A/N: See disclaimer in Chapter 1. Un-beta'd.
Chapter 2: The Spaces in Between
Rick is true to his resolutions.
Alexis looks at him in wonder when he tells her she won't have to go to nursery today, that they will be going to the park instead. She doesn't even protest when he feeds her chocolate pancakes, unlike her usual self; she is far too excited to chide her father about what she has learned about healthy eating.
"Papa, c'mon!" Alexis races around the loft. Anyone else would cringe at the three year old on a sugar rush, but this only made Rick grin, truly happy for the first time since, well, since he and Meredith had fallen apart, three years ago.
"Coming!" he responds, and lifting the little girl onto his shoulders, he locks the door behind him.
He chooses not to go to the park near his house, but to the other side of the city, on a whim. They take the subway, and Alexis is fascinated with the speed of the subway car, pressing her button nose to the glass. When finally they arrive, his daughter has not lost any energy at all; instead, her excitement at seeing a brand new park only increased.
"Papa, swings!"
"Yes, Alexis, swings!" A mischievous twinkle appears in his eyes. "First one to the swings gets to pick the ice cream!" He makes sure to stay behind her, watching her carefully.
Apparently not carefully enough, as she collides into an older woman carrying a stack of papers. While she does not knock the older woman over, Alexis herself falls down and manages to smack the ground loudly, and immediately begins crying.
Rick immediately rushes to his little girl, but the older woman has already picked Alexis up and placed her on a nearby bench. "Oh, I'm sorry!"
Taking out a handkerchief out of her purse, she began wiping the dirt off of Alexis's hands. "There, there..."
"Alexis, are you all right?" Rick smudges the tears from his daughter's eyes, and lifts her into his arms. Turning to the woman, "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching her closely enough."
She shakes her head. "No harm done. Let children be children." Extending her hand, she continues, "I'm Johanna Beckett."
Shaking it, Rick replies, "Richard Castle, and this little one is Alexis."
Abruptly, Johanna begins laughing, so hard so that she herself has to sit down. Puzzled, Rick sits down next to her. Even Alexis stops crying to look curiously at this well-dressed lady who seems to have lost her mind.
"You see," Johanna struggles to explain. "I thought you looked familiar." She took a deep breath before smiling at him. "I should've recognized you. See, you're one of my favourite authors." She chuckles. "But after this, I'm not really sure I can call myself a 'good' fan anymore."
Rick can't help but chuckle himself. "Well, I'm glad. It means I'm doing a good job of disguising myself." Joking, he adds, "I'm glad you're not one of those deranged fans I get who badger me all the time."
"No, nothing of the sort. You see, I don't often have much time, and what little time I do have is spent either with my family or with your books...today's been an exception. I just finished one of my cases, and my daughter is about to come home from college. I wandered over here to reminisce." Her eyes grew misty. "Treasure the time you have with your daughter, Richard. They grow up too fast."
"It's true. It only seems like yesterday I was holding her for the first time," he agrees. Alexis pulls at him, indicating her restlessness.
"It looks like your little one wants ice cream," Johanna observes, as the chiming of the ice cream truck comes closer. "Why don't I go get us all ice cream?"
"You don't have to do that," Rick protests.
Johanna dismisses his objections. "How often do I get to interact with an adorable child and my favourite author?" She tickles Alexis's chin, and Alexis giggles, already liking this woman. "Is anyone allergic to anything? Have any favourite flavours?"
"Chocolate for both of us is fine," Rick responds, and Alexis nods her head emphatically in assent.
When Johanna returns, he notices she has a flavour he has never seen before. Curious, he asks her what it is.
"Candy cane flavour," she replies. "Christmas in June, don't you know."
"Tha' must be dewicious!" exclaims Alexis with her mouth full; swallowing, she continues excitedly, "Papa, can I get that next time?"
"I think I'll get that next time too, 'Lex," Rick answers. "But this is delicious as well. Thank you, Johanna." Alexis echoes her thanks, and Johanna smiles in response.
As Alexis runs off to the playground to join the other children, Rick asks, "So, what exactly is it you do? You mentioned cases?"
"Oh, yes, I'm a lawyer." Johanna takes her glasses off and places them in her case. "A civil rights attorney, to be exact. My husband, Jim, and I run a firm together. Oh, let me give you my business card."
Taking the card, Rick tucks the card into his cards case. "A crusader, then?"
Johanna reddens. "I suppose you could say that. But really, I'm someone who just cares enough about the truth to make it known."
"We need more people like you," Rick says. "In my line of work...well, you know. I interact with every side of the story, and I've noticed our world is much more likely to cater to the grey and the black than to the white."
"Which is precisely why I enjoy your books so much, Richard." Johanna looks him straight in the eye. "I appreciate your world-building, the nuances of what it means to be seeking after truth in a world of half-lies, falsehoods, and deceit. I suppose I'm just cynical."She chuckles. "And your main characters are as deep as your settings, where they struggle with the same things everyone else does while still managing to come out on top, sometimes at a cost. Human, I suppose you could say. I like that."
Rick blushes. "...thank you. That's more than I've heard in a while." He shrugs. "It's mostly been about money with my publishers, and fans are more likely to comment on my looks than on my writing."
"Just my honest opinion." They lapse into comfortable silence, both watching Alexis playing in the sand.
Abruptly, Rick says, "Would you like to read some of my newer work?"
"Now?" Johanna looks up, surprised.
"Well, no," Rick admits, "I don't have it on me. But it seems your experience would lend a helpful eye over my latest manuscript."
"I'd be honoured – "
"Of course, there'd be forms you'd have to sign; confidentiality, you understand," Rick rushes all in one breath. For an odd reason, he really wants this older woman to vet his work; he feels a connection with her, like kindred souls fascinated with the evils of society, one passively observing, the other aggressively fighting.
She smiles in response. "Of course, Richard." Nodding towards his cards case, she says, "You have my number. Just let me know when you'd like to meet up." She glances at her watch. "Oh, dear. I should get going. Katie – my daughter – will be home at any moment, and I have a pie baking."
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Johanna."
"You as well, Richard." Waving to Alexis, she shouts (lady-like, if that is possible), "Goodbye, Alexis!"
Alexis waves back, a grin brightening her face.
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By the time they finish their hot dogs, Alexis is already starting to fall asleep. Rick quickly calls a cab, and they head home.
Tucking her gently into bed, Rick closes the door, and walks gingerly to his office. He takes Johanna Beckett's card, and is surprised to see she has left him her home number as well. He has long debated writing about the law system, but has little to no experience in that area of the law, as funny as that sounds. If nothing, she is another resource for another idea for a later date. The priority for the moment is Hell Hath No Fury, and if he is honest with himself, this is one of his worst novels to date. He knows why; he had written it in a dark place in his life. No, he doesn't want Johanna seeing this. He'd much rather have her see the very rough draft of his yet unnamed novel, whose protagonist is more badass than Hell's Adam Parel: Derek Storm, a CIA agent.
He picks up the phone and calls Gina. "Hi Gina, how are you? Listen, Hell Have No Fury is ready. I can come by tomorrow and drop it off. Oh, and I may have a new storyline for you..."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. I have written up to Chapter 4, and am now currently on Chapter 5. I can promise you it won't be all angst, but this is where we'll be sitting for the next few chapters. I'm looking at the final product at being around 20-30 chapters, so we still have a while yet until the journey's over. I'm also still trying to find a beta - if you think you're up to the task, please send me a PM. Let me know what you thought of this chapter - would love to know what you enjoyed, disliked, would like more of, where tenses went awry, etc. (See the box below?) Cheers, Ce'Nelenia
