Angelica held her breath tightly in her chest, needing to make sure that she could get control of this situation immediately.
“You’ve taken everything that I had from me.” Josef’s face turned red, his cheeks puffing out.
With a racing heart, Angelica stayed firmly where she was, still not sure how to get herself out of this situation and de-escalate in the quickest way possible.
“I gave you everything! And you turned around and stole it right out from under me and then had the balls to call me the problem! You’re the problem, Ange. You and your slut of a girlfriend.”
She kept the anger tightly wrapped. The last thing anyone needed was to have that unleashed right now, and luckily, it was one skill that she definitely had. Especially when it came to him.
“Even if I am the problem, what’s this going to solve?” She put her hands out to the sides, trying to show him that she wasn’t a threat anymore. But it didn’t seem to help. Josef stepped around the desk, pushing Angelica closer to the table against the wall with Eva’s drawing on it.
“I’ll get my job back to start. Or any job!” He came in even closer, and Angelica could smell the alcohol on his breath. Had he always been a drunk? Or was that a new thing? “I told you that I’d take you down with me! I told you that if you pushed me, I’d rip you to shreds.”
“You did tell me that,” Angelica answered, clenching her fists at her sides as she kept him fully in her line of sight.
“I told you not to try me.” Josef pushed a finger into her chest, jabbing her hard right in her breastbone. “And you still did it! I’m the one who made this show a success, not you! I’m the one who deserves to be there. Not you!”
“But you’re not there,” Angelica said calmly. “You’re not part ofHotel Bombshellany longer.” She knew that was going to piss him off, and while every instinct in her body told her to lie until he was gone, she also had every instinct telling her that the only way to win this was to tell the truth. “Why are you even here, Josef? Why are inmyoffice?”
“To make sure you understand exactly what you’re going to do to fix this.”
“Fix it? Fix what?”
“I’m broke. You’re suing me for harassment. I can’t keep paying the lawyers when I can’t get hired anywhere. Simone bled me dry after she left me. Did you two go in on this together?”
Angelica’s jaw dropped. “I haven’t seen Simone in years, Josef.”
He snorted at her and puffed his cheeks out again. “You’re going to call Logan right now and tell him everything you said was a lie. You’re going to call your lawyer and be done with thisharassment thing. Call the cops. Tell them you made it all up, because you know you did.”
Like hell would she be doing that. Angelica clenched her jaw. She took a step away from him, the backs of her legs hitting her office chair. She was caged in, like an animal that was about to be beaten. Looking at the door wildly, she tried to find anyone who was nearby to witness to, to stop it from happening, but no one was there.
“What did I make up?” Angelica asked, needing him to say even more, needing him to keep talking so she could form another method of escape.
“I didn’t push you against a wall in St. Paul. You know that. I didn’t touch you.”
But he had touched her. Angelica had seen the look of fear and distrust in Logan’s eyes as soon as he’d happened upon them.
“And what about Annalise? How did she get the golf cart keys?” Angelica clenched her fist again, looking toward the office door. Florence was there, inching her way inside, and Mrs. van Driel with a phone to her ear and a phone in her hand, recording everything.
“I didn’t give them to her!” Josef burst out. “Bitch must have stolen them!”
Angelica knew that wasn’t true. She locked her eyes on Florence, who nodded at her and put her hand up as if telling her she just had to wait. But that didn’t mean anything, because if Josef got any closer, he would be physically touching her, he would be attacking her.
“You told everyone on set that I was a bully!”
That was laughable. She didn’t have totelleveryone on set that he was a bully, they were all there to witness it. She clenched her jaw tightly.
“You told them that I was the problem!”
Angelica held her breath as she heard the jingly keys of security racing toward her office. She should have given them Josef’s photo and trespassed him before now, but she hadn’t thought he’d take it this far. She hadn’t even thought?—
“You think you can fuck your way into anything. But you’re wrong, Ange. There’s consequences to lies.” He stepped forward.
Angelica stepped back. Her foot hit the wheel on the chair, and she stumbled. Clasping onto the edge of the desk to try and keep herself upright, she held her breath. Josef towered over her, his face getting even closer, his hands fisted like he was going to pummel her.
“Back up!” Security shouted into the room.
Josef startled, his entire body going rigid. One security officer moved toward Josef’s back, and one moved behind Angelica, immediately putting himself between Angelica and Josef. Neither one of them touched him.
