Page 15 of Under the Table
Angelica glanced at the file Rex had AirDropped her and started reading through it.
“I thought we’d start with introduction videos like we did last time, along with a bit more interviews with the owners, management, and a few key staff—those we think are good on camera. The writers are working on some key words and questions for them to tell their story succinctly and with the spin we need.”
This was fairly standard to what they’d created last season. They didn’t want to mess with the rhythm and structure of the show too much. People now knew what to expect from them, and they had to deliver on that. But they could play with little things here and there, and that’s what Rex was working on.
Angelica checked through the detail information, but she caught sight of Eva frowning at her tablet. Distracted, she leaned over to see what Eva was working on, recognizing the math problem for what it was. She pointed at one number and then moved her finger toward the end of the equation, making eye contact with Eva to see if she understood what Angelica wasn’t saying.
Sure enough, Eva figured out quickly what she was missing and was able to solve the problem. When Angelica glanced up, no one was talking, and Rex was staring at her oddly. She stared right back at him. She wasn’t about to let a man intimidate her—ever.
“I’d really appreciate it if you and Hope could figure out when you’d like to add tension in and how. I don’t want this to be a repeat of last season, and since we have a bit more control thisseason…” Rex trailed off, but he still hadn’t moved his gaze from Angelica’s face.
What he meant was since Kyle wasn’t there to force a lack of communication, they might stand a chance at actually doing the things they wanted to do and doing them well.
And since Josef wasn’t there to flat out lie and make up stories about how they were screwing one another over, they really stood a chance of not having stupid manufactured drama like they had last year.
God, had it really been a year since they started filming?
So much time had passed in between seasons, but it didn’t feel that way at all. Especially now that Angelica was back in Hope’s presence. Especially now that they were in the same room again.
“I think we can manage that,” Angelica said, finally shifting her gaze toward Hope.
What was she thinking about all of this? Or did she even have an opinion?
Angelica pulled up her files and waited to see if Rex was done with his spiel. When he didn’t continue, she nodded firmly and started in on what she wanted to talk about.
“I think Gardenia primarily has an organizational issue, which is relatively easy to fix.” Angelica pulled up the information she’d managed to get from the hotel so far. “I think they tried to go too big too fast and didn’t work their way up properly and now they’re drowning because of it.”
“I can tell you that happened with the restaurant,” Hope chimed in. “I’ve never seen a menu quite so extensive as this one. It’s at least twenty pages.”
Angelica raised an eyebrow in Hope’s direction before shaking her head. “I’ll let you deal with that.”
Hope gave her a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“They’ve had quite a turnover in staff as well.” Angelica furrowed her brow at her iPad as she stared at it, as if all the answers were hidden in there somewhere. “Though they have managed to keep a few people on a long time. There’s no median length of employment. It’s either years or months.”
Rex nodded. “I’ll have interviews with the hotel staff first, and then I’ll let you watch the dailies so you can glean more information from them.”
“Oh that’ll be helpful.” Angelica’s eyes lit up. They hadn’t done that last season, but having more information would always be better in the long run.
“I thought you might appreciate that,” Rex said, but he wasn’t looking at Angelica. He was looking at Hope, a silent conversation filtering between the two of them. Angelica had no clue what was being said, and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know either.
“I do, thank you.” Angelica broke the tension.
This tension in the room wasn’t something she was used to, and it was going to be difficult to navigate. She’d never been in a relationship with someone who was married before. Scratch that. She and Hope definitely weren’t in a relationship, but they had kissed, and Rex knew about it, and so this was now an awkward dynamic that they were all going to have to navigate because laws and contracts dictated that they work together for at least two more years.
Eva looked over her tablet and locked her eyes on her mom, then her dad, and then finally Angelica. Oh, she was observant, wasn’t she? Eva was no idiot when it came to the tension in the room. Would Rex or Hope bring her in here on purpose to help ease that tension? It wouldn’t be a bad tactic in the long run. Eva was fairly familiar with everyone there.
“Why don’t you and Hope discuss tension points now?” Rex crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
“N-now?” Hope asked.
Well, at least Angelica wasn’t the only one surprised by that demand.
“Yes. I need to know when to expect them to make sure we have cameras and crew in place.” He stare at her hard.
Angelica breathed deeply, steadying herself as if she was going into a new battle. “I think Hope and I can do that tomorrow, when there’s more time?—”
“Now,” Rex insisted, looking at her now. His stare was cold. And he didn’t seem to be budging from his seat either.