Chapter 23 #2
She then stripped out of the clothes for shooting and dropped them into a pile on the floor.
She didn’t want to take good care of them.
Not right now. She pulled on leggings, a sports bra, and a tank top and then slid her phone into the pocket along her hip and put on her smart watch.
When she turned to face the door, she had to breathe slowly and deeply before she could convince herself to go out there.
She’d take great pains to avoid Julian on her way out of the hotel, but she just needed to breathe air that wasn’t shared with him.
Angelica rolled her shoulders and stepped out into the hallway. She made it down the elevator and out the side door onto the street before she heard her name being called.
“Ange!”
She stopped, turned around, and waited as Hope jogged toward her. But when she was close enough, Angelica started walking again. She needed to get away from the damn building, and if Hope wanted to talk to her, then they could do that somewhere that wasn’t here.
“Angel, stop!”
“You can walk with me!” Angelica called over her shoulder, hardly slowing down.
“As much as you love to run, I don’t! Slow down!” Hope was nearly out of breath when Angelica let her catch up. “What the hell happened back there?”
“Nothing happened,” Angelica bit out the words. She’d already told Josef and was given the finger to shove off.
“You’ve been off since we got here. What’s going on?”
“You’re so stuck in your own head sometimes, you know that!” Angelica threw her hands up in the air and continued to walk away from the hotel. “It’s a God damned wonder you get anything done somedays.”
“Angel!” Hope sounded shocked, hurt.
But Angelica couldn’t stop herself. She was on a roll, she was riled up, and she was fucking embarrassed. “No, Hope. The whole world doesn’t revolve around you and your wants and needs. There are other people involved in this equation.”
“Just stop!” Hope snagged Angelica’s hand and pulled her around so they faced each other. “What happened in there?”
“Are you really that blind?”
“What are you talking about?”
Angelica’s cheeks burned. “You were sitting right there with me!”
“I…” Hope’s jaw dropped, and she shook her head in confusion. But when she spoke this time, she sounded much calmer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I suspected from the moment that I arrived that Julian’s problem with retention was Julian himself.”
“Well, no shit, Angel. Give me a real reason.”
Angelica clenched her jaw hard. If Hope would just shut up, she would get the answer. “He’s sexually harassing them.”
“What?” Hope paled instantly. “How do you know?”
“Because I called the former employees and I asked them what happened.” She fisted her hands and put them on her hips. “And because he touched me.”
“He did what?” Hope’s voice tightened instantly.
“In that meeting!” Angelica pointed at the hotel. “Under the table, he put… he put his hand on my leg, Hope. And when I removed it the first time, he just went and did it again.”
“Angel…” Hope’s voice softened instantly.
Angelica shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. She wasn’t mad at Julian. She was mad at the fact that at fifty-five years old she was still finding herself in these fucking situations. Why didn’t it ever end? Why did people have to be such pigs?
“You need to tell Josef and Rex.”
Angelica scoffed. “They’re not going to do anything.”
“They will. Hell, if he touches you again, call the fucking cops.”
Pursing her lips, Angelica shook her head. “You realize that Josef will accuse me of doing the exact same thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“With you!” Angelica’s voice rose loudly.
“You’re so stuck in your head that you can’t see it, can you?
This isn’t even about having an open marriage, Hope.
It’s about the fact that I’m your boss, and that we had sex.
” Her heart hammered, racing so fast that she wasn’t sure it’d ever slow down.
“Don’t you get that? I’m not different than him. ”
“Yes, you are!” Hope stepped forward and took both of Angelica’s hands in hers, squeezing tightly. But she didn’t make any more contact. “What we did… what I want to do again… that’s entirely consensual, Angel. I never once felt harassed by you or pushed into this by you.”
“It doesn’t matter what you feel.” Angelica threw the words out. “It matters what it looks like.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Why wasn’t she understanding this? Angelica stepped in closer, making sure that Hope understood her this time. “I’m your boss, Hope. And if Rex or anyone else finds out what we did, I’m the one who’s going to face the consequences. Not you. I’m the one who crossed the line.”
“We both crossed it,” Hope answered. “Together. Willingly. That’s the only way this story will ever play out.”
“You can think that,” Angelica said. “But I’m here to tell you that’s not the truth.” She stepped back, breaking contact. “I need to go on a run.”
She turned away from Hope and walked into the bright sun.
She didn’t look back. She walked swiftly to the end of the block, stretching her muscles and warming her body up.
Every single nerve in her body was going haywire with energy, with pain, with sorrow, with disgust. Without waiting another minute, she pushed off the curb and started her run.
She’d go until she was ready to collapse. There’d be no stopping her this time.