Chapter 3

"Umm, I guess we can start," Betty said. "This is an example of an editor-in-chief's office."

"Is it always a corner office?" Castle asked as he looked around the bright, modern décor.

"It is when your magazine is the flagship of the company."

"Probably doesn't hurt when your name's on the building either," he pointed out as he walked to the windows behind the desk.

"True," she admitted. "You can see a bit of Central Park over there. Daniel had a telescope but gave it to DJ when he went back to France."

"Speaking of DJ, how's Daniel doing?"

Betty paused for a moment selecting her words carefully. "He's adjusting."

"Yeah," Castle said softly remembering when his friend had told him the truth. A DNA test confirmed that he wasn't DJ's biological father but rather his recently transgendered sister, Alexis, was. If he had written the situation into one of his books, everyone would have said it was unbelievable.

His mind went back to the telescope she had mentioned, and his eyes scanned the buildings across the way. The setting reminded him vaguely of Rear Window. He turned his attention back to the office and noticed how many windows there were.

What about a Body Double opening, he thought as the scene flashed in his head. An office drone working late takes a break and looks out the window. His gaze naturally drifts to an office across the street where he had witnessed the indiscretions of a page-six prince in the past. Only this time, he sees the playboy lying on the white chaise with the metal arm of an architect's lamp stabbed in his chest.

"Mr. Castle?" Betty asked shaking him out of his musings.

"Call me Rick."

"Rick," she smiled bashfully. "I have a few things I need to check before I give you the full tour. You can wait here if you like."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to wait by your desk. After all, you are the gatekeeper and have a great view of the floor."

"Uh, sure. Would you like something to drink?" she asked as he followed her out of the office.

"I'm fine, thanks," he said watching her sit down at her desk and open the white binder labelled "Daniel Meade's Appointments". His eyes widened when he saw the rainbow of post-it notes that covered the pages. "You colour-coded his schedule?"

"It's been really busy lately, and it's the only way to keep things straight."

Noticing her wince slightly as he reached for one of the post-its, he withdrew his hand. "It's quite the system. I see you've even scheduled a power nap from 3:00 to 3:45."

"His meetings will likely go past midnight tonight, and we can't have him falling asleep halfway through them."

Castle picked up the small stuffed pink rabbit with the graduation cap from her desk. It had undergone several serious repairs including a large incision on its green tummy. "Your bunny seems to have had a rough time."

"She's been kidnapped, hung, drowned and eviscerated, but she's tough."

"Is this paint?" he asked scratching the pink splotch with his thumbnail.

"She was also a casualty in the Great Meade Civil War."

He put the toy back down on the desk. "So Daniel and Alexis really did have a paintball war to decide who was in charge of Meade Publications."

"Yeah. Talk about a mess. That window over there?" she said pointing to the large circular glass panel that formed part of Daniel's office wall. "Completely smeared with pink and yellow paint."

The image of the same window splattered with blood popped into Castle's mind.

He turned his attention back to Betty who had just answered the phone. The first time he ever heard of Betty Suarez was from a brief article and photo of her and Daniel at the Front Street Café in Brooklyn Heights after the Sofia Reyes fiasco. Not long after, Becks came to town for Fashion Week, and the three men went out for drinks.

ooOoo

~Two Years Earlier~

"So is that girl I saw you with in the paper last week really your assistant?" Castle asked as their drinks arrived.

"Yup," Daniel confirmed.

"I just met her today," Becks said taking a big gulp of his scotch. "You should see her in technicolor."

"Hey, Betty's a great girl," Daniel said defensively.

"So how was supper?" Castle asked.

"Probably one of the best nights I've had in a long time," he replied.

"Really?" Castle asked raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, stop," Daniel said firmly knowing where his friends' minds were heading. "We just hung out, fooled the paparazzi, had some pizza, crashed a wedding party, scored some free cake and bridesmaids' numbers then went to the Brooklyn Bridge to watch the sunrise. Seriously, I don't know how I would have survived these past months at Mode if it hadn't been for her."

"So you two aren't …"

"No, we're not."

"She have a boyfriend?" Becks asked skeptically.

"Actually she does. Wilbur…no, Walter, but there's this guy Henry from Accounting who's totally into her," Daniel replied.

"Really?" Becks said contemplatively. "Hmph. Maybe there's more to her than meets the eye."

"Yes, there is, and don't even think about going there," Daniel warned.

"Why?" Becks asked. "Just because you're not dating her, doesn't mean I can't."

"Yeah, it does," Daniel scowled.

ooOoo

Since joining Meade Publications, Betty's name had popped up here and there throughout the media. A video of her driving a motorcycle into a pool of jello had gone viral. Most recently she became infamously known as "Tornado Girl" when it was leaked that she was involved in the release of Mode's "Eye of the Fashion Storm" issue which unfortunately coincided with a series of tornadoes that hit Kansas. In actuality, Wilhelmina convinced Daniel to go ahead with the release not realizing that Betty would take the blame. Castle had been impressed when his friend cleared her name and accepted responsibility rather than throw her under the bus. It was an act that he doubted Daniel would have done several years ago.

Castle looked at the young assistant again. There was something rather intriguing about her that not even the veil of thick dark hair and dizzying array of patterns could conceal. Behind her red-rimmed glasses, her warm brown eyes sparkled with intelligence, and her bright smile was only slightly dimmed by a mouthful of blue braces. For some reason, she reminded him of the butterfly often used in explaining Chaos Theory.

"Oh, I think I have a surprise for you," she said as she clicked her mouse a few times.

"I like surprises. What is it?" he asked leaning over to check out her monitor.

With a quick click, she closed the screen and admonished, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Fine. Just be that way," he said and settled back in his chair then looked around. "You know this colour scheme make me feel like I'm inside a creamsicle."

"You get used to it. A few months ago when Wilhelmina was the sole editor-in-chief, she had all the orange accents replaced with black," Betty confided then shuddered. "You'd think it'd look really chic, but instead everything was just cold on all levels. Metaphorically. Emotionally. Climatically."

"Climatically?"

Betty nodded. "She also had the temperature turned down so it was like a freezer. She felt it would keep everyone sharp."

"And now Daniel and Wilhelmina are co-editors-in-chief, right? How's that working out?"

She paused then said, "Everyone's adjusting."

"Do you think I could meet her?" Castle asked.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Betty said reluctantly, "but I guess we could go by her office on the way to see Amanda."

ooOoo

Author notes: The Ugly Betty episodes referenced in this chapter are 3.3 "Crimes of Fashion", 3.4 "Betty Suarez Land", 2.15 "Burning Questions, 2.10 "Bananas for Betty", 1.2 "The Box and the Bunny", 1.13 "In or Out", 1.14 "I'm Coming Out", 3.1 "The Manhattan Project" and 3.8 "Tornado Girl".