Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“Did you sleep at all?” Rex rolled over in the bed, throwing his arm over Hope’s waist and snuggling into her side.
“No.” Hope rubbed her hands over her face and sighed heavily.
Rex tugged her into his side. “What’s on your mind?”
“Ange,” Hope admitted, wincing even as she said her name. “But not in the way you think.”
“What way then?” Rex sighed and turned over onto his back, covering his face with his arm.
Hope didn’t like this distance between them, but the only way to work on it was to start to talk more.
He was right about that. And they had to talk about Angelica.
She wasn’t just Hope’s lover, but she was their boss and co-worker through this entire filming process.
Hope moved onto her side and pressed against Rex’s side.
“Haven’t you noticed how off she’s been since we got here?”
Rex shrugged a little but didn’t say anything.
“Like way more than is typical from her.”
“I don’t pay that much attention to Ange, honestly.” Rex clenched his jaw tight, and Hope could feel the muscles in his body tighten. He was trying to hold his feelings on the matter in. And she wasn’t doing a great job of explaining exactly what she was thinking or more.
“Rex, I mean it. Think about how she left that scene yesterday.” Hope pushed up onto her elbow and glanced over at the other bed where Eva slept soundly. “She practically ran out of there, and then she didn’t work the rest of the day. That’s not like her.”
“You’re right. I did think that was odd. I just thought it was Josef. The two of them butt heads all the time.”
Hope pinched her face. She wanted to address that, but it also wasn’t her place to talk to Rex about that one at all. “She said Julian touched her under the table.”
Rex tightened, pulling away slightly to look Hope in the eyes. “What?”
“That he put his hand on her knee, and a bit higher after she moved his hand the first time.” Hope pressed her palm against Rex’s chest, playing gently with the hair there. “She said she told Josef.”
“And?” Rex stared at her directly now, invested in wherever this conversation was going.
“And he told her it was all in her head, I guess. I don’t really know what he said, but he wasn’t any help.” Hope sighed heavily and flopped down onto the mattress. “She doesn’t feel like she has anyone to turn to about it.”
Rex scoffed. “Well Julian shouldn’t have done that.”
“Is that really all you have to say?” Hope furrowed her brow and turned on him again. “Seriously?”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“I don’t know, but you should be mad about it. What if that was me?”
“He wouldn’t do that to you.” Rex shifted in the bed, but he didn’t look at Hope again.
“Why the hell not?” Anger seeped into Hope’s tone.
“Because you’re married, and I’m right there to remind him of that.” Rex’s lips thinned, but then he stopped. “I’ll keep my eye out, I guess. See if I notice anything when they’re in the room together.”
“That’s the least you could do.” There was a note of sarcasm to Hope’s tone, and she wasn’t even sorry that it was there.
Sometimes he was just too male and too dense.
Angrily, Hope got out of the bed and walked straight into the bathroom.
She didn’t need to so stay there any longer and piss herself off even more.
She hopped into the shower to try and wake herself up for the rest of the day, because they had a long day of filming, including adding in another scene, the one that they hadn’t gotten to last night after Angelica had abruptly left.
Hope shampooed and conditioned her hair. Rex came in and started to get ready for his day, but then he just stopped and stared at her through the glass partition while she finished up. Hope finished her shower and snagged a towel to wrap herself up in it.
“What’s wrong?” Rex asked.
“I’m not asking because I like her, Rex.
I’m asking because she’s a woman, and sometimes men are gross and disgusting and think they have a right to our bodies when they don’t.
And you—” she poked a finger into his chest hard “—aren’t one of those disgusting men, which means you need to stand up and put those disgusting men in their place.
Stop making us do all the work for you.” She scoffed loudly and walked out of the bathroom.
“Hope!” Rex followed her, dragging his fingers through his hair. “There isn’t really anything I can do. Ange doesn’t exactly like me, and she didn’t tell me what happened.”
“No, she told her boss. Who is doing… guess what… absolutely nothing.” Hope rolled her eyes as she grabbed her clothes and started to get dressed. “That’s not right either.”
“No, it’s not.”
Hope sighed. At least they were getting onto the same page. Or perhaps it was more that Rex was finally aware there was a page for him to get on.
“This isn’t about my relationship with Ange,” Hope added as she dragged her pants up her legs.
“This is about basic human decency and the right to bodily autonomy. Something that I’d hope you’d fight for, considering we have a daughter who’s going to face these very same issues in the next few years if you don’t do something different than you’ve done in the past.” Hope pulled her tank top on and tugged it down. “So?”
“Fine!” Rex threw his hands up, exasperated. “But it makes me uncomfortable to be looking after your girlfriend.” He lowered his voice to just above a whisper when he said that last part. Hope glanced over at Eva, making sure that she was still asleep before slipping back into the bathroom.
“She isn’t my girlfriend.” Hope clenched her jaw hard. She wasn’t sure what they were to each other, honestly. And the fact that Angelica refused to speak to her about it still irked her.
“I thought you two were…” Rex trailed off, furrowing his brow in confusion.
“I don’t know what we are or aren’t.” Hope pulled on the zipper hoodie that she loved to wear in the mornings. “She’s not exactly in the mood to talk right now.”
Rex seemed compassionate about that, but he also didn’t say anything. She could understand why. It was an awkward conversation for both of them.
“If you keep an eye on Julian this week, I’d appreciate it. Not just for Ange, but for every other woman on our crew and in this hotel. I’d also like to be in as many of the scenes as possible to be a buffer.” Hope sighed. “And Ange isn’t going to like that.”
“Josef might, if you play up conflict.” Rex sat on the edge of the bed. “So that might be your way in.”
“Not a bad idea. I’ll think about it.” Hope crossed her arms and looked down at him. “I’m going to see if she wants to talk this morning.”
“Okay.”
Bending down, Hope kissed Rex hard once and then soft a second time. “Give Eva a kiss for me when she wakes up, all right?”
He nodded. Hope finished getting ready, brushed her teeth, and grabbed her phone and iPad before she slipped out of the room and down the hall toward Angelica’s room. Hope stood outside the door and took slow, deep breaths.
This wasn’t going to be a welcome distraction. Definitely based on how Angelica had acted last night. But Hope needed to talk to her, but more importantly, she needed Angelica to understand that she wasn’t alone in all of this.
Lifting her hand, Hope knocked.
When Angelica didn’t immediately come to the door, Hope knocked again.
It was early enough that Angelica wouldn’t be down with Ansel yet, and after the way she’d run off last night, Hope suspected she’d just holed herself up in her room and avoided the world.
Which was exactly what Hope would have done.
“Angel, it’s me.” She knocked a third time.
It took another minute, but the locks on the door finally clicked and the door opened.
Angelica stood on the other side, her hair down around her shoulders, face clean of any makeup, and a silky low cut white camisole covering her chest. She had a black skirt on that stopped well above her knees, but that was it.
Freckles littered her shoulders and chest, and Hope longed to trace them with her fingers again.
It’d been so long since they’d touched each other like that, and while they’d explored each other’s bodies, Hope wanted desperately to do it again and again.
“Can we talk?” Hope asked when Angelica didn’t automatically let her in.
Angelica said nothing, but she did open the door more and then stepped away from it, deeper into the room.
Her feet were bare on the floor, so she made almost no sound as she went.
Hope followed her into the main part of the bedroom area and plopped onto the bed.
Angelica sat at the desk chair, legs crossed as she stared at Hope.
“Did your run help?” Hope asked, her voice more timid than she wanted it to be.
“Not really, no.” Angelica’s voice was raspy, as if she was exhausted.
“I didn’t realize Josef was coming to filming.”
Angelica raised her eyebrows quickly and then lowered her chin to look at the ground. “He’s not been happy with my methods of wrangling the cats so to say.” She sighed. “He’s come to take over and make sure that we’re meeting his standards.”
“So he’s staying for the rest of filming?”
Angelica shrugged slightly. “Unless his wife takes a turn for the worse, my guess is that yes, he’ll stay.”
“His wife?”
“She has breast cancer.” Angelica’s lips thinned into a line. “He stayed for her treatment, but I do think the bulk of it is over with already.”
“Oh. He didn’t tell me that.” Hope wrung her hands together, nerves eating away at her insides. “I don’t know what to do, Angel.”
“There’s nothing we can do.” Angelica pursed her lips together, but there was a look of failure that crossed her features. “I grit my teeth, bear the brunt of whatever’s to come the rest of this week, and then we move on next week.”
“That’s no way to live.” Hope frowned. “I talked to Rex about not leaving you alone with Julian, at least during scenes. I’m hoping we can create some sort of drama together so that I can be there for most everything.”
She could see Angelica’s brain spinning, first from the thought that Hope had asked Rex to babysit her to the realization of conflict again. The latter seemed to be less of an issue than the former, so Hope was glad Rex had mentioned it. Perhaps it might be what saved her in the end.
“So what kind of conflict can we create?” Hope asked, not giving Angelica a chance to reject that offer.
Angelica sighed, but she did seem to relax a bit. “Specifics of training staff, wait staff and bartenders. The casinos and the bars are wrapped up so tightly together that it’s nearly impossible to separate them except on paper.”
“That’s a good place to start.” Hope raised her eyebrows in Angelica’s direction. “Do you want me to be the bad guy this time?”
Angelica shook her head. “No. It’s not in your blood.”
Hope laughed lightly. “I can be an asshole boss when needed.”
“Can you?” Angelica looked at her directly. “In San Francisco this summer, when you figured out that I was right about Kylie and your head chef, did you fire one of them?”
Hope’s lips parted in surprise. She remembered seeing Angelica there like it was yesterday. It was rare that Angelica came into her space, but she had loved every second of it, and she wanted it to happen more. “I did, actually.”
Angelica seemed surprised by that.
“Kylie, unfortunately.”
“Really?” Angelica blinked her surprise.
“She was the one still causing issues, and as much as I hate to admit it, she’s the easier one to replace.
” Hope stretched her hands out in front of her and looked around Angelica’s room.
Everything in here was so her to a T. The way the papers were lined up on the desk, the two iPads stacked together, the laptop computer that Hope knew she often worked from for her normal business.
“I’m a business owner first, and a friend second to my employees. They know that.”
“Friend never is a better option.”
“For you perhaps.” Hope’s lips curled up into a smile. They seemed to be easing into a calm between them again, which Hope was glad to see. “So, you’re the hard ass, and I’m the friend. Seems natural roles for us in general.”
“Of course.” Angelica nodded at her.
“Does that sound like a good plan for you?” Hope asked, wanting to check one more time for her reassurance.
“Yes.”
Elation built in her chest. This wasn’t quite Angelica asking for help, but it was probably as close as Hope was ever going to get to that.
And this time she didn’t have to full on twist her arm to get Angelica to agree, not like at Mountain View West, when Angelica had been stricken with altitude sickness.
“Good.” Hope stood up and held her hand out for Angelica to take.
When Angelica slid her fingers against Hope’s, Hope pulled Angelica up so they were standing face to face.
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this alone.
” Hope cupped Angelica’s cheek, but she didn’t bring their lips together.
In fact, she held still, waiting to see what Angelica would do next.
“Hope…” Angelica sighed, her lips thinning into a line. “With Josef—”
“We’ll be careful, I promise.” Hope forced the smile onto her lips.
Angelica’s nerves about everything were eating into her.
She just wanted to be happy about whatever was growing between them, and she didn’t want it bogged down with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
She brushed her thumb across Angelica’s lips and smiled at her.
“I wonder if I’ll get the chance to wake up in the morning with you. ”
“Hope.” Angelica said her name quickly, but there was nothing else after it.
Hope slid in quickly and stole a brief kiss before backing away. Angelica’s stomach rumbled, and Hope frowned at her. “You didn’t eat dinner last night, did you?”
“No,” Angelica confessed.
“Too upset?”
Angelica nodded.
“All right. Let’s get something before we have to subject ourselves to Ansel’s pruning.” She kissed Angelica again. “And find us some coffee. Deal?”
“Deal.” Angelica’s lips pulled up into a small smile. “Just…let me find the shoes I need for today.”
Hope couldn’t take her eyes off Angelica and the way she moved, slowly and tenderly.
Almost as if getting ready to leave took the rest of her energy.
She’d never known Angelica to be like that.
She might have a calm energy, but it still simmered under the surface and was very much present.
This was like bogging through the movements because she knew she had to.
When she slipped the blazer over her shoulders, Hope gave her a smile, one that she prayed didn’t convey as much worry as she actually felt.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
Hope moved to the door and held it open for them. She breathed deeply as Angelica walked out in front of her. She could do this. They could do this. They just needed to catch a break.