CHAPTER FOUR – UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Castle unlocked the door to his apartment and shuddered when he saw the leggy blonde waiting for him on one of his bar stools in the kitchen.

"Now, call me crazy, but when you got the house in our divorce, that didn't come with keys to my apartment, did it?" Castle asked, dryly.

"Your daughter let me in, Richard" she retorted. Gina rose from her seat and started towards Castle's study. "I wanted to check in and see how far along you are with the next book."

Castle followed her as she entered the study, heading for his desk. "I told you already today when you called, Gina, I know I'm a little behind schedule, but I'm nearly done. Just a couple of things to polish up and it's all yours." He thought he sounded convincing.

"Sorry, Richard, I just didn't believe you, so I thought I'd come see it for myself" she said as she sat down at his desk.

"I'm appalled" he said as he sarcastically clutched his heart. "Would I lie to you?"

Gina glared at him, "Till death do us part?" she snickered with a wry grin on her face.

Rick shrugged innocently. "Well, in my defence, when they tell you it's for better or worse, they don't really tell you how bad the 'worse' part could be…"

Gina interrupted his sarcastic reply by opening his laptop, the heading 'Chapter Two' at the top of a blank page. "Is this what you consider 'nearly done'?"

Rick lowered his eyes, knowing this would not end well. "Gina, look, I've just been a little blocked lately. A lot has been going on…"

"Richard, you've been following this woman around for a year and a half now. You've worked dozens of cases, you should have plenty of material for your next three novels, let alone just this one." She studied his expression as she continued, "So what is it really?"

Castle conceded, knowing he couldn't talk his way out of this one. "It's not the case I'm confused about, it's the subplot. I'm just not sure where the story is going. You know me, Gina, without a good ending, it's hard to write the rest."

His ex-wife may have been one of the coldest women he'd met, but she had her moments. She knew him well, and she could tell from the look on his face that there was much more to what he was saying. "She must be something special if she's got you spinning like this. I've seen you with a lot of women, Richard, but I've never seen one that's had this effect on you."

Rick looked at Gina, almost thanking her for not making this awkward for him. "She's with someone else… another detective… I'm just not sure how to handle that." He felt better being able to talk to someone about this.

"Is it serious?" She pressed him for more details, hoping it would help.

"I don't know. At first, it just nagged at me. Now, I can't even stand to see her with him. I'm not used to feeling like this…" he started.

"I meant, is it serious between her and this other cop?" Gina laughed.

"Oh" he said, blushing slightly at his mistake. Then he turned serious again. "I'm not sure. But she seems happy…" he trailed off.

"Richard, you're not going to like what I have to say, but I think maybe you just need to step back for a while. Take some time away, give her some space to see if she has a chance to make things work with this guy, and stop torturing yourself by having to watch that process." She studied his expression as he considered what she was saying before she continued. "As for your book; it's your story, Richard, your characters. If you think they really belong together, write it that way. Maybe it will help you come to terms with everything."

Rick looked at Gina and smiled. She was a good publicist and she could sell anything. Heck, she even had him believing that this was the right thing to do. "Thanks, Gina."

Shrugging off the tender moment, she rose from the desk and sauntered off towards the front door of Castle's apartment. "Don't thank me yet, Richard, I still expect the first draft of the new book on my desk in two weeks!"

Rick shook his head as she stormed out the front door. Still, maybe she was right. He picked up his phone and dialled Beckett's number. "Hey, it's me… Listen, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it tonight... Yeah, something's come up... No, no, you guys have a good time tonight… Yeah, I'll see you in the morning."

As he hung up, he looked back down at his phone, pondering for a moment before he dialled another number. "Hey, it's Rick. Are you busy?"