Chapter 25 #2
“Katherine, I’d like to talk with you and Ange a minute, alone.” Hope looked directly at the others. Her voice was much softer than it had been when she was talking to Angelica, but that was to be expected. The heat of the moment was done.
Mel and Jess disappeared, but Leanne continued to stay put.
Angelica waited to see if Hope would say something else because she’d made it very clear who she wanted to stay for this particular meeting. Then again, Leanne never quite listened, did she? Josef crossed his arms and glared at Angelica as they waited.
Finally, Hope gave up. “Katherine, I’d like to offer to train you.”
“What?” Katherine said, her voice thick with emotion.
“You’d have to move, but I suspect that won’t be too much of a problem now since you no longer have a job. I’m sorry about that. I do wish they’d made a different decision.”
“They didn’t see beyond themselves,” Angelica added in, keeping her voice gentler than she typically would. “And that’s their fault, not yours. Lack of imagination will kill any business.”
Katherine nodded, but then she shook her head. “I’m not sure that I understand.”
“I’ll give you the training that you need at one of my restaurants—”
“Mountain View,” Angelica said, jumping in. “She should go to Mountain View.”
Hope furrowed her brow, but she didn’t immediately object either. “We can discuss where later, and see what suits you best, but if you’d like to get proper training, I’ll provide it. You have the skills, and you’re willing to work hard to learn them. I think you just need the chance.”
“Are you serious?” Katherine asked.
“Yes,” Hope answered.
“Thank you!” Katherine flung her arms around Hope’s neck and squeezed her tightly. Never had Angelica been happier that she was sitting on the opposite side of the picnic table, so she wasn’t the one to receive that hug.
After a few more minutes and some plans in place, Katherine skittered off. Hope turned on Angelica then.
“Mountain View? I don’t run the restaurant there.”
“No, you don’t. But you know it and how it works.” Angelica clenched her jaw tightly. “And I suspect that what Katherine needs isn’t just on-the-job training but a support system.”
Hope’s lips parted in surprise, but then she nodded. “And Tatum would be perfect for that.”
“Yes.”
“Tatum?” Leanne asked.
Angelica resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but barely. Instead, she just ignored Leanne. “Think about it and let me know. I can talk to Tatum whenever timelines match up.”
“Good.” Hope shifted. “On that note, I need to check on the kitchen and dinner prep.”
Angelica sighed, watching as Hope walked off and she was left with Leanne. Rex called cut somewhere along the way, but she didn’t want to leave just yet. She was exhausted. It had been a whirlwind of a week between filming, confessions with Hope, and then dealing with the annoyance that was Leanne.
“That was uncalled for,” Josef’s voice startled Angelica.
She jerked slightly. “Excuse me?”
“You cut Leanne out of every second of that conversation. How is she supposed to establish herself as a manager on this show if you keep shutting her down and pushing her out every two seconds?” Josef leaned over the table to get into Angelica’s face.
But she’d been there more than once with him, and she knew how to handle it at this point. Push back just enough to get him riled up, and then he’d race off to throw his fit somewhere else and she’d find the backlash and retaliation later.
“She’s not a manager on this show, Josef.”
“She is!” He raised his voice. “She’ll be the manager next season.”
Angelica snorted slightly, her lips quirking into a half smile. “You’re assuming that Hotel Bombshell will be renewed for another season. Remember what I told Mel and Jess? Lack of imagination and vision will kill a business faster than anything else.”
“We don’t have a lack of vision.” Josef’s breath was hot on her cheeks as he leaned in even closer. “We have old baggage that we can’t cut off yet.”
Angelica’s heart clenched hard. She tightened her entire body. “Then that’s a management problem.”
She pushed herself up to stand, planting both of her feet on the ground.
She looked directly at Josef and then at Leanne, speaking to her and hoping that for once Leanne would hear what she had to say.
“Don’t sell yourself out for someone who’s so willing to use and abuse his way to the top.
Trust me, it’s not worth it in the end.”
“What did you just accuse me of?” Josef spat.
Angelica stepped to the side and moved closer to Rex. “Nothing you aren’t already aware of.” She stood behind the camera, Rex immediately standing at her shoulder as she watched Josef flounder with what to do next.
“You don’t deserve this role, Ange. The only reason you have it is because of me.”
“You’re not wrong. I wouldn’t be in show business without you.
But I didn’t get this job solely because of you.
” He could never take away her passion or her skills for this job, and she was tired of letting him walk all over her.
She was tired of trying to please everyone to the point that she would sacrifice herself for them.
“I don’t want you on this show, anymore.” Josef crossed his arms. “At the end of this season, you can kiss your job goodbye. The fans want someone younger, someone who’s going to cause tension instead of resolve it. They want drama. Not an old woman digging her nails in to keep control.”
Angelica’s chest constricted. “We’ll see about that.”
When she turned to walk back inside, Hope was standing right there.
Hadn’t she left? Hadn’t she gone back to the kitchen already?
Hope held herself steady, and as soon as Angelica reached her, she turned.
They walked side by side until they reached the back door to the Dorset.
Hope reached forward and held it open for Angelica, brushing their fingers together as Angelica walked past her.
“You’ve got this,” Hope murmured.
“We’ve got this,” Angelica replied. “You and me.”
Hope’s bright smile was all she needed to see to finish out her day.