“It’ll have to be.” Florence looked over at Hope before focusing back on Angelica. “You need to make sure that she’s ready to come back and be focused.”
“I need to?” Hope raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m pretty sure that’s Ange’s job or it’s the job of production?—”
“It’s the job of her support system. And you happen to be most of it, I think.”
Hope pressed her lips together hard. She hadn’t quite thought about it like that. But Angelica didn’t have family like she did, and despite the issues she’d had with her family lately, she still knew if there was an emergency she could run to them for support. Angelica didn’t have that at all. Florence was right, Angelica was largely out here on her own and still rocking every day like she owned the world.
“You might be right,” Hope answered, still keeping her gaze on Angelica as Ansel finished up. “You could expand that.”
Florence chuckled low. “Only if she wants me to be there. Which, right now, isn’t the case. Come on, we’re doing a lighting check.”
Hope followed Florence to where Rex and Sy had set up and stood in front of the camera so they could get everything set up like they needed it to be. This time, when someone stood next to her, she knew it was Angelica, with just the tenderest slide of fingers against Hope’s forearm.
“Everyone ready?” Rex called.
“We are!” Hope answered as others called off their responses. She stood still next to Angelica, the silence between them speaking volumes. They didn’t need to talk right now. They just needed to be together for this, to make the show, to do the work. They didn’t need anything else.
Florence moved to stand between Rex and Logan, as if she was flanked by them and it was the three of them against the two women. Except Hope knew better than that. Ultimately, they were all on the same side, with the same end goal in mind: make this the best damn show possible. No matter what.
Well, perhaps notno matter whatanymore.
Now they had standards and principles. They weren’t going to take out one person just to make someone else be lauded over them. That was for damn sure.
“We’ve spent the last week in Helen, Georgia, fixing up Mondial.” Angelica smiled, her hands folded in front of her as she stared directly at the camera. “And it’s been quite the experience.”
Hope internally shook herself to get focused again.
“We spent time with the people here, learning all about just what makes this small town so unique and special,” Hope said, glad she remembered the line she’d quickly memorized thatmorning. She hadn’t had very long to look over the lines and was trusting the fact that there wasn’t much different than there normally was when they did this, and her body and brain would kick everything into high gear as soon as they’d started. “I’m not sure Angelica or I will forget the special flavor that Helen has.”
“No, I don’t think we will,” Angelica responded. She kept herself still and tight, though without the cameras on, Hope wouldn’t be surprised if she’d leaned a little closer to Hope and actually made physical contact. “From renovations in the main lobby area…”
“…to completely redoing the menu and dining room,” Hope said, finishing the sentence as she was supposed to. They’d gotten so much better at this back-and-forth over the years, and there weren’t awkward pauses to be edited out any longer.
“…we’ve overhauled Mondial and set it on a track where it will succeed.”
Hope wasn’t convinced of that, and she knew Angelica wasn’t either. There was always a layer of grit and determination that was necessary for those kinds of things, and they didn’t always know, when leaving a hotel, if they would have what it took to stay solvent.
“They’re creating an experience. From the moment you make a reservation to the moment you leave, you’ll have a one-of-a-kind experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life.” Angelica moved her hands out to the sides as she spoke, as if encompassing the entire hotel.
“The food will be delicious, and Jenesis has upped their ante on practicing new dishes and making sure that every plate is cooked to perfection.” Hope pressed her fingers to her lips in achef’s kissmove and then smiled at the camera.
“But for now, it’s up to Daph and Frannie,” Angelica continued, unfazed by Hope’s flirtation.
“To keep everything going, to continue to build off the skills we’ve trained them on,” Hope chimed in one more time, making sure that they were preparing to finish up strong.
“Now, everything is in their hands.”
“To the next one?” Hope asked, turning to look directly at Angelica.
“To the next disaster,” Angelica agreed.
Together, they turned to face the camera full on, shoulder to shoulder with their arms crossed, just like they’d done from day one on set.
“Cut.”
Hope immediately burst into giggles.
Angelica’s lips pulled to the side in a smile. Relief flooded through Hope and between them. They were done. At least for a little while. They had a few weeks to re-center themselves, to catch up on life, to reset and make sure that when they went into shooting the next five episodes that they would be able to make it through unscathed.
