Cate groaned as she felt the throbbing kicks lingering on her head. She squinted as the burning rays of the sun hit her face. A sunny morning was on display and the breeze of the ocean was howling outside. She chose to close her eyes again - she never had the energy to get up, she just wanted to be in bed to somehow compensate for the past sleepless nights that she had spent, but the constant beeping of her phone on the bedside table wouldn't stop. With her eyes closed, she lazily reached for her phone and when she opened it, she sat on the bed right away with what she saw. A video of Rooney Mara slapping herself and grabbing her hair on the shore circulated online. It went viral with 14 million views in just 24 hours. She read through the comments and everyone was taking their side of the story - some said it's an act, some said she's shooting for a movie, but Cate, in that very instant, already knew what was it really. She felt sick and mad at what she saw - Rooney lied to her, and she believed it, and in doing so, she accused Sandra of hurting her.
In her anger, she stood up and trudged her way out. With her feet bare and with the same clothes she was wearing yesterday, she went out and walked towards Rooney's suite. Her body felt hot in anger and to say that she was mad was an understatement. She didn't know what to feel except for the disgust and anger building inside her core. She arrived at Rooney's door in no time and without knocking, she went in. When she went inside, she saw Rooney practically packing while talking to someone on the phone. Cate didn't wait for her to finish the call and she, in so much anger, grabbed Rooney by her arm and it caused Rooney's phone to fall off her hand, eventually dropping it on the floor with a loud thug.
"Cate..." Rooney mumbled, "Baby... I didn't..." She uttered and tried to hold Cate's face but Cate shook her, "I didn't know wh -"
"You are a fucking liar!" Cate yelled at her face, her face turned red, "I - I fucking don't know you anymore! You are a manipulative bitch, Rooney!" And with that, she pushed Rooney down the floor.
Rooney's tears fell as she slumped on the floor. The blonde towered in front of her, biting her lip with a dead glare pointing at Rooney. With so much tears, the younger woman stood up and tried to hug Cate, but the blonde didn't buy her pleas anymore.
"That's not me! Baby, please believe me!" The younger woman plead holding Cate's hands to which the blonde withdrew right away, "That's not me. I don't know how did that happen. Baby please... look at me, baby. Believe me, just please baby --"
"Believe your lies again?" Cate roared, "Fuck you!" She pointed her, "I confronted Sandra because you fucking told me that she hurt you! And that's just so mean! And please, stop calling me baby because you disgust me. I am not your baby and we are so over, Rooney."
Cate turned her back and headed out towards the door when Rooney hugged her from behind. The blonde tried to push Rooney off her body, but Rooney tightened her hold around Cate. With her sobs, Rooney went in front of Cate; with her hands still around the blonde, she knelt in front of Cate who was deeply mad.
"Please... I beg you, let's talk." Rooney begged, "That's not me. Don't just believe what you saw because maybe that's Sandra's doing. Maybe she she -- maybe she hired someone who looks like me to make me look bad."
Cate shook her head, "You are fucking delusional."
"No, baby just believe me. I swear, that's not me."
"I don't want to hear your lies. And I have made it clear to you that I do not love you like I did before. The month that we had is over. I agreed to make it memorable because you begged me to, but I felt so disgusted now. You lied to me, you made up stories about Sandra hurting you and I,.." Cate paused as she knelt in front of Rooney before proceeding to hold her shoulders and shook her in so much anger, "I fucking believed you! I hurt the woman I love the most because of you!" She yelled at her, her whole face turned red and Cate was drowning in her emotions, "I do not want to see your face ever again."
And with that, Cate removed Rooney away from her and she left, leaving the younger woman crying on the floor. When Cate successfully walked away from Rooney's hall, it was when her tears fell. She remembered the words she used towards Sandra last night; she remembered the accuse she had given her, she remembered Sandra telling her that it was not true, but she didn't believe her. Her soul felt so depleted remembering the pain in Sandra's voice. Sandra must be drowning in pain as she remembered that the brunette didn't open her door when she knocked. With her heart broken into two, Cate wiped her tears. She then walked to where Sandra's suite was situated. It was time to make everything right. She needed to apologize to her and so she brought her feet to where she was last night. Sandra's door was closed and with her shaking fist, she knocked on the door.
"Sandra, open the door, please." Cate called, her tears falling freely from her eyes, "Please... open the door, I am begging you." She called one more time, "Baby, please..." And with one last knock, her voice went low.
She had lost so much energy from crying. She forgot when was the last time she didn't cry. Everything was falling out, and she honestly felt dead. She sobbed right outside Sandra's door, with her head attached on the wooden portal; she called her name, so many times. After a few minutes of knocking, when she decided not to knock anymore, the door suddenly opened. She jerked back and her heart - from being torn into two - was now torn into a million pieces.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I was in the bathroom cleaning. But Miss Bullock is not here anymore. She checked out four hours ago."
Cate's lips parted as she listened to the maid. Four hours ago. Five hours ago, she was here outside Sandra's door, asking her to open it. And she checked out four hours ago, that clearly meant that Sandra just waited for her to vanish just so she could left without telling her. She wanted to yell and throw things, but she felt the need to sit, so she sat on the cold floor, with her back pasted against the door. She didn't speak, but she wanted to yell and cuss. She was breaking. The blonde - with so much tears - looked down and saw her phone trapped between her fingers. She didn't know if Sandra could still be reached, and her fingers wanted to retreat from dancing on the keyboard, but she still did. With a huge agony swirling around her system, she dialled Sandra's number. The burden of waiting seeped into her heart, and she waited for what seemed like forever. She was about to end the call when Sandra answered on the fifth ring.
The other line was silent, indicating that the brunette was waiting for her to speak. There were so many things that she wanted to spill in honesty, but as soon as the line was on, the fast beating of her heart raced to freeze her mind, and thus, stopping her tongue from talking what was needed to be said. With her phone on her ear, with tears streaming down her face, she spilled the first phrase that came out of her lips.
"Where are you?" She whispered.
The line went still for a few seconds, before Sandra's voice was heard, "I'm here where you want me to, Catherine. I'll be going away from you and Rooney."
"No, no, please - sto -"
"I used to look back and tried to go back to the place where I used to belong. But I have realized, you do not want me to belong to you anymore. Last night, I realized how much you love Rooney because you're willing to protect her from something I didn't do. I was a cheater, a liar - you can call me whatever you want, but I am no masochist."
"Sandra, please just listen to me - "
"No, Catherine. Listen to me." She paused, "You were right. I ruined our five beautiful years, and I ought to pay the price of ruining it. I just want you to know that I regret everything I did. Forget me now, because I will do the same. This is hard to do, but don't make this even harder. Do me a favor: forget me completely." Sandra paused, her heavy breathing could be heard through the line, "Forget me completely and I will do the same."
"Baby, please..." Cate sobbed, "I love you. Don't go."
"Like you said, "unlove me then". I've decided not to bother you and Rooney anymore. Goodbye."
Cate kept her tongue. She felt like she was being stabbed by Sandra. She never answered for the words that the brunette told her rendered her speechless. With the silence, she was able to hear the background noise coming from the other line. Sandra was still at the airport, she was sure of that. Even if she felt low, and she was not ready for anything, she ended the call and ran towards the ground floor of the hotel. She wasn't really sure if she could still arrive in time, but she needed to go to the airport. With no shoes, nor slippers and just the clothes she wore yesterday, she ran down.
"Good morning. I need a ride to the airport. Right now." She spoke in so much haste.
The lady in the front desk panicked at the way she acted, but thankfully, the lady requested a car for her right away. When the car was already parked outside, Cate ran out and hopped in.
"To the airport, please." She uttered, with her head silently chanting a prayer, "And please drive as fast as you can. I need to catch someone."
The driver looked at her through the rearview mirror and when the driver spotted that he was driving the one and only Cate Blanchett, he stopped. The driver was so shocked.
"Jesus Christ! You are --"
"Cate Blanchett, I know! Just get the car moving! Please, I need to catch someone!" She muttered.
The young driver who was still shocked was able to maneuver the car. They sauntered the pavements of California and even if the car was moving at its fastest pace, Cate couldn't stay still. If she could just fly, she would. In less than an hour, they arrived at the airport. Cate ran towards the entrance and even though her mind was blank and her body wanted to give up, she ran and was able to get inside. The lobby was filled with strangers and the gates of the airport was so confusing to her. She looked around, but there was no sign of Sandra anymore. She wanted to cry. Her knees were shaking at each step that she was taking. She was exhausted and famished. With her heart beating loudly against her chest, she approaced one of the stewards inside.
"Excuse me. I don't know what flight I am looking for, but is there still a flight to New York that isn't boarding yet?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but all the flights to New York boarded half an hour ago. Our next flight to New York will be in the next three hours."
Hearing what was said made her realize that she was late. Her tears quickly fell and she wiped it right away. She gave her nod to the lady and she retreated. Sandra was gone, she was. Cate wasn't dead yet, but she felt like her body was already buried in an unmarked grave. She walked back, but just as she was about to saunter another waiting crowds, her eyes lit. A brunette, with a luggage on hand was standing on the corner of the lobby. She had her back against her, but Cate had memorized Sandra's individuality - she knew her by her hair, by her back, by the back of her palm and she was sure, that the woman standing a few meters away from her was the woman she loved the absolute most. Her feet ached already, but still she ran - she couldn't waste any time. It felt like she woke up from a tiring dream and Sandra was the water that she needed to have in order for her to breathe. She ran towards Sandra and Cate didn't care if she was being watched by thousands of people inside. She was aware that most of the people recognized that she's Cate Blanchett and she was also aware that some were taking pictures and videos of her, but still - fuck it, she thought. She ran towards Sandra and when she reached her place, she grabbed her waist, turned her around and she claimed her lips.
***