The Crater

Chapter 19 - Chewing gum

"You don't have to go if you don't want to". Sarah called me as soon as the text avalanche started.

"It's not that, Sarah. Of course, I want to go, but I don't want us two to make things uncomfortable for everybody"

"How was it today though? Was it too difficult?"

"Excruciating. But I don't think she cared, or anybody else for that matter"

"Listen, Cate. It's going to be hard anyway. To be frank, it's even hard for me. I love Sandra, but I can't understand why she's doing this after all. I saw her yesterday, and I barely could talk to her"

I shook my head. This wasn't supposed to be like this. "You need to go back to normal with her. You don't need to agree or anything, but she's not in a good place either"

"Yes, but you..."

"No. It's not fair to judge her for caring for her family", I firmly stated.

"You're a better person than me"

I smiled at that. "I wouldn't know about that"

"Right, it's not that. You just love her too much"

Well, it was the first time to pinned that word to this mess. Love. A different kind of love.

"I love you, so I'm going"

"Nice save, Blanchett". I could hear her grin over the phone.

"Still, you need to get it together with her. It's not fair and you know it. You are friends too"

"Fine... I won't see you tomorrow on set, but we'll see you at the party"

"Cool. Give Holland a kiss from me"

"What kind of kiss?", she joked.

"Oh, shut up!"

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Cate B.: Of course, I'll be there too!

Game on.

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We had already filmed some scenes in the hideout. Mostly just me and Sandra. Today we had scenes with the other girls.

The first one was with Rose when we tried to explain to her about the Toussaint. I sat away from them, as Gary asked. I couldn't help but look at Sandra, briefly every time. Was her shirt supposed to be open and enticing like that?

It's not that open...

I don't know which take we were on, but she eventually noticed. Helena was focused on the iPad, trying to figure out the movements from left to right. I was supposed to interact with her, but Sandra fixed her stare. Or was it Debbie? It was defiant, teasing in a way. She made a gesture as if asking 'what?'.

I stared back for a moment, but then I had to look away. It was too intense. Thankfully Helena was in the middle of easing out things; she and at least 30 crew members.

____

We went for a wardrobe change and got ready for the first scene with Rihanna. Everybody was really excited to have her there.

"Cate, I need you to step closer to Sandra. You're out of the frame if you two aren't close. And you're supposed to be whispering"

"Sure, Gar. Sorry"

"It's okay. It's just it's a very intimate moment, you're partners. Debbie is not too sure about Nine. You can feel the innuendos between the two of you, even though you're just talking about 'work'"

"Got it"

"Would it help if I pull her closer?". That made me look at her. Was she joking? Flirting?

Gary and Olivia laughed at that. "Let's try that and see how it looks. With your chemistry, it would look sexy", said Olivia.