Caray, Caray!

Too tired to come up with a catchy title tonight. Too many things happened!

Minerva calls Aaron and tells him, "Get over here right now! Gaviota has appeared. She's here. We have to decide what to do with her. Yes I'm sure. She's your protege, Mariana Franco!"

Sofia and Pilar speculate about tomorrow's meeting. Pilar notes that the wives (Isa, Minerva, and Fedra) aren't invited. Daniela smiles to herself, which makes Pilar suspicious. "For the first time in my life, I'll be happy to attend a board meeting," Dani hints. "I think he's going to give you the best news of his life."

Sofia's car arrives. Frankie, the very classy and discreet amateur gigolo, is laying on the horn. Dani mischievously tells Pilar that Sofia has an admirer. Sofia doesn't deny it as she rushes out to greet him. Dani tells her granny to relax: maybe Sofia won't end up an old maid after all.

Frankie flourishes at the car. Sofia offers to pay; Frankie says before we talk about money, let's test it out by going to that restaurant we talked about last night, and celebrate. He clowns around and says if the car's still broken, they'll push it. Sofia laughs and tells the maid she's going out for a while. Frankie (the compulsive horn-honker) gallantly opens the driver-side door for her, and away they go.

Margarita and someone else are gossiping in the hallway, wondering what's going on, as Aaron speeds past them into the boardroom with steam coming out of his ears. He closes the door and demands an explanation from Minerva and Isadora. Angrily jamming his crazy finger against the side of his head, he scolds Isa for playing along with Minnie's craziness. Minnie scolds him back for hiring "Mariana" without checking her references. That was crazy. And Medina makes three crazy people because he never verified any of her information. So she and Isa checked it out themselves, and it was all false.

Out in the executive lobby, Margarita informs Gavi that the earlier ruckus was caused by Isa and Minnie screeching in the boardroom. Then Aaron showed up and it seemed like he was calming them down. Marg and Gavi wonder what it means. Oñate arrives and asks for Minerva. Marg tells him of the party already in progress. Marg is clearly concerned. Gavi wonders why Oñate would need to meet with Minnie.

Aaron is not yet convinced. Mariana did have documents that checked out. He scoffs at their anecdote about Mariana singing Gavi's song and says anyway, Gaviota's real name is Teresa Hernandez. Minnie points out that those documents could have been falsified. Isa gets impatient and prepares to stomp off and take care of it herself. Aaron tells them to sit down. They meekly comply. Minnie sarcastically mimics Mariana confessing to being Gaviota.

Oñate brings his own two pesetas to the table; he congratulates Minerva on her instincts. The airline told him that Mariana and Rodrigo both came back from Manzanillo on the 31st, on different flights. Isa begins flipping out again. Minnie smugly passes the incriminating evidence for Aaron to inspect.

Minerva points out that this woman, whatever her name is, is very dangerous. Isa mentions tomorrow's meeting. Minerva says it's probably not a coincidence that Medina was preparing Mariana's severance package and that Rodrigo left with Videgarray.

Aaron is coming around, reluctantly. Isa wants to confront Gaviota, but Aaron warns her again. Minerva warns that they don't have much time. Aaron calls for Elvira, who doesn't answer, so he tells Minnie to go get her. (Yes, that's right, a stick is fetching a dog. Ouch, was that rude? Sorry, it couldn't be helped. If it's any consolation, I like Minnie's dress.) Aaron asks Oñate how good are their police contacts. He wants all the information on Mariana they can find - including the dates when she's left and re-entered the country - within an hour. Oñate takes off, eager to please.

Minnie comes back with Elvira (Elvira is charmed that Oñate held the door for her). Aaron tells Elvira to get the distillery boss on the phone. He tells the women that if they can prove that Mariana is Gaviota, they will have an advantage; but they'll need some time. Isa gets up again, impatient for vengeance. Yet again, Aaron tells her to sit on it and let him handle it. He suggests that the women leave - if Rodrigo sees them, he'll be suspicious. Isa doesn't want to go, but she finally agrees to go hang out with Pilar. Aaron asks Minnie to keep an eye on Isa and make sure she doesn't do anything crazy. Minnie scolds Aaron again for not having believed her. He promises to mess up Rodrigo's plans. They kiss like a happy couple and he sends her on her way.

Elvira has the distillery guy on the phone. Before taking the call, he asks her to call a travel agent and get a ticket on the last flight out to Guadalajara, in Rodrigo's name. Elvira is flustered, having been asked to do two things in a row.

In the hallway, Minerva assures Isa that Aaron's idea to get Rodrigo out of the city is a good one. She says it's too bad Isa will have to sleep alone. Isa retorts that she's always slept alone. Just then, the evil Mariana/Gaviota steps out of her office and greets them. The two women glare at her and hurry away. She waylays a man named Rosendo to ask him to copy some papers. Okay, that was random.

Aaron asks the distillery guy for a favor. His cousin Rodrigo will be arriving there tonight. He tells the distillery guy to do what he has to keep him "entertained."

Gaviota comes in just as Aaron is hanging up. She's looking for Oñate. Aaron tells her the candyman left, and asks if Rodrigo has arrived yet. He says he'll wait in his office and wants to talk to him as soon as possible.

Rodrigo is in Medina's office, where Placido is collecting the trash. Placido tells Rodrigo that Medina went home. Rodrigo leaves a note on Medina's desk telling him to increase Mariana's severence by 20%. Nice. (I'll be lucky if I get a free lunch on my last day.) He signs his full name on the note and goes into the hallway, where he is surprised to see Gaviota. They go into her office and he shows off their plane tickets. She says everything's ready except to inform Oñate, but he's gone.

Rod notices that she's flustered. She doesn't know why. He admits to being nervous as well. She tells him that Minnie and Isa were there earlier, looking for Oñate, and they met in the boardroom and Aaron was there, and he's still waiting in his office and wants to talk. Rod tells her to calm down; it'll just be a matter of hours until they're at their island.

Aaron is on the horn again, telling someone named Juli or Yuri to cancel all their appointments for the week. Nope, he's not going to travel. They'll be in touch. He hangs up the phone and paces around nervously for about half a second until Rodrigo shows up, beaming. Aaron greets him with, "Where the hell have you been? It's chaos! The distillery boss called to say that 80,000 tons of agave were REJECTED!" It showed up with less than 16 brix and is too far short of the required standard to produce tequila. Rodrigo is impactado. Aaron says he'd better go take care of this, or they'll lose their client.

Rodrigo stares at him, dumbfounded. He says this trip will screw up his plans and he's not going to go. Aaron shakes the crazy finger and reminds him that producing agave is Rodrigo's responsibility. He has to take care of this personally, or they'll lose an excellent client. (Rodrigo nods angrily, perhaps remembering Aaron's attitude the last time they "lost" a client.) Aaron says that on top of that, they'll have to pay a fine.

Rodrigo says he'll talk to James and Roman and they'll ask around for some replacement agave. Aaron is adamant that only Rodrigo can carry out the negotiations. Plus, to save time, he already had Elvira get him a flight. Rodrigo reminds Aaron about tomorrow's meeting. Aaron pretends to care and says he'll run the company while Rod's gone. He invites Rod and Isa to dinner.

Rodrigo tells Aaron that some employees overheard Isa and Minnie arguing there earlier. Aaron sits down, and in the time it takes him to bend his knees, he comes up with a great explanation: Minerva got it into her crazy head that Aaron's fixing to divorce her, so she came to ask Oñate for information. He wasn't there, so she decided to wait, and Isadora wanted to hang out too, and then they had a "discussion." Minerva reproached Isadora for letting Rod spend so much time with Mariana, and they got to screaming, but luckily Isa is very prudent and convinced Minerva that they should leave before Rodrigo got back.

Now Rodrigo wants to know why Aaron is there. Aaron says that when Rodrigo didn't show up, Elvira called him in to deal with the trouble at the plantation. (Rodrigo: Ask Elvira what time she made that phone call!)

Now Rodrigo wants to know why Mariana wasn't asked to deal with the problem. Aaron gets up (again, it buys him the nanosecond he needs to come up with an answer) and says a problem of this magnitude can only be dealt with by the company's director. Aaron dropped everything to come over and see to it, and Rodrigo should be thanking him!

Now Rodrigo wants to talk to Zarate, the distillery guy. Aaron accuses Rodrigo of doubting his oh-so-trustworthy word, but Rodrigo insists. Aaron looks faintly concerned at first, but it quickly becomes clear that Zarate is playing along on the phone. Rodrigo wraps it up by telling Zarate he'd better be at the hacienda tonight so they can talk.

Next, Rodrigo calls Elvira and tells her to move up the meeting to 4 instead of 2 and make sure to get him a flight back at noon. Aaron tells Rodrigo that won't be enough time to get the agave. Rodrigo says no way is he going to cancel the meeting. Aaron wants to know what it's about, anyway. "All in time," Rodrigo reassures him. He says now he'll have to call Isadora to cancel their dinner plans for the evening (she was going to ask him to sign Daddy's loan papers; he was going to ask her to get out of his life).

Aaron says Isa won't be at home; he heard that she was visiting with Pilar. This surprises Rodrigo.

Meanwhile, back in Guadalajara, James is leading an educational tour through the agave. He tells them, among other things, that it takes the blue agave plant 6 to 8 years to mature. (I think the purpose of this scene was to remind us that James is still part of this novela.)

Pilar's eyes pop even more than usual as Minnie and Isa share their shocking news about Gaviota. They rehash what they already talked about before, and Minnie says they must be planning something. More rehashing of the plan to get Rodrigo out of town and learn more about the homewrecker. Pilar says gee, who would have guessed she's an imposter. "If we'd known that, none of this would have happened." Um, duh?? I guess Don Amador liked 'em kinda not-too-swift.

My TV screen is too small and I'm sitting too far away to be sure, but I think Minnie and Isa just rolled their beady little eyes. Minnie says that's the least of their problems. And everyone called Minnie crazy and they were all so enamored with the efficient Miss Franco. But Aaron will take care of this.

Rodrigo calls for Isadora. She doesn't want to take the call, but Minnie urges her to go on with the game and don't let him know what's going on. Rodrigo gives Isa the bad news about his trip and canceling their dinner plans, while Aaron pours drinks. Isadora takes the news surprisingly well, and hisses after she hangs up. Aaron offers to take Rod to the airport.

Elvira bursts in - lady, if there's something wrong with your knuckles, you could try tapping at the door with your foot - to tell him that Oñate is on the phone. Rodrigo gets up to leave, saying he has to give Mariana some "instructions." He confirms his return flight with Elvira.

It turns out that Oñate does not have any info yet. Aaron tells him they'd better have it by noon tomorrow when Rod comes back.

Rodrigo gives the bad news to Gaviota. She is vexed. She just called them this morning to confirm that the agave would be okay to give to the client by the end of the month. Rodrigo tells her that Zarate just now said otherwise. Now he has to go find some more, because the stuff they have isn't ready to cultivate.

Gaviota is bummed. He tells her to cheer up. It'll just be a few hours. He'll call her.

She begs him not to leave. She hugs him and cries. She tells him, "I have a bad feeling about this. As if... well, if I say it out loud it will happen." He tells her they're about to begin a new life together filled with love; trust him, it will happen. He tries to reason with her, says he'll call tonight and come back tomorrow and he loves her more and more every day, but Gavi is spooked and does not want him to go. They kiss, and I worry someone will come in and bust them; but I guess at this point, that would be redundant.

And now for something completely different: Sofia has just finished dining with nature's own appetite suppressant, Frankie the Aspiring Grifter. He is telling her that this place (which looks nice enough to me) isn't nearly as intimate as the one he had talked about, but the other one was closed. Sofia doesn't care; she's charmed. But she's also cold and she's ready to leave. Frankie gives her his jacket and calls for the bill.

He suddenly puts on a face that is probably supposed to look seductive. (You know, if I didn't feel so sorry for Acacia, I'd fix her up with this guy, because then they could go off and be weird together.) She asks why he's looking at her that way. He says he's very confused: he doesn't know why he likes her eyes so much. (Maybe because they're worth a couple of million dollars apiece?) Or is it her mouth. Or is the way she looks at him...

Fortunately, the waiter arrives with the bill, so we don't have to hear any more of Frankie's drivel. Frankie studies the bill and reaches for his wallet. Um, guess what? Of course he makes a big show of looking for it and pretends not to know where it is.

After work

Gavi and her mom are packing. Clarita says she's almost done. She's going to put away the TV and the Virgencita and saints last. Gavi tells her that everything else is ready, but Clarita doesn't believe her. Gavi tells her about Rodrigo having to leave. Clarita brushes off Gavi's concern, but Gavi says that when Rod said he was going, she got a chill in her bones, just like the day he left for London. (She doesn't add, "...capitol of England.")

Clarita gives her daughter some air-slaps - woops, no, she says she's shooing away the buzzards. Gavi explains the weird events of the day - Minnie and Isa fighting, later leaving together like nothing had happened, and not answering Gavi when she greeted them. Clarita brushes this off as well.

At the hacienda, Rod meets with Zarate, James, and Roman. Zarate says they got the agaves at the plant at noon, and they looked fine. But the lab tests revealed too-low sugar levels. They look big and nice, but they're not very sweet.

Rod says they have to get more agave. Zarate warns that the crop isn't ready. Rodrigo cuts him off - he's here to solve the problem. He'll inspect the agaves himself tomorrow. Zarate reluctantly agrees and leaves.

Roman says something flippant-sounding that I don't get, and Rodrigo thinks of an agave guy who can help them, or hook them up with others who can. James agrees, and the three of them grab their hats.

At Pilar's house, Aaron is telling the family (minus Rodrigo) about the agave story. And tomorrow, Oñate will have information about Mariana Franco's past. Pilar is confused as to why this information is needed. After all, when he hired her, he already checked that stuff, right? (Oh Granny, if you can't think of something unclueless to say, don't say anything at all!) Aaron says that Mariana seemed like a woman of the world, intelligent - nothing like a lowly migrant worker. She spoke to him in French, and joked with him in German.

Minnie reminds him that Gaviota went to Europe. Of course she learned the language - so she could approach her clients. She makes a little dig at Aaron - she understands how Medina could have fallen for that face, but Aaron too? He pats her leg (a little too forcefully) and tells her that's enough. :-)

Bruno wonders what the consequences of this will be. Fedra jumps to Aaron's defense. (I don't get their marriage. Every time I see Bruno and Fedra together, I always wonder if Bruno lost a bet.) Fedra says nothing has happened yet that they can't still fix. They can call the police! Patricio points out that they don't have anything to accuse her of except a bad resume... for which they could only fire her, at most. Pilar thinks that ought to be enough. Minnie reminds her that Mariana's also going to run away with Rodrigo.

Aaron brings them back to reality - Oñate will have the info tomorrow. Isa impatiently asks what proof does Aaron need - Rodrigo stopped looking for Gaviota when Mariana showed up. He didn't accept his director position for the family - he only did it to be with his vixen.

They hear Sofia laughing at the front door. Pilar advises them not to tell her what's going on until they can resolve the situation. Sofia comes in with Frankie in tow. Sofia is surprised to see the whole family there. She asks if the meeting wasn't supposed to be tomorrow.

Isadora is even more surprised to see Frankie. He gives her that creepy smile, which no one else seems to notice. Sofia tells them they were out testing her car, and introduces Francisco de la Vega. He puts on his smarmiest smile for the family. Sofia points out that Isadora already knows him - he's her neighbor. Isa greets him politely. Sofia introduces the rest of the family. "Ooh, Sofi, I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Fedra says in her kindergarten-teacher voice. (Note: It doesn't sound so obnoxious when it's coming from an actual kindergarten teacher.) Sofia says they just met, and he helped out with her car. Pilar says there are still some gentlemen in this world. Frankie humbly says it wasn't his own virtue, but the good upbringing of his parents. Sofia offers to show him around the house. After they leave the room, Fedra makes a condescending remark about Sofi's enthusiasm.

Pilar asks Isa how well she knows Frankie. Of course, she says "only a very little."

Meanwhile, Dani is posing (clothed) for a sketch by Elvis. She's eager to see everybody's faces tomorrow at Rodrigo's meeting. He's going to renounce his marriage-for-appearance's-sake, he's going to renounce the Montalvo family's rancid morals, renounce the company, the money... hey, Dani, not so fast with the money, okay? ...renounce everything for the love of Gaviota. Elvis laughs and applauds. Dani says she's truly happy because at last, Rodrigo decided to live love at the side of the woman he loves.

Sofie and Frankie are in Granny's arboretum. He claims that his sister is a bonsai expert, and took classes in Japan. Sofi finds this interesting, but something tells me her standards are low. She asks again how much it cost to fix her car. He tells her to forget it, but she won't drop it. He says okay, we can talk about it tomorrow at a very exclusive bar he knows that specializes in vodka, 100 labels from everywhere in the world. His favorite is from an area in the Balkans, called [utter gibberish, I'm sure it doesn't exist].

Sofia says she's never had vodka. Why am I not surprised. Frankie assures her that she'll love it. (I wonder if he's planning on slipping her a mickey, or would that be overkill?) She says okay, but first she has to pay him for fixing her car. He says no, she paid for lunch, so they're even. She thinks not, because that was THANKING him for fixing the car.

He continues to pour on the slime, I mean charm. She totally buys it.

Rodrigo and his posse are hanging out at their favorite bar, but for once they aren't listening to Gaviota. They meet with the agave kingpin, or whatever he is, and explain their problem. He doesn't have even half as much as they need, but Rod is eager to buy it. James offers to take over finding the rest. The agave guy says he'll give them a list of some other agave guys. Then they drink.

Everybody prepares to leave Pilar's place. Patricio takes Aaron aside and asks what else is going on at the company. Aaron puts him off, saying they'll have time for that later. Meanwhile, Pilar assures Isa that everything will be taken care of, and they're all on her side. Minerva takes this opportunity to point out once again that she wasn't crazy or obsessed.

Bruno asks where Dani is. Pilar at least has the decency to refer to Elvis as Dani's novio, the painter. (I can think of a lot of other things she might have wanted to call him.) Everybody finally leaves - except Isadora, who has to go back in for her keys. Pilar offers to let Isa stay at the house for the night, so she won't be alone. Isa declines - just in time for Frankie to bum a ride home with her! Frankie bids Pilar and Sofia a greasy adieu.

Sofia asks Pilar what everyone was talking about. Pilar deflects this and wants to know more about this Francisco de la Vega. "He's my future husband," Sofia answers. Ew.

Outside, Isa scolds Frankie for meddling in her private life - leave her family out of it! He claims it was a coincidence. Isa says she's already familiar with the story. All she asks is that he never come back to that house. He says why, is she starting to feel something for him? He moves in for a kiss. She shoves him away. He kisses her violently anyway. Before long, she gets into it. Then she pushes him away again. He invites her to tell him he's the best lover she's ever had. She complains that he's vain. He starts pawing her again, and she reminds him that they're outside her grandmother-in-law's house. She asks that he not speak while they're in the car. Frankie says maybe he'd better take a taxi - the driver would probably be a friendlier face. She hisses at him to get into the car!

He tells her not to drive fast. Ew. I don't want to know what he has in mind.

Minerva and Aaron are rehashing in their apartment. They know Gaviota can give Rod the baby that will cost Aaron his inheritance. He tells her firmly that Gaviota/Teresa/Mariana's future will be decided tomorrow. Minnie grins with malevolent anticipation.

Gavi and Clarita are ready for bed and thinking about tomorrow. Rodrigo calls. He tells her he's got some of the agave and he'll be back tomorrow just as he's planned. Then he'll talk to Isadora about the separation just before the meeting. He's not sure how long it will take, but they can go ahead to Manzanilla without him and wait for him at a hotel.

Gavi whines that she wanted them to leave together. Rodrigo says at least Gavi and her mom will be there. He'll get there later. She whines that they're already on the last flight. He says he'll rent a plane. He reminds her to leave her cell phone on. She'll go to work tomorrow, don't wait for him, get her check from Medina, and pay off her debts. She's still worried about her car payments.

He predicts that at this time tomorrow, they'll be hugging and kissing. They exchange mushy words, and she tells him that she loves him more than her own life. "Don't forget that, ever."

I guess the big question now is, how long before he forgets?

---

Wednesday
Aaron asks Mariana if she's Gaviota. One thing I'll say for this guy - he doesn't waste any time.

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