The Cate Blanchett Case {Cate Blanchett}

33~The "Ex"

The newspaper seemed to burn in my hands, much like when I had first held the file on Cate, the file that had started me on this not-so-perfect adventure. I stood just outside of the corner shop I'd rushed too, clutching the newspaper tightly in both hands, looking down at it.

Desperation surged through my being. The need to frantically flick through the newspaper and discover the horrible things that had probably been said about Cate and I. 

Another part of me was completely terrified, I didn't want to face this alone. In a way, I needed Cate because I knew whatever I'd read couldn't be as bad if she was reading it with me. A part of me needed her to reassure me, remind me that none of this was really was my fault.

I knew it was my fault. All of it was my fault. I'd been the one to practically hand over the story to Hayleigh without much of a fight, granted Amy was insane and I couldn't seem to talk sense into that thick skull of her's.

I'd never felt so guilty and helpless in my life, I 'd gone into this not caring whether Cate was hurt or not. It was always about me. Me. Me. Me. It was now I was beginning to realise the consequences of my not-so-pure pure actions. To think I'd done all of this to try and appease the cruel woman I called my mother.

I sighed and looked up from the paper and was met by a pair of curious eyes. A girl, she was holding the exact same newspaper in front of her, her hair was a dusty brown colour and her eyes were hazel and seemed to sparkle in the morning sun like diamonds. She was beyond beautiful, I had to admit. She also felt familiar.

She looked away for a second to look back down to the newspaper she was holding, she was sat on a bench across the street, the paper in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back up, interest sparking in her eyes. She'd probably recognised me from the very newspaper she was holding. 

There was something strange about her. I couldn't quite put a finger on it. I knew her from somewhere. Or maybe she had one of those faces. Instead of daunting on it for much longer I decided I'd kept Cate waiting long enough and I should be heading back to her.

So I crossed the road with the mission of getting to the car park, ignoring the significant presence of the strange girl. However, it was not to be. 

"I suppose you're taking that back to Cate, huh?" A voice asked her, coming from the direction of the bench. It wasn't very hard to guess who was talking to me, turning around I met the hazel eyes of the girl on the bench.

I frowned, who did she think she was? She had no business in my private life, it didn't matter that some of it was displayed in a newspaper for everyone to see. At first I wasn't going to give her a response, electing to turn back around and head to the car.

That was before she spoke again, "I'm Claire," she introduced herself, her voice was confident, attractive and she seemed to assert this sort of control over everything. Like she knew exactly how the world worked. "You might know me, since you wrote about me in your little story," she chuckled, flashing her white teeth and holding up the newspaper to emphasise her point.

For a second I was confused that was until I repeated the name she'd given me in my head. 

'Claire'

And suddenly, she didn't seem to be so attractive anymore. Her eyes held some sort of sarcasm, she looked manipulative. Yes, she had tiny freckles that graced her nose and made her look that bit more beautiful and yes her hair seemed to fall in perfect tresses over her angled shoulder but all the beauty I'd seen in her disappeared. Instantly.

"I don't want to talk to you," I said abruptly, spinning around rapidly and moving with the intent to walk away. My eyebrows bunched together, I wanted nothing to do with her, she'd only make the situation worse, she only wanted her five more seconds of fame.

"You don't want to, or Cate doesn't want you to?" She asked, I could hear the smirk in her tone, I knew she was manipulative but even with this knowledge her words still made me pause for a second.

I heard her ankle boots clunk along the ground as she neared me, "it's funny how you've chosen to believe only one side of the story, just because Cate's given you some of her special treatment," she chuckled, leaning close to my ear. 

This felt wrong. All of it. She was creepy, she freaked me out and panicked me, I just wanted to go home to Cate and lay in her arms and let her tell me that everything was all right and we'd both be just fine.

"That's what she does you know, uses you, until you no longer benefit her. This story," she paused and scoffed as if for dramatic effect, "is all just a ploy. This isn't about you or even her, it's about Andrew," she whispered, pressing herself closer to me, she was half an inch taller than me and the scarf she was wearing brushed against my neck.

"You see, it was Andrew who was starting to fall out of love with her and she panicked like most women do when they feel their partners are bored of them," she drawled, running a hand down my arm. "She wanted to hurt him, as he had hurt her, that's where I fit into the story. Yes, she'll tell you I did it for some clout but if I had done it for those purposes don't you think I'd be hanging onto every last piece of that so called clout?" 

I hated it. I hated that what she was saying was starting to make sense.

"She used me like she is using you, this story is just something to get his attention, to make him jealous so he goes running back to her. She doesn't care about you, or even what you write in a silly newspaper," she laughed and threw her own newspaper onto the floor, disregarding it.

She was picking, picking at my mind and jumbling all my thoughts about. It all made so much sense, I didn't want to believe it, especially not because it was coming from Claire who I'd heard enough about to know she wasn't to be trusted.

However, if Claire was lying she seemed to be spinning a pretty good web of believable lies. 

"That's how it was with her, the reluctance to put a label on whatever it was between us, the inability to address the divorce without a sudden change of subject or nervous breakdown, the way she would look at me when no one was looking as if I was part of something special to her,"

"Stop," I said softly, breathing loudly and stepping forward, away from her. "Just stop, Claire, I don't know why you're doing this. Don't you think you've done enough?" I asked her before taking another step away from her, closer to the carpark.

Claire continued to smirk, her smug face relentless. "I'm warning you, Thalia, I was in your position once too," for a second I could have sworn I saw a flash of sadness in her features, "it's up to you to decide whether you help yourself or not,"

With that Claire stepped back, smiling sadly for the last time before turning and walking away leaving her newspaper splayed out on the paved floor and myself with a lot of confusion.

However, that confusion didn't really have time to settle in before my phone was buzzing with an incoming call, irritated by the interruption I pulled my phone out and looked at the ID.

Cate.

Great. What was I supposed to say? I would have to tell her, it was important. 'Hey, Cate, just ran into your ex who accused you of all these terrible things that make a lot of sense but I love you too much to believe them. Just thought you should know,'

Sighing, quite tiredly I answered the phone and brought it to my ear before continuing on to the car park. 

"Hello?" I heard her voice and suddenly the things Claire had said left my brain, she didn't sound upset but she sounded quite confused. 

"Hey, Cate," I replied, smiling at the sound of her relieved sigh.

"I have some bad news," she said, her voiced was muffled slightly and I took a guess and figured she was biting her lip or her nails, nervous habits.

"Unfortunately, so do I," I sighed, she didn't seem to make a noise of surprise so I could only guess she'd found out about the newspaper. "How about you go first?" I suggested.

"Okay, well, I don't know why or how but your mother is here. She's acting quite strange with me and it's odd sitting in a room with her in silence,"

And just like that my day was ruined further. Not only would I have to deal with this newspaper and the questions I needed to ask Cate but now I had to deal with my mother.

Brilliant. This would be fun.