Caray, Caray!

Acacia serenely accepts James's marriage proposal, and he is grateful and overjoyed. He suggests that they go out of town for a while, but she insists that they stay. He agrees to stay till Meliton comes back - and then they'll go away. She cuts this uncomfortable conversation short with some kisses. He closes his eyes and raises his eyebrows comically high. Oh Mr. James, you big clueless goofball.

Acacia leads James into the bedroom. He is specifically enchanted by her loose hair. He kisses her... forehead?? Then, in slow motion, he kisses her hair, he unbuttons her dress, and... he sees her back full of (amazingly parallel and evenly-distributed) welts from Meliton's belt. He flips out, but she says it doesn't matter. She promises that Meliton will never put a hand on her again. James says that's right, because he'll kill him first. They embrace. "To me, that man IS dead," she mutters in secret irony.

Dani tells Videgaray that Rodrigo now knows that Vid wasn't the tattletale who betrayed him, and Rod's going to call to ask for some documents. She asks him not to tell Rodrigo what they found out. Sofie whines about Dani's sarcastic attitude; Dani shuts her down and stomps off. Privately, Pilar tells Sofie she agrees with Dani - how much longer can they hide the truth from Rodrigo? When he finally finds out, she's not going to be able to face him.

Meanwhile, at the bar, the waiter tells Frankie it's closing time, and hands him the bill. Frankie says he's got a friend in the bathroom who will be right back. Frankie gets up to "look for" this friend (or better yet, take off without paying), but the waiter insists that there's nobody in the bathroom. Frankie scoffs and says there has to be someone for him - he's La Vega! He gets up to look in that general direction, and sure enough, nobody's there. He good-naturedly giggles to himself that she took off without saying goodbye.

I still think the guy's slime, but I love that he doesn't mind getting beaten at his own game. Sadly, we are deprived of the pleasure of watching him fork over the money.

Isa is taking off her makeup while chatting on the phone with her mom. She tells Nuria that Rodrigo is preparing for the meeting with Montesinos right now to fix up the situation with her dad. (Some weeks ago, I incorrectly said Montesinos was Ricardo's lawyer. I think I was wrong, and he's the creditors' lawyer.) She's worried that playing the pregnancy card won't be enough now that Dani's declared herself an enemy, so she wants them to get back to the hacienta as soon as possible. (Go Dani! See if you can chase those two clean out of North America!) Isa bitterly says that she's not going to let that little sister mess up her plans.

Isa hears Rod at the door and hurriedly dots her face with some water. By the time Rod sees her, she's in full-crocodile mode, a-boohoohoo, bye mommy, waaaah. He tells her that Videgaray will be bringing some documents to the meeting with Montesinos. She makes a pathetic little noise to draw attention to her crying. She's afraid her father's creditors won't agree to negotiate. He promises to help her father. She forces a wan smile. (She is really channeling Joselyn tonight!)

Elsewhere in the DF, Clarita is praying to St. Anthony to protect Gavi. Heh. If you will permit me some mild blasphemy - Gavi kicks ass so hard, she could probably protect St. Anthony. Gavi comes home in the middle of the prayer, and Clarita passes along the good news to her saint. "We'll continue this chat later," she assures him. Gavi complains that it's as if her body is covered in honey.

(I know there are a few Angelica Rivera enthusiasts here, so I'm going to pause for a moment and allow you to contemplate this before it gets icky.)

She says it's because the Montalvos are all over her like flies. (That honey doesn't sound so good now, does it. It reminds me of a scene from Vincent Price's The Abominable Dr. Phibes.) "Don't tell me you ran into them!" Clarita exclaims. Gaviota explains that the "wizard" who had predicted all those things is a close friend of theirs, and especially of Rodrigo!

Later, Gavi and Clarita are in the bedroom, talking about those Montalvos. Actually... Clarita just wants to sleep. Gavi is doing all the talking, animated by vengeance. "What more do those weenies want from me, anyway? All that's left is for them to descend upon us here and squash us like roaches." Clarita is getting irritated by all this talk, but Gavi is getting more wound up. She'd like to see them try. The first person she's going to put down is Rodrigo. She can't wait to see him.

Clarita murmurs grumpily.

James and Acacia are in bed. He's staring at her back and choking back tears of outrage as he strokes her hair helplessly. Meanwhile, she sleeps like a baby. Apparently, she never read "The Tell-Tale Heart." (It's short, and worth reading again.)

Next day

It's morning. Acacia's making corn tortillas so fresh, you can almost see them wiggle. James tells her that from now on, she doesn't have to serve anyone. He dishes up the breakfast that she's already made - beans and eggs. He's especially excited about the beans. Wait - are these THE beans? I think we're meant to think so, for just a moment, or at least be nervous at the sight of them, but it's a false alarm. She laughs as he fumbles with the tortillas. He says they're hot, but I don't think she even put them on the griddle yet. She bites her lip and gazes at him dreamily, as if she can't believe it's really happening. Or as if she's entering a fugue state. (Cuckoo... cuckoo... cuckoo...)

Fedra is visiting at Patricio's office, filling him in on Minerva's unfortunate visit to Miami. Patricio says that if Minnie makes good on her threats, not only will Aaron go to jail, but he and Lluvia will be implicated as well. The whole family will look guilty. Fedra nods queasily. Worse, they can't seem to track Minnie down. He tries to call her.

Minnie comes home to a ringing telephone. She picks it up and turns it off immediately, throwing it on the couch and mumbling vengeful nothings. Fedra and Pat excitedly realize the hang-up means that she's home. They hurry to visit.

Rod meets with Videgaray. Vid expresses doubt about Rodrigo's plan to get Ricardo out of his debt. "We're talking about a very high sum," he hints. Rod reminds him that there's a big bunch of hungry lawyers waiting for them inside, wanting to scrutinize every Montalvo bank statement and balance. He asks Vid to carefully read all of the documents. He also asks him to read a particular document pertaining to Gaviota, and apologizes again for doubting Videgaray. Videgaray says he understands, and again urges Rod to reconsider this transaction. Rod says he promised Isadora - this is important for her health and the health of his child. They go back and forth about this a little more, but Rodrigo wins. He says it's the only way he can make up for all he's done to Isadora.

Gavi's at work, trying to talk herself out of a headache. Her boss complains about her poor sales average - only two encyclopedias a day. (Hey, it's two more than I would have expected!) Gavi's not happy about it either - she's got bills to pay. She goes back to treating her headache. He offers to get her some aspirin (at her expense). She tells him she's using self-hypnosis to convince herself the pain isn't really there - then it will go away. He proposes that she use self-hypnosis to sell at least five encyclopedias. He storms out. Gavi complains when the pain returns as the result of his slamming the door.

Sofie goes to the apartment building and of course runs into Frankie, who is hung over. She asks him to invite her to the club and tell her about last night's dinner meeting. He's already prepared a humdinger of a story: There was a lot of wine, and the alcohol made the guy very aggressive, so the conversation didn't go very far. He offered Frankie only a measly $4,000 (that's dollars, not pesos) a month. (Most Mexicans would consider this quite a princely sum. I'm sure Frankie's mother would die of shame if she heard him talking this way.) Of course he didn't take it, so the guy got offended and left. Worst of all, poor Frankie had to pay the bill! And now he can't afford to invite her out for coffee!

She tells him it's no big deal and suggests they hit the ATM. He acts shocked, as if his pride is wounded. She says he can pay her back when he gets a job.

Fedra and Patricio finally get to Minnie's, where they do not receive a warm welcome. They hammer on her door and she screams at them. Fedra bursts in with "we have to talk." "Get out!" is Minnie's disappointing retort. It wouldn't have sounded so stupid if she hadn't just opened the door herself.

Meanwhile, at the prison or courthouse or wherever, Rod is explaining long-windedly that Montalvania itself isn't part of the deal. It was in his grandfather's will that the property has to stay in the family. Instead, he's offering them all of Montalvania's earnings. Yikes! Videgaray very reluctantly hands over the financial records. Rodrigo explains that they no longer rely just on their own crops, but have alternative crops available to them as well. I'm not sure what he's talking about, exactly, nor the amount of time in which he expects to pay off Ricardo's debt, but Montesinos smiles as he examines the papers.

However, he claims that the deal is very risky. Rodrigo says that if they don't come to an agreement, it'll be counterproductive to both parties. His FIL will be in prison, and they won't get their money back. Montesinos says they want a very meticulous document. Rod refers them to Videgaray. He says they'll sign just about anything as long as his FIL gets out as soon as possible and receives a suspended sentence. Isa and Nuria exchange smug glances.

Back at the penthouse, Minnie tells her guests that if they don't leave, she will. Pat protests that he and Fedra aren't to blame for what happened. "Oh, nobody's responsible," Min answers sarcastically. She says they're both Aaron's representatives. Fedra knew about everything, and Patricio followed all of Aaron's orders without a peep. No doubt Aaron called Fedra last night and asked her to calm Minnie down for him. She tries to leave again, and Fedra orders Pat to guard the door!

Fedra claims that she and Bruno are on Minnie's side, and Patricio never wanted to take Aaron's calls, Aaron was disrespectful of the family, blah blah blah. Minerva is aghast when Fedra refers to Aaron's affairs as "aventurillas ocasionales." She tells Fedra that Aaron's been living with Prunella, er I mean Pamela, like she's his wife. Fedra feigns ignorance of this "Pamela" person. Minerva refreshes her memory - Pamela and Aaron go way back. Fedra tearfully denies knowing anything about it, and says Aaron told her he'd only run into a lady friend. Minerva describes her surprise on finding Pamela flaunting herself around Minnie's house, her bed, her bathroom... and her husband.

"How dare he play with us this way! I'm going to call him right now!" Fedra declares angrily, reaching for the phone. Minnie stops her and tells her to make that phone call somewhere else. She doesn't want Aaron to think that she's waiting for him to come back to her.

(In Miami, Aaron is on the phone, furious. Looks like his investments are tanking, and he's telling someone they can't sell them off yet.)

Minnie and co. sit down to speak more calmly. Minnie tells them to forget about any compassion. Fed gets up and reminds Minnie of the rest of the family. Rodrigo, along with Mariana, trusted in Oñate, authorizing all of those dirty shipments, and Patricio shipped them. Bruno is innocent. Pilar doesn't need a scandal. It'll bring down the whole company. Fedra can't bear to see her family destroyed. Patricio tells Minnie that there are still more people who would get hurt. For example, Lluvia sent those shipments. (I'm surprised the mention of Lluvia's name doesn't drive Minerva crazy again.) Minnie shouldn't ruin all these people's reputations just to get back at Aaron.

Fedra tearfully takes Minnie's hand. Minnie pulls away. Fedra echoes that it's not fair that all these bystanders should have to pay for what Aaron did. Especially Bruno. He loved Minnie like the daughter they never had! And how about Fedra - her friend, her confidante, who loved her like a mother! How can a person who is loved so much do so much damage?

Minnie tells Fed to put herself in Minnie's place. She can't let Aaron's betrayal go unpunished. The guy's gotta pay. Fed agrees with this. She promises that they'll be with Minnie on the day the judge grants the divorce. Minnie suddenly agrees to let it go and start a new life. She asks Patricio to take her to the courthouse so she can sign the divorce papers, "without lawsuits or recriminations." She wants it all to be over. Pat and Fed say she can count on them, and they'll always be her family. (Fedra is laying it on really thick!)

In Miami, a red-haired woman offers Aaron some coffee, which he refuses. Oh, excuse me - that's Pamela. I didn't recognize her with regular clothes on. I guess we're going to see how long she can survive on dry land. Aaron complains about all that's on his shoulders - his crashing investments, his problem with Minerva - he can't take any more.

Fedra calls. She and Pam make friendly small talk for a moment and Pam invites her out for a visit. Fed says they need to start planning the wedding. To Aaron, Fed laughingly describes the meeting with Minnie. It wasn't easy, but finally she got what she wanted. Aaron wants to know what Minnie's going to want in exchange. Fed snidely says that Minnie thinks that if she signs the papers, they'll be finished forever. She's signing the papers right now. Fedra chuckles heartily at Minnie's gullibility. To Aaron, it sounds too good to be true, but Fedra assures him it's okay. Her threats to turn Aaron in just evaporated into thin air. Aaron's still not sure, but Fedra insists that as long as he leaves Minnie alone, it'll be fine. Fedra reminds Aaron to invite her to his wedding.

Aaron happily calls Pam into the room and gives her the good news. There's not going to be a trip to the courthouse or anything. Pam also reacts with suspicion, but Aaron is convinced.

The smirking maid comes up with his mail. He tells her to clean out the closet, collect Minerva's things, and throw them out. The maid is impactada. He says she can do whatever she wants with the stuff. The maid curtsies and runs off, probably trying to decide which dress she'll try on first and what she's going to tell her friends at the next girls' nite out.

At the divorce courthouse, Patricio tells Minerva to cheer up. She complains that it was dumb of her to just sign those papers without fighting those two adulterers. He assures her that she did it with dignity. She says no, she lost her dignity the day she married Aaron - he just wanted a fertile belly and a kid.

She gets a great idea - she's gonna call all the papers and tell them the truth about Aaron Montalvo, esteemed PhD of Economy and Finance. He's a filthy rat. She has every right to destroy his life the way he destroyed hers. She doesn't care who else gets hurt. Pat reminds her that it's not just the family that will be hurt. She'll also be hurt, because she was in on the plot too. That pretty much takes the wind out of her sails. She lets Patricio lead her out of the courthouse.

At the other courthouse, Rod signs the papers of doom and the meeting adjourns. After the meeting, Videgaray somewhat coldly deflects Isa's thanks, saying he was only following orders. Rod is a bit short with Nuria as well. Oblivious, the women rush off to tell Ricardo he's a free man. Rod asks Vid to do whatever is necessary to get Ricky out of prison. He asks Vid why he's annoyed with him. Vid points out that Rod resolved this situation (putting the hacienda in serious peril) without speaking to his sisters. He urges Rod to talk to Daniela. Rod seems slightly vexed.

In Guadalajara, James tells the padre what he knows - that Meliton beat Acacia again. She didn't turn him in, because she was afraid. But when "that ruffian" comes back from his trip, Acacia will be his wife and she'll be living with him in a little house he's rented for the two of them. The padre says something that I don't get about special cases and reprimands, which makes James very happy. He wants to get married as soon as Rod comes back - he's going to be their godfather. He's also sure that when Meliton comes back, Acacia will decide on her own to turn him in to the authorities so he'll get the punishment he deserves.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Acacia is going through all of Meliton's personal effects, dumping the bureau drawer contents in a pile on the floor. (Gosh, Acacia, don't you want to leave his stuff all nice and neaty for when he comes back?) She finds a small box, inside which is a lot of very fresh-looking currency. She is impactadissima at the sight of so much cash.

Back in the DF, Gavi buys a shake or smoothie of some sort. As the vendor puts some strawberries and sugar into a blender, Gavi notices a shifty-eyed lad watching her. He makes a move for her precious encyclopedias. She throws her drink at him and scares him away. (She and I mutter simultaneously at what a wuss the guy is.) She demands another shake from the confused vendor.

Now Dani is on the phone with Videgaray. She is surprised to hear that Rod didn't give him a good grilling. Instead, he only apologized for doubting him. To avoid complicating things, Vid told Rod to talk to Dani. Dani says that's what she wanted all along, but Sofie and Granny put her under a gag order. Now she's worried that Pilar won't be able to take the pressure, and will get sick, and it'll be Dani's fault.

Dan asks Vid what Rod wanted the papers for. Vid tells her that Rod signed over all of the hacienda's production to Ricardo's creditors. Dani is surprised.

Isa and Nuria tell Ricardo he's a free man. He's grateful to Rod, but wonders what Isa had to do to get Rod to agree. Isa tells him it didn't take much - their relationship is much better now, and he doesn't want her to worry about anything. He did it on his own. Ricardo's sad when Isa says they're going back to the hacienda, because her marriage is in danger while she's in the city, just in case Rod runs into Gavi and they clear up their differences. If that happens, even this child won't keep those two apart.

Now Dani tells Granny what Rodrigo did. Dani is worried about the deal, but Pilar tells her things won't happen that way. Dani is impatient with Abuelita for defending Isa. Just then, Dani's choreographer calls and wants her to fly out for a wingding in Puebla. Dani is relieved that she won't be around when Rod shows up asking questions. She blows right past newly-arrived Sofie and Frankie with steam coming out of her ears.

Frankie immediately excuses himself, but eavesdrops as Pilar tells Sofie about Rod's deal. Sofie is shocked that Isa never mentioned that she was going to solicit that level of help from Rod. Oh, duh, Sofie! Pilar admits that she doesn't like this at all. She reminds Sofie of how Isa had wanted half of everything in the divorce. (Frankie continues listening with interest.) Sofie says she's sure Rodrigo's too smart to make a dumb deal, but with a sour face, she thought-bubbles that Isadora's giving Rod the heir they need to secure the Montalvo legacy. And something about screaming abuse in someone's face.

Exhausted from schlepping her big bag o'books around, Gavi stops outside a restaurant and figures, aw what the heck. She goes in. The manager offers her a table, and she launches directly into her sales pitch. He tells her it says right on the front door that they don't allow door-to-door salesfolk there. She tells him she's not that sort of saleswoman - she's selling culture! "I told you no, now get out." But one of the diners invites her to his table for a drink and to tell "us" about the encyclopedias. He orders a waiter to help her with her bag, and she happily follows him to his table. There's a bunch of guys in suits who seem pleased to see her. She eagerly begins her pitch yet again, and they seem to be all ears. Or at least all eyes.

There's one last bit of business at Montalvo Corp for the day: It's that meeting that Elvira was inviting all the other tequila union guys to. Eduardo is there. One of the guys is saying he hopes Rodrigo will take up that subject that they've all been worried about. Eduardo smugly says yes, he surely will. But he's not able to finish his gloating, because Rodrigo arrives. "Nice to see you," Eduardo greets him. "After the meeting, I want to talk to you. About Mariana Franco!"

In my opinion, that's a last line worthy of a Friday - but we need only wait till Wednesday. Sweet!

---

Wednesday

• Frankie's not done with Isa yet. Does Sofie notice?
• Gavi plays a Yahtzee-like game with the besuited dudes. "The things I have to do to sell encyclopedias," she quips.

Labels: Destilando