A 'SUB' REQUEST (Cate Blanchett x OC)

Chapter 14: A status update

"So what exactly is it that you see in men?" I put down my margarita sunrise, sober as ever. It was a Friday night, and my boss and I were hanging out at a dingy gay bar where we had to shout to hear each other, because that was what our relationship had evolved into. Shania Twain's "Man! I feel like a woman" was blasting in the background. 

Slightly tipsy, he put a dainty finger to his lip and squinted his eyes, "Um, let's see - I love the ones with a little fat on them, you know, it's like you get a human bear hug at night...oh, and their. Hands." He savored the words as if each pause would help bring the imagery to life. "I. Love. Strong. Man. Hands." 

I learned a whole lot of nothing and my gayness was doubly reaffirmed. "Do you think you can choose to love a woman too just for the comfort of hetero normalcy? Especially if there is history between you two..." 

"Well I been listenin' to Shania since I was four, and I love that bitch to death -" he snapped his fingers, and then gasped, "girl, you're in love with a man?" 

"My mother wishes," I rolled my eyes, "no - but someone I know might be." Oscar night flashed before my eyes, and I recalled that in my blinding rage, the fact almost escaped me that Cate did indeed kiss Andrew back, if only for a brief moment. It was as if she had to say no and do the right thing in rejecting his advances, but she couldn't help herself. 

"You dum-dum," he flicked his wrist at me scoldingly, "chasin' after straight girls again are we?" 

I must've looked downright offended, "how in the world do you even know that - that's what I do?" 

He glanced at me sideways knowingly. "Well I got happy news for you, baby girl. Speaking from experience, you can't turn a gay person straight, but you sure can turn a straight person gay. As a matter of fact," he leaned in closer and winked, "I hooked up with a really cute guy at the Oscars that everyone thought was straight." 

Ha! Looks like everyone was getting some at the Oscars. I grinned inwardly to myself for a split second before my surroundings faded away and Hylda's threat haunted my mind again. How was she going to tell the world? What would she gain from it, now that she no longer represented Cate? How long had she and Andrew been working together, as some kind of bloodthirsty jilted suitors' coalition of Cate's? 

As my thoughts cascaded into frenzied rumination, I couldn't help but google "Cate Blanchett at the Oscars". Nothing came up except for run-of-the-mill red carpet photos of her in that gorgeous floral gown that matched her eyes. Maybe empty threats were all Hylda was capable of. 

-----

Cate and I only met up under the cover of night since the Oscars incident. I'd pull into her driveway after making several rounds in her neighborhood to make sure no one was following me, and then double check after I let myself inside. Once inside though, paradise resumed behind closed curtains. We would snack and talk and dance and listen to music together, or do absolutely nothing if we felt like it. If a rehearsal was imminent, I'd run lines with her, and I'd tell her about all the bad scripts I read that day. Sometimes after she had a glass of wine or two in her, she'd agree to let me make her watch one of her movies with me, her hiding behind her hands the entire time. 

But none of these activities would last very long, for an hour tops, before we inevitably made our way upstairs. Then, our clothes would come off, and she would climb on top of me (or occasionally me over her) to release the tension that had built up in both of us with fifteen minutes of the most joyous exertion. 

One weekend, as we lay in bed together, she said, "I never thanked you for not bringing your work into our relationship, even when you had a ton of pressure from your boss at Fox. I probably would've considered working with them anyway, but I do appreciate you not taking me for granted that way."

"Don't thank me - it was the right thing to do." 

"You wouldn't believe how many people don't think like this when they interact with me." 

"I know," I sighed, "but I like you much better than they do." 

"Really? Enough to ghost me for six months?" she poked me with her elbow. 

"Hey you know that's not it," I kissed her on the forehead, "god, you have no idea how much I missed you in that time." 

"I have to admit, it did give me more time to get over my mental barrier about being touched during sex. It changed my life. It felt better than I'd ever imagined." 

"I'm glad that I'm good therapy and a good lay." I joked. 

"You know you are so, so much more than that to me, darling." she said, "I knew I wanted you back the moment I locked eyes with you at the Oscars." 

Which brought us to the elephant in the room. 

"What are we gonna do about Hylda? She's clearly not happy that you fired her, she seems to be following me around, and I don't even know when she got in touch with Andrew, and who are these secret photographers that are working for her everywhere? Cate, if she really publishes those photos and about us..." 

Cate stroked my hair and stared at the ceiling. A moment of silence. "Hylda is all bark and no bite, and Andrew's such a homophobe he'd cringe if his name and the word 'gay' appeared in the same article," then she continued, and what she said was about to frighten me to my core. 

"What are we even hiding from, love?" she said, "I'm playing a queer character in a movie, you're working for a gay man at a queer production company. If the world found out we were actually queer ourselves, it could even help our careers." 

"But your kids - you don't want them hearing about this from the tabloids? Their perception of you would be forever altered. Do you know that some queer actors never play straight roles again after they come out, Eliot Page, Rupert Everett, Ellen, Anne Heche...and you know, what goes on the internet is permanently on the internet. That alone terrifies me so much, Cate." I held onto her a bit more tightly. 

"You mean you don't want to be forever known as Cate Blanchett's girlfriend?" 

I sat up upon hearing this, as I couldn't believe my ears. A brand new emotion was pouring into my face, "I'm...your girlfriend?" 

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