Chapter 7 – Still in love
The characters do not belong to me. Mr Marlowe is the creator here.
Kate had left the loft herself but had left one of her greatest possessions behind. I gently moved my fingers through the smooth glittering golden chain and slipped it into my shirt pocket, close to my heart. I went back to the couch and sat there for a while with my eyes closed, sorting my feelings out. It was only 11:30 pm when the door bell rang and I at once got up and opened the door half heartedly. I just wanted to be alone. Suddenly someone came in with a suitcase; pushing me aside and directly throwing them self on the couch without even a hello. It was my mother. Her head was bowed and both her hands were on her forehead. She looked tired and miserable.
'It is nice to see you too mother' I said, reminding her that she could have been a little more happy to see her only son after a week. She was out on a trip to Europe. It was more of a shopping trip; none of her trips were dull and relaxing. It was either a shopping trip or a trip to collect artefacts for her acting studio. The trips were always directly or indirectly related to shopping.
'Aww Richard, I had a very tiring day...the flight was late by 5 hours because of bad weather and I spent the time in the airport 'reading' ' she said, quoting the word 'reading' with her hands.
'Reading?...I guess I can imagine how it can be miserable for you' I said, smiling at her but then again the sad expression was back which attracted mother's attention.
'How was your little date with detective Beckett?' she asked. She must have thought that bringing up Kate would cheer me up but that wasn't the case this time. I just sat there saying nothing. My silence gave mother some hint that things had not gone down well between us. I changed the topic and looking at my watch I said-
'It wasn't a date... Where is Alexis? She should have been home by now...' and I took out my mobile to call her when my mother said-
'She is having a sleepover at her friend's...she told me, she didn't want to interrupt your dat- I mean meeting or whatever it was' mother said, raising an eyebrow. God! I had to tell her, she was not going to let me get away with it tonight.
'It's just that, we had a little argument and I needed time...' I said, after a long pause.
'Little?' mother asked suspiciously.
'Ughh... I confronted her about her secret, I mean secrets...one had given way to another...soo...we had a fight and I told her I'll show up at the precinct tomorrow if I'm ready...' I said, skipping the details. Mother did not even ask for them.
'So she apologized?' she asked, calmly.
'Yes, but that's not the point...the point is that she lied to me!' I said, this time with my voice raised.
'Oh Richard...at least she realized, and her apologizing means that she loves you...what else do you want?' she asked, meeting her pitch with mine.
'I don't know, maybe time...time to decide whether I love her back...' I said, little confused.
'Love her back...what am I missing?...did she tell you that she loved you?' mother asked curiously.
'Yes! She said that she is ready to have a relationship with me and she lied because she wanted to make herself ready to have something permanent with me...' I said. That's when I actually realized the intensity of the situation.
'God Richard... what else do you want her to do now? Everyone has flaws and its okay to hold grudge for a while, but true love is something when you rise above and give your love a chance...you have been working with her for four years now, you should not even question your feelings for her' she said, making me realize that I was acting like a jerk now.
'I know mother, stop quoting me...' I said smiling but then quickly added 'But don't you think I should make her wait like she did to me?'
'I think she made you wait because she was healing but you are making her wait for no absolute reason...' she said, keeping both her feet up, making herself comfortable on the couch.
'So you think I shouldn't lose time and go to the precinct tomorrow?' I asked, though I knew the answer but still I wanted some reassurance.
'You should just kiss that girl while you both are still young...' she said, smiling at me. Yes she was good at advice, well, sometimes.
'I as it is have to go to return this chain to her' I said, taking out the chain from my pocket. My mother very well knew everything about it. I had told her about it when I had started writing Naked Heat. She stared at it for a few seconds and then looked at me; rolled her eyes in frustration and said-
'For a bestselling novelist, you're the silliest man I have ever seen...you are questioning me about her intentions and your feelings when you had the answers right there with you' she said, taking the chain and slipping it back into my shirt pocket.
'You Richard Castle, now owe that girl an apology...' was all she said and I knew what she meant by it. I had told her that I was not sure whether I was still in love with her. She must have been heartbroken. I was going to go tomorrow to the precinct with two cups of coffee in my hands and just tell her how I truly felt. I didn't want to lose her... nor working with her nor our friendship which was now safely replaced by love nor what we can now have together, a future. The main thing which I didn't want to lose actually apart from her was 'time'.
'Richard at least message her and put her out of misery' was all my mother said, before heading towards her room along with two huge bags filled with I don't know what ALL. I did not even want to know.
'Yes mother...and thanks...' I said, smiling at her when she turned. We both did not believe much in the mother son public display of affection but we knew how much we loved each other and that was all that mattered. Not even waiting a second, I messaged her-
Kate, I am sorry, I just want to say that... I don't want to waste any more time on thinking. What I want now is to stop thinking and start acting on my thoughts. See you at precinct tomorrow? :) - RC
With that I pressed the send button and waited for her reply, not sure if I would even get one. After 5 minutes a reply came, a message that said-
Thank god Rick, I cannot wait. See you tomorrow! – Kate
It was small but I knew that she was relieved. Oh! No smiley, but I hoped she wasn't still heart broken ...Well... it was 'just' a smiley, I consoled myself when another message came that just showed-
':)'
Did she read my mind or what! She knew me so well. I went to my bedroom, to get some sleep now. Only a few hours ago we had fought and not more than an hour ago my mother had given me some 'brilliant' advice. I was not ready then but within an hour I had become ready to accept my unconditional love for her, thanks to my mother for bringing down my ego. I guess brilliance ran in our family. We always kept each other grounded. I decided not to think about anything and go off to sleep so that tomorrow came sooner. Tomorrow everything will be the way I had been imagining since 4 years. In less than a minute my eyes closed shut and I was dreaming... dreaming of her.
So to all those who are reading this, do tell me whether you liked it so far or not. Suggestions are welcome, and to those who did leave me a review, I just want to say that this chapter was dedicated to you all, as reviews do help me to proceed. Trust me! And I promise I will update at least every alternate days or at least thrice a week. Just leave a line or just a word if you do not feel like writing long sentences. Thanks :)