to the moon & to saturn | cate blanchett

chapter 7

Elle couldn't get Cate out of her mind over the next few days. Not like she wanted to. She felt the lingering taste of her lips and heard her angelic laugh in the back of her mind, making her smile at random times.

"You've got it bad," teased Dylan.

"Huh?"

The two were at the mall, spending the morning walking around and shopping for nothing in particular before Elle's shift.

Dylan spun around in a yellow sundress outside her dressing room.

"I'm trying to show you these clothes and get your opinion, but you're off in some other world," said Dylan, hands on her hips.

Elle felt terrible. She forced Cate out of her mind and focused on her best friend.

"Dylan, I'm so sorry," said Elle, clasping her hands together. "Okay, I'm here. I'm present. That dress looks fabulous on you."

"I know," said Dylan, looking confidently in the mirror.

The rest of the clothes she picked out to try on didn't "match her vibe", as she put it, so she bought the dress and the two girls exited the store.

They walked past Victoria's Secret and Dylan started to go inside. Elle paused.

"Why are we going in here?" she asked.

"For your special lady," smirked Dylan.

"Oh, shut up," said Elle. She continued walking down the mall hallway. Dylan ran to catch up with her and grabbed her arm.

"Trust me, Elle. The way you talked about your date, I know your relationship is going somewhere. I just want you to be prepared for, you know, your first time," said Dylan, whispering the last part.

Elle crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Sex isn't everything in a relationship."

"I know," said Dylan, "I'm just saying, like is that something you might be interested in doing with her?"

"Well—I mean—eventually maybe," stuttered Elle. "I don't know."

Then, her tone grew serious, and she said, "Dylan, I know you mean well, but Cate is still a married woman."

"Come on, Elle. You've seen her husband. There is nothing holding that marriage together except status and a legal contract."

"How can you be such a good and bad influence on me at the same time?"

Dylan did a casual bow, and said, "That's my specialty."

"Can we please grab something for lunch? My shift starts soon," whined Elle, pulling Dylan to the food court.

Elle settled on pizza and Dylan ordered a thai dish.

"You can quit that job now, if you want," said Dylan once they were seated at a table with their food.

"I know, but I've only worked there a few weeks and I feel bad leaving when we are so short staffed. I can stick it out for the summer. Plus, I guess the extra money doesn't hurt," justified Elle.

"Holy shit," said Dylan suddenly. She picked up her plastic fork and waved it at a table across the food court like she planned to stab someone with it. "That cheating bastard."

Elle turned to look in the direction of Dylan's fork weapon. Sitting across the foot court, at a semi-secluded table behind a plant, was Andrew and a woman who was certainly not Cate.

"Woah, let's not jump to conclusions," said Elle, pushing Dylan's arm down. "It could be a business lunch."

"At a food court?"