Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Angelica had barely been in Boston for more than an hour when she got the text from Hope.
She was finally settled in her room with a stern warning from Lyric to text or call whatever she needed, but she had no plans on getting up anytime soon.
Traveling from Maine to Boston had done a number on her.
She really should have waited another few days before attempting that.
Hope’s one hour quickly turned into three hours, and Angelica struggled to keep her eyes open and stay awake for Hope’s call, even with work to distract herself. Traveling had been such a mistake. She was just about to give up, setting her iPad to the side, when her phone buzzed next to her.
“Hello?” Angelica said, blinking back the sleepiness that was trying to overtake her.
“I saw Lyric downstairs. Does that mean you’re in Boston?” Hope’s voice had that nervous quality to it that Angelica always seemed to pick up on.
“We just got in.” Angelica sighed, running her fingers through her tangled hair. She hadn’t been able to move to brush it, and like hell if she was going to ask Lyric to do it. Ansel could if she didn’t get to it before they had to film.
“Are you…” Hope stopped. The voices in the background were loud enough that Angelica could hear them but quiet enough that she couldn’t make out what exactly was being said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sore,” Angelica said with a sigh, hating that she’d actually admitted that. But Hope had always been different, and Angelica had always struggled to keep her feelings to herself when Hope was involved.
“I bet. Umm… since you’re here… I’d really rather have this conversation in person.”
“What conversation?” Angelica pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Ange, just trust me on this one.”
Angelica sighed, her eyes fluttering shut as she pushed back into the pillow behind her.
She just wanted to go to sleep, and this hadn’t exactly been an easy resting time.
She’d been thwarting work drama partly from the hotels she managed but mainly from production and rescheduling everything so that she could have time to rest. Because apparently no one else could do it according to Josef.
“417.”
“Be right there.”
“Hope…” Angelica held her breath for a second before she finally admitted what she didn’t want to. “Get a key. I’m not getting up to let you in.”
“All right… I can do that.”
Angelica hung up and set the phone next to her. She closed her eyes. It’d take Hope probably ten minutes to get to her room, which gave her ten minutes to power nap. She’d been getting better at those lately.
The knock came far too quickly. Angelica barely had her eyes pried open as Hope stepped inside, saying, “It’s just me.”
The warmth in her voice sent a wave of comfort through Angelica.
When would that fade? Because they hadn’t been together in any form of a relationship in nearly a year now, and still Angelica hung on every word that Hope said.
Angelica brushed her hair out of her face and crossed her arms. She didn’t look her best, but Hope would be expecting that.
“Well, you don’t look like death warmed over anymore, so that’s a good sign.”
Angelica hummed a small laugh—it was all she could muster. “I’m still good and bruised though, and I’m still non–weight-bearing on my broken leg.”
“Ah.” Hope sat on the edge of the bed, her hand resting on Angelica’s leg. “I have some not so good news.”
“What is it?” Angelica’s stomach clenched. The last thing she wanted to hear right now was that Hope was quitting and leaving the show. She might not be sure about wanting another season’s renewal, but she knew that she couldn’t make it out of this season without Hope by her side.
“Josef…” Hope paused and sighed. “There really isn’t a good way to tell you this. Josef hired Leanne.”
Angelica tensed. The muscles in her body protested, but she couldn’t stop herself. “What do you mean he hired her?”
“I walked in to do prep today, and Leanne was in the conference room waiting to meet with me. She said that Josef hired her to replace you while you’re out. I… he didn’t mention anything to me about it, and I’m assuming nothing to you. And no one else knows—”
“Of course they don’t,” Angelica snapped. What the hell was this? “No one knows who Leanne is.”
“Well they might be about to find out.”
Angelica swallowed the lump in her throat, but it came right back. Tears pricked her eyes, and she had to blink hard to force them back. Why was this season going so awry? And it wasn’t even problems between her and Hope like it should be. That, she knew how to deal with. That she understood.
But this?
“Ange…” Hope rubbed her hand up and down Angelica’s leg.
“I don’t want your pity.”
“You don’t have it. But you do have my sympathy.” Hope bit her lip and stared directly into Angelica’s eyes. “What do you want me to do about it?”
“If Josef’s going to replace me, then there isn’t anything we can do.” Angelica shifted, the weight of discomfort crushing her. She hated this.
“Who are you and what have you done with my Angel?” Hope stared at her confused. “You don’t just roll over and let him do whatever he wants to you. You fight back. You hold strong. You take what you want, and you don’t give up until it’s yours.”
My Angel?
Those words rang through Angelica’s mind, weaving stories that she couldn’t trust and didn’t want to believe in. She needed to separate herself from them. She needed to put up walls to protect herself from facing that heartache again.
Angelica looked at Hope directly. “That’s not entirely true.”
Hope paused, her lips parting in surprise.
Did she understand what Angelica wasn’t saying?
Nowhere in the course of their short relationship had Angelica pushed to make Hope choose between her and Rex.
Nowhere had Angelica forced Hope’s hand in that.
And she never would have. Same with Leanne.
Angelica hadn’t fought to keep that relationship.
Instead, she’d done the exact opposite, and she’d just let it go.
Did Hope understand that?
Angelica didn’t move her gaze from Hope’s, needing to know if she was reading between the lines enough for this to be clear.
Angelica didn’t fight for things she knew she couldn’t have, and this show was one of them.
She’d been told time and time again that she wasn’t worthy of it, and she was tired of fighting that battle.
“Ange—”
“Josef has been very clear from the start of filming that I’m not the right person for the job. Perhaps this car accident is just one way for me to bow out without causing issues.” Angelica held her breath. Why did those words feel so awful coming out of her mouth? They left such a bad taste.
Hope sighed heavily, cocked her head to the side, and then shook it. “No.”
“No?” Angelica furrowed her brow. “What do you mean no?”
“I don’t believe it. Josef hired you for a reason. He sought after you for a reason. You were the first person hired, well before I was. He wouldn’t have put up with you if he didn’t think that you were right for the job.”
Angelica clenched her jaw. He had fought for her, way back in the beginning.
He’d paved the way for her to end up where she was now, but that didn’t mean he still believed that.
But perhaps more importantly, Angelica didn’t believe she had the energy to fight for something she wasn’t sure she wanted.
“He hired Leanne to piss you off, and he knew it would work. He hired her to create drama. That’s all he does.
” Hope reached forward and clutched Angelica’s fingers tightly.
“He wants drama, and what better way to get that than to throw your ex into the mix without telling you? And it’ll create the sexual tension that he can’t define that exists between the two of us. ”
Angelica’s heart thudded hard. She glanced down at Hope’s hand against hers, the way her fingers were soft, her nails cut short, but the strength that she held Angelica with was obvious.
“Why are you just giving up?” The words left Hope’s lips and bored their way into Angelica’s soul.
Tears stung her eyes again, threatening to spill.
This past week had been so difficult. It’d been so hard to even think about what she needed to do and how she could still be here.
If she’d never agreed to this show, then nothing like this would have happened.
She wouldn’t be heartbroken, again. She wouldn’t be facing Hope now. She wouldn’t—
“Ange?” Hope prompted. “You can trust me.”
“I don’t want to,” Angelica whispered. “I don’t want to be in this position anymore. I don’t want to rely on you. I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”
Hope sighed and nodded. “Do you want to walk away?”
Angelica snorted with a laugh. “You mean hobble my way out of here?”
Hope’s lips pulled upward in a small smile. “Do you want to quit?”
Before she knew what she was doing, Angelica was shaking her head. “No. No, I don’t.”
“Then what do you want to do next?”
“I don’t know.” Angelica shuddered. She flipped her hand and grabbed onto Hope’s, tightening her grip. “I don’t know what I want.”
Hope sighed. “Is this about what you said before the car accident?”
“No.” But it was. It was about that and so much more. “No, yes. It is. In part.” Angelica licked her lips, trying to steady herself and figure out what she wanted to say and what she didn’t. “Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is against me.”
“And today is one of those days?” Hope asked.
“Yeah, it is.”
“But I’m here,” Hope whispered. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, Ange. I promise you. I know we didn’t end well, that we haven’t talked about any of that, but I’m here.”
Angelica nodded, her lips pulling tight. She finally raised her gaze from their joined hands to meet Hope’s gaze again.