Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Angelica sat at the conference room table, scrolling through the script for that day. She had so much to memorize still, so much to remember to say and do throughout the day. Adding this layer on top of her actual job during filming was becoming more than she could handle, and quickly.
The crew worked around her as they set up for the start of the day.
Angelica barely paid them any attention as she squinted at the iPad screen and glowered.
She hated this. It wasn’t how she wanted to grow the show or to film.
It made it too impersonal and too structured.
Which she realized was rich coming from her, but she’d found she enjoyed tackling the problems as they arose rather than manufacturing them.
Her phone buzzed two seconds before the notification popped through on her iPad.
Josef’s name scrolled across the top of the screen, and her stomach clenched instantly.
Ignoring it would be the better choice. But she was working on building a case against him with her lawyers, which meant she had to know what he was saying and what he was attempting to do.
Glancing furtively around the room, Angelica paused to see if anyone else was paying attention to her. They were all distracted. She held her breath as she tapped the notification on her iPad with her pointer finger and waited.
Josef
It’s not too late to admit you were wrong.
Angelica clenched her jaw tightly. She’d been wrong on more than one occasion, and she typically admitted it—eventually. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure what Josef’s point was with that text. But then a second text came through.
The video.
She sighed heavily, tapping on the screen to play it. She’d seen it a hundred times over by now. But she couldn’t resist watching it again, as if just one more time would change what she saw. But it didn’t.
Hope and her, in the hallway in New Orleans.
The way Hope practically lunged at her, lips connecting.
Angelica’s moment of hesitation before she slammed her hands into Hope’s shoulders and pushed her back, dropping her iPad in the process.
Hope had to return that iPad the next day.
The video was silent, no sound, no recording of what they were talking about, and Angelica couldn’t honestly even remember what had spurred on that fit of anger.
Last year she might have been able to recall, but after everything had changed in their relationship, she hadn’t held onto that memory anymore.
She had new ones to fill her mind and heart with.
“What’s that?” Florence’s voice echoed through the room.
Angelica immediately closed out of the video and the app.
She bit her lip and shook her head. “It’s nothing to worry about.
” Which was probably the biggest lie she’d ever told.
She had so much fear when it came to Josef and exactly what he was capable of.
But so far, all he’d done was send this video to her—twice now. And months apart.
She had no doubt that he knew they were filming again, which would only stir up his anger toward her again. But if they could make it through this season without incident, she was certain Josef would back off and leave her alone.
“Ange…” Florence sat next to her, tapping the top of the table. “It seems to be bothering you.”
Furrowing her brow, Angelica lifted her gaze to meet Florence’s. Maybe they had just gotten off on the wrong foot while they were here, and they could get along if they tried hard enough, but Florence made it damn near impossible sometimes. And this moment was one of them.
“Even if it is bothering me, what makes you think that I’d talk to you about it?” Angelica clenched her jaw tightly, her molars squeaking suddenly before she let up on the tension.
“I don’t think you would.” Florence gave Angelica a soft smile, one that transformed her into another person altogether, someone who seemed less harsh and rigid than before.
Still, Angelica wasn’t going to trust her on anything.
Not if she had the choice. “But, if you want someone to talk to, I’m here to listen. ”
Angelica paused briefly before she nodded, but barely.
Was this what it was like to have a showrunner who actually cared about the people on the show?
She wasn’t sure if the tension in her chest was that, or all the secrets she felt compelled to keep, or the fact that the weight of Josef’s threats was still so heavy.
Either way, she could deal with it. Because she had no other choice.
“I want you to sit down with Colm about the repairs that need to be made to the hotel and exactly how those repairs will begin. We’ll start with reception, but he’s going to have to bankroll the rest of them.
” Florence pulled out her own notepad to take notes.
“I sent you over a script for that last night.”
“And I received it.” Angelica tightened again.
Silence fell between them. Angelica kept it, even though it was awkward and wrought with tension. She had zero desire to give in to whatever demands Florence was going to put on her. And she didn’t want to like her.
“Have I done something?” Florence asked.
Angelica nearly winced. But she managed to catch it in time, dropping her gaze down to her iPad and skimming the script that was in front of her now.
“Ange?” Florence pressed again. “We were fine in Los Angeles.”
Were they, though? Angelica bit the inside of her cheek, sorting through what to say. Finally looking up at Florence, she shook her head slowly. “I have nothing against you.”
And that was the truth. Angelica wasn’t going to lie about that. But Florence still made her uncomfortable in a way she hadn’t expected, and she clearly needed to figure out how to deal with that.
“Morning!” Hope chimed as she stepped into the conference room.
Angelica’s shoulders tensed sharply. She met Hope’s gaze, one filled with sunshine and curiosity, and said nothing.
“We’re having that conversation with Colm today, right?” Hope asked.
“Yes,” Angelica and Florence answered at the same time.
“Right.” Hope pressed her lips together briefly before grinning at Angelica and then turning that stunning smile onto Florence.
It hit her.
Angelica flicked her gaze from Hope to Florence and back again. It wasn’t jealousy, though she could very easily see why other people would think that’s what it was. Angelica was very secure in her relationship with Hope and exactly what was involved in it, but this was something else.
Something Rex had said.
Florence and Angelica were very similar.
And Hope was attracted to those qualities in Angelica.
Hope had proven before that her attraction ran hot and cold, quickly and strong all at the same time.
And she’d proven that just because she was attracted to one person didn’t mean she wasn’t also attracted to someone else.
Angelica never doubted Hope’s love for Rex, nor did Rex ever seem to also doubt Hope’s love for Angelica.
It just so happened that Rex didn’t want an open relationship.
But Angelica wasn’t Rex.
“When are we filming?” Angelica asked, settling into that feeling, into the knowledge she’d just put together.
They’d need to talk, but not right now. And it might not even involve Florence in the end, but she had to know. Did Hope want an open relationship?
Because Angelica wasn’t sure she could handle the complications of Hope, an open relationship, filming, and the threat Josef was leaving her. If he found out about an open relationship, what would he do with that information? How many threats would he come up with now?
Ultimately, Angelica had to protect all of them. That was always her job, and it was part of her responsibility as a producer on the show. She couldn’t let Josef take them down, not because of any mistakes she’d made or otherwise, and certainly not if Hope wanted to have an open relationship.
She gathered her iPad and stood up. “Are you ready to meet with Colm?”
“Sure.” Hope gave her an inquisitive look, one that said she knew something was going on but was more than willing not to ask about it right this very second.
Angelia appreciated that. She straightened her back and walked out of the conference room.
Rex nodded at her as she passed him, and Angelica acknowledged him.
How different would it have been if the order of things hadn’t been the way they were?
If Rex and Hope had established an open marriage before Angelica had met them?
Would they all still be in some sort of triangle?
Keeping that question to herself, Angelica walked into the hotel office and immediately sat down in the chair near the desk. She would wait for everyone else to get there as she continued to study and memorize the script, although her brain wasn’t retaining a single word that she read.
“Ange?” Rex said her name gently.
Angelica looked up, meeting his gaze.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She cleared her throat, looking around to find Colm and Hope already seated across from her, that curious gleam in Hope’s eyes again.
They’d barely managed to speak to each other in the last couple of days between filming and preparations and planning.
But they needed to have a serious conversation at some point.
“Right.” Rex stepped away from them, nodding toward Sy. “Action!”
“We need to talk about the state of the hotel,” Angelica started, looking directly at Colm. “We’ve had a few experts come in to inspect the building, and we’ve run into some alarming problems.”
“Problems?” Colm’s eyes grew wide. “There’s no problems.”
This was what Angelica was used to being met with. Denial. Straight up and six ways to Sunday. She flicked her gaze to Hope who seemed just as surprised by his continued denial of the circumstances.
“Mold.” Angelica said that word swiftly and sharply.
She was ninety-nine percent sure that she wasn’t supposed to say that, but the script at this point was useless to her.
She looked up to see Florence slide in next to Rex and put a hand on his arm to let him know that she was there.
“There’s mold everywhere in this building. Black mold.”
“There’s not.”
“Read the inspection report.” Angelica flipped her iPad around so that Colm could read those reports.
He flicked through the pages, one after the other, and then Angelica moved on to the second report, making sure that he understood that multiple inspectors found the same problems. “You can’t deny that. ”
Colm’s lips thinned into a line, but he said nothing as he continued to stare at the iPad like it was the one thing in the world that would ruin him. And it very well might.
“You need remediation, immediately.”
“I-I can’t afford that,” Colm murmured.
“How long have you known it’s been a problem?” Hope jumped in, asking. She put a hand on Colm’s arm, offering the comfort that Angelica would never be comfortable giving.
They did make a good team when it came to this type of interactions. Angelica let her gaze linger on that physical touch before moving back toward focusing on Colm. “We’ll help you with it, by starting with the reception and the kitchen and dining room.”
“What?” Tears spilled down the corners of Colm’s eyes.
Angelica knew she wasn’t supposed to mention on camera that they weren’t going to pay for everything, but she’d have to get around to that part of the conversation eventually. There was always an order to these types of conversations, and she was very adept at finding that order.
“We’ll help you start the process, but there’s no way it’ll be finished by the time we leave at the end of the week.
But there’s no way for this hotel to even be in business without remediation and without some renovations.
” Angelica uncrossed and crossed her legs, catching Hope’s gaze as it dropped down her body and then back up.
Angelica threw her an amused glimmer before she focused back on Colm.
“But we’re going to need your cooperation, and you need to admit when there are problems.”
“I will. I will.” Colm nodded his head wildly. “I can’t believe…” He sniffled. “I applied for this, but I didn’t think anything would be able to save this place. I just assumed it was doomed and that’s what you were coming here to tell me.”
“Well, it’s going to be quite the effort to get it up to snuff.
But I never believe that anything is impossible.
” Angelica flicked through her iPad and calmed slightly.
“Before we get started on how this process is going to begin, you should know that production is only able to help to an extent. The rest will be on your shoulders to work to find investors and to change your structures and management so that the hotel doesn’t crumble around you. ”
“Of course.”
“With that said, let’s get into the details of how this is going to work.” Angelica pulled up another file on her iPad. They spent the next hour going through all of the details, bouncing between her and Hope and Colm.
When Rex called cut, Angelica was ready for the break. That question still lingered in her mind.
Was an open relationship even something she wanted?