“Joy Borjes?” Hope asked for clarification. He was either not going to take responsibility and throw anyone he could under the bus, or Joy really was just that much of a control freak and thought she knew everything about a kitchen and made unreasonable demands. But Hope hadn’t met her yet, so she wasn’t entirely sure which it would be yet. That was something to tease out fully later. Right now, she just had to build enough rapport with these two gentlemen that they actually trusted her?—
“Trey!” Maria pushed her way into the kitchen. “There’s a diner!”
Hope furrowed her brow, turning to look at Maria. Why would she be so excited about that? It was as if…
Holy fuck.
Did they not have regular diners? Did they not have tables filled ever? Was this so out of the ordinary that Maria and Trey would be that excited that they’d come in and celebrate?
“Go take their order!” Trey said in hushed tones. “We’re ready.”
Fuck.
Hope’s assumption was probably correct. She held her breath and stepped to the side, letting them do what needed to be done. She made a quick spin around the kitchen, cataloging everything she noticed, right and wrong. Then she pointed toward Cadence and walked toward her.
“I need to talk with Ange.”
“Then talk with her.” Cadence looked up at her with those wily and curious eyes. “No one’s stopping you.”
Hope hummed, because she wasn’t entirely sure why she was hesitating on that front. She and Ange had been in a better place before they started filming, better yet before she’d gone to Italy for the summer, and now, with all of the stress and fatigue from filming, Hope just knew that Ange wasn’t going to take kindly to her barging in there and changing the subject.
She said nothing as she stepped back into the dining room, past the couple that was sitting awkwardly in an entirely silent dining room. She’d watch the footage back later to make sure that she knew exactly what was going on and how Maria was serving them. But right now, she needed to focus on Ange and having a real heart-to-heart conversation about what was happening in this hotel.
Because it was bad.
Real bad.
Angelica stood at the front reception desk, her back to Hope, her hips slim in that stunning royal-blue dress she wore that followed the lines of her curves exactly. The black heels with matching blue soles only added to the elegance of her outfit. But the way her shoulders were set told Hope exactly what she needed to know.
Angelica was mad.
Or upset.
Or something.
Either way, something had gone wrong, and Angelica was standing there dealing with it. Her arm was stretched out to the side as she pointed toward the elevator and her voice echoed through the reception area.
“What do you mean you don’t have the staff?” Angelica barked.
“W-we don’t have them.” The woman cowered slightly, but her face remained impassive. If Hope was standing where Angelica was, she probably wouldn’t even have noticed that the woman seemed upset.
“Ange,” Hope jumped in, catching Angelica’s attention and giving the woman a bit of a break. “I need to talk with you.” She nodded toward the woman. “Are you… done here?”
Angelica frowned, shifting her gaze from the woman to Hope. “How’s the staffing situation in the kitchens?”
“Non-existent.” Hope wrapped her hands together in front of her. “A chef, a dishwasher, and a waitress.”
Angelica frowned, her brow furrowing together in concern. “There’s no hotel staff except Joy, her brother, Ross, and one night manager. That’s it. No housekeeping. No janitorial. No maintenance.”
Hope’s stomach plummeted. That’s not the information they’d been given about the hotel at all. It could have changed since they’d done their audition tape and since the crew had come out to do interviews, but it couldn’t have changed that much. Could it?
So they’d lied.
Flat out.
“Office.” Angelica pointed in the other direction and gave Hope a hard stare.
“Yes,” Hope agreed, the shorthand they had from working so many years together coming in handy.
