Page 108 of Culinary Chaos

“Who’s winning the longest wait?”

“You are, surprisingly.” Angelica looked at her watch again. “And I’m about to call…” She paused. Josef walked out intothe lobby, and immediately, Angelica straightened and put space between them. Her entire demeanor changed from light and conversational to sharp and managerial. “I’m about to call someone about it.”

She picked up her cell phone.

Hope looked at Angelica and then at Josef. Something similar had happened in Seattle, hadn’t it? When Angelica had brought her Eva? She was trying to remember, but her mind had been so clouded because of the situation and all the drama earlier that night. Angelica had been pissed at Josef, that much had been clear, but was there something else underneath it all?

“Hope, glad you arrived safely.” Josef smiled at her, and the uncomfortable feeling that settled in the pit of Hope’s stomach doubled.

“Yeah.” She didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like she’d flown in that night. She’d literally had Lyric pick her up at her house and spent an hour in the car until Lyric dropped her off. The traffic had been fairly light for a Sunday evening, but again, what else was she supposed to say about that?

“Did you see the change in schedule?” Josef was speaking to Angelica now.

“I did,” Angelica answered, still looking down at her phone. “We can discuss it when Rex gets here in the morning.”

“What change?” Hope asked, feeling out of the loop, which she hated.

“We’re going to film mostly separate this time around, because Angelica is the one who is going to have to take the bulk of the scenes.” Josef barely even looked at her.

Hope hesitated in asking, but was this because of Seattle? Of what happened with Eva or because of what had happened the night Eva had run away?

Angelica must have caught her thought, because she said, “As you can tell, we have a serious management issue.” She wavedher hand back to the reception desk, where there still wasn’t anyone there to check her in.” Angelica sighed heavily. “You had the shitshow last time, now it’s my turn.”

“I guess it’s only fair.” Hope bit her lip, again looking from Josef to Angelica. Something was definitely up between the two of them, but she was damn sure she didn’t want to know what it was right now.

Angelica hummed and then set her phone onto the counter. “Conrad says someone will be here shortly. Time to start the second timer.” Angelica flicked her gaze to Josef. “Was there something else you needed?”

“Uh. No.”

“Good.” Angelica pursed her lips at him, glaring, but she also wasn’t moving away from Hope.

Whatever the hell was going on between them wasn’t good. Hope continued to grip her suitcase, the awkward tension filling her chest. She wasn’t used to being caught in the middle of an argument unless she was a direct part of it.

It took another twenty minutes, but Hope finally had her room key in hand. Josef finally left, and it was just Hope and Angelica staring at each other awkwardly. What was Hope supposed to say to her? They’d left on such an awkward note, and what little communication they’d had in the last week had all been about this upcoming shoot.

“Let me walk you to your room.” Angelica finally broke the silence.

She turned on her toes, her heeled shoes clacking on the tiled floor as she walked toward the elevator. Hope trailed after her, still not sure what to say or where to go from there. But it didn’t seem like the time to bring any of that up either. But then again… when else was she going to?

As soon as they were in the elevator, Hope broke down. “What are we doing, Ange?”

“What do you mean?” Angelica looked at her confused.

“Us. You and me. What arewedoing?” Hope gripped onto her suitcase, staring into Angelica’s baby-blue eyes.

“I don’t understand.” Angelica folded her hands together tightly.

Hope didn’t miss that move. And still, she pushed. “Are we…friends?” Why had she said that? It hadn’t quite been what she meant. “Are we more than that?”

Angelica’s jaw tightened, the muscles in the sides of her cheeks bulging out slightly from how tight she did it. “How’s Eva?”

“Fine, sidestep the question.” Hope sighed. “What’s going on between you and Josef?”

“Nothing,” Angelica said sharply.

Hope snorted. “Like I’d believe you with that response.”

Angelica’s face pinched in annoyance before she rolled her eyes. “We haven’t resolved the other week.”