Page 132 of Under the Table

“Nothing.” Angelica shook her head and turned back toward the front of the room as if she was paying attention.

But Hope knew better. Angelica was watching everyone else around them, not the slide show itself.

“They want us to film a mini promotional segment during the break.” Angelica lifted her glass to her lips, but she still didn’t turn to look at Hope.

“What?” Hope frowned.

“Didn’t Rex talk to you about it?”

“I haven’t seen him.” Hope’s stomach tightened even more. That pit was weighing her down.

“You haven’t seen him?” Angelica paused, her head turning to the side slightly. “We’ve hired a new assistant director for the upcoming year. She’s been working with Rex on post-production because it’s a big job to handle.”

Hope’s stomach dropped. Rex would normally tell her all of this. She’d be in the know because of him, not because Angelica was now dropping the information in her hands as if she should already know all of this.

“Cadence would like us to film short videos for promotional purposes during the break. She wants to specifically leverage YouTube shorts, and meet the desires of the younger generation to open our audience more.”

“Seems reasonable.”

“It does,” Angelica said, sipping her drink. “I don’t want to do it.”

“What?” Hope furrowed her brow. “Why not?”

Angelica glanced around the room quickly before stepping in closer and dropping her voice to just above a whisper. “We’re not together anymore, Hope. And I don’t want to spend my extra time with you in an environment that’s going to force me to ignore that fact.”

Angelica stepped away again, leaving Hope reeling from the comment.

“We need a clean break, one that both of us can define.” Angelica finished her drink and set it on a table. “So no, I don’t want to film with you.”

“Are you breaking your contract for next season?” Hope wanted to reach out and grab Angelica’s wrist, hold her there until she could get an answer to the question.

“No, I’m not.” Angelica squared her shoulders. “That doesn’t mean I’ll have a contract for season three when the break is done though. You’ll have to excuse me.”

Angelica went to step away, but Hope reached out quickly and snagged her wrist. They stared at each other, eyes wide. Hope’s lips parted. She had so much she wanted to say and more. “Do you think I’m going to try and get you fired?”

“No.” Angelica shook her head. “No, Hope, that’s not your style.” Angelica sighed heavily. “But there are many pieces at play that are out of your hands.”

“Rex?”

Angelica furrowed her brow. “No.”

“I…” Hope paused. She blinked, breaking eye contact and looking around the room tonight. “I haven’t seen him tonight. Do you know where he is?”

“He hasn’t talked to you? At all?” Angelica seemed genuinely curious now, if not a little concerned. Her voice had a much softer quality to it than it had the entire conversation before now.

Hope shook her head, fear rippling through her. Did Angelica know something she didn’t?

“I haven’t seen him tonight. I thought he might be here, but I haven’t seen him.”

Breathing in and out, Hope felt her stomach plummet. “Rex wouldn’t miss the wrap party. He’s never missed one, except when Eva was born. He wouldn’t just abandon…” she stopped at that thought.

The gears clicked in her head.

Rex had barely been home since they’d gotten back to Los Angeles. The nights that he had come home, they hadn’t slept in the same bed. Hope had figured it was because they still needed to work through their problems, but he hadn’t even set up an appointment with their counselor yet.

“Angel…” Hope was nearly in tears. “Where’s Rex?”

Angelica shook her head, but she did reach forward and snag Hope’s fingers tightly. “I don’t know.”