Click-click. Click-click. The doorknob rattled its assurance that the door to Richard Castle's Manhattan loft was, in fact, locked.
Of course it's locked, Kate Beckett thought, as she smiled and shook her head. Why wouldn't it be? She knew how superstitious Castle was, and a man of such predilections would never tempt "fate" by leaving his door unlocked-even though his was probably the most secure residential building on the planet.
Like living in Gringotts, she mused, but hopefully with 100% less dragon. She opened her purse and went mining for the key she kept deep in its folds.
She opened the door expecting to see only the dim kitchen lighting (which Castle always left on, just in case someone tried to "sneak up on him"), but found the loft illuminated in full brilliance instead. She closed the door quietly behind her, quickly scanned the area around the doorway, and instinctively reached for her gun.
"Castle?" She called out. "Are you here?"
"My dad's not here, Detective Beckett," said Alexis Castle, her weary voice carrying across the threshold of her father's office. Beckett holstered her weapon and walked quickly to the doorway of the study. Alexis was seated in Castle's chair, surrounded by open books, binders, index cards, flash drives, and various electronic devices, all of which were currently scattered helter-skelter on the desk and in various piles along the floor. Beckett analyzed the scene quickly, and shook her head. It didn't take a genius to determine that Alexis was suffering from an acute case of academic overload. Next stop: full-on burnout.
Given Alexis' perfectionist nature (and by extension, her tendency to demand far too much of herself), Beckett was unsure of how to proceed. She thought about offering some words of encouragement and comfort ("Hang in there, kiddo! You'll figure it out!), but decided that any such words would be too trite; instead, she called an audible at the last minute and opted for something more neutral.
"So..how's it going?" Ugh. Now that it was out there, Beckett thought the question sounded far too tepid-especially coming from the woman who was in a serious relationship with her father.
"How do you think it's going?" Alexis almost-shouted, gesturing to the disorganized conglomeration of academic paraphernalia tossed across the room, her green eyes flashing with frustration. Answering a question with a question, Beckett thought, fighting a smile, she gets that from her father.
"From the looks of things, I'm gonna roll with 'not well,'" she offered, extending the olive branch again. Alexis sighed, and clenched both hands in her auburn hair as she growled in the direction of her notes.
"I have three exams next week, all in classes for which those exams count as at least 35 percent of my grade. I also have two papers due, on neither of which I have been able to make much progress, because I've been so consumed with these exams. And today, one of my professors changed his mind about his exam and decided to make it comprehensive for the entire semester to date, which means all the studying I've done so far will only scratch the surface of the material I need to know before Monday. I have no idea how I'm going to get all this done. Plus, now all my notes are running together in my brain, and I can't keep straight what material belongs to what class." She looked up, her eyes dimming with desperation and pleading. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this."
"Alexis, you are one of the brightest people I've ever met," Beckett said, placing a hand tentatively on her shoulder, "and I have no doubt that you're gonna do great next week." Alexis cast a glance her way, smiled slightly, and said, "Thanks, Detective Beckett."
"We've talked about this, right? Call me 'Kate,' ok?" Beckett rubbed her shoulder, and Alexis allowed her body to move in sync with the gesture. "I promise to try," she said, her smile widening.
Beckett looked around again, and then asked, "So, where is your dad?"
"He had a meeting with his agent. Apparently, the new Derrick Storm book is making more waves than anyone thought, and the publisher is interested in doing a new set of novels featuring him as the main character. Dad went over to talk details. I'm surprised he didn't tell you about it."
"He probably didn't think it would matter, since I'm supposed to be at work right now. We have a lower-than-normal caseload at present, so I knocked off a little early. Oh, well." Kate shrugged, then took her coat off and walked to the front room closet, where she hung it neatly next to Castle's vast array of top coats and jackets.
As she closed the closet door, an idea came to her. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. It was so obvious, after all.
"Hey, Alexis? What would you say to pizza and a movie? Just the two of us, you know? Girls' night. I'm buying."
"I don't know, Det-Kate. I've got a lot of studying to do." Alexis said, hopelessly.
"A couple of hours away from the books isn't gonna kill you. The break might actually do you some good. Come on-what do you say? I pick the pizza, you pick the movie?" Kate asked, biting her lower lip and raising her eyebrows inquisitively.
Alexis rolled her eyes quickly from one side of her head to the other, as if she were searching for a sign to tell her what she should do. Finally, with a smile that stretched from one side of her face to the other, she offered her response.
"Let's do it."