Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, unless Castle happens to be three quarters, a ball of lint, and a chewed up dog leash...
Rick:
Two weeks later, Castle was again in Johanna's office. As much as he liked Johanna, he still really didn't want to be in her office. Last week, Johanna had told him that Meredith had hired Turner Barrows, one of the more vicious divorce lawyers in New York, who had made his name off two of the 'Real Housewives' as well as a few Knicks. For the most part, Castle wouldn't have given a damn, except that the man had obviously counseled Meredith to put on more of a motherly appearance. As a result, he and Alexis had seen Meredith more in the last ten days than in the previous twelve months put together.
It was grating on his nerves.
Meredith was an actress, after all, and so she'd taken to this last two weeks of mothering like it was just another role to play. Sadly, he'd learned to see through her acting tricks early on. He wondered if Alexis had too, and if it was better or worse if she hadn't.
"How are you and 'Lex holding up, Rick?" Johanna asked.
Rick turned from where he'd been staring out the window. "Fine, I guess. Alexis is old enough to understand what's going on, sort of."
"Alexis always was a bright girl."
"Sadly, most of her classmates have some experience with divorce. Alexis already sort of thought Meredith and I were divorced. Thought we'd been divorced her whole life. I hadn't realized before now that Alexis thought of her mother as some sort of every other weekend custodian."
"I'm sorry, Rick. I would never wish this on you or Alexis, but I do think it will be better for your both, once it's all done."
"I know. That's why I wanted you. So thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, I have some bad news and some odd news. The bad news, although expected, is that Meredith rejected out initial offer. She hasn't counter-offered yet. The odd news is that Barrows agreed to our mediator."
"Why is that odd?"
"Barrows is the kind of guy that will argue the color of the sky, just to get you to concede something. If he's agreeing, he must see some advantage in the arrangement."
"Is there one, for them?"
"Honestly? I don't know - it's just mediation, not binding. But, like I said, I'm not used to these high stakes divorces."
"You'll be fine. Just remember you're protecting Alexis, do whatever seems right to save her."
"Speaking of... I haven't seen our old soul in awhile."
"You probably will soon. I have been reluctant to leave her with Emily, since Emily can't run interference with Meredith, and Meredith seems to have a sixth sense about when I'm out of the loft. So I've been bringing Alexis along to stuff I'd normally let her stay home for."
"Well, bring her by. We can find a way to keep her busy when you and I talk business. Anyway, like you instructed, our offer to Meredith was generous, so I'm expecting the counter-offer to be ... crippling."
"As long as I get custody, I don't care."
"I'd like to think we can get you out of this with Alexis, your home, your books and at least some cash for Mac and Cheese."
"That's fine. Alexis and I both like Mac and Cheese. Especially the stuff with that toxic yellow colored cheese powder."
"Please don't tell me that's what you serve her."
"Don't worry, I get some vegetables in her too. Mostly at her insistence, in fact."
Johanna grabbed a file off of her desk, handed it to Rick.
"What's this?"
"Jim put it together. Actually, hold on," Johanna said. She got up, left the office. When she came back, her husband was following her.
"Want to tell Rick about the breakdown?"
"Sure," Jim said, shaking Rick's hand, "Good to see you, wish it was under better circumstances."
"Hey, after this is over, I'm going to need to write some new books. Maybe you can swing me a deal for a second series or something."
Jim nodded over to his wife, "Well, you'd have one reader guaranteed."
"Be sure to tell the publishers that."
Jim laughed. He pointed at the folder Rick had opened. "That's a breakdown of your financial position right now, in that first column there. That's just the summary, you can look through the details if you want. The second column is what things will look like if Meredith accepts your first offer."
"She rejected it," Johanna said.
"Right, sorry. So that's where you might have been. The third column is where we're guessing things will eventually end up, and the fourth is sort of the worst case scenario."
"These seem fine. I mean, even this fourth column, it wouldn't be too bad."
"No, you'd still be making more money than most people. But, I do have to warn you. If it got that bad, she'd probably end up with ownership of your books, at least with rights over Derrick Storm. Anything you wrote in the future for Derrick, she'd be able to control."
"Better him than Alexis."
"I like your pragmatism. But remember... selling an extension to a series is much easier than selling new work, even for an author as established as yourself. And you'd have to reconcile yourself to seeing Storm on the side of a Burger King cup, or hocking mattresses or something."
Rick groaned. Storm was his. All of his characters were. They were family. But if it meant keeping Alexis...
"Thanks, Jim. Jo. You guys... I know you're looking out for me. I'll think about all of this."
"Good. I'll call you when we hear from Meredith," Johanna said.
Rick stood in the lobby of the Beckett's office building, staring at the coffeeshop entrance. He'd decided not to go in last week when he'd had his appointment with Johanna, worried that he might run into the brunette that the clerk had said was a regular. But now, though he was still scared, he also sort of hoped he would run into her, though maybe not literally this time. Even if he had no idea what to say.
This is stupid, he thought to himself. There was no way she'd be in at the exact same time he was. He laughed at himself and went into the shop.
The older gentleman was working the register today, and the store was empty save one man who already had his drink, so Castle decided to strike up a conversation after he ordered.
"Every time I come in here, it's just the two of you working."
"That's cause were the only employees, son. My wife and I have owned this place twenty years, from back before the days of the Caribous and the Starbucks and the rest."
"Must be tough."
"Not as bad as you think. Most of our business is from the surrounding offices, so we usually close around seven, and around two on Saturday. We're our own bosses, get to work together. Our son and daughter covered quite a few shifts growing up. Not a bad life. Plus, most of our customers are regulars. Get to meet some good people, make sure they have the pick-me-up that gets them through the day. And speaking of, hi, Kate."
Castle turned around, saw that the brunette he hadn't been able to stop thinking about had come into the store. He smiled without thought and she gave him a half smile back.
"Hi Paul, can I have the caramel mocha today, and the normal Double Americano?" The woman, Kate, asked.
"Coming right up."
"Hi," Rick said. "I'm sorry I ran out on you last time. Something... well, it's a long story." He hoped she wouldn't ask, since he still had no excuse save the truth.
"It's okay. Saved me a dry-cleaning bill, I guess. And thank you for the coffee."
"My pleasure. I did, after all, take your first one with me when I left."
"Is it still with you?"
"What? Oh, no. The stains came out. Crisis averted. Don't worry, coffee is nowhere near the top of the list of oddball things I've asked my dry cleaner to get out of a coat."
"You must lead quite the life," she said, taking her coffee from the counter.
"You have no idea. I'm Rick, by the way," he said. He wanted to say his last name, but then remembered that right now, being known would probably work against him.
"Kate," she said, shaking his hand.
"So you're here every Wednesday?"
"I have a standing date."
"Oh," he said, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice, "I should let you go then."
"It's with my mother. It can keep for a minute. By the way, how did you know my drink order?"
"Oh, I saw you in line when I came in, heard what you'd ordered."
"And you remembered. That's ... sort of creepy actually."
He laughed, since her eyes seemed to say she was joking. "I don't set out to do it, it just happens. I notice things, whether I mean to or not."
"You sound like a superhero. After a mysterious gamma ray owl bite accident, Rick can... notice things, really well."
"Oooh... a comic book fan. Hot."
"Close your eyes," she said.
"Games, even hotter." He was flirting again, despite himself. What was it about this woman?
She rolled her eyes, so he did what she asked.
"Okay, I want to see this talent. Tell me what you've noticed about this place."
"Well, behind me are shelves..."
"No," she interrupted. "Things unique to today."
"Hmm..." he said, and let himself think, replay the scene in his head. "You called the man working the register Paul. He's wearing a blue apron over a white polo shirt with a non-Ralph Lauren horse on the breast pocket. He has a small shaving nick on his neck to the left of his Adam's Apple. You are wearing shorter heels than last time, and jeans instead of slacks. The leather coat is the same, but the blue and gray scarf is new. It's got a fray at the end of it. Paul's wife has been humming 'shave and a haircut' while she sweeps. You and Paul are right handed, but his wife is left handed. You bite the nail of your left index finger, probably when you are nervous or thinking, I don't know. There is one other customer, a guy in his early twenties in a stupid retro motorcycle jacket, listening to an iPod at the second table from the serving station. Whatever he's listening to has a fast beat based on the way he's tapping his Adidas against the chair. He's meeting a girl here."
"Impressive. How do you know he's meeting a girl?"
He opened his eyes, enjoyed the impressed smile on her face. "He keeps checking his phone, has been since I came in. He's nursing that drink, trying to delay things until someone shows up. He's too nervous for it to be another guy."
"That's a good skill to have."
"Sometimes. Sometimes it makes pretty women think you are creepy."
"Can you practice that skill in other settings?"
His eyes grew wide, and she immediately blushed. "No, no, not like that. Don't get ahead of yourself. I just meant... say, at dinner."
"I could, maybe, if my dinner companion isn't too distracting to take all my attention. My rare talents and abilities work best Saturday night."
"Rare talents?"
"Mediocre but interesting talents."
"Better. But Saturday night would be perfect."
He smiled, and she did too. He has a date with this incredible woman.
Oh, he has a date. Well, that's ... not good. But the way she's smiling at him, he couldn't regret it, even if it's probably not the smartest move he's ever made. So he sucked it up, got her phone number and an agreement to meet her here, at this building, on Saturday night.
Despite the rollercoaster of a day and his nerves for Saturday, on his walk home, he found himself whistling.
Kate:
"I ran into him again," Kate by way of hello. She handed her mother her coffee, and then sat down in her mother's guest chair.
"Who?" Johanna asked, taking a sip of her Americano.
"The coffee guy."
"From a few weeks ago?"
"Yep. He was there again. I um ..." Kate said, fiddling with her drink and not looking at her mother. "...I asked him out."
"I assume by the way you're smiling, he said yes."
Kate nodded, her smile growing wider. "Saturday."
"So you're not cursed after all."
Kate sobered up. "Is this really the best idea? I don't know anything about this guy. I have this tendency to ... dive right in. It hasn't really worked so well..."
"Honey, first off, it's a date, not a wedding. Secondly..." Johanna shrugged, "take it easy. Get to know him. Don't sleep with him on the first date."
"Mom! I've never..."
"I don't want to know either way. I'm kidding, but you know what I'm saying. If you're worried about diving in, then don't. Stay on the diving board for a bit, look around. This analogy isn't great."
"No, I get it. I'll... you're right, I'll take it easy. Assuming I don't have to cancel on him."
"Work?"
"Some new escort service, well-funded. We're getting close, everyone can feel it, but that's just making the Captain push that much harder. I only got out of there today because we were tracking the financials until 3am yesterday."
"We can cut today short. You're going to be over quite a bit next week, right? We've got a lot of cooking and baking to do, and Dad likes your help."
"I'll try, Mom. And Dad just likes my help because he gets bored, only ever ends up decorating half the tree."
A/N: Thank you, everybody, for the kind reception. Reviews and favorites are like crack... I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to respond to everyone.
