The Cate Blanchett Case {Cate Blanchett}

3~The Case

The days leading up to the interview I did nothing but write and meet up with Jas and Amy a few times. They'd ask me about how I felt and told me that I'd do great and even helped me with the questions for Cate about her relationship with Andrew.

Hayleigh had called me the day before the interview and told me that if I fucked this up I'd be fired. She didn't even wish me good luck.

Hayleigh definitely didn't like me. I didn't blame her to be honest, I was the daughter of a multi billionaire and she probably saw me as a spoilt and stuck-up child.

The truth was that I didn't think I was better than everyone else. I didn't want everything handed to me on a plate anymore, I wanted to work for and create my own opportunities.

"This the place?" The taxi driver asked me, his gruff voice making him sound dirty and rough.

"Uh, yeah," I said, looking out of the window and being awed by the beauty of the house.

A big house, the kind in which most kids dreamed of growing up, in my case I had grown up in a big house but it wasn't as beautiful as this. Behind it were acres and acres of lush forest and nature, the house had turrets, gables, dormers, balconies, a pool. It even had a gate in the front, blocking everyone off, locking them in.

An elizabethan mansion, elegant and attractive, if a house could be attractive. I wonder if it was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside.

"'ey! Are ya' getting out or what?" The angry taxi man turned around to look at me, his beady black eyes observing me as if I was irritating him by admiring.

"Yes, I am," I told him curtly, fishing into my purse to give him some money before stepping out of the car and promptly making my way towards the beautiful iron gate.

Did I just open it or wait? I'm sure they had a doorbell of sorts. As I approached I spotted a doorbell, it was one of those modern doorbells, the ones with the camera on. I knew exactly how it worked, all because somewhere on that doorbell my mothers name would be stamped in big bold writing.

Having no other option I leaned over and pressed the little button, hearing an annoying little ring come from it.

I was only waiting a few minutes before a clear and strong voice came through the little speaker.

"Hello? I have no idea how this works," she had a strong accent, Australian. I'd taken the liberty to watch a few of her movies with Jasper, we'd managed to watch Ocean's 8, Thor: Ragnorak and Blue Jasmine before we fell asleep.

They were very good movies, I enjoyed them. Jasper kept on telling me about another movie she was in that Amy liked, it was called Carol. I'd never heard of it but I'm sure I'd get around to watching it.

"Dash, how does this thing work? I knew I should have just stuck to an ordinary doorbell," I chuckled at her comment. Who would have thought rich, celebrity Cate Blanchett wouldn't know how to operate a little piece of technology.

I didn't have any strong opinions of her up to now, what I'd seen on movies wasn't her. They were the characters she played, I didn't know the real Cate Blanchett.

However, I did already know that she wasn't particularly gifted when it came to technology.

I chuckled again and pressed the speak button on the doorbell, "hey Miss Blanchett?" I called, knowing I'd probably scare her.

"Jesus," she whispered, "sorry, hello, I have no idea what I'm doing. Are you the reporter?" She asked me, her voice apologetic, her tone slightly frustrated. Instantly, I became almost angry at her, she'd labelled me as 'the reporter'. Yes, she probably didn't know my name but there was no need for her to label me like that.

"Yes, that's me, Thalia Greene," I introduced myself briefly, frowning a little and then sighing. "Can you see a button that has a little gate on it, Miss. Blanchett?"

"Call me Cate," I heard her echo my sigh, she sounded stressed, "uhh, looking at the little gate button... do it press it? I don't want to break anything," she worried, this divorce must have added to her stress level.

Rumours did this to people, stressed them out, made them paranoid. "Yeah, press it, it shouldn't break anything. It'll just open the gate," I informed her, knowledge of my mother's company was a curse and a blessing at times.

Suddenly, there was a soft little groan of protest from the gate before it creaked open slowly. Without wasting another second I went through the gate as soon as it was wide enough for me to pass through.

It was a short walk to the front door and by the time I got there Cate herself was there holding the door open.

She smiled widely, her eyes crinkling up in happiness, which contrasted to how she'd sounded before. One of the first things I'd noticed were how she was very good looking, her features were so defined that it'd be impossible to forget her face. Her hair was pulled back into a low pony, keeping it out of her face, revealing her bright blue eyes. 

"Hi," she grinned, offering me her hand as I walked into her gorgeous home. She stood a couple inches taller than me, even though she was in slippers. Fluffy, brown dog slippers with flappy ears, to be precise.

"Hello," I smiled, polietly back, taking her hand and shaking it softly, almost jealous at how effortlessly beautiful she was.

She wore a short-sleeved white t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. She looked comfortable and professional, I envied how she managed to pull it off.

"Thalia Greene, right?" She asked, letting go of my hand. The way my name rolled off her tongue was pleasant, no wonder she had so many adoring fans that would kill to be in my position.

Oh, here it comes. 'Isn't your mother Lillian Greene?' or 'I've heard of you before, aren't you that rich tech woman's kid'.

"Yeah, that's me, Thalia Greene," I said, instantly regretting telling her my name in the first place.

"That's a lovely name, I'm looking forward to working with you," she winked, I averted my eyes almost instantly and glared at the floor as my cheeks heated up.

I hated compliments, I never knew what to do with them. Professional compliments came easily, growing up with a mother like mine made everything professional and strictly business.

Cate watched me, I could feel her eyes appraising me, she didn't seem to be waiting for a response. She was just looking at me, it reminded me of a certain someone.

I felt my cheeks cool and then decided to look up at her. She stood before me, her hands in her pockets. She looked casual and magnificent at the same time, I didn't think I'd be so star struck when I met her but it seems I thought wrong. That irritated me.

"Right, let's get started then," she smiled, suddenly snapping out of whatever thoughts she was having to focus on the task at hand.

Thankful that we were easing back into my comfort zone, I nodded and followed her as she lead me through her extravagant house.

"Excuse the mess, I've been all over the place, plus my kids are here," she told me, turning for a fraction of a second to smile at me.

There wasn't a lot of mess, it looked extremely clean in comparison to my apartment. She lead us into a large living area, it was very vintage and a beautiful chandelier hung from the high ceiling.

She motioned to one of the three couches in the room, I took that as a sign for me to sit. As I did she went around to a little side table where a bottle of white wine sat, she uncorked it and sent me a sneaky wink.

"Are you old enough to drink?" She questioned.

"26," I answered simply, waiting for her to gasp in shock or raise a perfect eyebrow in my direction.

"26," she hummed, "you act older than you are, very professional and..." I swear her eyes skimmed my entire frame, she took her bottom lip between her teeth. "Very tense and uptight," she chuckled and poured two glasses of wine.

Had I missed something? It sounded like she'd implied something but I had no idea what it was. What did it matter that I was tense and uptight?

I watched her with careful observation. Miss Catherine Elise Blanchett, what a curious case you are.