Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Two weeks.
Two weeks of calls, emails, texts, and Angelica had flat out ignored all of them.
What the hell was her problem?
Hope breathed out slowly, staring at the front of the main hotel that Angelica managed.
She’d worked herself up into a rage that she hadn’t been able to hold back any longer, and instead of sitting in her office at her restaurant spewing anger on people who didn’t deserve a damn second of it, Hope had gotten in her car and driven here.
But now what?
Go in there and throw a fit in front of Angelica?
Or hold in her anger until the next time they saw each other, which would probably be on set?
Fuck that.
Hope wrenched open the door and stepped out into the bright sunlight that Orange County always offered.
She hiked up her purse higher on her shoulders and glowered as she walked into the main building.
She knew the way by heart now. And she knew how to avoid Angelica’s guard of a secretary by just flying right by her.
She flung open Angelica’s office door as the secretary followed her, loudly protesting. Hope clenched her jaw, finding Lyric sitting across from Angelica and pointing to something on her iPad before she sat back in her seat with a smile on her lips that vanished almost instantly. “Hi Hope!”
Hope faced down Angelica, ignoring Lyric. She’d feel bad about that later, but she wasn’t here to make niceties. “You’re just going to ignore me now?”
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Shields. She walked right past me.”
“I have no doubts about that.” Angelica sighed heavily and nodded to her secretary in a dismissal. “Thank you, Mrs. van Driel. I can handle this from here.”
“I’ll… catch you later, Hope.” Lyric gave her a wavering smile before she slipped from the chair and out the door with Mrs. van Driel.
“Shut the door, Lyric,” Angelica called, but she didn’t take her baby blue eyes off Hope.
If Hope was a better person, she would have swallowed in fear.
No one stood up to Angelica Shields like she was doing right now, but damn it, she deserved some sort of answer.
She dropped her purse on the conference table and crossed her arms, glaring in the same way she’d come in. She wasn’t going to back down.
“What do you need, Hope?” Angelica turned around and sauntered back toward her desk, as if the conversation was already over.
Like hell it was.
“What do I need?” Hope’s voice squeaked.
“I need you not to be so avoidant and actually answer me.” Hope stayed right where she was, letting her anger seep into her veins and take control of her muscles.
She was going to ride this out as much as she could.
“You can’t ignore the fact that we need to sit down and have an actual conversation about filming this season.
Not a what kind of scenes are we going to shoot conversation, Ange, but a conversation about us. ”
“There isn’t an us!” Angelica’s voice ripped through the room.
It put a crack in Hope’s anger, one that she didn’t want to be there. But when she looked at Angelica now, she saw what she’d managed to avoid for so long.
Angelica was hurting.
Nothing about the way they’d ended the last season had been good, and through the entire break, they hadn’t managed to get in the same room to talk about what it all meant, to find closure for themselves. That was what Hope wanted to do now, but Angelica seemed so opposed to even the idea of it.
But why?
She just wanted a smooth start to filming for one damn season. Was that too much to ask? Especially if this was going to be their last season?
“There’s no reason for you to be here, Hope. There’s no reason for us to have a conversation about something that doesn’t exist. You made that very clear to me.” Angelica pulled over her iPad and stared at the screen, another tactic to end the conversation.
Hope gnawed on her lower lip, assessing the situation as best she could.
But she wasn’t Angelica. She was hotheaded, and she damn well knew what she wanted.
At least right now, which was to resolve whatever chasm was between them so they could work together.
Maybe even get renewed for another two or three seasons in the process.
Stalking forward, Hope moved directly in front of Angelica. She pressed her hand down onto her desk and leaned over it, making it impossible for Angelica to ignore her presence.
“Even if we’re not together going forward, we need to have a conversation about what that’s going to look like on set.
” Hope swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.
The way Angelica’s hair fell across her cheek, hiding half her face from view, was stunning, as if she truly was the one with all the power in the room right now.
“Come on, Ange. You’re better than this. ”
“Better than this?” Angelica dropped the stylus onto the desktop and lifted her chin to look Hope directly in the eye.
She scoffed. “So now you’re stooping to narcissistic tactics to get me to do what you want?
You know who’s better than this, Hope? You are.
I won’t allow those tactics into my life again.
And not once have I ever seen you use them before.
If you plan on continuing that, then get out. Now.”
Hope straightened her spine, her lips parting in surprise.
Cold rushed through her, curling its tight grip around her limbs and body and constricting everything like a snake.
She hated the fact that Angelica had a point, one she definitely needed to listen to.
“You’re right. That one was uncalled for. ”
“Thank you,” Angelica said, her words unstrained for the first time since Hope had entered her office today. “Now, I’ll say it one more time since you didn’t deem to listen when I said it the first time. There’s nothing for us to discuss.”
“If you think that, then you’ve got your head buried in the sand deeper than I thought.” Hope crossed her arms tightly and rocked back on her heels before leaning forward. “We can’t go into this season without talking, otherwise it’ll be an absolute, utter disaster. And you know it.”
Angelica’s lips pressed into a thin line, and she flicked her gaze from Hope down to her iPad. “No, there’s nothing for us to talk about.”
“Who are you lying to, Ange? Me or yourself?” Hope held her breath. Was this the right way to approach the situation? Or was there a better path? They hadn’t really figured out how to talk without these intense moments, had they?
“There’s nothing for us to talk about,” Angelica repeated.
“Gah!” Hope yelled, smacking her palm down onto the top of the desk before she stood up and stepped back to try and collect herself.
She hadn’t wanted to get so mad that the two of them couldn’t actually talk.
That would defeat the entire purpose, wouldn’t it?
“Why won’t you just talk to me, Ange? That’s all I’m asking. ”
Angelica breathed heavily and then sighed out her frustration.
Hope couldn’t stop staring at her. What had happened to them?
Yes, they’d ended their relationship. Yes, Hope had made a choice she hadn’t wanted to—one she deeply regretted.
Not only because she’d been forced to choose but how she’d handled it all.
But beyond that, they’d always managed to find a way to work together.
And now Angelica was just flat out refusing to do that?
Angelica leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs.
Her shirt pulled tight against her breasts, straining the buttons.
Hope’s gaze dropped to the fabric, and she dragged her gaze up Angelica’s body to her lips, lingering on them, on the imperfections that made them so damn perfect, on Angelica’s tightened jaw muscles, on her flared nostrils, on her narrowed gaze.
“Talk, Hope. Since you’re insisting.”
“I…” Hope halted, now unsure of what to even say. She’d thought this would be a conversation, not a lecture. She thought she’d have more interaction than Angelica simply sitting there and taking everything in.
“Well?” Angelica said, a little more force to her voice this time around.
“How are we going to do this?” Hope’s voice trembled. “I mean… Rex and I talked about boundaries. Shouldn’t you and I talk about them?”
Angelica shook her head slowly and rolled her eyes. “No, Hope. We shouldn’t. There aren’t any boundaries for us to discuss. You act like a professional and I will. It’s that simple. We didn’t have a marriage to break up. We barely even had a relationship.”
Oh, that hurt.
Hope’s heart twinged hard at those words, viscerally painful in a way she hadn’t expected.
She’d known from the start that their relationship had barely gotten its feet under it, but that didn’t mean there was nothing there.
In fact, there was a ton there. Hope had told Angelica that she was in love with her.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting—”
“You always have a meeting.” Hope rolled her eyes, the defense that she hadn’t wanted to come back rearing its ugly head in a matter of seconds. Couldn’t she keep herself under control for at least one minute?
“Hope.” Angelica sounded exasperated now, and Hope could understand why. They weren’t getting anywhere with this conversation, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying on her part.
“Ange…” Hope stepped around Angelica’s desk and stopped short.
Angelica rubbed her fingers together, flicking her gaze wildly between Hope and the door. “You need to leave.”
“What?” Hope blinked, trying to catch up. “We… we haven’t worked this out yet."
“There’s nothing to work out. I don’t know how many ways I can spell that out for you.” Angelica turned around toward her desk, but Hope caught her arm and pulled her back.
She stared down at where her fingers connected with Angelica’s arm, skin against skin.
Her lips parted in surprise. She’d done that out of habit.
She hadn’t been planning on touching Angelica.
She’d come in here to talk, to find answers, to just be in Angelica’s presence again.
When they were alone. When they could actually connect.
Hope unclasped her hand instantly.
That had been why she’d come all along, hadn’t it? This wasn’t to make the workplace easier or filming go more smoothly. This was because she’d wanted something, and she’d been dead set on getting it. Which had been exactly what Angelica had accused her of in San Diego.
Being impulsive.
Taking what she wanted.
Hope bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Angelica clenched her jaw and sat down heavily in her chair. “Like I said, Hope. I have a meeting that I need to get to, and there’s no reason for you to be here right now.”
Angelica was right. There was no reason for them to be talking other than Hope’s need to control the situation and push Angelica into doing something she very much didn’t want to. Anyone in Angelica’s position would do the same.
Defend themselves.
Protect themselves.
Hope folded her hands in front of her, not wanting to impulsively reach out again.
She flicked her gaze from Angelica’s eyes to her lips, lingering there.
That last kiss on the night of their breakup was going to be their last, wasn’t it?
As much as Hope had understood that, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. She needed the closure.
But that was her need.
Not Angelica’s.
The silence was so loud, but it wasn’t like Angelica to say anything either. She’d made her stance perfectly clear. It was Hope who had continued to push it. Nodding slowly to no one but herself, Hope took a step back and put even more space between them.
“I know you told me, several times in fact, that you don’t make friends with the people you work with.
And while I understand why you think that’s necessary, I do hope that you’ll make an exception for me—eventually.
Not now. But maybe by the end of season three.
” Hope bit her lip and took another step back, keeping her eyes locked on Angelica’s.
“I’d hate for you to use what happened between us as a reason to shut out even more people. ”
Hope’s heart raced. She closed her eyes, remembering the way Angelica had felt in her arms and against her body, remembering the smiles she’d managed to pull onto Angelica’s lips, the lightness in Angelica’s gaze, the intense flirting they’d both willingly participated in.
But that’s all it was going to be—memories.
“You’re right, Ange. And I’m sorry that I barged in here to bother you.
” Hope walked directly toward the conference table to snag her purse.
She pushed her bag over her shoulder and then looked back at Angelica.
“Take care of yourself. I mean that. I hate seeing you wasting away and unhappy, and I really don’t want to be the cause of that. ”
Saying nothing else, she left.