“We have to talk about this,” Hope pleaded.
“Not yet.” Angelica swallowed hard. Talking to Eva about their relationship had been one step too far. Angelica wasn’t comfortable with Eva knowing about what was going on until she had more of an answer about where they stood in their relationship.
“When?”
“When will you have an answer for me?” Angelica crossed her arms and looked directly into Hope’s crystalline eyes.
“An answer…?” Hope trailed off.
“Do you want an open relationship or not? I can’t go to bat for this if I don’t know what I’m fighting for.” Angelica tensed.
“Angel…” Hope paused. She reached for Angelica’s arms and then stopped, pulling away slightly and hesitating. “An open relationship doesn’t change how much I love you.”
Angelica’s chest warmed, and the sensation started to fill the rest of her body. Her cheeks heated. She looked around before shaking her head and pulling that feeling back in on itself. “Love doesn’t matter until we have answers.”
“Are you going to leave me if I tell you I want an open relationship?”
“No. I just…” Angelica stopped, her jaw slack. “I just want to know.”
“But if you’re not going to leave, then what difference does it make for us in how we talk about who we are to each other?” Hope touched her then, skimming her hands down Angelica’s arms until they could wrap their fingers together. “I love you.”
That warmth started again, and Angelica couldn’t stop it this time. Her lips curled upward slightly. Hope did love her. She wasn’t doubting that. But navigating an open relationship with the entire world looking in on them seemed to be more than they were prepared for. Or at least more than Angelica was prepared to deal with.
“I love you too.”
“So, maybe, we tackle thisscandalhead on.” Hope bent down slightly, meeting Angelica’s gaze. “Maybe we stop hiding and we just let everyone know—officially.”
Angelica’s lips thinned. She still didn’t like that idea.
“There you two are.” Florence’s voice was sharp.
Hope pulled away, and Angelica stiffened. The last thing she wanted was to deal with Florence right now.
“We need to talk about the script. I just watched the dailies and neither one of you used it when you were talking with Ronanand Elsie.” Florence crossed her arms, a stern look crossing her features.
“It didn’t flow naturally.” Angelica immediately had her back up. What was it with Florence and this damn script idea? She’d agreed to it in the beginning, yes, but the more they filmed, the less it seemed to work for the way the show was structured.
“But you could have used parts of it, and that could have formed the structure of the conversation.” Florence turned the entirety of her annoyance on Angelica.
And good riddance, Angelica was done arguing with people. She just wanted to be left alone in the quiet of the work she needed to get done.
“I need you to use the script.” Florence didn’t look as though she was going to budge on this one.
“Sometimes it just works better without it,” Hope said, her tone much gentler than what Angelica was feeling.
Because she wanted to yell. And she kept biting her cheek to keep her temper in check. She couldn’t figure out where the hell that was coming from. It wasn’t entirely directed at Florence, she did know that, but she was frustrated. And she hated having everything thrown in her face back-to-back.
“I’m not using it.” Angelica lifted her chin defiantly. “It doesn’t fit with what I’m doing.”
“Ange.” Florence tilted her head down as if she was talking to a child. “Surely we can come to some sort of agreement about this.”
“There’s no compromising.” Angelica gave her a hard stare back. “I’m willing to work with you on a script for moments that call for it, but in the day-to-day of filming, I won’t use one.”
“Now who’s being the problem child.” Florence pressed her lips into a thin line.
Angelica’s back went up instantly.
“I don’t think that was called for,” Hope said, nearly stepping between them. “I agree with Ange that the scripts have made it difficult to make the scenes as emotional and tactile as they need to be for the audience. They’re expecting drama, and we need to make sure it’s there in an unmanufactured sense.”
