Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
“You’re the reason we’re failing!” Mark’s voice boomed through the lobby.
Angelica’s entire spine straightened in an instant. She hadn’t even been near them, but she was shocked to her core when she heard him scream that. She stopped her movement and strolled toward Mark to see who he was even yelling at.
She was unsurprised to find Alexis staring back at him with her jaw dropped. “No, you are! You’re the one who decided to take out a home equity line of credit on the house and put us so far into debt that we can’t even sell the family home to cover the shortages here!”
Oh, this was going to get ugly quick. Angelica set her iPad down on the counter and stayed silent, watching the argument bounce between the two of them as if she wasn’t even there.
“If you’d start holding people accountable instead of letting them walk all over you, then maybe we would have staff who knew what the fuck they were doing.” Mark’s nose wrinkled and his cheeks reddened.
Angelica didn’t actually disagree with him on that one, but she also wasn’t going to call Alexis out on it—at least not yet.
“If you wouldn’t be such a damn bully, no one would be scared to talk to you,” Alexis hissed and jabbed her finger into his chest.
That one was bold. Curious about the nature of their divorce now, Angelica furrowed her brow as she continued to watch. Maybe she’d find out more if she shut up rather than asking direct questions.
“Don’t touch me,” Mark growled.
“Oh, like you haven’t touched or bullied me.” Alexis’s lips pressed into a thin line and she was almost nose-to-nose with him now.
The receptionist stared at them, raised her eyebrows, and then shifted to walk away. Angelica couldn’t blame her at all. If she was in that woman’s shoes, she’d do the exact same thing. Instead, Angelica stayed put. She was only two feet away from them. Surely, they’d notice her and stop. Right?
“Lex, we’ve been through this before.” Mark crossed his arms and straightened his back, putting more space between them.
“You’re right. We have.” Alexis scoffed. “And you still make all of the decisions without me, and look where that lands us. Divorced and broke.”
“All right,” Angelica stepped in finally. She pointed at the two of them. “Office. Now.”
Alexis scowled angrily. But Mark looked pale, as though he’d just been called to the principal’s office. Angelica followed them into the office and shut the door behind them. Once they were settled, cameras in place, and she had the go-ahead nod from Rex, Angelica started.
“What was that all about?”
“She always goes on this rant. At least once a week.” Mark rolled his eyes.
“That’s a lie!” Alexis screeched.
“What I meant was… why are you two arguing in front of employees first, and second in the lobby where literally every single guest can see you and hear you?” Angelica raised an eyebrow at them, expecting an answer.
But she didn’t get one.
For the first time since meeting them, both Alexis and Mark shut up and she was met with shocking silence.
“Let’s try this a different way.” Angelica sighed. “How often do the two of you fight like that in front of employees and guests?”
Still silence.
“I can wait all day. It’s literally what I’m here for.” She crossed her arms and gave each of them a hard stare. She suspected Mark would be the first one to break, but she was absolutely going to sit there and wait them out. Because someone had to break.
“Yes, we do it often,” Alexis admitted.
Angelica said nothing immediately. She let the tense energy that was still electrified sizzle out. Neither Alexis nor Mark seemed inclined to break the silence either, probably because they were finally being called out on something that they should have stopped ages ago.
“How long have you two been divorced?” Angelica asked.
“Ten years,” Alexis responded, her cheeks pale. She refused to make eye contact with Angelica, but she was at least talking. “We separated for two years before that.”
“So twelve years of you two not living together, not being in a relationship together, and you’re still arguing like you’re on the verge of divorce.” Angelica pursed her lips. “Why’s that?”
Mark scoffed, and again he rolled his eyes.
“Mark?” Angelica prodded. She hadn’t heard from him nearly enough.
He shook his head, refusing to answer.
“Fine. Alexis?”
“I don’t know.” Alexis shook her head, folding her hands in her lap and cowering.
Angelica sighed heavily, looking between them and waiting them out again. It might not be something they wanted to talk about on camera, but it was going to have to be something they dealt with before the end of filming, because this was absolutely the main problem at Claridges.
“Here’s the deal…” Angelica looked between them.
“I want the two of you to go to lunch, right now. I want the two of you to decide what you’re willing to share with me and what you’re not.
And I want the two of you to come up with a plan to move your arguments away from the workplace and somewhere no one else can see or hear you. Got it?”
They both nodded.
“Good.” Angelica snagged her iPad and stood up, leaving the room.
Rex followed her. She didn’t even pause as she flagged down the receptionist.
“Talk to me a minute.”
“Yes, Ms. Shields.”
Angelica lowered her voice a bit, just in case anyone else walked by, but ultimately, she cared more about information than she did confidentiality. “How often do they do that?”
“Fight like that?” The young woman looked worried.
Angelica nodded.
“Every day.” She frowned. “Most of the time I don’t even notice it anymore.”
“Why did you today?” Angelica furrowed her brow.
“Because usually when Alexis pokes him like that, it gets a bit physical.”
Warning bells went off. “How physical?”
“Nothing bad, but he’ll grab her wrists and arms to make her stop, and then sometimes she can get worse and hit him in the chest or the face.”
“Like slapping?” Angelica asked to clarify.
The woman nodded.
“Okay. Thanks.” Angelica sighed heavily and put her hands on the counter to push herself up.
These two were a piece of work, and she was going to have to spend more time navigating the drama between them than training employees.
Which was a first. Angelica brushed her fingers through her hair and let the moment pass.
Rex called cut and sent Sy on somewhere else.
But Angelica was still stunned into staying there, staring at the hotel lobby like it held the answers that she needed.
Interpersonal problems weren’t her forte.
They were Hope’s. But Hope hadn’t seemed to pick up on any of the tension yesterday when they were doing the initial interviews.
“Is something wrong?” Rex asked, touching Angelica’s arm lightly.
“No.” Angelica toyed with the stylus, threading it through her fingers before she dropped it and straightened her back again. “Maybe. You and Hope… it’s not like this between you.”
“No, it’s not,” Rex agreed. “At least it’s not now.”
Angelica licked her lips. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure where to start or if Rex would even be willing to answer them.
She hadn’t been around when they’d first split, though she knew it was bad.
She could see that in Hope’s reactions to everything, but had they been this nasty toward each other?
Purposely hurting each other just to witness the pain they’d inflicted? Because it felt sadistic.
“What do you mean not now?” Angelica finally asked.
Rex sighed heavily. “It was hard at first, and just about any time we talked, we ended up in a full-blown argument. Sometimes her fault, sometimes mine. We took our anger out on each other, which is normal when you’re married to an extent, but when you’re in the process of getting divorced? It just intensified for us.”
“But now you’re fine.” Angelica eyed him carefully, trying to figure out what the difference was.
“Yeah, now we’re fine.” Rex nodded. “Doesn’t mean the pain has gone away, but it’s easier to deal with.”
Angelica scratched the back of her neck, still not quite understanding that one. What exactly wasn’t he saying? Maybe she just needed to ask Hope about everything to get an actual answer.
“Ms. Shields?” Lyric’s voice reached her ears, and Angelica turned to find her standing awkwardly behind them.
“Yes?”
“There’s a call that you need to take with the Kartalis.”
“Right.” Angelica sighed and nodded at Rex. “This shouldn’t take me more than an hour.”
“I think we can handle it without you, especially since you sent them away.”
Angelica chuckled. “You’re welcome.”
Rex laughed and cupped his hand over her shoulder as she turned to walk away. Angelica paused, looking over her shoulder and back up into Rex’s eyes. The words were on the tip of her tongue well before she said them. But why the hell not? What difference would it make?
“I’m glad we’re friends,” she whispered.
Rex jerked. “We are friends, aren’t we?”
Angelica tilted her chin up at him. “You didn’t think so?”
“Now that I think, which I’m sure Hope will tell you isn’t my strong suit, yes, we are friends.” He pulled her in and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a side hug. “I like that.”
“Like what?” Angelica wrinkled her brow.
“That we’re friends,” Rex laughed. “Hope’s going to hate it.”
“She already does.” Angelica sighed with a smile. She’d noticed it weeks ago, but she hadn’t mentioned anything to Hope.
“Ms. Shields?” Lyric said.
“I’m coming.” She nodded at Rex and then stepped away. They made it to the elevator before Lyric smiled at her. “What?”
“I like that you’re making friends.”
Angelica narrowed her gaze. “Enough of that.”
“Fine.” Lyric laughed. “What was that all about, though?”
“Mark and Alexis are the problem here. They keep arguing, like in front of everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to dig deeper if we discovered that they drag employees into the arguments with them, pitting them against each other.”
“Ah.” Lyric folded her hands together in her lap.
“I don’t understand how Hope and Rex can be so cordial and then Mark and Alexis are still fighting like they’re newly divorced even though it’s been twelve years.” Angelica stepped into the elevator and turned around, hitting the button for her floor.
“Ms. Shields…” Lyric’s chastising tone was clear, but Angelica didn’t understand why.
“What?”
“Some people are willing to work on their problems.” Lyric looked at her directly. “Others aren’t.”
Angelica froze. Was that really all it was?
Hope and Rex had spent time together working on how to be in the same room together and co-parent whereas Mark and Alexis had probably never tried.
Angelica kept all comments to herself, not sure what to say out loud and what to question further.
But Lyric’s comment spun wild possibilities in her head.
If they could get Mark and Alexis to actually talk to each other, then it would solve a lot of problems.
But Angelica certainly wasn’t the best person to do that.
Hope would be much better at it.
She stepped into her room and pulled up her new secondary iPad, which she reserved for all of her normal work duties. Lyric sat in the back corner of the room with a notebook in hand, ready to take notes.
“Mr. Kartali.” Angelica smiled at the man on the screen. “It’s good to see you again.”
It’d been a long time since she’d had a face-to-face conversation with her boss, the owner of all the hotels she managed in California, but she’d always take a call from him when he needed her.
“It’s good to see you as well,” he nodded at her.
“What can I do for you?” Angelica got straight to the point. She still had an episode to film and needed to get back to it.
“I’m looking to retire in the next eighteen months.”
Shock ran through Angelica’s chest, a cold rush. She hadn’t expected this. She hadn’t planned for it at all. She thought there was still time. “Oh.”
“I didn’t want to wait too long to tell you, since I knew you’d need time to absorb the information.” He smiled at her, but it came with pity.
“Right. Thank you.” Angelica twisted her hands together in her lap. “I appreciate it. Who will be buying the chain from you?”
“I don’t know yet,” Mr. Kartali answered. “I haven’t gone that far yet.”
“Okay.” Angelica’s mind spun. Working with new owners could set her up for a lot of complications, especially if she was still going to be filming Hotel Bombshell. She’d need more time off than the average manager, and she and Mr. Kartali had an agreement.
“Nothing’s been decided so far,” he said, his voice in that soothing fatherly tone that she knew all too well. She just wasn’t used to him using it on her.
Angelica nodded again. “All right, thank you for letting me know.”
“We’ll talk soon, Ange.”
“Yes. Thank you.” She blindly ended the video call. Her ears rang and her skin was cold and clammy.
“Ms. Shields?” Lyric’s voice reached her ears.
“Yeah?” Angelica turned around in the chair to meet Lyric’s gaze.
“Are you okay?”
Angelica started to say she was, but she stopped herself. She honestly had no idea. “I didn’t expect this.”
“It seems like he knew that.”
“Yes.” Angelica had to give him props for that. Mr. Kartali knew her well enough to prepare her for this transition and allow her enough time to make plans not only for her future but the future of the hotels. “Yes, he did.”
Brushing her hair behind her, Angelica relaxed into the chair and sat in the silence. But it wasn’t enough. She truly needed to be alone for a bit to gather her thoughts.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Lyric, I think I’ll take the rest of the hour. Will you tell Rex that I’ll be back then?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
Lyric gathered her notebook and left.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Angelica lifted her hands to her face and closed her eyes.
What was she supposed to do now?