Page 39 of Culinary Chaos

“What?” Hope snapped.

“You’re driving away what little people we have here.” John pointed toward the door, his face bland. He was flat out lying. The bigger question was who had told him to do that? And was it just to keep the argument between her and Angelica going? Or was it to add in even more dramafor the show? Hope was beginning to hate that line.

Angelica turned, straightening her back into a rigid line and squaring her shoulders. She wasn’t focused on Hope anymore, and the intensity of that moment seemed to pull more energy from Hope than she was willing to let go just yet.

“Wearen’t doing anything,”Angelica fired at him, crossing her arms. “You’re the one who’s run this hotel into the ground, you’ve ruined the reputation of this kitchen, and I’m not sure that even Hope or I can put it back together again. This isn’tourfault.”

Hope at least agreed with her there, but the whiplash of going from toe-to-toe in an argument that was supposed to be scripted tothiswas something else entirely. Angelica went from picking on Hope to defending her in one second flat, and Hope reeled from it.

“You’re here to fix this mess, not create more of it,” John barked the words out loudly.

“Fix it?” Hope screeched.

Angelica put her hand out, stopping anything else that Hope was about to say. “We’re here by request of you to help you help yourself. We’re not going to run this place. We’re not going to swoop in and pour a ton of money into it without also knowing that you’re going to learn something and keep the changes we’re making after we leave. This isn’t a quick fix solution. This is a problem that you’ve created and that you have no earthly idea how to get out of.”

Hope couldn’t have said it better. She stepped around the counter and put her shoulder right next to Angelica’s. They were going to face this down together. “You have hog-tied this kitchen to the point that they can’t function. No fresh foods because it’s too expensive. No trained chefs because you can’t afford payroll. No updated point of sale system or ongoing training. You’re the reason this restaurant and hotel is failing. You and Nova.”

“If they can’t function with the budget they’ve been handed, then it’s not on me.” John stepped forward, using his imposing size to try and make them back down.

Angelica didn’t budge an inch. “No, she’s right. This isn’t on them. It always comes back to management and ownership. You need to take responsibility for your choices. And until you do, then we’re done working.”

“What?” John and Hope said at the same time.

Hope’s heart was in her throat, needing to know exactly what Angelica had meant by that.

“I’m pulling the plug.” Her lips were tight, fraught with a tension that Hope had never seen on her before.

“You can’t do that!” John’s eyes widened, and he stepped forward.

“I can, and I will.” Angelica’s body was so tight.

Hope’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t really going to do this, was she? This wasn’t just their jobs on the line, it was the entirecrew’s jobs. She was going to cut everyone’s pay just because this hotel wasn’t going to work in the way that she wanted it to? Surely Angelica wasn’t that idiotic. The crew relied on her and Hope in order to keep the show running. They had to do this.

“This is my livelihood.”

“It’s really not,” Angelica answered. “You’re not earning profit on the hotel, and with the amount of debt you have stacked up against it, it’s going to be a very long time before you actually start a year in the black.”

“Angelica,” Hope whispered, keeping her voice quiet as a plea.

Angelica flicked her a look of pure disdain and shook her head. Then she held her ground with John. “I won’t hesitate to pull every single member of my crew from here if you don’t start shaping up and acting like you give a damn about this business. It’s not worth our time and effort to fix something you’re going to destroy two seconds after we leave.”

“I can’t believe you’d do this!” John shouted, his face trembling from the force.

“I can, and I will,” Angelica doubled down.

Fear raced through Hope. How could Angelica really think that she could make this decision all on her own? John stormed from the kitchen. And without missing a beat, Hope pressed her hand around Angelica’s wrist and pulled her attention directly to her.

“You can’t do that,” Hope said.

“I can, and I will,” Angelica repeated, but her tone was much softer than it had been with John. “I’m not going to waste our precious resources on something that isn’t going to give results.”

“Ange…” Hope trailed off her name, her lips parted in shock. She wasn’t even sure what she could say to her to convince her otherwise. “The crew…”

“Knew what they were signing onto when they took the job.” Angelica turned and faced her, again effectively breaking Hope’s hold on her. “And I knew that coming in here would be a disaster.”

“You couldn’t have predicted that!” Hope’s voice rose. “You don’t know everything. Stop acting like you do. Stop acting like you can make decisions for everyone.”

Angelica’s face tightened. “I do make the decisions for everyone. That’smyresponsibility. Not yours.”