Chapter 2

The first thing Castle noticed when he got off on the 28th floor of the Meade Building was how bright everything was. The whiteness was almost blinding. He approached the reception desk that reminded him of a giant orange glazed donut. A petite blonde with perfectly arched eyebrows smiled seductively. "Welcome to Mode. How may I help you?"

"Rick Castle. I'm here to see Daniel Meade."

She looked him up and down then stood, and got out from behind the circular desk. "Please follow me."

"With pleasure," he said.

He couldn't help but grin as she led him through Mode's infamous Tube, a tunnel-like hallway. She had the part of the sexy secretary nailed right down to the walk. He had no problem visualizing her as a femme fatale sashaying into the private detective's office and was pleased that he was already getting ideas even if they were somewhat cliché.

ooOoo

"You want me to give Rick Castle a tour of Mode," Betty asked dumbfounded as she clutched the binder she used to organize her boss's schedule.

"I'd do it myself, but as you know, I'm in meetings all day," Daniel said packing his briefcase.

"Richard Castle, the mystery writer," she repeated wanting clarification.

He nodded. "Yeah, we went to school together. Me, Alex, Becks and Rick."

"The four of you?"

Daniel nodded then chuckled. "We wouldn't have gotten away with half the stuff we did if it weren't for him. The guy could talk his way out of almost anything."

"So what would you like me to show him?" Betty asked as she put down the binder and de-linted his suit jacket.

"Everything, and feel free to answer any questions. Full disclosure."

She paused. "Full disclosure? Are you sure?"

Daniel shrugged. "We both know that a good portion of what's in the press about Mode is true, and whatever's been left out he's probably learnt from his mother who learnt it from mine."

"Okay," she said with misgivings and put away the lint roller.

"Besides, you're a terrible liar," he teased.

"Hey," she said indignantly.

Daniel leaned on the edge of his desk. "I owe him. When you went on your trip, DJ and I spent a lot of time with him and his daughter. He showed me that maybe I could be a good single father."

"What'd you guys do?" she asked.

"Hung out, played video games and laser tag."

"Oh come on, Daniel," a voice called out. They looked to find Rick Castle in the doorway. "It wasn't just laser tag. It was Voltar and the Omniverse."

"Sounds safer than paintball," Betty commented then noticed the men exchange looks.

"Well, not the way we play it," Castle admitted.

"Yeah, sorry about the statue," Daniel winced.

"Don't worry about it. One less thing for Gina to ask for in the divorce," Castle said dismissively as he walked into the office. "You must be Betty Suarez. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Daniel has told me so much about you."

"Really," she said glancing over to her boss for a moment as she shook his friend's hand. "I've read a lot about you."

"Only 90% of it is true," Castle confided in a pseudo-hushed tone. "So I understand that you'll be giving me the tour of Mode."

"I guess I am," she said still rather stunned.

"I told her that you have carte blanche," Daniel said closing his briefcase.

"Really?" Castle asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just change the names to protect the guilty," Daniel said.

"Do you want to go over your schedule one last time?" Betty asked.

"9:00 meeting with Oshi to confirm the designs for the January issue, 10:15 meeting with Cartier to discuss ad space and an 11:30 meeting with Vincent Bianchi to finalize the concept for the Christmas spread," Daniel recited. "Then back here for the editors' meeting at 12:30. Did you order some food? I don't want people passing out because they 'forgot their lunch'."

"Don't worry. Gio promised some figure friendly options," Betty replied. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"No," she shook her head pulling out several coloured folders from the binder. "White's for Oshi, orange's for Cartier and black's for Vincent."

Daniel let out a breath of relief and took the papers. "You're the best."

"I know," she said as he went to his friend.

"Thanks again," Castle said as he shook Daniel's hand.

"No problem. I'm sure there's enough drama here to inspire several novels."

ooOoo

Author notes: The Castle episode referenced in this chapter is 1.5 "A Chill Goes Through Her Veins". The Ugly Betty episodes referenced in this chapter are 1.2 "The Box and the Bunny", 1.4 "Fey's Sleigh Ride" and 1.14 "I'm Coming Out".