Page 94 of Culinary Chaos

“Angel…”

“Stop calling me that!” Angelica shouted. She paused, the stress of the entire evening finding its weight on her shoulders and making it damn near impossible to keep standing there. “Just stop.”

“Stop what?” Hope asked. “Because I don’t know what I’m doing that’s ticking you off so much.”

Angelica looked up and down the hallway, hoping that someone—anyone—would show up and pull their attention away, that someone would end this before it even started. Angelica stopped, seeing the look of devastation on Hope’s face, the pain and lack of understanding. Giving in, Angelica stepped closer, right next to Hope.

She didn’t touch her.

Lowering her voice, Angelica said, “You’re just being you.”

Without another word, Angelica stepped back. She wanted to get out of there, to escape. To go back to her room and hide for a few hours where no one would find her and maybe she couldcatch a wink of sleep that night, although now that was looking like it wasn’t going to happen.

“What?” Hope said, pulling Angelica right back to where she had been before. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

“You! I’m talking about you!” Angelica pointed at her. “You have to stop.”

“Stop what?” Hope shook her head wildly. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“That’s exactly it. Just leave me alone!”

Angelica turned on her toes and walked away. She moved as swiftly as possible from the elevator to her room, keying herself in. She shut the door and put the bolt on behind her. Fuck taking a run. Fuck taking a shower. She just wanted to curl up in her bed, cry, and then forget that had ever happened.

She’d hurt Hope.

She had no doubt about that, and she couldn’t even tell her why, because if she did…Angelica slowed at that thought. If she told Hope what was going on, then it would risk absolutely everything on the show. If one more person knew about Leanne, they could hold it against her even more. They could fire her and bring in someone who was younger and hipper, someone who could smile all the time and play off Hope’s always joyful persona way better than she could.

If Hope knew…

That would be the end.

Chapter

Thirty-One

“Installation for the oven and freezer repair is delayed.” Hope sat down heavily in the chair across from Angelica. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to be in this room. Not after last night. Well… yes, after the first part, but later on, something had changed. And she still hadn’t found her footing after that.

Rex had been in a mood too, which meant that she hadn’t been able to talk to him about what was going on either.

“Perfect,” Angelica muttered. “Delayed by how much?”

“Twelve hours, which normally wouldn’t be an issue, but we’re filming a show, so twelve hours makes a world of difference.”

Angelica hummed, but she didn’t even look up to meet Hope’s eyes. She flicked through something on her iPad, completely giving Hope the cold shoulder. Hope wanted Angelica to look at her, so they could connect, so they could figure out what the hell yesterday had been all about. She needed that.

“I wanted to thank you,” Hope said softly. She was hyperaware of the fact that there was a camera over her shoulder and there was one over Angelica’s, that the mic wire was tapedto her abdomen and between her breasts and the pack pressed against the small of her back. This wasn’t the time for deep conversations, but she could at least get some kind of response from Angelica, couldn’t she?

“For what?” Angelica said, still not looking up at her.

Hope’s heart sank. She desperately clawed at what she needed to stay afloat, to make sure that she wasn’t the only one picking up on this change of mood. “For helping me out yesterday, with cooking for the symposium. It’s not ideal?—”

“No, it’s not.” Angelica sighed heavily, finally raising her gaze to meet Hope’s. She held the electronic pencil for her iPad in her fingers, still poised as if she was going to continue to write or do whatever the hell it was she was still in the middle of. “Have you found a solution for that problem yet?”

“Oh I…” Hope cringed. “No.” She’d honestly gone back to her room, cried in the shower while trying to hide that fact from Eva, played the role of doting mother to read her daughter the requested fairy tale story, and then tried to forget why she was here in Seattle for a few hours.

“Have you even thought of potential solutions?” Angelica’s eyes widened slightly, still locked on Hope’s face.

What the hell was going on? Angelica hadn’t talked to her like this since… well, since Dallas maybe. Hope wasn’t even sure if this was on that same level. Or perhaps it just felt different now compared to before, now that they knew each other better.