Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
“Rex!” Angelica’s lips broadened into a smile as she wheeled herself into the staging area in the quaint little Vermont hotel. She barely made it over the lip of the doorway with her knee scooter, getting stuck twice before she was able to shove hard enough to push the wheels over it.
“What’s up?” Rex glanced up from where he and Cadence had their heads bowed in discussion.
“Watch.”
Angelica set the knee scooter to the side and put both feet onto the ground, distributing her weight evenly. Her sore muscles protested, but she couldn’t stop the smile that reached her lips. “I’m weight-bearing, finally.”
Rex grinned and shook his head at her. “That’s great!”
“So great!” Cadence stood up immediately and came over to her, touching Angelica’s arm lightly. “And sexy as hell as always.”
Angelica’s cheeks heated up, and she flicked her gaze from Cadence to Rex. “I thought it’d make for easier filming this week, so we don’t have to hide the scooter as much.”
“You’re right about that.” Rex leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. “And it’ll be helpful, because having walked around this place with our carts, it’s going to be brutal on you and the scooter.”
Angelica bit her lip and glanced at the scooter. “I still need it sometimes. I’m not fully weight-bearing.”
Rex nodded. “We’ll figure it out for filming, but you’re going to have a tough time moving around this building.”
“Perfect.”
Angelica snagged the scooter and moved toward the small table that they’d declared as theirs in the lobby.
This hotel was quaint, and they didn’t have the big conference rooms that many of the others had.
It meant that Angelica was going to have to be far more creative about what the hotel offered.
In a lot of ways, it was on par with Mountain View West and should probably cater to weddings and personal events rather than work events.
“I can step in whenever you need me to get around.” Leanne’s voice sent chills down Angelica’s spine.
She’d barely turned around and sat when she watched Leanne walk through the doorway as if she owned the entire room.
And with Josef’s encouragement and backing, Angelica wasn’t surprised that Leanne felt that way.
But she was misinformed.
Josef was only in this for himself. And he didn’t care if he walked all over Leanne to get there.
“I think I’ll be good, thank you.” Angelica looked to Rex. “Shall we?”
“Hope’s running late this morning,” he mumbled, still flicking his gaze between Leanne and Cadence. “Actually, do you two mind giving Ange and me a minute?” He pointed to Leanne and Cadence.
“Not a problem, boss.” Cadence snagged her iPad and immediately walked away. Leanne hesitated for another second, but Cadence plopped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.
“What’s wrong?” Angelica asked, lowering her voice and looking directly at Rex.
“Hope’s late because of Eva. She was throwing a fit this morning. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Rex’s shoulders were still hunched over, and he looked toward where Cadence and Leanne had vanished to. “Are you and Cadence…”
“No.” Angelica shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“I feel like…” he trailed off and groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “I can’t keep up with who’s fucking who anymore.”
“No one is fucking anyone as far as I can tell.” Angelica crossed her arms and gave him a firm stare. “Well, some of the crew, but I’m not concerned about that. Cadence is outrageously flirtatious. She has been since the moment I met her two years ago.”
“And Leanne? She always looks at you like—”
“Leanne is my former employee, Rex, and she knows that I won’t hire her back even though she can’t find a new job. Which should tell you something.” Angelica flicked her gaze back to where the two women had walked away. “And Josef brought her in purely for drama’s sake.”
“I gathered that much.” Rex sighed heavily. “I thought after the complaint I made about him that he’d be fired from the show for this season.”
Angelica slowly turned to him, eyes wide. “Your complaint?”
Rex nodded. “After Vegas and San Diego, I couldn’t stay silent any longer.”
“I didn’t know about your complaint.” Angelica sighed. That’d be three full complaints against Josef from three people with power, and still Logan hadn’t pulled the plug on Josef’s behavior. She was starting to lose faith in Logan.
“Oh yeah. I sat down with Logan for hours after that one. He could have killed Sloane with that golf cart bullshit. But more than that, Ange, what he did to you in Vegas—what he said to you?” Rex shook his head again.
“Hope was right. I needed to use my privilege to your advantage.” He reached over and clasped Angelica’s hand tightly.
“And I’m not going to hesitate to do it again. All right?”
“Thanks,” Angelica murmured.
Rex nodded at her. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?” Angelica leaned forward slightly, hoping that the conversation would ease into simpler territory, into territory that wasn’t so filled with high emotions.
“I don’t know the circumstances when it comes to you and Hope, that’s one thing we haven’t talked about, and I don’t think we will.
It’s not my place anymore.” Rex looked around the room again, leaning and lowering his voice even more.
“But you did make her happier than I’ve seen her in years.
Our problems started well before you entered the picture, and we were both already concerned that working together was going to bring those to a head.
We trusted it wouldn’t, but we didn’t do enough work to make sure that it didn’t. ”
Angelica’s heart raced wildly. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying she loves you. And I’m saying that without me in the way, perhaps both of you can find what you’re looking for.” Rex reached forward and squeezed Angelica’s hand before he jerked back and looked up. “Morning, Hope.”
Angelica didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to turn her head and see Hope standing there in confusion and curiosity and probably some hurt over the fact that she and Rex seemed to have an easier time talking without Hope around, that perhaps she would call Rex a friend at this point. But she had to.
Lifting her gaze, Angelica met Hope’s crystalline eyes, the furrow in her brow, her hair that was pushed up in all different directions from sleep.
Angelica’s heart thundered again, her stomach tightening.
Hope’s tight white T-shirt clung to her body and her small breasts, forming to her like a second skin.
“Are you ready to work through the filming for the day?” Rex asked, not quite breaking Angelica’s reverie.
“Uh… yeah?” Hope’s voice cracked. “But where’s everyone else?”
“We’re right here!” Cadence said, her voice loud and nervous. “If we’re allowed back into the conversation.”
“Of course,” Rex answered.
Angelica was still completely lost in Hope. She hadn’t expected Rex to ever say anything like that. Everyone seemed to shift around the table except Angelica, moving to make room for Cadence, Leanne, and Hope.
“Is Josef coming?” Leanne asked.
“He doesn’t often participate in these meetings,” Rex answered.
Angelica had to snap herself out of whatever funk she was in and focus.
“We’re going to film the introduction and conclusion at the end of this episode like we did last time. I liked how that worked a bit better, and hopefully Ange will be standing completely on her own by then.” Rex flicked his gaze to her.
Hope raised an eyebrow. “On your own?”
“I can wean off the scooter this week,” Angelica murmured.
“The restaurant seems to be the problem here,” Cadence jumped in. “So we’re going to be focusing a lot on Hope this week.”
“But we need equal time,” Leanne said, her voice wavering as if she was nervous saying that.
Angelica’s phone buzzed in her hand. Still paying attention to the conversation flying and letting Rex deal with Leanne, she checked the text message that had come in.
Hope: I assume that means no more assistance is needed in the showering department.
Angelica’s cheeks burned. She immediately looked at Hope, who had a perfect smirk on her lips and flirtatious glance in her eyes.
Angelica couldn’t say anything. They were in a room full of people, and after what Rex had just said, her brain wasn’t working fast enough to keep up with everything going on.
“There’s also the issue of handicap access,” Cadence stated, her voice sending a quiet hush around the table.
Angelica looked directly into Cadence’s eyes.
“It does need to be addressed,” Rex said.
“I know,” Angelica agreed. “But I also know Josef doesn’t want video evidence of my injuries. He’s trying to beat the gossip train.”
“Talking about it on screen can help with that,” Rex said. “If you’re up for that. I know you don’t like to talk about personal things very often.”
When had he gotten to know her so well? Angelica flicked her gaze to Hope, who just shrugged slightly.
When she looked to Leanne, she was met with a head shake.
Focusing more on Angelica would mean less screen time for Leanne, and it’d prove she could do the job still, which would mean that Leanne would have to admit she wasn’t needed anymore.
Something she never wanted to do. She had an incessant need to be in the middle of everything to prove her own worth.
“I think that’d be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Leanne’s voice startled Angelica.
Turning around, Angelica locked her gaze on the young woman who was trying to take her job. “Do I ever second-guess decisions?”
“Yes.” Leanne looked at her squarely.
Angelica’s heart raced. The only decisions she’d second-guessed had been Leanne and Hope, and she was still in the middle of wondering if either of those decisions had been right. First to be in a relationship with each of them and then to end her relationship with each of them.