Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Hope tugged hard on the hemline of her chef’s jacket.
She hadn’t been in this one since they’d filmed before, and it’d gotten scratchy and stiff in the meantime.
It was like the fabric choked her. Or perhaps that was the fear and anxiety over everything changing so rapidly and the fact that she couldn’t escape what she’d done.
Not anymore.
And that meeting with Rex and Angelica had absolutely proved that they still had some things they needed to work on. Well, she and Rex. She and Angelica had seemed to find some sort of balance already.
Angelica stepped into the small room that they’d set up for hair and makeup.
She had a cup of coffee in her hand already as she looked around for where to go.
If there was one thing that Hope had figured out last season it was that Angelica wasn’t as much of a morning person as others might think.
She almost constantly worked early in the morning, but that was more out of necessity than enjoyment.
Every time she’d shown up for hair and makeup, Angelica had been grouchy, late, and too filled with caffeine to sit still.
Angelica gave her a basic smile before she slipped into the chair and let Ansel start to work his magic.
Hope’s feet told her that she should leave, but every other part of her wanted to stay in that room and soak in Angelica’s easy, calm presence—which had been something so rare to find lately. But she was calm this morning.
On a whim, Hope sat back down in the chair next to Angelica, who looked just as surprised by the move.
“How’d you sleep?” Hope asked, folding her hands and biting her lower lip. Small talk wasn’t her forte, but she could try. Couldn’t she?
“Fine.” Angelica looked at Hope over the rim of her mug. “You?”
Hope chuckled lightly. Or rather, she laughed nervously. They really did need to find even ground again, and she was determined to do it before their time in Houston was over. They both deserved that much at least.
“Worse than you, I’m sure.”
Angelica’s brows drew together before the look eased. “Are you ready to begin filming?”
Hope bobbed her head from side to side and then rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure I’m ever ready to begin filming. My stomach’s full of knots and nerves.”
“Really? You?” Angelica seemed surprised by that.
“Yes.”
Ansel stepped in front of them. “We’ve had a request about your wardrobe this season.” He was looking directly at Angelica, not at Hope.
“What about it?”
“It’s been… chosen for you. Please don’t shoot the messenger.”
Angelica narrowed her gaze suspiciously. “Chosen by who?”
“Studio approved all outfit changes for this season.”
Surely Angelica couldn’t argue with them on that. Besides, if Hope had someone to pick out her clothes every day, she’d be happy. One less decision to make. Then again, who knew what they were going to dress her in.
Ansel held up a clothing bag along with a pair of shoes. And those heels looked deadly. Hope would fall over and trip in two seconds flat if she had to wear them. But Angelica didn’t say anything. Instead, she simply eyed the clothes over and sighed heavily.
That wasn’t like her.
Everything that Hope knew about Angelica was that she was willing to jump in to defend herself and someone else when necessary. She didn’t put up with bullshit. Or was this all because of Leanne and the hold that Josef had over her?
Could he really still be holding that over Angelica’s head? The number of couples that met in the workplace was astronomical, even if one of them was the boss and the other her manager. Surely he could see that, couldn’t he?
“If you could put the blouse on at least, before we do your makeup.”
Angelica clenched her jaw tightly before standing up and taking the clothing bag.
She said nothing as she walked out of the room.
Hope watched her go, the stiffness in her steps her only act of defiance.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever have witnessed that.
Someone had Angelica so wrapped up that they could make her do anything.
But who was it?
Just Josef and the whole situation from before? Or was there more to it than Hope knew already? Lord knew it’d taken Angelica ages just to admit to Hope about her previous relationship and the tensions between her and Josef because of it.
It didn’t take long, but Angelica came back fully dressed.
She was no longer in her standard black pantsuit, but she had on a pencil skirt that ended just above her knees.
Hope bit her lip as she dropped her gaze down to the end of that skirt, to where Angelica’s creamy skin finally was revealed.
Then to her feet, those black pumps with four-inch heels doing absolutely everything to accentuate the smooth curves of her hips.
Hope swallowed hard.
Her heart raced.
Moving her gaze back up Angelica’s body, she was met with a silky white blouse that was low cut, covered with a loose black blazer that had no buttons or ties on the front.
When Hope reached Angelica’s eyes, she was surprised to be met with a similar stare, one that was clearly full of heat and arousal.
Clearing her throat, Hope dropped her gaze to the ground as Angelica took two long strides to step closer, bending down slightly right in front of Hope before she slid back into the chair Ansel would use to do her makeup.
“Like something that you see?” Angelica asked, staring at Hope in the mirror in front of them.
“I…I wasn’t…” Hope’s cheeks burned.
“They clearly want to sex me up.” Angelica nearly spat out those words.
God, Hope agreed with the sentiment. But she’d never be one to deny the effect.
“Walking around in this all day is going to kill my feet.” Angelica nodded at Ansel to tell him to begin with her hair and makeup.
Hope was still stunned into speechlessness. And it seemed as though Angelica was absolutely aware of that fact, and talking to cover up her struggle to just make simple words happen.
“Whoever believes a manager walks around in heels like this for sixteen hours a day needs a reality check.”
But all Hope could wonder was what would Angelica’s ass look like with those? Or better yet… would they finally be an equal height?
Ansel stepped away, and Angelica moved to lean over. She lowered her voice and cocked her head to the side as she stared directly into Hope’s eyes.
“You can stop drooling now.”
Hope’s heart raced. Not only had it been at least five minutes since she’d spoken last, but Angelica had literally just called her out on it. Her cheeks burned, the heat eating away at what was left of her embarrassment before she swooped in and leaned down onto the arm rest.
Breathing slowly, Hope made eye contact and shook her head. “No, I can’t.”
Angelica snorted lightly, her own cheeks turning a fine rosy color.
“And while I agree with your… objections to the outfit, I’m not going to lie to you and say you don’t look damn sexy in that.
” The words fell from her lips before she could stop them.
Before Angelica could respond, Hope stood up and smoothed her hands down her black chef’s coat. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“F-for what?” Angelica stuttered.
Hope gave her a curious look, searching deep within what she could see to figure out if Angelica truly had forgotten just what they were doing that day or if she was just confused by the comment. “We’re filming the episode introduction.”
“Yes, we are.” Angelica’s mask immediately slid into place, full of competence and assurance.
But Hope knew better.
Angelica had been so distracted by Hope’s comment that everything about what they were doing that morning had flown out of her brain in an instant.
Laughing to herself, Hope sauntered out of the hair and makeup area with a grin on her face and an extra lightness to her step.
She wasn’t sure anyone else had ever gotten one over on Angelica Shields—not like that anyway.
She’d take this one to her grave.
Hope was running late, so she jogged through the hall until she skidded to a halt in the same room that she and Rex and Angelica had their come to Jesus moment in. Angelica looked up, annoyance flashing through her gaze before she focused back down on her iPad.
“Sorry.” Hope moved into the room and shut the door behind her since she was the last one inside. She walked directly to the chair next to Angelica and sat. She leaned over and whispered, “Eva was throwing a tantrum about not getting private math instructions today.”
Angelica’s lips twitched up at that, which had been the exact reaction Hope had been looking for. But she didn’t verbally respond to it. Instead, she looked at the two men sitting across from them and plastered on her work face.
“Chef Lawrence and I are going to go through what we see as some of the issues, and then we’ll let you comment on them. But we’ve come up with a plan to tackle each of these throughout the week, and then we’ll leave you with a plan to continue to work on them after we’re gone.”
Robin and Johnny nodded at her, seemingly captivated by what she was saying.
Hope folded her hands together. She and Angelica had spent hours after they’d finished filming the day before hashing out what they needed to talk to the owners about and how exactly they wanted to shift into the new business plan they had created.
Which was such a vast change from last season.
And Hope honestly loved it.
They were working together as a team in a way they hadn’t before. Last season they’d been pitted against each other constantly, Kyle and Josef pushing them to make enemies of each other, but with those two basically out of the picture, that left them to actually do the work they needed to do.
Which was…honestly amazing.
“We’re going to start with the kitchens and modifying the menus and training and shifts that you have for staff.
” Hope leaned against the table. Unlike Angelica, she felt it was better to come at these conversations organically, without numbers, and more with a heart.
Angelica was pure information when it came to business plans, which was good—especially where her area of expertise was—but that wasn’t how Hope approached people.
Robin and Johnny narrowed their gazes. “There’s nothing wrong with our menus.”
Hope’s spine stiffened. She glanced at Angelica and ignored the cameras that were in the corners of the room, with crew behind each of them.
The microphone strapped to her waistband and taped against her skin made her want to crawl out of her clothes, but even now, she couldn’t deny that the way Robin spoke to her was far more obstinate than she’d anticipated.
“We can talk about that, and I’m not changing everything, I promise. We need to tighten up the profit and loss on cost and items, which will mean changing some of the ingredients and tightening down exactly what’s being served”
Robin shook his head again. “No.”
Angelica jumped in. “I have the numbers and projections for you.” She slid them across the table. “You can see here that Chef Lawrence’s plan will put you at the top of your game and will be saving you five figures a month.”
“I don’t see how this will work,” Johnny jumped in.
“It’ll work. Trust us.” Angelica slid another packet of paper across the table. “I also want to streamline training for staff in the hotel itself, and I want to find ways to cut time. Right now they’re spending way too much time cleaning rooms and they’re taking advantage of the situation.”
“What situation is that, exactly?”
Angelica’s lips parted, and a blanket of surprise reached her gaze before she quickly masked it. Hope envied that. She could never make her face do that. It was always clear what she was feeling and thinking if someone looked at her.
“You’re losing money on this hotel. And if you want to turn a profit, then you need to listen to what we’re saying.”
Why was it that every time they came into a hotel no one wanted to listen to them? They literally were there to help save these hotels, hotels and owners that applied to be on the show, and yet they were met with so much damn resistance every single time.
Then again, people actually didn’t like change.
Even the status quo was preferable to change because it was the devil they knew and exactly what they were comfortable with.
Hope crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. And she also recognized that some of this was because it was a reality television show, and Rex had asked them to hype up the resistance to change to add in tension and drama. A way to do that without making it all between Hope and Angelica.
Which was a good idea in general.
Hope played into that as the conversation continued, eyeing Angelica so that she understood this wasn’t about her or the two of them, and Angelica seemed to understand. When Rex finally called cut, Angelica sighed and shook her head, grinning in Hope’s direction.
“Well done, Chef.”
“You as well.” Hope winked at her and grinned back.
“We’ll meet with you this afternoon to begin the process of transition,” Angelica said to Robin and Johnny, dismissing them.
Rex pulled them to the side and out of sight.
Angelica leaned over the arm of her chair, getting even closer to Hope and showing the nice busty line of her blouse today.
If Ansel was choosing these outfits, he certainly had a theme going.
“I actually think they’re going to be more of a problem that I originally thought. ”
“Why’s that?” Hope asked, keeping her eyes locked on Angelica’s face instead of her boobs.
“Because some of the staff have talked to me about what’s been said outside of the reach of the cameras and microphones.” Angelica rolled her eyes. “Watercooler gossip that I don’t think is just gossip.”
“What are they saying?” Hope was fascinated now.
“That Robin and Johnny have a really hard time letting go of things, including old staff and old ways of doing things. They’ve tried new things in the past and it’s always failed because they revert back to what they know.”
“Sounds like change fatigue.”
“Maybe,” Angelica said with a nod. “Or could simply be human nature. But keep an eye out for it.”
“I will.” Hope’s lips curled upward in a smile. “Sorry about being late again.”
Angelica waved it off as she turned off her iPad and started to collect herself to leave. “Family always comes first, Hope. Never forget that.”