689. Chapter 689

After Significant Others

Episode 5.10

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I own neither soufflés, deep friend Twinkies, or Castle. Rating: K+ Time: See above.

"Are you two sure you want to do this?" Martha asked.

"Of course." Rick replied, smiling at his mother.

"I can understand Alexis going, but Kate….Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, Martha. Everything will be just fine."

"Think of it as being like going to the funeral of someone you hate. You go because you want to make sure they're really dead." Rick suggested.

"If only Meredith were dead instead of remarrying." Martha gave her son a long, hard stare. "At least you won't have to spend money on that leach that you should be spending on your wife."

Kate knew that Martha was far more upset than she was about the fact that Rick still subsidized his ex-wife. "Martha, it's okay. Rick has far more money than we'll ever need. It's not like I'm being deprived."

Martha snorted in disgust. "The person who should be deprived…."

"Mother? Let's be kind." Rick checked his watch. "The town car should be here. We're off to LA. See you in a week."

When the two of them arrived at LAX, they found Alexis waiting for them. "Hi, Dad. Hi, Mom. How was your flight?"

"Boring." Rick replied. "When did you get in from the Bay Area?"

"Just this morning." Alexis got a somewhat pained expression on her face. "Um, when I went by Meredith's place, she wasn't there. She's staying at Jeff's, I imagine."

Jeff Moore had made millions making straight to DVD movies. He had two themes for his films. He made post-apocalyptic films shot in the desert east of LA that featured well-endowed women in leather bikinis fighting off hordes of zombies, or he made sword and sorcery films shot in the desert east of LA featuring well- endowed women in leather bikinis fighting off hordes of the undead. His latest hot scientist chick/hot warrior chick was Meredith. And for reasons unknown to almost everyone, he wanted to marry Meredith.

Rick frowned and looked at Kate. "We should go check into our hotel and then head for Pacific Palisades to see how he blushing bride to be is." He put his arm around Alexis. "And I got you the suite next to ours. Okay?"

"As long as it's better than grad student housing at Stanford."

Once they had unpacked, Castle drove them in a rental car to Meredith's condo in Pacific Palisades. As they turned onto West Sunset, they saw Meredith's Mercedes parked in front. "She must be home." Rick said.

Once inside, they knocked on the door, but got no reply. They knocked again. "I have a key." Alexis said, fishing through her purse. Inside, they found Meredith sprawled on her bed, sobbing.

"Meredith? What's wrong?" Rick asked.

"It's Jeff." She wailed and then went back to sobbing.

He finally saw reason? Rick wondered. But he said, "What happened? You were so happy when we talked on Skype just yesterday."

"He cheated on me." She wailed. Meredith at up, saw a photo of her and Jeff by the nightstand and threw a pillow at it. The pillow missed the photo and knocked her alarm clock onto the floor.

"He did?" Castle said, feeling disappointed.

"Of course he did!" Meredith wailed. "Didn't you hear me?"

Kate took charge. "Tell me what happened, Meredith. Maybe it was just some sort of misunderstanding."

"It was no misunderstanding. We had a party last night at his place in Malibu. I woke up on the couch this morning and naturally I went looking for Jeff. And I found him." Meredith wailed and began sobbing again.

Feeling a bit foolish, Kate held Meredith and told her everything would be okay. "You found him and…?"

"I found him in bed with two naked blonde bimbos. They got up and ran out and Jeff had the nerve to act like he had no idea what I was talking about. The rat."

"Does this mean the wedding is off?" Rick asked, hoping it didn't.

"Of course it's off!" Meredith screamed and went back to sobbing.

Kate gathered Rick and Alexis together in the living room. "We need to find out what happened. Alexis, can you stay with Meredith while your father and I track down this Jeff?"

The redhead nodded. "Sure. I have Jeff's address on my phone. It's not too far."

"And be sure to call Meredith Mom, okay?" He whispered.

Rick and Kate found Jeff Moore sitting in his backyard, looking out over the Pacific Ocean and nursing both a bloody Mary and a hangover. He looked up at them through bloodshot eyes. "Sorry, no business today. It got a little crazy here last night. Big party."

Rick introduced them and explained why they were at his home.

"Jeez. Merry thinks I cheated on her? I'd never do that. I love her."

"She did say that she walked into find you in bed with two naked blondes. That doesn't sound good." Kate said, using all of her extensive interrogation experience to get the truth.

Jeff scratched his head, then his belly and then downed the rest of his bloody Mary. "I was a little wasted and I went to bed. It was about….late. Really late. And the next thing I know, Merry is screaming at me and I just catch a glimpse of some naked chick's ass going out the door. I know I didn't cheat on Merry. I was in no shape to cheat on her."

"Mind if I look around?" Kate asked, walking towards the house before Jeff could reply.

"Hey, go ahead."

Rick followed her into the house and into the bedroom. "What are you looking for?"

"Meredith and Moore said the two women ran out naked, so we should find…"She held up a bra. "Something like this." She reached under a pile of clothes and pulled out a purse. "And this." She opened the purse and took out a wallet. "Driver's license for Cindy Burns. Address is in the Valley. Shall we go?"

Kate flashed her badge when Cindy Burns opened the door and held out the purse. "Ms. Burns, I believe this is yours?"

Rick handed her a paper sack. "And I believe these are yours. And someone else's."

"Cindy, who is it?" Called a voice.

"The cops, Darcy. It's the cops."

Darcy came to the door, looking as disheveled as Cindy. "The cops? We didn't do anything. Did we?"

"Actually, we're friends with Jeff Moore's fiancé, Meredith. She came in and found you two in bed with Mr. Moore and now she wants to call off the marriage. We're you two sleeping with Mr. Moore?" Kate asked.

Both shook their heads. Marcy and Cindi exchanged glances. Cindi spoke. "We we're with each other. We're…you know. Together. We went looking for someplace and Jeff has this really, really big bed and he was all the way over on one side. And, well, we're lesbians and …"

"We're familiar with the term." Kate said, suppressing a smile. "So all you have to do is tell Meredith that you weren't with Jeff Moore last night and all will be well."

"We can't do that." Cindi cried.

"Why not?" Rick and Kate asked.

"I started out as the slave girl in Raiders of the Golden Sands V. And then I was the grad student who died of radiation poisoning in Undead Massacre III. Then I was Zenobia, the Queen's assassin in Death to the Barbarian Queen, Chapter Three. That was a much bigger part. And I just finished Valley of the Zombies where I play the second lead, the sexy Army colonel who finds the cure for being undead, but dies at the end."

Castle was confused. "If you find the cure to being undead, how do you die?"

That got a severe glare from Kate. Castle looked at the ceiling as innocently as he could.

"But I'm up for the female lead in Revenge for The Barbarian Queen."

Rick and Kate looked at Cindi and then at themselves. "So?" Kate asked.

"The entertainment industry is okay with people being lesbian or gay or whatever, but Jeff says that the fanbase for his movies is the sixteen to twenty two year old male high school dropout demographic. Jeff told another actress who came out that he couldn't use her in his films because the demographic he was shooting for wanted their female idols to be totally heterosexual. So I can't let anyone know I'm a lesbian. It would ruin my career."

"And suppose I tell Jeff that the reason his marriage broke up is that you wouldn't tell Meredith the truth? What would that do to your career?"

"Really a beautiful ceremony. "Rick said, shaking Jeff's hand several days later. "But can you tell me something? Would you really have fired Cindy because she's lesbian?"

Jeff laughed. "Of course not. I got rid of that other actress because she spent all of her time with her head between my secretary's legs. I wasn't getting a bit of work out of either bitch."

"You're a prince among men, Jeff."

"It's a tough business. But, I really have to thank you for saving my ass with Merry. I owe you, pal."

"I'm just glad you two are happy." Rick said. And happier Meredith is out of my hair.

Jeff nodded. "And the marriage is coming at just the right time for me."

"How so?"

The last couple of films haven't done so well. Video games and on-line porn and all. Meredith's money will come in handy"

"Meredith's money?" Castle asked, more than a little confused. Meredith had very little money.

"Sure, with her condo in the Palisades and the car, not to mention what she spends on clothes, she's got to be sitting on a bundle." Meredith waved to Jeff from across the room. "Hey, the little woman is calling. Thanks again, pal."

Rick felt Kate's arm slide around his waist. "You heard?"

She nodded. "This should be an interesting marriage."

"While it lasts."