"Hi, this is Kate Beckett, NYPD, can I please speak to Harold Arnold?"
"sure, just a moment please." A nasally voice on the other end of the line said.
"Hello?" A bright and happy female voice spoke.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kate said, "I was supposed to be connected to Harold Arnold..."
"Harold transferred about three months ago...I'm his replacement, Amanda Shane. Is there a problem?"
"No, I...a while ago Mr. Arnold offered me to shadow...you know, I'm sorry for the mistake. Nice talking to you-"
"Wait, no. If you wanted to cone spend some time here, I mean, it's absolutely no problem."
"If you're sure..." Beckett said cautiously.
"Totally...when should we expect you?"
…ooo…ooo…ooo…ooo…
"I don't think I can do this, Lanie..." Kate told her friend nervously. The two sat in a stalling car in the street outside Castle's beach house.
"You can, and you will." Lanie told her, "And you'd better go soon, or someone will realize how long we've been sitting out here. Just remember, you couldn't find any open hotels, and it's too last minute to cancel on the department..so your desperate."
"Lanie..." She started
"No. Go, now." Lanie said, reaching over Kate and opening the door.
"Wait! Lanie! Stop it!" Kate protested as she was pushed out of the car, her bags being thrown to her feet. The car started and started to move.
"Good luck! Have fun! Love ya!" Lanie yelled out the window, leaving Kate standing on the curb, shaking slightly.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing. Then, she grabbed her bags and strode up the walkway, putting on an act of completely fake confidence.
She rang the doorbell as soon as she got to the door, her actions moving impossibly faster than her thoughts.
"Coming, coming," she heard his voice from inside. And with that, she lost all of her guts. Her breath got shaky and she was just about to run when she heard the door crack open. At his shocked expression, she reconstructed her poker face and took a deep breath.
"Beckett?" Castle asked incredulously, "Wha-What are you doing here? And...why do you have bags?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
"I agreed to shadow the Hampton homicide department, and didn't expect it to be this crowded up here. I went to every hotel...but they're all booked." She shrugged nonchalantly, trying to keep up her act, "what can I say, I'm desperate."
"Well, my invitation is still very open for you," Castle said, grinning and stepping aside so he could gesture her in, "Welcome to Chateau Castle"
Beckett stepped into the house, stopping just a little past the doorway and taking in her surroundings. The house was indeed, spectacular...in every way. And, there was no sign of Gina...which was definitely a plus.
"May I take your bags, m'lady?" Castle said walking up behind her. She just nodded, following behind him up to the room that he chose for her. "This is where you can stay...the bathroom is through those doors, I'll get some fresh towels put in ASAP...I'll go downstairs and leave you here to get comfortable. Make yourself at home." He said happily, bowing out of the room theatrically.
The first thing she did when she was sure she was alone was whip out her cell phone. She had already gotten seven texts from Lanie. She sent but one text in reply: step one= success. :)
…ooo…ooo…ooo…ooo…
She walked down the stairs slowly, scanning the large and open living room for Castle. She saw him sitting on a dining table, facing the opposite way from her and gazing out into the ocean. His laptop sat open in front of him, the cursor blinking on a blank word document. She walked up behind him and rested her hand on the back of his chair.
"So," she said, " How's the writing going?" He jumped a little at her voice, looking up and smiling,
"Well..." he said, "Its...going."
"That doesn't sound too positive..." She said with a chuckle. She pushed his hand off the mouse and clicked on the other open and minimized word document; the previous chapter. She skimmed the first few paragraphs, before sitting down in the chair next to him with an eyebrow raised and eyeing him suspiciously. "Tell me...who, exactly, is 'Schlemming'?"
"He..." Castle said slowly, "is probably my least favorite character...and is currently the main cause for my writers block." Beckett just smiled, standing up and walking over to see what books he had on his bookshelf.
"So..." she said quietly, "where's Gina?"
"Out with her friends..." Castle said, turning to face her with a questioning look on his face, "Why? Is that a hint of jealousy I hear, Detective?"
"what? No!" she said a little bit too quickly, "I just...figured she would be here with you."
"Nah, the only reason she even came was so that she could make sure I was working..." he said, "What about Demming? I would have thought the two of you would be spending the holiday together."
"Oh, I, um...we aren't together anymore..."
"Really?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Really." she responded with a small smirk on her face, "well, I think I'm going to go hit the hay. Who knows what the Hamptons will have in store for me tomorrow."
With that, she retreated upstairs to her designated room, hoping she would be able to get even a little sleep for the night.
…ooo…ooo…ooo…ooo…
She woke up before he did, and tiptoed through the house and out the front door. The station, as Lanie had pointed out to her, was a walking distance away from Castle's place, so she just headed out on foot. On the way, she stopped at a coffee shop, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the coffee she got was actually pretty good.
Once at the station, she signed herself in at the front desk, and the receptionist gave her directions to their homicide department.
"You must be Detective Beckett," A happy looking girl said when Kate entered the room, "I'm Amanda Shane, Harold's replacement."
"Nice to meet you," Kate said, shaking her hand, "But please, call me Kate."
"Only if you call me Amanda," The girl said with a grin. Then, she led Kate over to a large table and showed her information they had on a murder they were currently working on.
A few hours later, Amanda led Kate into the break room, where they sat down with coffees (which where nowheres near as good as the ones back at the twelfth,) and started to talk.
"So," Amanda started, "What made you finally decide to come down here? Hasn't it been like…almost a year since Harold was down at your place?"
"Yah…" Kate said, looking down at you coffee and trying to keep her face casual, "I just figured…its summer, and so if I'm going to be at work, I might as well shake it up a little."
"You make it sound like there's more to it than that…" Amanda said, looking at her with one eyebrow raised. Beckett just shrugged, looking a little sheepish, "It doesn't have anything to do with Richard Castle, does it? I know he lives around here…and aren't you his muse?" Beckett looked up at her with wide eyes, shocked that she could catch on that quickly.
"Jeeze…you must be a really good detective." Kate said with a smile. Then, for the next half hour, Amanda pushed details out of Kate about what her story was, and she decided that Amanda was somebody that she definitely could get along well with.
…ooo…ooo…ooo…ooo…