence of the study Kate heard the sound of a car arriving.
"He is here, Katya." Madam Eleanor called out.
'Katya' was the name Kate was calling herself. Katya Dimitrova from Kiev in the Ukraine. She had thought it would be amusing to travel through Europe a young Russian woman.
Kate dropped her hand from the books and turned away from the shelf. She walked out of the study and slowly made her way towards the front door. She could hear Madam Eleanor talking to a man. The man sounded American if she was not mistaken. Kate could not see who Madam Eleanor was talking to
"Good." Madam Eleanor said. "Well I find you a perfect lady to clean the house."
Kate opened the screen door and stepped out onto the verandah.
XXX
"This is Katya." Madam Eleanor announced proudly.
Castle began to turn to look at the woman that Madam Eleanor was pointing to, half expecting to find an elderly woman with a severe looking face and moustache covering her top lip. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened with delighted surprise.
This was no old crone standing before him. He was gazing upon a vision of loveliness. Beautiful, was another word that leaped to mind. She was tall with brown hair that was shaped in a functional bob and just brushed her shoulders. It was her eyes that he was drawn to. Green orbs. Not green, his mind corrected, hazel. Hazel eyes with long lashes. Hazel eyes that sparkled with intelligence and amusement with a dash of mischief and something else that Castle could not quite put his finger on.
The young woman smiled shyly back at him and Castle suddenly realised that he was staring.
"Ah...um...er, bonjour, Katya." Castle stammered.
"Bonjour." Kate responded in a low voice.
Castle could not help but smile. "Er, je suis...er...tres heureux de vous avoir ici."
Madam Eleanor smirked. "Unfortunately, Monsieur Rick, she cannot speak French." She said. "Just like you."
Castle looked at the smirking older woman.
"She is Russian."
"Ah...Russian, I see."
Castle turned back to Kate and smiled at her.
"Dobryy den', Katya." He said and immediately his smile faltered as he realised that he had just exhausted all of his known Russian. He started to ramble. "Ah...um...Olga Korbut...er...er..."
"I think she is much too young to remember the gymnast named Olga Korbut, Monsieur Rick." Madam Eleanor pointed out.
"Right...um...Nadia Comaneci..."
"Still too young to remember Comaneci, and she was Romanian." Madam Eleanor provided helpfully.
"Right, right...Katarina Witt!" Castle beamed.
"She was German." Madam Eleanor supplied, desperately trying to keep a straight face as she watched the man flounder.
Castle shot a glare at the French woman before he turned back to a smiling Katya.
"Right. Anyway, it's nice to meet you."
"Priyatno poznakomit'sya, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied, informing him that it was good to meet him too.
"Perhaps you can driver her home after her work, yes?" Madam Eleanor asked.
Castle nodded his head. "El..pl-plesura." He said.
"Which is what? Turkish?" Madam Eleanor laughed as she stepped off the verandah and walked to where her car was.
Castle watched as Madam Eleanor drove away. Slowly he turned to face Kate.
"Well, here we are." He said. "I'm going to get my things from the car. You can go inside and make yourself at home."
The smile disappeared from Kate's face and she gave him a puzzled and questioning look.
Castle started to mangle a few words of French only to remember that Katya did not understand French. Suddenly he had a stroke of genius, at least he thought so. He resorted to pantomime gestures to explain what he was going to do and what he wanted her to do. After several attempts Kate pursed her lips desperately trying not to burst into laughter at Castle's antics. She nodded her head as if to say that she understood.
She watched as Castle marched over to where he had parked his car and removed the suitcases and large shoulder bag from the boot of the car. On his return Kate opened the screen door for him.
"Spasibo." Castle said, suddenly remembering the only other word of Russian in his vocabulary.
"Ne za chto." Kate replied.
Reaching the main living room area of the villa, Castle came to a halt. He felt exhausted. The jet lag from the two flights not to mention the tiring encounter with hire car desk clerk had finally caught up with him. He stifled a yawn. On both flights he had not bothered to go to sleep. He had stayed awake working, outlining the remaining chapters of his still unfinished book. He set the two suitcases down and slowly turned to look at Kate.
"I'm tired, jet lagged actually, I'm going to go to bed." He informed Kate.
Kate's forehead creased into a frown.
"Sleep...you know... siesta?" Castle struggled as he tried to explain.
"Siesta?" Kate ventured, still frowning.
"Yes, siesta." Castle replied. He put his hands together and rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes, mimicking sleep."
"Ah...son...siesta..da." Kate replied as she smiled and nodded her head, understanding what he meant.
Pleased with himself at being able to communicate with this beautiful woman Castle turned and walked out of the living room and headed to the bedroom that was adjacent to the study. He closed the door. The strap of the shoulder bag slid of his shoulder and the bag landed on the floor. He stumbled over to the bed and fell face down upon it. Sleep took hold of him as soon as he closed his eyes.
XXX
Kate watched as Castle shuffled out of the living room. She waited until she heard the door of the bedroom close before she spun around and let out a laugh. The laughter was quickly accompanied by a little happy dance.
She could not believe that of all the authors in the world she could be working for it just had to be her favourite author. What kind of luck was that, she wondered to herself? She had almost given herself away the moment she had stepped onto the verandah and clamped eyes on him. The urge to squeal like some deranged fan girl had been great but somehow she had managed to control herself, just.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing and rushed out of the living room relocating herself to the kitchen. Taking a deep breath she managed to bring herself under control. Kate realised that she was stuck with playing the role of Katya Dimitrova, the Russian housekeeper. Could she pull it off without Richard Castle finding out? That remained to be seen but the mischievous streak within her was going to have fun with it for as long as possible.
Surveying the kitchen, Kate found it to be functional but still retained a rustic feel. There was an array of modern kitchenware and appliances, like a stove and dishwasher as well as the usual toasters, blenders and so on. It was the impressive espresso machine that caught her eye.
Seeing the espresso machine Kate was reminded that she had not had a decent cup of coffee since she had left Italy. Pushing herself off the bench she had been leaning against she commenced to search through the cupboards looking for coffee beans. She found a large packet in the third cupboard she searched through. Ten minutes later she was holding a steaming cup of black coffee in her hands.
XXX
Kate rode up to the villa on the Vespa scooter she had borrowed from a friend in the village. It was nowhere near as powerful as the motorbikes she was used to riding back home but it sufficed as a mode of transport in getting from the village to the villa. Keeping to the speed limit on the small narrow roads may not have been something she had observed on the ride over. It had been some time since she had ridden a motorbike and she had pushed the Vespa to its limits and a little beyond, enjoying the feeling of freedom she experienced.
She had been forced to finding her own way to the villa this morning because Madam Eleanor, who had been driving her each morning for the past week, had some family emergency to attend to in Avignon and was going to be away for a week or so. Kate experienced a small panic as she wondered how she was going to get to the villa but a friend had come to the rescue giving her a loan of the Vespa.
Kate came to a halt in front of the villa. She gave the Vespa a quick rev up before she switched off the engine. She put the scooter on its stand and got off it. She pulled off the black helmet she had been wearing and immediately noticed that Castle's car was not in it's usual spot.
She checked her watch. She was late for sure but did not think she was that late. A couple of hours at the most she concluded after checking her watch. A frown creased her forehead as she hooked the helmet on the handle of the scooter and headed for the front door. Had Castle gone off in search of her when she had not arrived at the usual time this morning, she wondered?
It would be so like him, Kate realised. In the week she had been working for the famous author she had found him to be nothing but kind and considerate. Not to mention amusing. He still mangled several languages when trying to communicate with her but his pantomime skills had improved considerably over the past week. She found that amusing and not a little adorable. There had been a couple of moments where she thought about dropping the act she had been putting on but she did not. She was really enjoying playing Katya.
Walking up to the front door Kate found that it was not locked. Slowly she pushed open the door and cautiously entered.
"Monsieur Rick?" Kate called out.
There was no response.
"Monsieur Rick?" She called, a little louder.
Trying not to feel worried Kate made her way to the kitchen. She surveyed the kitchen carefully. The sink had been piled up with dirty dishes from the evening meal he had cooked last night. She had left them there so that she could wash them first thing when she came to the villa. The sink was empty of any dishes. Castle must have washed and put them away when he had gotten back to the villa after having taken her home last night. That was another thing Kate had discovered about the man. Richard Castle was a pretty good cook.
Turning away from the sink Kate's eyes settled on the two large mugs that were sitting on the bench beside the espresso machine. Beside the mugs was a balled up bag of coffee beans. Spotting nothing untoward Kate left the kitchen and searched the rest of the place.
Her next stop was Castle's bedroom. Perhaps he might have slept in, she thought to herself. She knocked softly on the door.
"Monsieur Rick?"
Getting no response, she knocked a little more loudly on the door and opened it. She was surprised to find that the bed had been made. It was her job to make the bed each morning. She had found that Castle was an early riser and started writing almost immediately. It was fascinating watching her favourite author when he was working. She had discovered that Castle entered a zone of total concentration when he was writing. A bomb could go off and he would not even notice it. She did not mind that, to be sure. He was working on his latest novel and she was eager for him to finish so that she could read it.
The other morning she had arrived to find that he was in a zombie-like state. After much effort and miscommunication she was able to deduce Castle had been up all night writing. He did not protest when she had manoeuvred him out of the study and put him to bed. She had the house practically to herself for the rest of the day. She had spent most of the day reading those Richard Castle books she had not read before.
As hard as she tried not to, Kate was starting to get worried. Had something happened to him? Leaving the doorway she crossed the bedroom and marched up to the door that lead into the study.
Opening the door she peered into the study and found it was empty. The tendrils of concern began to grow and take hold in the pit of Kate's stomach as she slowly walked into the study and made her way to the desk.
Despite her concern for him a small smile smile rose to her lips as she remembered his excitement when he had spotted the old typewriter sitting on the desk. He had been like a kid in a candy shop, that was the only description she could attach to the way he looked. For the entire week the place reverberated with the sound of the clattering typewriter as he worked to finish his latest book.
Kate's eyes shifted from the typewriter to the writing pad that was beside it. She picked up the writing pad and almost let out a loud sigh of relief. She huffed out a laugh instead. On the writing pad was a hastily drawn stick figure with a downward smile on its face. The stick figure was holding a cup in one hand and a bag of coffee upside down in the other. Underneath the stick figure had been written: 'Nyet coffee'.
The silly man had dropped everything when he had discovered that there was no coffee in the house. Kate shook her head at Castle's impulsiveness. She dropped the writing pad back on the desk. Her eyes drifted across the desk past the typewriter and settled on the neat stack of typewritten pages.
Almost from the moment he had sat down at the desk and started typing Kate had been curious about what this latest novel was going to be like. What adventures was his hero Derrick Storm going to get involved with? As she stared down at the written pages she was just itching to pick them up and start reading. Her inner fan girl was screaming at her to do just that. She had waited for long enough. How could it hurt if she snuck a peak at what he had been writing? Yet Kate hesitated. Her responsible self was reminding her that she did not want to spoil the enjoyment of reading the finished product from start to finish.
As if it had a mind of its own, her hand reached down and gathered up the typed pages and picked them up off the desk.
"Honey, I'm home?" Castle called out in a cheerful voice.
Kate let out a squeak of surprise and almost dropped the pages she was holding, startled by the sound of Castle's voice. She had not even heard his car arrive. Quickly she recovered from her shock and put the pages back down on the desk. Hurriedly she tidied them up so that it did not look like she had been going through them.
"Did you miss me?"
Kate rolled her eyes at that remark. She stepped back from the desk and cast a final inspection to make sure that nothing looked out of place.
"Hey, is that your two-wheel chariot parked outside?" Castle called.
Satisfied that everything was as it should be she dashed out of the study. She came running into the kitchen and pulled up suddenly when she saw Castle. She desperately hoped she did not look too flustered.
Castle was standing by a bench setting down a pair of grocery bags. He turned around and greeted Kate with a warm smile.
"Ah, bonjour, Katya." He said.
"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied, carefully.
Castle turned to the grocery bags and dunked his hand into one of the bags and a moment later he he pulled out a large bag of coffee beans. He held it up for Kate to see.
"We ran out of coffee. Nyet coffee." Castle explained, looking a little apologetic.
Kate gave Castle a pursed lipped smile and nodded her head.
"Nyet, kofe." She said, remembering the note he had left her.
"Ah...yes. Nyet coffee." Castle said.
Castle turned around and opened the bag of coffee and then moved over to the espresso machine.
"And I know how much you like your coffee, this brand in particular." Castle added.
Kate's eyebrows shot up heavenwards and her mouth dropped open. For the life of her she could not remember indicating to him that she liked the coffee. Sure it was some of the best coffee she had ever tasted. And maybe, just maybe, the first time she had tasted it she may have closed her eyes as she savoured it and let out a small moan of delight. It did not occur to her that he might have been paying attention. Obviously he had been if he had dropped everything to go out and buy coffee when he had discovered he had run out, she thought to herself.
"Spasibo." Kate said.
"Ne za chto." Castle responded.
Kate's eyes rose up in surprise again on hearing him tell her that she was welcome in Russian. When did he start learning Russian, she wondered?
She watched Castle carefully. He certainly knew his way around an espresso machine. In fact he worked the machine far better than some of the trained baristas she had encountered in Milan.
A few minutes later he switched off the machine and picked up the two steaming mugs of coffee and walked over to where Kate was standing. He held out one of the mugs to her.
"There you go." He announced, as he passed over the mug.
"Tank you." Kate replied in heavily accented English as she took the offered mug.
"Well, I can't have you starting work without a good cup of coffee, now can I?" Castle chuckled.
Kate brought the mug up to her mouth. She blew on it a couple of times before she took a big of the coffee. A smile spread across her face and she nodded her head in approval. Looking up she found Castle looking at her intently.
"Good?"
"Da...good." Kate replied.
The smile Castle gave her almost turned Kate's legs to rubber. She brought the mug up to her lips and took another sip, turning her head so that he did not see the blush spreading across her cheeks.
"So, is that your scooter outside?" Castle inquired.
Kate turned her head to look at Castle and gave him a questioning look.
"Vroom...vroom, is it yours?" Castle said as he mimed turning a throttle handle and then pointing to Kate.
"Nyet." Kate shook her head. "Moi druz'ya."
Castle looked at her confused, not having understood what Kate had said.
"Um...ah...tavarishch." Kate said haltingly.
Castle's face clouded a little more then suddenly his face brightened.
"Friend?" He ventured.
"Da, da. Friend." Kate confirmed, smiling.
Castle nodded his head unable to keep the grin from his face, pleased that he had gotten it right. He took a sip of his coffee before he turned back to the bench where he had left the groceries.
"Would you like to stay for diner again, Katya?" He called over his shoulder.
Kate did not respond immediately she just stared at Castle, her mug of coffee suspended in mid air half way to her mouth.
When he did not get an answer Castle turned around and looked at the young woman.
"Dinner tonight?" He said. "I'm going to make coq au vin."
Getting a puzzled looked Castle mimed an eating action.
"Ah dinner." Kate nodded. "Da...yes."
"That's great." Castle said excitedly. "You're going to love it, I promise you."
Kate had no doubt about that if last night's meal was anything to go by.
She found herself smiling as she watched Castle unpack the grocery bags depositing the various items he had purchased into the fridge and cupboards, talking all the time. When he finished he turned around suddenly.
"I...go...work." Kate informed him.
"Work, yes." Castle said. "Which reminds me, I have a book to finish."
Kate gave him a quick smile before she walked out of the kitchen.
XXX
Kate stepped out of the car and waved her thanks to Madam Eleanor. She watched as the car drove away. A cold gust of wind tugged at her coat and she pulled the coat tighter against her then dug her hands into the pockets of the coat to keep them warm. She shivered a little as she had forgotten her scarf. The cold wind was a less than subtle reminder that winter was just around the corner. The weather forecasts were predicting snow in the not too distant future. The changing weather was reminder that her time here was drawing to an end.
When Madam Eleanor's car had disappeared from view Kate slowly turned around and faced the villa.
A smile broke across her face. She had not thought that she would enjoy working as a housekeeper when she had first gotten the job. At the time it was just a job to earn some money before she finally went home to New York. That attitude had changed when she had discovered that she was working for the famous author Richard Castle. The writer who was her favourite author. Much to her surprise she found that she really enjoyed working for him. She always looked forward to arriving at the villa. It was fun and he was fun to be around.
The smile on her face began to fade when her thoughts settled on the fact that all of this was soon to end. She had to return home and resume her studies. Castle too would be leaving soon now that he was nearly finished his book. Last night he had informed her in his inimitable way that he had only one more chapter to go and the book would be finished.
Shaking off her thoughts Kate started walking towards the front door of the villa. She forced a smile to her lips as she entered. She did not want him to see her looking unhappy. He would immediately start asking questions and she did not want to provide answers.
As she made her way to the kitchen she was about to call out to Castle when she heard his raised voice coming from the study. Kate could not quite make out what he was saying but she figured he must be on the telephone.
Kate went straight to the coffee machine. The smile on her face deepened when she spotted her mug sitting beside the espresso machine waiting for her. Of late when she walked into the kitchen in the morning, her mug would be there waiting for her. Sometimes it would be filled with steaming hot coffee. It was sweet of him to have her mug ready for her. Picking up the mug Kate placed it under the machine and switched it on. The machine hummed into life.
A few minutes later Kate picked up the mug and brought it up to her mouth. She took a sip of the hot black liquid. An appreciative murmur escaped from her pursed lips. Definitely her favourite brand of coffee. She could only wonder if she would be able to find it when she got home. She took another sip of the coffee and walked out of the kitchen.
Kate was drawn towards the study. The door was open and she slowly paused in the doorway. Castle was standing by the desk with a telephone stuck to his left ear. He was staring out the window.
"So, did you get up at five in the morning your time and call me to ask as my blood-sucking publisher or as my blood-sucking ex-wife?" Castle shouted down the phone.
Kate was shocked. She had never heard Castle shouting before. She hesitated in the doorway. She should not be standing there listening to what was obviously a private conversation but her legs were refusing to obey her command to leave.
"I'm not punishing you." Castle insisted. "And I'm certainly not killing off the Golden Goose."
Kate almost dropped the coffee mug at hearing what Castle had just said. Was he killing off Derrick Storm? No, that could not be right. He would not do that, surely?
"Why? Why what?" Castle asked. "Why am I killing off Derrick?"
Kate's mouth dropped open in shock.
"I'll tell you why. Writing Derrick used to be fun. Now it's like work."
Kate stared at the author too stunned to move. She definitely could not believe what she was hearing. Castle was killing off his most famous character. She saw Castle shake his head from side to side in response to something his publisher and ex-wife was saying, as if he was silently mocking her.
"Look, I don't know what you're worried about. Derrick Storm is not the Golden Goose. I am." Castle stated.
Kate found herself shaking her head as she continued to stare at the author.
"I don't know yet." Castle said. "I haven't decided how I'm going to kill him off. No, I'm not going to retire him...No, I'm not going to put him in a wheel chair permanently."
Kate slowly began to recover from the initial shock. She slowly brought the mug up to her mouth and took a big sip. She found that her mouth had suddenly gone dry.
"I might just put a bullet in his head." Castle announced.
Kate instantly spat out a mouthful of coffee back into the mug. It took everything she had not to start choking and remain silent.
"A big exit wound." Castle said gleefully, oblivious to the presence of his housekeeper. "Make it really messy."
Kate took a deep calming breath and found herself shaking her head in disbelief. She felt like she was a witness to a surreal scene that was unfolding before her. She had to get out of the room but her feet continued to refuse to budge.
"The longer you keep me on the phone berating me, the longer it's going to take for me to send you the final chapter." Castle announced. "Okay, okay...I said, OKAY! You'll get the damn final chapter by the end of the week."
Castle ended the call by angrily slamming the telephone receiver back in its cradle. He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. He turned around and was startled to find a shocked looking Kate standing in the doorway of the study.
"Oh, Katya. Um...I'm sorry you had to hear that." He said, looking a little sheepish. He pointed to the telephone. "That was my slave master calling from New York."
Kate nodded her head slowly. She saw the sheepish look disappear from his face as he forced a smile to his face.
"Dobroye utro, Katya." He said in heavily accented Russian.
"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied.
"Well." Castle stammered. He glanced out the window a moment before he looked back at Kate. "I think I'll do some writing outside today, near the lake."
Kate frowned at his announcement. The sky was getting overcast and the wind looked like it was going to pick up soon. She could not understand why he wanted to work outside.
"You know, outside..." He pointed out the window towards the pond. "Some fresh air...away from the telephone."
"Okay."
Well she could understand that. If he wanted to work outside in the cold she was not going to stop him.
XXX
It was late in the afternoon when Kate came in the kitchen. She had finished the cleaning for the day and was in need of a cup of coffee. Walking up to the espresso machine she removed the portafilter from the machine and emptied out the used coffee beans into the bin beside the bench. She refilled the portafilter with fresh ground coffee beans from the grinder. She made sure to tamp down the coffee carefully before returning it to the machine. Moving across to the cupboard that contained the coffee mugs she selected one and placed it under the portafilter before she switched on the machine. As she waited for the mug to slowly fill up Kate moved across to the kitchen window and peered out.
In the distance she saw Castle. He was sitting at a table he had set up near the edge of the lake. He was bent over the typewriter hurriedly typing away. He had been hard at work for several hours. She had been looking on him from a distance from time to time. At around two o'clock she had tried to entice with some lunch but he had declined though he did accept the cup of coffee she had brought out.
One thing she had immediately noticed about him when she had gone out to see if he wanted some lunch was that he had looked unhappy. His shoulders were slumped. All the other times when she had intruded into the study where he was working there would a ready smile on his face. The telephone call with his publisher must have affected him far more than he was willing to let on.
It had taken Kate a couple of hours to get over the shock of finding out that her favourite author was going to kill off his most successful character. She was curious. Why would he want to kill off Derrick Storm? It was not as if the Storm books were getting boring, at least not to her way of thinking. She always eagerly awaited the release of his latest books. There had been one time when she had lined up at the front of her local book store before midnight to be one of the first to buy his latest Derrick Storm novel.
Kate moved away from the window and returned to the espresso machine. She switched it off and carefully picked up the mug. She might have been in need of a coffee but she had a feeling that Castle out there might need it a little more. Without further thought she walked out of the kitchen and emerged from the back door. As she made her way across the lawn to where Castle was working she noticed that the wind had picked up.
Approaching the desk where Castle was sitting Kate saw that Castle despite the phone call had been pretty productive. There was a small stack of typed pages sitting beside the typewriter. The typed pages were being held in place by Castle's empty coffee mug.
Castle had paused in his work and was reading over the page he had just written. Hearing Kate approaching he turned his head around. Kate offered the writer a smile as she held up the coffee mug that she had brought him.
"Thanks." Castle smiled.
Kate nodded her head in reply. With her free hand she reached down and picked up the empty mug ready to replace it with the filled mug.
It was at that particular moment when a strong gust of wind blew through picking up Castle's typed pages and lifted them up into the air, propelling them in the direction of the lake.
"Shit!" Kate shouted as she watched the pages fluttering away.
Castle looked sharply at Kate surprised at what she had said. He did not dwell on that because Kate moved into action immediately. She slammed the mug she was holding hard on the table spilling some of the coffee and set off after the fleeing pages. Castle jumped to his feet.
"It's most of the last chapter." He said he muttered to himself.
Castle followed Kate as she raced towards the water's edge. She skipped onto the small jetty racing to the end.
"Just leave them!" Castle shouted to her. "They're not important. They're not worth it."
Kate ignored his shouts. Reaching the end of the jetty she looked at the pages that were floating on the surface of the lake. Without thinking she kicked off her shoes and threw off the cardigan she had been wearing. She caught some of what Castle was shouting, something about it being rubbish and to leave them. She ignored his shouting as she pulled off her dress and the singlet. All she wanted to do was recover the pages in the water. She shivered as she stood in a bra and panties and the next moment she dived into the water.
Castle had reached the jetty and stumbled to a halt. His mouth fell open in disbelief as he stared as Kate removed her clothes and in her bra and panties, then a moment later dived into the water. He had always suspected that she had a terrific body but it still came as a surprise to have it revealed to him in such a manner.
"Oh, God, she's in." He muttered, shaken out of his admiring reverie. "And now she'll think me a total tool if I don't go in too."
Castle quickly disrobed down to his boxers. He fell rather than dived in to the water in his haste.
"Fuck, it's cold!" Kate shouted as she reached for a page floating close by.
Castle swam towards her.
"It's so fucking cold!" He muttered.
Kate gathered another soggy page. She looked at the page before she threw a glance at Castle.
"This stuff had better be good."
Castle stopped swimming and stared in astonishment.
"What kind of idiot doesn't make copies?" Kate said through chattering teeth, reaching for another soggy page. "Better still what kind of idiot uses a typewriter when he's got a perfectly good laptop he can use?"
Castle continued to stare at the young woman as she continued to gather up the pages from the water. He had not been hallucinating because of the freezing water, he realised. Katya was speaking English. Perfectly good English.
"Tell me what kind of idiot doesn't make copies?" Kate questioned.
"Um...ah...that would be me."
Kate turned her head to look at Castle and found him standing there with his right hand in the air. She shot him a glare and resumed trying to recover more pages.
"Just stop." Castle ordered. "Stop!"
Kate stopped and slowly turned to look at Castle.
"The pages are really not worth catching pneumonia for."
Kate looked at the pages she was holding in her hand, some had shredded because of the weight of the water. Most of the pages had running ink erasing the words that had been there. She realised that it had been a futile effort trying to recover the pages. She let the pages fall from her hand before she turned to look back at Castle.
"Let's get out of her before we catch our death." Castle suggested.
Kate nodded her head in agreement.
XXX
Kate was sitting on the edge of the couch in the living room. The couch had been turned towards the fireplace. The gas fire had been turned all the way up and the room was starting to really warm up. She was sitting on the couch wrapped in a thick woollen blanket but she still shivered a little. The water in the lake had been much colder than she had ever expected.
As she sat there trying to warm up Kate could not help but wonder what had possessed her to take off her clothes and dive into the water. Okay, it might have been her fault that the wind had sent the pages flying Castle had spent the afternoon writing. Did she really need to go diving in to recover them? Did she really have to give him a good eyeful before she dived into the water? Thinking about her actions now she could only shake her head at her foolishness. She could only imagine what Castle thought of her.
Speaking of Castle. He had not made any kind of comment when they had gotten out of the water, which she had been expecting. He had escorted her into the living room, setting her on the couch and ignored her protests that she was going to soak the fabric of the couch. From somewhere he had produced the blanket and wrapped it around her then started up the gas fire before he disappeared. She had been on her own for about ten minutes now. She wondered where he had gotten to. The answer came a minute later when Castle returned to the living room bearing two cups of coffee.
Kate noticed that he had changed into some dry clothes. He had put on the dark blue shirt which had become her favourite because the colour of the shirt seemed to bring out the colour of his eyes. She quickly shook off those thoughts.
"Here you go, this might warm you up a little." Castle said as he held out one of the mugs towards her.
Kate's hand appeared from within the folds of the blanket and accepted the offered mug. Her other hand was tightly holding the blanket together. Beneath the blanket she was naked, having removed her wet bra and panties when Castle had left the room. They were lying on the floor beside the couch.
"Thank you." Kate said in a low voice.
"You're welcome." Castle replied.
Castle was about to reach for the ottoman so he could sit on it when he changed his mind, sitting on the couch instead but leaving some space between them. He gave her a smile before he raised his mug and took a big sip.
Kate winced inwardly, she must look a bedraggled mess, she thought to herself. Well she had no one but herself to blame for being in this state. Rather than worry about it too much now she turned her attention to the mug she was holding and took a sip of the coffee. Her eyebrows rose up in surprise. Something had been added to her coffee. She took another sip of the coffee trying to figure out what that something extra was.
"I put a shot of whiskey into the coffee." Castle explained, having noticed her expression. "It might warm you up a little quicker."
Kate nodded her thanks as she took another sip of the coffee. He had been right, the shot of whiskey was starting to do the trick. The warmth of the alcohol and the heat of the fire was starting to do the trick.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Katya Dimitrova isn't your real name." Castle ventured, the beginning of a smirk appearing on his lips.
Kate gnawed on her bottom lip and cast her eyes down.
"It's Kate, Kate Beckett." She said in a low voice.
"I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Kate, Kate Beckett."
Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head at his little joke.
"Likewise, Mr Castle."
"So, why the disguise?" Castle wondered.
Kate replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She did not notice that her blanket had slipped a little to reveal her neck and a little expanse of a shoulder. Castle noticed and he was about to reach out and help her with the blanket when his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him.
"Are you a secret agent on a mission?" He said with growing excitement in his voice.
Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Okay. You're a secret agent who's lying low after a successful mission, then." He suggested. "That would be so cool, you know?"
Kate started to shake her head but paused and regarded Castle. She saw the animated expression on his face. Kid in a candy shop, she thought to herself. The term seemed so perfectly apt in describing the man sitting beside her. She found that she could not help but smile.
"No, nothing like that."
"You're being chased by some bad guys so you've gone on the lam until the coast is clear?" Castle suggested.
"No."
"Oh, oh. I know, I know..."
"Castle." Kate snapped.
The writer stopped at the sharpness of her tone. He quickly realised that he had been rambling, letting his over active writer's imagination have full rein.
"Sorry." He said contritely and motioned to Kate to speak. "So, why the disguise?"
Kate saw that part of the blanket had slipped a little more to reveal a bare shoulder. She carefully covered herself and tightened her hold on the blanket before she spoke.
"I recently completed a semester in Kiev where I was brushing up on my Russian, and rather than fly straight back home, I decided to do a bit of travelling through Europe, you know, see a few places, earn a bit of money, that sort of thing."
Castle grinned and nodded his his head in understanding.
"I thought it would be fun to play Katya for a little while..." Kate's voice trailed off and she shrugged her shoulders again.
"And messing with my head, didn't hurt either, eh?"
Kate looked over the top of the mug to Castle and saw him grinning back at her. A big warm smile spread across her face as she recalled all the times he tried to communicate with her, mangling what little French he knew with the few words of Russian he had at his command and punctuating all of that with his manic pantomimes.
"That was just a bonus." She said deadpan.
Castle regarded Kate, the amused expression on her face before it was hidden by the coffee mug. He could not hold back the chuckle that escaped from him. Kate smiled as she put her mug down on the small coffee table.
"Can I ask you question, Kate?"
"Ask away."
"What in the world made you jump into the water. The freezing cold water, I might add?"
"Someone had to get the pages back."
"Didn't you hear me say to leave them? That they weren't that important?" Castle ventured.
"I thought they were important." Kate said.
Shrugging her shoulders made the blanket slip again revealing her shoulder, again. Castle's eyes dropped to her shoulder. He could not help but wonder what it would be like to run his hand over her bare shoulder. Realising where his thoughts were going he quickly pulled back and returned to the subject at hand.
"Well, they weren't." He said.
Kate looked at Castle and was a little startled to see the serious look on his face. It was the same kind of look he had when he had been on the phone with his publisher. In that moment her curiosity returned.
"Are you really killing off, Derrick Storm?" She blurted out.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Castle took a moment to put his coffee mug down on the table beside Kate's. It gave him a moment to gather his thoughts. He turned and looked at Kate before he spoke.
"There were no more surprises." He announced. "I know exactly what is going to happen in every moment, in every scene."
Kate rolled her eyes.
"You're the writer. You're supposed to know what is going to happen." She pointed out.
"That's true." He agreed.
"If you don't know what's going to happen, who does?"
"Derrick's become predictable." Castle sighed. "It used to be a wild exciting adventure but he isn't fun any more."
Kate nodded her head slowly. As hard as she tried to disguise it she could not hide the feeling of disappointment she felt on hearing Castle's confirmation that he was killing off her favourite literary character because he had become tired of the character. That writing Derrick Storm had become predictable and not fun any more.
"Do I detect disappointment?" Castle asked, eyeing her carefully.
Kate shrugged her shoulders and turned away.
"I think you're a fan."
"No I'm not." Kate said hurriedly, turning to look at the author.
"Yes, you are. Yes you are." Castle laughed. "You're so a fan."
"I am not!" Kate huffed.
"Oh really?" Castle challenged.
Kate opened her mouth ready to make another retort but the words faded from mind when she gazed into his blue eyes and saw the amusement dancing there. It would be so easy to lose herself in them, she thought to herself. Realising that she was staring she forced herself to look away.
"I...I may have read one or two of your books, Mr Castle." Kate conceded.
"Uh-huh."
Kate looked at Castle sharply.
"Okay." He smiled.
The look on his face told Kate he did not believe her. She braced herself for another onslaught. It did not come. She was relieved to see that he was not going to press the point.
"I think I'd better get dressed." Kate announced slowly rising to her feet. "Where are my clothes?"
Castle also rose from the couch as well. A worried, hesitant look appeared on his face.
"I...ah...I kind of put your clothes in the washer." Castle informed her.
"You did what?"
"Well, they got muddy and wet when we got out of the lake. I...I...thought you'd like them to be clean, you know."
"What the hell am I going to wear now?" Kate demanded. She tightened her hold on the blanket around her as she glared at the author.
Castle's eyes brimmed with delight. "Ah...you could go..."
"Careful what you say." Kate interjected in a warning tone of voice.
"What I was going to say was, that you can go into my bedroom and put on the clothes I've put out for you." Castle said carefully. "An old t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants."
Kate blinked a couple of times as she looked at the author. The pilot light of anger that had been ready to ignite was suddenly extinguished as she continued to look at him. The expression on her face softened and a moment later a smile spread across her face.
"That's sweet. Thank you."
Castle shrugged his shoulders, as if to say it was nothing.
Kate regarded Castle for a couple of moments before she turned and walked to the door.
"Kate, would you like to stay for dinner?" Castle called out.
Kate paused in the doorway and looked back.
"I don't know." She said hesitantly. "It's getting late."
"You tried to save my work from drowning, feeding you is the least I can do."
"Shouldn't you be working on the last chapter of your book?" Kate asked.
"I should." Castle agreed. "But I'd much prefer to make you dinner. It be a lot more fun."
"More fun?"
"Yeah."
"Of course." Kate shook her head.
"So, what do you say Kate, dinner with me, tonight?"
Kate bit on her lower lip as she considered the question. She studied his face and saw the expectant look on it. Perhaps it would be fun to actually have a descent conversation with him rather than desperately trying to suppress the fit of giggles that threatened to erupt as she watched him trying to communicate something through mime.
"Okay, Castle." She announced finally.
"Great." Castle said excitedly.
Kate smiled, amused by his child-like exuberance, before she turned and walked out of the living room.
XXXXX
I'd really love to know what you thought of this effort.
Con