Page 22 of Culinary Chaos

He might not need that.

But she did.

Chapter

Eight

The numbers weren’t numbering.

Angelica groaned as she poked her finger into the calculator again, having dragged it out since the computer and her phone weren’t sufficing to make this work. She sighed heavily, her brain spinning and unable to keep up with the fact that she just couldn’t make this work.

She jerked slightly as the door to the conference room swung open, and braced herself with the table, eyeing whoever was coming in to disturb her. It was way too late for anyone to be coming in there. They’d spent all day filming, and she still had to find a solution to the money problems at the hotel.

And she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to.

She tensed when Hope came around the corner, the forever smile on her lips, and a tray of something in her hand. Angelica froze, not moving a millimeter as she waited to see what was going to happen next. Hope glanced around the large table which was once again covered in paperwork that Angelica had been working through for the last two hours.

She really hadn’t thought anyone was awake still. The crew was all at the end of their long week and exhausted, so they’d scampered off as soon as filming wrapped for the day. That orthey were just scared of her, Angelica couldn’t quite tell. But the glares she’d received from Josef already that day were enough to make her think it might be the latter.

“What are you doing?” Angelica asked when Hope said nothing.

Hope grinned broadly at her, setting the tray of food right on top of all the papers. She put her hands on her hips, that brilliant smile not toning down a notch as she made eye contact with Angelica.

“I thought you could use a snack. I know I could.”

Angelica’s mouth went dry. How did this woman seem to always command Angelica’s attention? Cold rushed through her, her palms going clammy. She was cute and bubbly, the exact opposite of Angelica and precisely what always seemed to attract Angelica to another woman. She could have smacked herself in the head.

Why had it taken this long for her to realize that?

She clenched her jaw, standing up slowly so that they were on more even footing than before. “I didn’t ask for a snack.”

“Nope, you didn’t. But I’m famished, we’re both working late, and I figured we could benefit from my need to keep my hands busy.”

Angelica nearly groaned. That comment after Angelica’s realization really was going to do her in. Hope was a married and presumably straight woman. Angelica had nothing to worry about or fear in this case. She relaxed and raised her chin.

“What work do you have?”

“You said I needed to solve the budgeting crisis in the restaurant. I’m here to solve it.”

“You mean you haven’t already?” Angelica gave her a skeptical look. Hope’s comment really only confirmed what she already suspected, but it still didn’t sit well with her.

“I needed to know how many people needed to be replaced first.”

“And?” Angelica held her breath. “How many?”

Hope sighed heavily, plopping down into the chair next to the one that Angelica had just vacated. Was she really going to stay there to work? Were they really doing this?

“Two, including Antonio.”

“Oh, so you do agree that he needs to go.” Angelica slid into the chair she’d been in, sitting at the edge of it. Would they start arguing any moment? They’d barely made it through a conversation that week without it getting tense, and that blowout over the game Hope had tried to play? The sounds of their raised voices still rang through Angelica’s mind.

“Yes, I agree.” Hope sighed. “But the Matlocks won’t like it.”

“Theowners—“ Angelica emphasized “—can get over it or they can lose their livelihood. Not that it’s much of one right now anyway. I plan on having a hard conversation with them tomorrow about how they need to decide if they want to be friends with their staff or if they want to run a business.”

“Is that how you see all of us?” Hope locked her eyes on Angelica’s face.

A shiver ran through Angelica, and the words stopped up in her throat for a brief second before she forced them out. “Of course.”