Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Hope finished the buttons on her chef’s coat and smoothed her hands down the front of it.
It was like a second skin to her, and each time she slipped the material on, she became this person, the chef, the bubbly boss who had a deep passion for food.
But outside of it, she was so much more.
And sometimes it felt as though she was just discovering exactly who she was as a whole person, not just the different facets of who she was expected to be.
Snagging her phone, she walked into the dining hall and mentally prepared herself for a day of filming around construction crews. She was moving her team to another hotel to practice new recipes in the kitchen there while this one was being torn apart and fixed.
“Morning,” Hope chimed to Cadence as she walked through the room. “Everything set to go?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cadence winked at her. “FloRo has decided she wants to visit our little field trip for a bit too, but I hear she’ll be joining us later.”
“Perfect.” Hope smiled. She didn’t mind Florence. She was a bit to get used to, but that was about it. Rolling her neck and cracking it, Hope took a step toward the kitchen when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She must have forgotten to put it on silent.
Reaching for the phone, she paused.
The text called to her, even though it wasn’t a number she recognized. Tapping it open, her stomach plummeted. On her phone was the video Josef had sent to Angelica all those months ago in Mountain View West, the security cam footage of Hope leaning in and kissing her—their first kiss.
Hope pushed her phone against her chest and looked around. Had anyone else seen what was on her phone? They weren’t looking at her. But they were… staring at their phones.
Hope flipped around to Cadence, who glanced up at her and winced.
Holding her breath, Hope waited for some kind of sign.
Please tell her it wasn’t happening. Please tell her that she had been the only one to receive the message.
Please tell her that everything she and Angelica had worked so damn hard for in the last year wasn’t about to come crashing down in a second.
“Hope…” Cadence’s soft tones told her exactly what she didn’t want to know.
Looking around the room again, she saw everyone was glued to their phones before they looked up at her and then quickly looked away. A lump formed in Hope’s throat, and she wanted to cry. She wanted to vanish in an instant.
What the hell must they all think of her?
Of Angelica?
“Breathe, Hope.” Cadence’s voice was low and quiet. She put her hand on top of Hope’s phone and pushed it to the side so they didn’t have to look at it.
“He sent it to everyone,” Hope murmured.
“He did,” Cadence responded. “I’m so sorry.”
“Ange…” Hope’s voice broke. She swallowed and tried again, but she couldn’t form words. When she looked up, Rex stood in the doorway, eyes locked on her, and pain in every line on his face. “Rex.”
Hope shook her head and walked toward him. Rex pulled her elbow into a corner and bent his head. “What the hell is going on?”
“Josef’s made threats…” Hope cleared her throat, fiddling with her phone. She was barely able to look into Rex’s eyes to see that pain right back where it had been years ago. She hadn’t seen him this hurt since the start of their divorce. “This summer.”
“After he was fired?” Rex asked.
Hope nodded, biting her lip. “Ange didn’t want to tell anyone.”
“Fuck.” The curse word rang loud in Hope’s ears even though Rex had said it quietly. “Why would she keep this to herself?”
“Um, a few reasons.” Hope reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “She’s a very private person, but her lawyer told her that she couldn’t stir up sentiment one way or another. Logan is aware, because it’s a safety concern, but that’s it.”
“Hope…” Rex reached up, cupping Hope’s cheek and pulling her in for a tight hug.
He dropped his chin to the top of her head.
She wrapped her arms around his back and held tight.
He eventually pulled back and shook his head at her.
“Just because she refuses to ask for help, doesn’t mean you have to. ”
“Noted.” Hope turned her lips up at him in a brief smile.
“Please don’t forget that there are people here who have your back.”
“Does that include you?” Hope asked.
“Of course.” He kissed her forehead. “Of course.”
“Okay.” Hope drew in a sharp breath and used it to center herself. She blinked rapidly a few times to dry her eyes, and straightened her shoulders. “Okay. I can do this.”
“Yes, you can.” Rex patted her shoulder lightly. “You’ve got this.”
Hope looked back out through the dining room, finding crew staring at her and Rex.
Right. His lack of anger at them was probably more telling than anything.
The fact that they were seen together, supporting each other, that was just as important as to what happened next.
Rex knew about it all—this wasn’t a shock to him.
Which meant it didn’t need to be a big deal for them.
“Cadence, let’s pack everyone up in the bus.”
“On it, boss!” Cadence immediately walked away and went to work.
Hope and Rex looked at each other one more time. He left the dining room, and Hope, but she knew he’d have her back if she needed him. This affected not only her and Angelica, but Eva, and the whole of the show.
Angelica.
God, what she must be going through.
Hope stayed in the dining area, checking on the things that she needed to bring with her to the borrowed kitchen and making sure it was all there.
When they arrived at the other hotel, Hope started a methodical unloading process. Just keeping her hands busy was exactly what she needed.
But the silence and the furtive looks the others gave her were getting to her. She wished they would just ask her, just talk to her. Even though she had no idea what to say in response.
When they had everything set up in the kitchen, and Chef Rosalie was there along with two of her staff, Hope realized she was far from ready to begin. She kept looking at Cadence for confirmation, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask or say anything.
“Hope, let’s start with you explaining what dishes you’re going to make and then work on prepping them,” Cadence said.
“Right.” Hope cleaned her sweaty palms on her hips and looked over the ingredients.
“We’re making three new dishes today that will help elevate the dining experience at the hotel.
First, we’re going to start with an appetizer: truffle cheese gougères.
So I want you to start by sifting the flour and then we’re going to melt this butter and water. Don’t boil it though.”
Giving directions like this was easy. It was reflexive. Hope had done it for so long that she didn’t even have to dig to find the teaching bone in her body. They moved through the steps, adding ingredients, mixing them. She gave minor corrections and then they slipped them into the oven to bake.
She seemed far more settled by the time they finished than when she’d started, and Cadence seemed to see that in her as well. She was just about to ask Cadence that, but she paused. Florence stood right behind her, arms crossed and a ticked off look on her face.
Right.
Time to face the music.
Hope gave the order for Chef Rosalie and her staff to clean up and get everything set for the next dish they were going to cook. Meanwhile, Hope stepped around Cadence and nodded at Florence. “Outside?”
Florence said nothing. She followed Hope as they stepped out behind the kitchen and shut the door. Hope purposely turned her microphone off and crossed her arms against the chill and damp air outside. She hated this. Why did they ever have to do this?
“What are you most angry about?” Hope asked tentatively.
“The fact you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.” Florence raised her eyebrows up slightly and then dropped them. “About the threats or about your relationship with Angelica.”
Hope nodded, biting her lip. “Have you talked with her?”
“Briefly, though I didn’t get much information out of her.”
“No, I didn’t think you would.” Hope sighed heavily. She brushed her fingers through the back of her short hair. “Ange and I started a tentative relationship two years ago.”
“When you were still married?” Florence asked.
“Yes,” Hope answered succinctly. “But Rex…” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
She thought she’d escaped all of this, the heartache, the confrontation, the accusations.
But at every turn it seemed to come back up and haunt her.
“Rex knew about it. There wasn’t anything…
” she trailed off, not entirely sure how much detail she wanted to go into.
Angelica would always say less is more when it comes to these things.
“And Josef knew?”
“No. At least, we didn’t think he did, not with confirmation or proof. Not until…”
“The video,” Florence surmised.
“He first sent it during the break, only to Ange, with some vague threats toward her. Nothing actionable by the police.”
“Of course not. Because why would a woman be taken seriously when she makes a report about harassment and threats?” Florence blew out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes. “I’m afraid I’ll never see a world where equality is more… prominent.”
Hope stilled, not quite sure how to respond to that. Instead, she crossed her arms and held tight. “You know that Josef was fired for harassment on set.”
“Yes.” Florence chuckled slightly. “I’ve heard many rumors about how he runs a show over the years, and I can see with you lot that he lives up to reputation.”
Hope hummed, staring down at her black shoes on the wet asphalt. “What he did to Ange is beyond what he did to anyone else. He has some sort of vendetta against her, and I’m not entirely sure why. It started almost immediately, as soon as we started filming—well, as soon as I was hired anyway.”
Florence furrowed her brow. “Because he suspected you two were in a relationship?”
Hope shook her head, her lips pursed. “I honestly don’t know. Ange didn’t share much from that first year, and only in the second season when she didn’t exactly have a choice.”
“And this video was taken when?”
“New Orleans. Season 1. It was our… first kiss.” Hope sighed heavily, the weight of everything bearing down on her.
She could only hope that all this drama around the video wouldn’t ruin that memory for her, not that it was exactly the type of first kiss she dreamed of having with Angelica. But it was what she had.
Florence nodded slowly, looking around. “All right.”
“All right what?” Hope tensed her fingers tightly on her arms.
“Thank you for telling me this.” Florence looked at her directly. “I wish you had both told me sooner so that I could help navigate some of the drama as it comes up—”
“There isn’t drama.”
“Hope.” Florence frowned. “This is drama.”
“Yeah, but not caused by us.”
“Not directly, but by circumstances that you caused. And if I had known about those circumstances I would have been able to help answer many of the questions that have come up today.” Florence eyed her directly.
“I’m not here to fight you, and I’m not going to tell two grown-ass women that they can’t be in a relationship. ”
Hope let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been expecting the amount of weight that was lifted off her shoulders just from that one comment. She had done everything in her power to hide as best as she could in plain sight, and that just wasn’t her norm. She hated it.
“I trust Angelica has taken steps to protect herself?” Florence looked up into Hope’s eyes.
Hope nodded. “She has a lawyer.”
“She should see if there’s anything else that she can do.” Florence rolled her shoulders. “We should get back. There’s a lot of filming left for today.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Also, Hope?”
“Yes?” Hope stopped midway through her step.
“What is this FloRo nickname that Cadence has come up with?”
Hope snorted and then laughed. “Good luck getting rid of it. I think it kind of suits you, anyway. You’re not nearly as icy as the Ice Fairy.”
“Oh God. Ange?”
“The one and the only.” Hope pushed her way inside the kitchen, her step much lighter than when she’d left it.