Dropping back into his desk chair, he reached for the remote to turn off the smartboard and opened up his laptop. After a quick glance at his email he opened a blank document and started making some notes. It was really just a series of disconnected images and snippets of dialogue; he didn't know if any of it would ever be useful. He saved the file and closed the laptop.
He reached for his phone as he propped his feet up, tapping the call button while reclining back into his chair. His chest warmed when instead of the expected "Beckett", she answered with a soft, "Hey."
"Hey. Whatcha up to?"
"Just trying to figure out if there is a meal to be had from the contents of my kitchen. You?"
"Nothing much. Just wondering how I'm going to spend my evening after my daughter abandons me in favor of her friends again." He sighed heavily.
She huffed a laugh. "You are so dramatic."
He grinned as he imagined the eye roll to go with her words.
"So... how did it go? With Alexis?" She found herself holding her breath while listening to him exhale slowly before answering.
"Okay." He paused. "She wasn't thrilled at first, but now... well, she's still not thrilled but she's okay." His voice perked up and she could almost see the smirk on his face as he added, "I think 'thrilled' is completely within the realm of possibility though. In fact, I think we should be aiming for 'elated'! Or..."
"Castle."
He dropped back down to a more serious tone. "She'll probably call you. Soon."
"Okay." She spoke so quietly he barely heard her.
"Kate, I couldn't answer everything," he said in a rush, "but if you don't..."
"No, it's okay." It sounded like she was convincing herself more than him, but the strength was back in her voice. "It's good, really. We should talk."
He sighed and paused for a moment before leaping in again.
"You know... we should probably talk about some things, too."
"Yeah. We should."
"You never really told me much about what happened yesterday..."
"Yeah."
"... and I, um. I should probably fill you in on Mr. Smith and your mom's..."
"Mr. Smith?"
"Montgomery's friend."
"Oh." She took a deep breath. "Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"We can't do this over the phone."
"No, right. Of course not." His stomach clenched at the thought of putting off or ignoring any this.
"Come over?" Her voice was soft again. "We can eat and we'll... we'll talk. I don't have much food here, but we can order..."
"I'll pick something up on the way."