adopted by sandra bullock (and her gf cate blanchett)

chapter 38

it was sandy's second day on set, and her morning had started off less than ideal.

after the mornings drama with dylan's near-panic attack, she was shaken up as she navigated her car through the los angeles traffic and to the studio.

she was the last one to arrive to the meeting room, where she greeted her coworkers with a small smile and brief hello.

she was not in the mood to talk, something that cate picked up on rather quickly.

cate took it upon herself to run interference between her girlfriend and anything that could make her already emotionally taxing day even more exhausting.

this came mainly in the form of cate distracting sarah from talking to sandy, because although sandy loved her friend dearly, her ample energy this early in the morning was something sandy simply could not handle.

after the first three hours of re-reading certain sections of the script, looking over the shot list, and going over some vague directions, it was time for a lunch break.

the eight women sat together at a table near craft services, having decided that the eight of them going out at the same time while avoiding  paparazzi was near impossible, and none of them had the energy to deal with the paparazzi today - especially sandy.

sandys mood had gradually improved throughout the first half of the work day, thanks to cates attempts to subdue sarah's unending energy.

she found herself opening up to her coworkers as they crowded around the small table, laughing at anne's wild stories and nora's dirty jokes.

cate couldn't help but grin as she watched her girlfriend open up to their new group.

cate new that sandy had a hard time opening up to people, and that she didn't have many friends aside from reese, jen, sarah, and herself.

sandy had had some bad experiences on sets in her younger years, ones that caused her to be overly skeptical about her fellow cast and crew. but being in a cast of all women, she felt that she could really be herself and drop some of the reservations she usually held with her colleagues.

sarah brought up, unsurprisingly, the idea of going out for drinks tonight.

sandy did little to hide her displeasure at the suggestion, and she noticed she wasn't the only one.

helena had gone unusually quiet at the suggestion, tapping her finger rapidly against the table, rings clinking together.

cate was frowning slightly, and mindy also looked unenthusiastic about the idea.

sarah seemed oblivious to the sudden tension, but luckily anne was not, because she quickly threw out another suggestion.

"how about we have a more casual night at my place? just to get to know each other a bit more before we embarrass ourselves drunk."

rihanna and nora were quick to agree, as well as mindy who said she'd bring wine.

cate looked at sandy hesitantly, and sandy gave her a small but encouraging nod.

"i'll be there," cate said, "let me know if there's anything i can bring."

sandy added on "same here, although i might be a bit late - i have dinner plans."

sarah shot her a quizzical look, but thankfully didn't comment on it.

"that sounds good to me," sarah answered, "but we're definitely going out eventually. i know a great place."

sandy rolled her eyes.

"how about you helena?" sarah asked the older woman.

helena looked torn, sad almost. a stark contrast to her earlier bubbly self.