Zeus was tired of looking for his daughters, all nine of them. Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Terpsichore, and Urania did an excellent job of disappearing. He knew that they were nowhere in the heavens so that only led to one conclusion. They escaped to Earth. At first, he thought it would be an easy task to recover all of them in less than a day. He was wrong. He knew once they had escaped his confines they wouldn't do what they were sent to do when he granted them their freedom down on earth. They would probably celebrate their freedom by throwing a very large celebration. And if he was honest with himself he knew that they were partaking in drink and pleasures of the flesh. He just hoped that they used their common sense because being contained for a long time can lead you to make bad decisions. He did however have an ace in the hole. He could guarantee that one of his daughters would not partake in a celebration of being free. He has it narrowed down to two of his daughters and he needs to eliminate the least likely daughter.
Even though he was a god and he lived on Mount Olympus he had a better understanding of how to blend in with the people on the planet below him. He would change his appearance, and his clothing, and forget everything about being the God he was. He would become a common person. Off came his beard, his hair gets cut and colored to make him appear younger and his clothes are that of an everyday man. A button-down shirt with a pair of jeans and a pair of running shoes complete his outfit. He is sure that his daughters would never take a second look at him if he came within ten feet of them.
His first destination will be the obvious places his daughters might go. But first, he will pay a visit to Apollo to see if he has an idea or thought of where his daughters could possibly have gone. Apollo is the God of arts and from time to time he uses his daughters for tasks on Earth. Who better to ask where his daughters could be?
When he claps his hands together he is instantly transported to Apollo's location and as he disappears a thunderous sound from above him remains after his departure.
"Zeus, why the visit?" Apollo asks when Zeus appears instantly.
"Apollo if you haven't heard by now all of my daughters have completely left Mount Olympus. Since you are the God of the arts I was wondering if you had any thoughts as to where they might be?"
In his mind, Apollo thinks that the decision Zeus had made regarding his daughters was the wrong one and he's glad that they left. It serves him right that they did. Zeus has been a particularly self-centered and controlling God complaining just about everything and the other gods couldn't deal with his superiority complex and constant know it all attitude. It was evident that his need to be the first God would come back to haunt him and it has. He wouldn't allow his own daughters to assist him in the most minuscule tasks. Only when he pleaded would he get the okay to use any one of his daughters and even asking for that was like pulling teeth. He could have used one of his daughters or even two or three of them on many occasions to instill hope in the humans below. But he steadfastly refused his requests. Zeus told him that the world below was not going to fall apart if his daughters did not help him with everyday issues.
"Zeus, while I am not a fan of your methods, I do not have any ideas of where your daughters would have gone. My best guess would be down there... somewhere" Apollo made a gesture with his index finger pointing down towards Earth.
Apollo watched Zeus for any kind of response. Seeing him just shrug off his statement he decided to speak his mind damning the consequences that might be unleashed upon him.
"I'm going to say this and I hope you listen! You're a bully plain and simple. Your daughters are not meant to be locked up and held against their will while people on Earth are suffering. They are not pawns that you have control over! You've been doing this for centuries and right now all the gods are sick of it. Poseidon, your brother, and Hades have seen the change in you since you've moved to the head of the Gods. Hell, even your own sister Hera can't stand what you're doing. If I were you I'd watch your back. The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
"Apollo, you're very very lucky I'm in a forgiving mood. Right now I have a very pressing issue to tend to. I will however keep your comments in the back of my mind to deal with later."
"You don't scare me, Zeus. Anytime you want to get together to 'discuss' my comments just let me know when and where and I will show up willingly."
Zeus would never be one to challenge anyone in front of anyone else. But as he turned his back on Apollo to leave, the words he said came flooding back into his mind. And not in a good way. Not now, but later he would second-guess his decision to keep his daughters under his thumb. But that would be a long time in coming. Right now he needed to get them back before he decided their fate.
He checked the most obvious places he could think of. The K2 at Mount Everest, the pyramids in Egypt, the Mayan ruins and he even thought to look at the Eiffel Tower in France. None of these places had seen or heard anything about his daughters. It was then that he knew they had avoided the places where he would go first. They were smart, smarter than he gave them credit for.
Alexis sat at the breakfast nook pining over the brochure for the hotel and the activities that they were going to do when they arrived in Cancun. Well, that was until her dad was served with court papers for breach of contract. She's too young to know that this is or could be very serious. All she wants to do is get away from the city now that her school year is close to being done. She has one last test today and then she's free! She swivels on the stool she sitting on and looks from the breakfast nook to his office. She can see he is going through what looks to be like old contracts that he had signed in the past. She doesn't understand what he's doing but she has an idea that he's trying to compare older contracts with the new one that he's being sued for. It's then when the phone rings and he's dropping everything to answer it.
"Rick it's Barry Leventhal. I have some news for you so I hope you're sitting down."
"It just so happens that I'm sitting at my desk so just let me know what it is," Rick replies.
"I was able to get the court docket schedule from New York State Superior Court. The date and time they have for your case will be 9 a.m. on Thursday. It seems that they have put you at the head of the line. I hope there's no need to tell you to dress like you own the place. This way we might be able to get the court to see that you're serious about why you are in court."
"Don't worry Barry, I'll be conservative but neat."
"It's all I needed to hear. I'll see you on Thursday at 9 am. 60 Centre Street."
"I wouldn't miss it."
Barry ends the call but has a funny feeling in regards to this case. He brushes it off and goes about his day.
Kate has used her charms to stay at a nearby hotel. She selected a hotel that was frugal by anyone else's standards and the cost at the Gatsby hotel was eighty-six dollars per night. She was less than a half-mile from the writer who is having the blockage issues. The room itself was comfortable and she was able to eat breakfast provided by the staff and a small snack towards lunchtime.
She needed to work on a plan to get him to start writing again. There were many ways that she could accomplish this but first and foremost was to get him over his fear that he can't write anymore. Writers are a weird breed as opposed to actors or painters. Once they have the affliction of a blockage they lose all hope of getting any kind of writing done in their future.
Kate woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and confident that she could get Rick to start writing again. She showered quickly, dressed, and went down to the hotel's lobby to grab a quick bite to eat before she headed out to Rick's location.
She had changed her dress to look more alluring and she thinks that when he sees her for the first time, he'll be at a loss for words. She chose a light airy women's Amrita Eyelet Midi Dress in Blue, designed by Lilly Pulitzer.
Finished with breakfast Kate gets up and leaves her hotel. Since the weather is exceptionally pleasant, she decides to walk the half-mile to his loft. She finds his loft with no problems. The walk was therapeutic as well as productive. The walk over gave her the time to think of what she can do to get him over his blockage.
She approaches 595 Broome Street and looks through the double glass doors of the lobby. To her left, she sees a gentleman in his mid-50s and she guesses him to be the doorman or concierge for the building. She can tell that he is eyeing her up wondering if she is going to enter or not so she reaches for the door but before she can pull the handle he is already away from his station and opening the door for her to enter.
"Buenos dias señorita como esta hoy" Eduardo asks Kate.
"Estoy bien Eduardo! ¿Me puede decir si el Sr. ¿El Castillo está en casa?"
"Si lo es" Eduardo replies.
"Gracias eduardo, que tengas un buen dia!"
Rarely are there people who visit Mister Castle who speak Spanish. Eduardo is used to speaking in English but the woman who came to see Mr. Castle today was a breath of fresh air. He enjoys speaking in his native tongue and she spoke Spanish so perfectly. He wishes that there were more people like her.
Kate walks up to the elevator and pushes the button to call the car. This is a new experience for her because she was always used to taking the stairs. The elevator car arrives and she pushes the button for the penthouse. It's only three floors up but Mr. Castle seems to own the entire third floor. She is deposited off onto the third floor and she turns to her right. She doesn't have to walk far only four steps and she's in front of a big red door that is huge!
Not knowing if she should knock she stands there thinking about what to say. She has her plan laid out to get him to start writing again but the initial contact will be something that she will need to play by ear. Thinking that there's nothing to lose she knocks on the door.
Rick had just finished going over the older contracts that he had signed with Black Pawn prior to the situation he now finds himself in. The contracts were pretty much straightforward back then. His older contracts from his three-book deal had him writing about angry Wiccans out for Revenge, A Skull at Springtime, and A Rose for Everafter gave him no indication that he would need to return any advance if he could not write anything due to not meeting his deadline. There was no clause in his contract that demanded his advance be returned if he did not honor his contract. He looks over the contract more carefully and finds out that this is a fact. He's about to use this as evidence against Black Pawn but before he can gather his thoughts about what to do, there is a knock at the door.
"Alexis? Please tell me you didn't order anything to eat." Rick queries from his office.
"Dad, I've been sitting here looking over the itinerary for the trip that we were going to take but now that that is not a possibility. I haven't touched my cell phone since I've gotten up. So whoever is at the door was not my doing."
Rick thinks to himself, great who's at my door now? It's probably somebody who wants to serve me with more legal papers and I'm going to get them. No one is going to put another one over on me! He thinks as he gets up from his desk and walked towards the front door.
Alexis looks at her father with a haunted look hoping that whoever is at the front door is not going to make his day worse.
Rick checks the peephole as he walks up to the door and he sees another brunette with long flowing locks that looks beautiful. Almost like the person who served him with the legal papers that he regrets taking from her. He's hesitant at first to open the door because she's only about five foot six to five foot seven but there seems to be a wholeness about her. It's like she's here to do something and he doesn't know that opening the door would be a good thing. So he observed her through the peephole for about 30 seconds. It's then when he hears his daughter call from the kitchen island,
"Dad open the door. Whoever it is can't stand out there all day."
Reluctantly Rick twists the knob and pulls the door open. What he sees in front of him is a young woman who can't be more than 28 years old. She still stands there and he doesn't know if he should invite her in or not because she hasn't said anything to him.
"Can I help you?" Rick asks still standing in the doorway.
"Mister Castle I need to speak with you and it could be a matter of life and death. May I come in?" Kate asks.
Rick was skeptical at first because first off, her hands were hanging at her sides and they were both empty so she was not here to serve him with any legal documents. But what caught his attention is the dress that she was wearing. To him, she seemed like she was footloose and fancy-free. Which in itself was refreshing.
"Certainly. My life hasn't gone the way I wanted to lately so please do come in." Rick said as Kate walked over the threshold to the loft and he closed the door behind her.
The second Kate heard how he was talking to her knew she had her work cut out for more ways than one. She entered the home and saw a younger redhead sitting at a kitchen counter. First, she would gain the trust of this younger woman. She figured it was probably his daughter. She had the same blue eyes he did but the red hair was throwing her off.
Rick had turned actor closing the door and walked up behind his new guest.
"So, tell me, what can I do for you?" Rick asks.
"Well, I'm not sure it's what you can do for me, but maybe what I could possibly do for you," Kate answered back.
Alexis hearing the conversation is now intrigued. The woman that came into the loft was younger but definitely beautiful. She had an aura around her and she can place where it was coming from. She stares at her watching her every move.
"What do you mean by that? I mean I haven't had anyone tell me that they could do something for me and want nothing in return." Rick challenged her.
"Mister Castle, may I call you Rick?" Kate asked.
With the nod of Rick's head, Kate continues.
"Rick, I am here to help you. I know this sounds a little odd but I know that you are having a problem putting two words together. And I am here to help you solve that problem." Kate tells him confidently.
Once Alexis hears this she moves off the seat to the center of the great room where Kate and her father are standing looking at each other. She looks at her father pleadingly hoping to get a question or two in before he tells her to go back to her room.
"Whoever you are I don't think there's anything that you can do for me. I haven't written a word in the last six months."
"Dad, I think we should hear her out. I'm curious to what she can do to help you so what have you got to lose?" Alexis suggests.
"You, young lady should change and get ready for school. I know you have one more test on your last day. You should be prepared for it. It's Monday and I know that this being your last day you wouldn't want to miss it. So go get ready for school."
Kate could tell that Alexis wanted to argue with her father about going to school. But their new visitor was going to suggest that she go to school because she had something to tell him. And she would rather do it in private.
"Alexis, I promise that your father will tell you everything that he and I will talk about later. School is important so you must go to class today. Good luck with your test in algebra." Kate tells her.
Alexis walks away from her father and Kate wondering how she knew she had a test in algebra today. Something's off and her mind throws up red flags all over the place. There's just something about Kate that she can't put her finger on but maybe by the time she gets home from school later they will have some time to talk together.
TBC