Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
“It’s so good to meet you in person, finally.” Julian Tower stepped forward, holding his hand out to Angelica.
She tensed but put her fingers against his and shook his hand. She wasn’t used to this kind of greeting from anyone when they arrived. Mostly because they didn’t tell them when they were coming. Angelica glanced over her shoulder to Hope, sending her a curious look.
“It’s good to meet you too,” Angelica said, squeezing his hand as she shook it. But when she tried to let go and step back, Julian pulled her forward and lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. Angelica’s breath halted in her throat.
“You must be Julian,” Hope said, stepping in closer and distracting him from whatever the hell he was doing to Angelica’s hand.
When he released her, Angelica had to work hard not to rub the back of her hand against her side to wipe anything that might be him off of her. Rex waved at them over Julian’s shoulder and then beckoned them toward him.
“You’ll have to excuse us.” Angelica breathed deeply and walked around Julian toward Rex. She didn’t even bother sending a glance over her shoulder. She knew he was watching them. She could feel his gaze boring into her.
“We’re set up in here,” Rex said.
Angelica shivered as she stepped into the conference room and was finally out of Julian’s sight.
She tossed Hope a raised eyebrow of a question, but Hope looked just as bewildered as she felt.
That had been quite the welcome. She was later arriving than everyone else because of an emergency trip to San Francisco, but it had only cost her a day.
Everyone else had been able to arrive and set up without her.
Angelica pushed her bag against the wall and pulled out her iPad, ready to work.
“We rearranged the filming schedule, so we’ll do the opening sequence in the morning first thing.
” Rex sat at the table next to her, and Hope hovered over his shoulder as if she was looking at the iPad in front of him, but her eyes were glued on Angelica.
“Tonight, I want to start with the retention issues that we know about. Let’s interview Julian and see if you can get to the bottom of that. ”
Angelica was fairly certain she already knew what part of the issue was.
Maybe. If Hope didn’t have that experience, then perhaps it was all her warning bells going off for nothing.
Or maybe he was just as enamored as people had become lately.
Angelica’s taste of fame wasn’t something she was particularly enjoying.
“When are we starting?” Angelica asked.
“As soon as you finish with Ansel. He’s waiting for you.” Rex looked across at Sy. “I need you to set up now that she’s here.”
“Got it, Rex!” Sy immediately went to work getting the crew and equipment he needed together.
Rex breathed slowly. “We’re trying to keep this one quick so you two can go wine and dine an investor, right?”
“Right.” Angelica was surprised by that.
She hadn’t mentioned it to Rex at all. A quick glance at Hope said that she must have been the one to mention it.
Perhaps he was okay with them traveling together then?
She’d check with Hope just to be sure before she confirmed dates. Or rather, have Lyric confirm dates.
“Sorry to rush you, but I don’t want to get behind.”
“It’s no problem.” Angelica blinked at him. “I’ll go find Ansel.”
“I’ll show you,” Hope finally said, stepping back from Rex. “He’s this way.”
Angelica sighed and stood up, stretching her back at the same time.
The flight hadn’t been that long, but the travel and sudden change of beds was doing her in this time around.
She really just wanted to lie down for a few hours and rest, but she rarely ever got that opportunity.
In fact, the last time she’d managed to do that, Hope had been in the bed with her.
Hope pressed her hand lightly to Angelica’s back as soon as they left the conference room, and leaned in close now that no one else was around. “I need to talk to you when you get a chance.”
“What about?” Angelica had to work hard to keep her spine from stiffening. Anytime someone said that it was never a good thing. “What did you find here that I don’t know about?”
“Oh, nothing about the hotel.” Hope grinned at her. “About us.”
“Us?” Angelica furrowed her brow. Us didn’t exist. Why did Hope always seem to press her for that? Angelica held her breath, because she was out of energy to tackle that conversation tonight. She just needed to get through the rest of today so she could get some sleep before tomorrow.
“Yeah.” Hope started to lean in, but Angelica pulled away. Hope seemed to catch herself and then stopped. “Ansel is this way.”
Angelica sighed as she sat in the chair and Ansel immediately started to pick apart her hair and makeup, moving as quickly as he could to get her ready. At the end of the thirty minutes, he disappeared to hand her an outfit. Angelica frowned at it. Josef still had his influences, unfortunately.
She took it to the bathroom to change and stared at herself in the mirror.
Like this, she could pass for younger. Not that she was uncomfortable with her age.
She worked hard to get to where she was at.
But she could see why Josef was pushing for the lower cuts on the tops and the higher hemline on her skirts, which she still hated wearing most days.
Coming back out, she rolled her shoulders and stretched the muscles in her neck. Lyric caught sight of her, dragging her bag behind her. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Angelica answered on a sigh.
“Long day?” Lyric asked.
“You have no idea yet.” Angelica pressed her hands to her hips and then handed Lyric her other clothes. “Will you put those up with my bag?”
“Sure thing, ma’am.” Lyric’s soft southern quirks that still came out never ceased to set Angelica at ease. “Is there anything else you want me to do?”
“Get me a beer when I’m done.”
“You got it!” Lyric sent her a warm grin. “Maybe I’ll make it two.”
“I knew there was I reason I hired you.” Angelica laughed as she walked back toward the conference room she’d met Rex in.
She was assuming they were meeting in there since he hadn’t specified another location, and she wanted to get this scene done, and any other ones he wanted her to film tonight, before she could crash.
At least they were in the same time zone she’d just come from so she wasn’t having to deal with another adjustment.
Rex was still sitting at the table, but so was Julian. He eyed Angelica over from her face to her toes and back up again. Angelica chose to sit next to Rex instead of Julian, pulling up the iPad for the show and turning it on.
“Just the two of us?” Angelica asked.
“Hope’s in on this one too, when she gets back from putting Eva to bed.”
“Right.” Those fairytale stories. “How long do you think she’ll be?”
Rex checked his watch. “She’s on her way now.
” He didn’t even look at her, keeping his face buried in the iPad in front of him.
Well, Hope might have something to talk about, but Rex certainly didn’t.
Angelica was going to have to watch that one carefully to make sure that she was navigating the chaos she’d brought on. Because if word got back to Josef…
She shuddered at that thought.
“Are you cold?” Julian asked.
“What?” Angelica frowned, looking up at him.
“You shivered.”
Angelica parted her lips, ready for a rebuttal, but she didn’t exactly have one. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
Rex hadn’t even seemed to notice. Uncomfortable under Julian’s gaze, Angelica chose to ignore him as much as she could.
She needed to catch up on the conversation they were supposed to be having in the next twenty seconds, because she was woefully behind in her duties for the show.
She’d been so focused on San Francisco and the rocky transition happening there of taking over two hotels.
Retention.
That was the issue at hand tonight. She could tell by the records and by the initial interviews that Julian struggled with retention in a way that Angelica had almost never seen before.
It seemed to come in waves, where many people would leave all at once, making him utterly shorthanded and unable to keep up with the tasks.
He’d hire a bunch of people and then have to deal with weeding out the ones who didn’t work.
Then as if on cue, a bunch would quit all at the same time again.
Angelica scrolled through the information again to make sure the timeline that had been pieced together was as correct as possible. She rolled the electronic pencil between her fingers as she stared down at the iPad.
“I’m here,” Hope announced as she stepped into the room.
Rex did look up at her, his lips curling at the sight. “Eva go down easily?”
“Yeah.” Hope leaned in and kissed his cheek, rubbing his shoulders lightly. “This is the only thing tonight, right?”
“This one and one with you and Ange.”
“Perfect.” Hope went to sit next to Angelica, but Rex shook his head. “I want you two on that side of the table, Ange next to Julian, and Hope on the other side.”
Angelica’s stomach clenched hard. But she did as she was told.
She had no reason not to at this point, and the less arguing she did, the less time this would take.
She pushed her hair over her shoulder and set up her iPad so both she and Hope were looking at the same information.
She lost herself in it until Rex called action and they started shooting.
“One of the biggest issues we’ve found in preliminary information is retention rates.
” Angelica pointed at the screen of her iPad and Hope leaned forward to look at something.
She looked up at Julian who still eyed her.
“We have some information about it, but can you tell us more? Why aren’t employees wanting to stay on here? ”
Julian shook his head. “I can’t pay them the wages that they think they deserve. Employees, specifically younger ones, feel they’re entitled to wages they don’t deserve when they’re just starting out.”
Angelica’s back went up immediately. She always hated that as reason, and he’d really given two in there.
But to blame it on someone’s age and entitlement wasn’t actually digging into the bigger issues.
“You can’t pay them the wage they need to live in the city or you’re hiring brand new employees who have never worked before who are expecting full salaries? Which is it?”
Julian’s lips parted in surprise, but he seemed to catch himself fairly quickly. “Both, actually.”
Now Angelica knew this was a bullshit line, and he was just doubling down on everything.
“I talked with a few of the busboys earlier today who said they’re making a comparable wage for other jobs in the city.
” Hope added in her two cents, her hand on the table and very close to where Angelica had her arm planted on it.
If she moved an inch in the right direction, they’d be touching. But she didn’t.
“What about any of the other staff?” Angelica asked, turning to look directly at Hope now. Since she hadn’t been there earlier in the day, she hadn’t been able to gather any extra information.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone.” Hope leaned back in her chair.
Angelica missed the closeness, the intensity of the conversations they would have, but Julian was still here, the cameras were still on them, and Rex was in the room. And this was all about the show. She had to remind herself of that.
“My problem with your theory, Julian, is that if you’re blaming this on ageism and entitlement, there’s very little in the way we can do to fix it. Is there?” Angelica looked directly at him.
Julian put his hands up in a got me pose and grinned at her. “You’re onto something here.”
How fucking patronizing! Angelica clenched her jaw but managed to keep her face as passive as it was before.
“So, if that’s your theory, then I guess our work is done.” Angelica flipped her iPad down, effectively closing it. She moved in her chair, pretending as though she was going to leave.
“What? No.” Julian leaned forward, catching her attention.
Angelica turned back to him, eyebrow raised. “No?”
“No, you can’t leave.”
“You just told me there’s nothing I can do to solve this little problem of yours.
So why should I stay?” She gripped the edge of the table, holding that tension as long as she could because she wasn’t going to play games tonight.
She was exhausted. Her feet ached. And she really wanted that damn beer Lyric had promised to get her.
“It’s not entitlement. All right?”
Angelica continued to stare at him, trying to surmise if he actually believed that statement or if he was just saying it to keep her in her seat. “Then what is it?”
“I have this problem where my employees group together when they feel something is wrong and they gang up on me, then all leave at once.”
Oh, now they were getting somewhere.
“Why do you think that is?” Hope asked, sounding genuinely curious.
It was the wrong question to be asking, but Angelica didn’t have a chance to correct it as Julian launched into another defense of how this wasn’t his fault.
“I think they conspire against me sometimes, because it’s easier to blame me as the problem rather than admit that they need to be better employees—you know, show up to work on time, do the tasks you’re assigned, don’t complain, and don’t start drama.”
“What kind of drama is being started?” Angelica crossed her arms, staring at him directly. She wanted an answer to this question, although she strongly suspected the answer he was going to give wouldn’t be the actual drama that was being created.
“You know, just drama between managers and employees. Who to blame, am I right?”
Angelica hummed slowly. “Perhaps.”
She sighed and glanced at Hope. “Do you have any other questions?”
“No?” Hope said it like a question.
“Good. I think we’re done here.” Angelica pulled her iPad with her and stood up. “See you in the morning.”
She had a lot more digging to do in the next twenty-four hours. But at least she had a path to follow now.