Kiss Me, Detective – Chapter 12
Kate stood in the middle of the dance floor facing Castle with a hard and confused look on her face. She wanted to both hug him and strangle him at the same time, but the crowd of gawkers made her hold back. Finally, the band leader came to her rescue and announced that the band would take a short break, causing the crowd to slowly fall away. Kate's friends, however, all stayed within earshot to hear what would surely be a very interesting story.
Kate took a step closer to Castle. "Where the hell have you been? And what happened to picking me up at 7?" She growled.
"He can explain," Ryan, Esposito, and Tracy all said at the same time.
"I can explain," Castle added.
"Well someone had better!" Kate was losing patience rapidly.
"Al right, alright," Castle reassured. "Your ex Sorenson and that Robbery Detective Demming both wanted to be the one who took you to the dance tonight, so they tried to get me stone cold drunk after my meeting with my publisher, then dump my unconscious body outside so that it would be found by the police and I'd spend the night sobering up in a holding cell."
Kate looked skeptical until Ryan came to Castle's aid. "It's true. Esposito and I tailed Castle all the way to his meeting and watched from a squad car across the street. The two seemed really intent on buying him drinks."
"And the night before Tracy here called me and told me something was up with Demming," Esposito added. Tracy then described Sorenson's phone call and his odd demeanor during their meeting a few nights ago.
Kate was taken aback by her colleagues' concern for Castle, and by extension, her, since she was his date. "That's really nice of you guys to watch out for him, but" Kate turned away from her partners back towards Castle, "how is it that you're not drunk?"
"Simple," Castle replied grinning. "Alexis tipped me off that something was afoot. She and I have a code word that she's supposed to use if ever she knows for a fact that someone is out to get me. She'll say 'watch out for potholes' which she said to me on my way out the door earlier today. I thought about it, and called the owner of the restaurant I was headed to. He's a big fan, so whenever I need a quiet place for a lunch meeting, he sets me up, so I figured he wouldn't mind helping me out today. I asked him to switch out the alcoholic beer with the non-alcoholic just in case I was tempted to drink a little too much. It'd protect me in case someone was out to get me, and if not, I could enjoy myself and still arrive on time and sober to take you to the dance. But when Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dummer showed up and insisted on buying me bottle after bottle, I remembered Alexis' warning and figured that it wasn't just for congratulatory purposes like they claimed. I went with it to see what would happen and sure enough, they dumped me right outside my own building. Some investigators they are. First, they fail to notice the difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer, then they toss me right outside my own building, so it takes me less than half an hour to suit up."
Kate's eyes sparkled at Castle's ingenuity and at the fact that he'd gone to so much trouble to be at his best for her. But when a final lingering question hit her, the sparkle quickly evaporated. "I'm impressed Castle, really, but that still doesn't explain why you were late. You promised you'd pick me up at 7. I thought you'd stood me up!"
"I have no other course other than to plead guilty and beg your forgiveness. You see, I ran out of time to buy you these." Castle handed Kate the bouquet of roses. "Turns out it was a lot harder to find a flower shop that's open at 7 on a Sunday night than I thought." Kate took the flowers and with slightly swimming eyes, stared back at Castle.
"I'm very sorry for being late and making you think that I'd forgotten about tonight," he pleaded genuinely. "I could never forget about tonight, I just wanted everything to be perfect for us, but especially for you."
Kate' heart thawed as soon as Castle finished his apology. "I'm sorry too, Castle, for doubting you. I guess I've still got some trust issues to work on, especially with men."
Castle nodded sincerely. "It's Ok. I guess it comes difficult given what you do for a living. I just hope that you'll give me the opportunity to prove that, at least, you can trust me." They both stood and stared at each other for what seemed to their friends like an eternity.
"Oh, for God's sake would you two just hug or something and get it over with!" Lanie said, exasperated. "Honestly, it like we're dealing with two teenagers here."
Castle and Kate blushed and chuckled at Lanie's own special brand of honesty and directness. Castle then raised his arms slightly, and Kate walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a warm hug. After nearly a minute of holding each other, Castle raised his head slightly and whispered in Kate's ear.
"By the way, I've never seen a woman look more beautiful than you do tonight." He gave her a little extra squeeze to emphasize his point.
Kate lifted her head and responded huskily, "You look quite handsome yourself."
Castle's eyes widened playfully and he fixed them on Kate's. "Would you say ruggedly handsome?"
Kate leaned in, her mouth dangerously close to Castle's, and murmured even more seductively "More like devilishly handsome."
"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Castle breathed and tilted his head towards Kate, no longer able to resist the pull of her lips.
"Castle!" Demming and Sorenson both shouted, interrupting Kate and Castle's intimate moment. They approached the pair, walking awkwardly, and dressed in extremely ill-fitting tuxedos: the sleeves of Demming's jacket were a full four inches too short on his arms and the cuffs of his pants barely touched his ankles, whereas the legs of Sorenson's pants dragged behind him on the floor and the arms of his jacket reached his fingertips. The crowd of guests in the ballroom parted like the Red Sea for the two, while everywhere fingers pointed and laughs sounded.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Sorenson demanded. Ryan and Esposito made a bee line for the comical-looking pair, but Demming cut them off.
"Back off, Esposito. This is between him and us."
"Save it boys," Tracy said. "She knows the whole story about your plan to get Castle drunk to keep him from going to the dance with Kate. We all know it."
"We all also know about your plan to submarine Castle with the laxative in his coffee, loosening the bolts on the chair next to Beckett's desk, and by putting him in the cab driven by the World's Worst Cab Driver," Esposito chimed in.
"That was you guys?" Both Castle and Kate asked simultaneously. The sheepish looks that came across Demming and Sorenson's faces were all the confirmation they needed.
"What about the runaway hot dog stand?" Castle asked.
"That was just luck," Demming said. "By the way, how did you miss all that stuff anyway?"
Ryan smiled. "Let's just say Castle's daughter Alexis wasn't working at the precinct just to help us with our scut work on cases." Castle shot Ryan an impressed look, then grinned widely back at Demming and Sorenson.
"I'm sorry guys, but I gotta ask," Castle giggled, "what happened to your suits?"
Demming's face flushed. "One of the stupid staff people at the tuxedo shop must've mixed them up. This one was in the bag with my name on it, but it's clearly meant for him. And on top of that, I had to chase him down in a cab after he left me stranded by taking off in his car with what I thought was my suit in the back."
Sorenson's face tightened. "Speaking of my car, by the time I got home and got into what I thought was my suit, all the air had somehow leaked out of the tires."
The others were too busy trying to stifle vigorous laughter to notice Esposito slap Ryan some skin.
"Now that all that is settled, to answer your original question, I am enjoying myself immensely with my date for the evening," Castle proclaimed and took one of Kate's hands in his. To his surprise and glee, she accepted his hand just as firmly. "So, if you will excuse us…" Castle and Kate began walking away.
"Do you all also know about the bet the three of us made?" Sorenson asked. Castle froze on the spot as Kate turned and gave Sorenson a puzzled, hard look.
"What's he talking about?" she inquired.
"Castle, here, went in with both of us on a bet to see who could get you to go with them tonight." Sorenson answered smugly.
Castle's heart, which only several minutes earlier had been pounding high in his chest, sank into his feet. He looked at Kate, who in turn looked at Demming for confirmation.
Demming nodded in agreement with Sorenson, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "It's true, Kate. Here's the proof." He punched a key or two, then handed Kate the phone on whose screen was displayed Castle's text message from the night of their date in Central Park:
Beckett's words were re tonite: "really, really good time, great, best I've had in a long time." You both are toast. B-)
As she stared at the small electronic device in her now quivering hand, a tear leaked out of the side of one of Kate's eyes.
"I think it's time you guys left," Esposito spat out and firmly grabbed one of Demming's arms as Ryan took hold of Sorenson. They quickly and roughly ushered the two out of the ballroom, with Lanie, Robert, Jenny, and Tracy trailing in their wake.
Castle tried to speak to Kate, but she abruptly turned on her heel and marched over to a wet bar, where she slammed Demming's cell phone into a trash can along with the bouquet of flowers she was still clutching. Castle hadn't followed Kate, figuring it was better to give her to her space. He expected her to return to him and somehow assault him savagely and was surprised when she began making her way through the crowd towards the ballroom's exit. While he doubted that she'd forgive him, he knew if he didn't try to speak to her before she left, he stood a good chance of having her shut him out for good. He waded through the crowd and was able to touch her arm. She froze in mid-step.
"Kate, I'm sorry," he began. "Profoundly sorry. Terribly sorry. Yes, I joined in on their stupid little bet, I'm not gonna deny that. And I admit, at first, I just wanted to beat those two guys and rub their noses in the fact that I was going with you tonight, but after you told me about your mother, after the failed arrest of her killer, and after we played laser tag, everything changed. I wanted to go with you because I've come to admire you not just as a cop or as a woman, but as a person, a truly extraordinary person who was knocked down and somehow found the courage to get back up again and channel her energy into something positive. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven. Far from it. But for what it's worth, I just wanted you to know that I've fallen for you. No games. No fooling. I am honestly in love with you."
Kate listened to Castle's plea trying not to betray anymore emotion than she had already. She could feel the tears backing up in her eyes, but fought the need to shed them with what seemed like every ounce of energy she had. "Did you just say 'honestly' Castle? How do I know that you're being honest about any of what you just said? It figures that just as I feel that I can trust someone, especially a guy, that same guy takes that trust and stomps on it. And you want me to forgive you?" Kate's eyes and nostrils flared and suddenly Castle knew what it felt like to be one of her suspects in the interrogation room at the precinct. "Do me a favor, OK Castle? Don't bother showing up to the precinct anymore because regardless of the fact that you're friends with the Mayor or that you have a contract to write however many books, regardless of how you say you feel about or how I might feel about you, I can't trust you anymore. And I refuse to work with someone I can't trust." As Kate spoke her final few words, another tear began its slow trek down her cheek. She turned around and exited the ballroom, leaving Castle standing alone with dozens of his former colleagues staring at him.
Kate collected her purse and was outside the building within five minutes. When she reached the parking lot, she stopped in her tracks, remembering that she didn't have her own ride home, having carpooled with Lanie and Robert. She scanned the parking lot eager to find one of them and even more eager to get home and curl up by herself in the solitude and quiet of her apartment. She finally saw Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and their respective dates standing in a semi-circle around Demming and Sorenson. She could hear muffled shouts and recognized from the men's body language that the talk was anything but friendly. She walked directly over to the gathering, her eyes blazing, and stopped in front of Demming and Sorenson.
After a few moments of dead silence, Demming took a step forward. "I know you're upset now, Kate, but don't blame yourself. It's easy to get confused when a famous rich guy like Castle shows some interest in you. I just wanted you to know that I'm here if you need comforting." Demming flashed a smarmy grin that led Kate to believe that his idea of comforting didn't involve letting her cry on his shoulder.
Kate took a step closer to him and looked directly into his eyes, playing him like a fiddle. "Demming, do me a favor and shove it." With that, she brought her knee sharply up into his crotch taking him completely by surprise. The girls all stifled laughter while the guys at first winced slightly then smiled proudly. Demming dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and writhed gently back and forth on the pavement. "Are you two ready?" Kate addressed Lanie and Robert. Both nodded through giggles and walked with Kate back to their car.
"Such a shame when that happens," Sorenson said smugly to Tracy, ignoring Demming. "How long do you think I should give Kate before asking if she wants to get back together?"
Tracy looked at the FBI Agent in disbelief. She moved closer to him, just as Kate had, and smacked him hard across the cheek with her palm. When he merely blinked, she followed Kate's example, and swiftly kneed him in his crotch. All now looked with pity upon the cocky FBI Agent who knelt on all fours on the parking lot, pathetically clutching his groin.
Esposito leaned over the two emasculated men. "By the way guys, it wasn't the tuxedo shop that mixed up you guys' suits."
Both Demming and Sorenson strained themselves to look at Esposito, yet it was Ryan who continued. "Power locks are funny things, guys. You really should learn how to pick them just in case…well…you just never know when that special knowledge will come in handy."
Tracy took Esposito's arm, Jenny took Ryan's and all four headed home, leaving Demming and Sorenson whimpering on the hard asphalt.