Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
“Hi, I’m Hope.” She held her hand out and clasped the hand of the young woman across the reception desk from her.
“Hi. I’m Ashlee, I’m the owner of this hotel.” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, as if her nerves were taking hold of her too quickly to make it to her lips.
“It’s so good to meet you.” Hope tried to put on her best face to ease Ashlee’s discomfort, but honestly it was for herself.
Everything about this felt off. Angelica wasn’t even in the building yet.
The only other time that they started without her had been in Las Vegas, and they hadn’t actually filmed scenes without her. They’d just done prep and set up.
But now Hope was going to film for two days before Angelica was supposed to arrive. Everything rested on her shoulders this time.
“I think I have a meeting scheduled with you soon, right? To discuss how things are going to work as we film.”
Ashlee nodded and bit her lip. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. I’m just going to get settled and then I’ll meet with you, okay?”
Hope feverishly looked around for Rex or anyone else who could distract her from this awkward encounter.
She wasn’t usually this bad at talking with people, so why was it so hard this time around?
Not to mention, even if she did find someone from the crew to work with, then she was going to have to figure out how to talk to them.
Because so far, no one really wanted to talk with her. She was the pariah of the show now.
She saw Rex standing in the hallway and walked toward him. Her shoulders were tense as she went, but he would at least know where they were setting up for now.
“Hey,” she said with a huge sigh.
“Hey.” He nodded at her. “We’re in there.”
“I was just going to ask. Thanks.” She hated that they were so awkward about everything. They never really managed to find that easy calm conversational level yet. But Hope was still determined to get there eventually.
“Hope?” Rex touched her shoulder slightly to stop her from walking away, before pulling back like he’d been burned.
She frowned slightly but looked up at him. “Yeah?”
“How is Ange? I haven’t heard anything…”
Hope shook her head slowly and shrugged. “I, uh… I don’t know.”
Her lips tingled from the kiss they’d shared, the intensity of it.
Angelica had been right to stop it. Hope hadn’t been kissing her because of love but because of relief.
She was so damn happy that Angelica wasn’t dead, that she was okay, that the worst part was over.
Because it had to be, right? Hope swallowed the lump that came up in her throat instantly.
“She hasn’t really been answering any calls or texts or emails.” Hope shrugged again. “I think she’s actually been trying to rest and heal.”
“Ange?” Rex raised a surprised eyebrow at her. “Well, that’d be a change.”
“Yeah. It would.” Hope brushed her fingers across her lips, still feeling Ange against them if she thought about it.
Everything about that kiss had felt right and perfect except the fact that they hadn’t talked.
They hadn’t digested what either one of them was feeling or still felt for each other.
It was pure impulse on Hope’s part, and once again, she’d fallen flat into the accusations that Angelica had lobbed at her time and time again.
“Oh, um… Josef hired someone to help out while Ange is recovering. I think she’s in waiting for you.”
“He did?” Hope furrowed her brow. “He didn’t mention anything to me.”
“Yeah, well, it’s Josef. Do you honestly expect him to at this point?”
Hope sighed heavily. She really wanted him to leave. Because he was ninety-nine percent of the problems that they had on set, and half the time she was fairly certain that he was causing them on purpose just to get a reaction out of people.
“I wish he wouldn’t be on location anymore,” Hope murmured under her breath.
“I think Logan’s working on that, actually.”
“Oh, well, that’d be a nice change.” Hope squared her shoulders and faced the room Rex had pointed at. “Guess I better get to work.”
Rex nodded at her but didn’t say anything else.
Hope walked through the hallway, her jeans pulling tight against her body as she went.
Nerves flared in her belly and clawed at her.
Why the hell was she nervous? She shouldn’t be.
She was the one who had the most power in the conversation that was about to happen.
Hell, she didn’t even know what Josef had hired this person to do.
It could simply be to push Angelica around in a wheelchair.
She snorted at that thought.
He’d never be so kind.
Hope stepped into the room and found a younger woman sitting on the table, legs crossed, a pencil skirt pulling up over her knee.
Her hair was a dyed deep red at the bottom, but her roots and halfway down was a deep black.
Her oxford shirt was unbuttoned enough that Hope could make out the swell of her breasts.
“Hello,” Hope said, her voice dipping low before it rose up in more of a question.
“Oh hi!” The woman’s eyes lit up as Hope entered, her lips curling up to the side. “You’re Hope Lawrence.”
“I am.” Hope smiled at her, holding out her hand. This woman was young, but she was pretty. It seemed she was Josef’s type to a T. “And you are…?”
“I’m Leanne Coates.”
Hope’s entire heart sank. Cold rushed through her. And she was damn sure her face grimaced. But the bile that swirled in her belly was more than she could handle. “I’m sorry, did you say Leanne?”
“Yeah!” Leanne answered with a bubbly tone to her voice. “I used to work with Ange in Los Angeles.”
Hope nodded. She knew that. She also knew that Angelica had loved Leanne, that she’d asked Leanne to take a different job in order for Angelica to have the show because they were secretly in a relationship and Leanne had told her no.
Leanne had told her that their relationship wasn’t worth it.
Biting her lip, Hope tried to push a smile toward her lips.
No one knew who Leanne was except Josef.
This was pure punishment for Angelica’s car accident.
“And Josef brought you in to help out?” Hope asked, already knowing the answer before she asked it, but it was polite.
“He did. He said that Ange was in a car accident. I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer.”
“She’s taking some time to recover.” Hope would defend Angelica any way possible in this circumstance, and she wouldn’t put up with Josef’s crap either.
Who even knew if Leanne actually tried to call Angelica or if she’d just thought surprise was the best course of action?
“I’m sorry, but what exactly did Josef say you were here to help with? ”
“He said I’d be taking over for Angelica while she’s out. Since she trained me and I know how she works and her style, it’ll be easy for me to step into her shoes—well, figuratively speaking. I never really understood how she managed to work so many hours.”
“Right.” Hope nodded slowly. Her knees started to shake, her fingers trembling. But was it anger? Or was it simply the cruel injustice of everything Josef was setting Angelica up for? And Hope still didn’t know what to say to her.
And fuck was she young. She had to be younger than Hope.
Angelica really did have a type, didn’t she?
Hope clenched her hands into fists and looked around the room, trying to figure out the best way to get out of this conversation.
“Oh, um, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
Ashlee.
Hope spun around, her eyes locking on the young woman, and she grinned a little too ferociously. She was the perfect distraction that she needed in order to stay in this room and not immediately run out and call Angelica and let her in on what was happening.
“You’re not interrupting anything.” Hope held her hand out toward the table. “Come sit down, we’ll start in a minute. I just want to make sure the directors are here before we get started.”
Hope stepped out of the room and let the cold air hit her face. She took three deep breaths before she scanned the lobby for Rex. Instead, her eyes landed on Cadence.
Perfect.
Racing in her direction, Hope snagged Cadence’s arm and tugged her toward the small conference room. “We need to talk about filming this week, and then you and I need to talk after about something personal.”
“Okay?” Cadence asked, curious. “Shouldn’t Rex—”
“Where is he?” Hope asked, her eyes wide. “Because we really need to get this meeting started.” The last thing she wanted was to keep Leanne in a room on her own where she could do more damage. Hope wanted to eliminate as much of that as possible.
“He’s in the bathroom.”
Of course he was. Hope nodded. “He’ll come find us then.”
She led the way back into the room and found Leanne and Ashlee talking.
Ashlee seemed far calmer now than she had before, far more at ease.
Well, at least Leanne had managed that. Angelica never would have.
Hope tensed as she sat down, wildly eyeing both of them as she tried to figure out where to step into the conversation.
“So, uh… filming.” She smiled at Ashlee and nodded at Leanne to silently tell her to shut the hell up.
“Angelica and I have researched some of what the problems are here—or at least what we think they are. A lot of times when we come into a hotel, we find different issues than what we originally thought they’d be. ”
“Yeah, we have some problems.” Ashlee’s lips pulled tight, and she went pale.
Hope was usually so much better at this, but she was struggling to pull herself together and focus on anything other than the fact that Leanne was sitting across from her.
Leanne who had broken Angelica’s heart. Leanne who had been so cold toward Angelica.
Leanne who was the start of the problems between Josef and Angelica.
Jesus, was there something good that this woman had done or was it all bad?
“What we’ve identified as areas to focus on are some conflicts with understanding the goals and purpose of the hotel, room service issues, and some priority issues.
Most of that just comes down to communication, I think.
” Hope flicked her gaze to Leanne. How much had Josef briefed her on what was happening?
Leanne nodded along like she was understanding everything.
But she couldn’t have been locked in to do this more than a day or two ago.
Angelica’s accident had only been four days prior.
Hope focused on Ashlee. “What we’ll do first is mostly just observe and poke around so we can find the weakest spots and then go from there.
Ms. Shields typically handles the room service issues if they’re not food related because it would fall under her purview but since she’s been delayed—”
“Oh yes, I heard about that.” Ashlee’s soft voice reached Hope’s ears, and the genuine concern in her tone was comforting. “I hope she’s okay.”
“She will be.” Hope’s lips pulled up to one side. “I’ll let her know you were asking after her.”
Hope slid her gaze to Cadence who had been surprisingly quiet. When Hope sent her a sharp look, begging her to join in the conversation, Cadence cleared her throat.
“We’ll, uhh, start with filming you and Hope tomorrow as you take her on a bit of a tour and some explanations. She’ll primarily observe for at least half a day, check out the kitchens.”
“I’m sorry, but I thought Leanne would be doing that.” Ashlee pointed at Leanne with a frown. “That’s what she said she was here to do, anyway.”
Cadence’s lips parted.
Hope jumped in. “Leanne will be there to help out, but I’ll be there with you every step of the way. I promise. I don’t want you to feel as though we’re leaving you in the dust since Ms. Shields isn’t here.”
That niggling fear jumped right up into her chest again.
Leanne was pushy, and she wasn’t going to back down.
Angelica sure knew how to pick them, didn’t she?
Hope looked directly at Cadence. They were going to need to have a serious conversation about how to deal with this because Hope needed to protect Angelica’s position on the show as best as she could.
Because there was one thing she knew.
She wouldn’t do this show again without Angelica.
They’d been through too much for her to work with someone else. Even if they were renewed, if Angelica turned them down, then Hope would too. They were a package deal, even if Angelica didn’t see them that way.
“Let’s start with room service tomorrow, all right?” Hope looked directly at Cadence. “You and Rex can figure out the shots from there.”
“Yes, we can.” Cadence nodded as if she was finally understanding what was happening. Hopefully, she was. “I was thinking that we could follow the tray of food to show how dysfunctional it is, like a plate of food point of view.”
“That sounds fantastic!” Hope responded with a smile.
She turned toward Cadence and pulled Ashlee into the conversation and cut out Leanne as best as she could.
“I could pretend to be a guest in a room and time how long it takes,” Leanne said.
Hope pursed her lips in a very Angelica-like style and shook her head. “No.” Then she focused back on Cadence. “I wonder if we could get Sy to run the cart for us to make that shot.”
“Oh, he’d love that. He loves doing all those creative things.” Cadence’s eyes lit up.
“Perfect.” Hope clapped her hands. “I guess we’ll just leave it to the morning.” Hope stood up, rolling her shoulders. She stared down at Ashlee. “Will you give me a tour of the back areas? I’d like to know what I’m dealing with before we start filming in the morning.”
“Oh, uh… sure.” Ashlee stood up, flicked a glance to Leanne, but then led the way out of the conference area.
That had worked perfectly.
If only Hope could manage to manipulate situations with ease like that every day. Then she probably wouldn’t have as many problems as she did. Smiling, Hope snagged her phone and sent a quick text to Angelica.
Hope: When I call in the next hour, I need you to answer. Immediately.