Me Against Her (Cate Blanchett x OC)

Fine

I woke up to a string of unanswered texts and calls from Abby. 

"Where are you?"

"Are you all right?"

"Have you been kidnapped?" 

"Please answer, I'm getting worried!"

I glanced over at Cate sleeping soundly next to me, and smiled to myself. 

"I spent the night at Cate's," I stepped into the next room and called her back, "I got carried away and forgot to text." 

"Don't disappear on me again, you almost gave me a heart attack. Also, you slept with...Cruella de Vil!?"

 "It was...so amazing, Abs, I can't put it into words." I swooned, "She's everything I've ever wanted." 

"Just be careful, okay? Or she's gonna break your heart again." her admonishing tone rang through my receiver, "I don't trust this woman." 

"No, you don't get it, she's gonna help me keep my job and deal with the guy who's blackmailing me. She has connections in this town, Abs, I really need her." 

"All the connections and power to take advantage of you and discard you like it means nothing to her." 

"Thanks for looking out for me, girlie, but I'll be fine." I hung up and walked back to the bedroom, where Cate was waking up. 

"Good morning," I bent down and kissed her neck. 

"Morning sweetheart," she said, gazing dreamily into my eyes. 

I lay back down next to her, wrapping my legs around her, the places where our skin touched evoking the wild passion of last night. 

Until our peaceful silence was disrupted by Cate's phone beeping loudly next to her pillow. 

"Shit, Andrew has called 12 times," she sat up immediately to get dressed, "I'll see you at the office, okay?" 

"All right. Let me know if I can do anything," I got dressed and began heading out the door. 

"Hey," she called out to me just before I shut the door, "come back tonight, will you?" 

-----

I was visibly distracted at work for the next two days, as Harge's countdown neared its end. I heard Cate and Andrew argue a couple of more times in their office, and Cate was on the phone a lot more than usual, but they were smart enough to close the door each time now, so I didn't catch a single word. There was a tension in the air, and the rest of the company felt it. 

Both Cate and Andrew began avoiding me at the office, and I was left in the dark. I would go to Cate's place after work, we'd have the most mind-blowing sex of our lives, but whenever I asked her how it was going with Harge, she gave me very vague answers that only added to my confusion. She always reassured me, however, that she'd take care of everything. 

On the 13th day after Harge's initial letter, Cate took me out to dinner at the French restaurant where we had dinner together for the first time. Contrary to the stylish pantsuits that she'd always wear to a semi-formal occasion, she wore a dress instead. Her hair was well-done, and she had gorgeous makeup on. So I had the gut feeling that she had news to break to me. 

She let me order the most expensive items on the menu, and let me drink my favorite wine straight from the bottle. We drank and chatted until almost everyone gone, it was just us and an old Edith Piaf song softly humming in the background. 

"Are you happy now, Edith?" she asked after we got the check, and I worked on the remnants of our cheesecake, her face palpably weary and the wrinkles around her eyes cut deeper into her porcelain skin than usual. 

"Apart from all the blackmail, yes," I said.

She smiled in a way that one does when one was genuinely happy, and she reached across the table and held my hand, "Good. I have some...news. You'll be fine, darling." 

I paused to digest her words, and to make sure I heard her correctly. "You mean...I don't have to resign?"

"No. It's all been sorted out." 

"Oh my god," I stood up and put my arms around her, "thank you, Cate. Thank you so much." 

"Not here, people are watching," she slowly unwrapped my arms around her. Then I noticed that she wasn't as elated as I was, and there was a mix of sadness and weariness underneath her warm smile. 

As we headed out the door, she said, "It's getting late, and I'm feeling a bit exhausted, as you can imagine. You should head home." 

"Of course."

"There's just a few more things to wrap up now. I've taped a letter under your desk. You'll know what to do." She gave me one quick hug as we parted for the evening, "Goodbye, darling." 

"Okay, bye," I said as she walked away into the night. Then I started to wander back home, but decided to stop by the office on my way back. 

It was close to 10pm, and the entire building was empty. Dust motes filled the air as I turned on the light to my office. Yellow rays punctured the darkness like a sharp needle on a black balloon. 

I reached under my desk, and felt a tiny patch of paper. It was a small gray envelope glued tightly shut. I prised it open with a paper knife, and came face-to-face with a full page of Cate's beautiful penmanship. 

"Dearest E,

First of all, I'm sorry for all the pain and confusion that the past two weeks have caused you. I feel responsible for it from both a professional and personal standpoint, that's why I've decided to make things right to the best of my ability. 

Two days ago, Andrew found the second letter from Harge in your trash bin and learned that the two million-dollar investment was on the line. He forced me to fire you, and when I said no, he threatened to take full custody of our children away from me on account of my infidelity in our marriage. 

As you can imagine, this put me in an extremely difficult predicament that had no easy resolutions. But then again, I'm not completely blameless, so I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to all involved. 

There's no doubt that I love my children dearly, and I'd give up everything for them. But I also thought about the first time I ever saw you. You didn't know me then, and you were making a pitch to the board as my competitor. When you came out of the room, there was such a fire in your eyes that proved to me that you were born to work and thrive at STC. And I couldn't let anyone, rich or poor, extinguish that fire within you. This is your dream job, Edie, and you more than deserve it.  

Earlier today, I informed the board of my decision to resign from my position as Artistic Director. I've made a strong recommendation to have you replace me without any reservations. You can pitch to them again as early as next Monday. You'll kill it, Edie, I'm certain of it.

Please see this as an opportunity to grow into the person you've always wanted to be, and don't feel any guilt about this, my dear. My decision is very personal, due to factors completely outside of your control. In the meantime, I'll be leaving the country for a while until my divorce is settled. Don't worry about me, I'm a lot more established than you are, I'll land on my feet. 

I'll be on a plane leaving Australia as you read this. It's important that we cut off all contact for now. Focus on your job. 

I apologize for not coming up with a better solution and for not telling you all this in person. Last time I saw you cry in the bathroom, it broke my heart. Please forgive me.

Yours,

Cate"

I dropped the letter and ran to her office. Her side of the desk was all cleaned out, totally empty, like she had never been here. 

I fell asleep that night crying my guts out in the arms of a stunned Abby, collapsed on the floor of my own apartment. The truth hit us sooner and harder than we ever expected.