Postcards from Far Away

Richard Castle climbed into the taxi and sighed as the driver did a double take. Great, another fan. Normally, he would have been thrilled, but right now, it was just a burden. He gave the cabbie his address and leaned back as the cab started to move. He sighed again as he let the misery wash over him.

He had hurt Kate Beckett. He had entered that hospital and seen the look of happiness on her face and then he had gone and told her. He had made that smile disappear. He had told her that he had looked into her mother's murder, but she hadn't reacted, she hadn't done anything, so he had continued telling her everything her knew. He had told her about "Dr. Death" and about the blow that had killed her mother. He told her about the other three stabbings and their connection to her mother's. And then he had told her how sorry he was and had walked away. He had walked away because he didn't want to hear Kate say that their partnership was over. In his mind, as long as he didn't hear her say that, there was still a glimmer of hope that one day they would work together again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought, banging his head against the back of the driver seat, how childishly stupid. There was no way in hell that Kate would ever want to work with him, especially after this.

The cabbie looked back, probably worried that the bestselling author in his backseat was insane.

Maybe I am, Rick thought darkly, but he stopped banging his head against the seat in front of him. Instead, he settled on glowering murderously at the passing cars.

Once the cab arrived at his building, Rick gave the driver, who was obviously happy to get him out of his cab, no matter how famous he was, some money. As he road the elevator up to his apartment, he became aware of a bizarre feeling of emptiness next to his heart. Even though it felt empty, it also felt like a huge weight, weighing him down with every step he took.

I must be coming down with something, he thought, as he entered his home, glad for once that both Martha and Alexis were out for the day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you liked the story, more to come soon. As always, comments and reviews are greatly appreciated. Ciao!