Caray, Caray!

Dani surprises Gaviota with a visit at the CRT. Gavi vaguely remembers her from Don Amador's funeral Mass; Dani is impressed with Gavi's memory. Gavi admits she was thrown off by Dani indentifying herself as Gavi's sister-in-law. Dani says that after all the Montalvos have put Gavi through, she was ashamed to give her own name.

Gavi admires the clever tactic; Dani says it wasn't only a tactic - they really are sisters-in-law. Through Rodrigo, she explains. Gavi's like, no... his wife is your SIL. Dani says, Isadora? Heh, no, she's not his wife, she's just his legal spouse, not his real one. For Dani, "cuñada" is an term of affection in reference to the woman that her brother loves - "and that woman is you."

"Since when?" the dense Gaviota asks. "Since he met you and you changed his life." For the last three years. She's the woman he came back from England to marry, then searched the whole country for her for more than a year, that he loved at the corporativo, and for whom he's now crying because he misses her. He's dying to know how things are going for her.

(Rodrigo is daydreaming about their machete dance, and how he pulled her off the floor and into his arms and her hair bounced and floated like in a shampoo ad. And now he's daydreaming about the time they hugged "as amigos" in his truck and he said he was in love with his amiga and she ran away. He worries that he'll just be a memory to her.)

Gavi begins to protest, but Dani says she already knows the whole story from memory, including their pact. She's just here as a messenger, to tell Gavi that Rodrigo wants to see her. "He very well knows that that should not be," Gavi answers. She says it could become a big problem. Dani says it's been a long time, and her brother is desperate - he'd settle for just a few minutes. It won't break their pact. It'll just ease that painful, choking feeling he's been having. Dani tells Gavi to remember, above all, that they're friends forever. And all he's proposing is a friendly visit.

Gavi tries to refuse, but Dani baits her with "so, you feel nothing for him?" Argh. "Why do you ask?," Gavi challenges. "Because Rodrigo's sure of it, and the way I see it, maybe he's right." Because Gavi's been rejecting his calls, giving excuses through her receptionist.

Gavi is speechless. Dani asks if her executive position with the CRT has made her stuck-up. Gavi denies this, but Dani is on a roll. She accuses Gavi of being without remorse and/or gratitude, not caring that Rodrigo fought to keep her job at the CRT, stood up for her against the family, practically ruined their sister's wedding defending Gaviota, screaming to everyone about her, including their grandmother. (Like Gavi would know that how??) And there's some colorful expression I don't understand about leaving a puppet with a head. (Like he yelled at anything that had a head, maybe?) And now he doesn't even rate a hello from Gaviota? He's been thinking about her day and night, with a thousand questions about her extreme attitude, and she's being so chilly!

Gavi flips out and says that's just not so. She's been working herself like a mule trying not to think about him, and as tired as she is, she still can't sleep. When she's alone, she looks at the telephone, and she chews her hands to keep from calling him. "Please, tell him to forgive me, I know I've been rude and arrogant, but I've never stopped loving him! Nor will I ever forget what he's done for me. Tell him to understand that this distance is for both our own good."

Dani coldly says she's glad Gavi can control her impulses, and follow their pact to the letter - but Rodrigo can't. She takes her bag and goes for the door, bitterly saying it's too much to ask Gavi for just a few minutes with him, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles, eh? Gavi managed to get over it; now he'll have to find a way, too. It hurts to see her brother suffering, but she'll make sure not to bother Gavi again. It's going to be next to impossible to rid him of Gavi's ghost once and for all, because he's dying, and it's not worth it to him if Gavi can live without him.

Finally (FINALLY!) Gavi blurts out that Isadora was there. Dani is impactada.

Meanwhile, at home, Isadora is flaunting one of her superpowers, namely, bitchin' on the phone about her horrible, crappy marriage that has enabled her to live in a very cushy fashion, not to mention wear cushy fashions. (She's wearing a color again today, and I am so grateful to the wardrobe department for doing away with the taupe... I used to like neutrals, until Isadora wore them to death!!)

On the other end of the line is Sofia, who is ironing her dirtbag husband's own fashions. Isa is complaining that Rodrigo's been so excited about his organic tequila because he and Gaviota are laughing at her. (Sofia tries to comfort her, but there is weariness in her voice, and I suspect that she's just waiting for her turn to complain.)

Isa goes on to say (shriek) that if they think they can pull something over on her while she's in the final stage of her pregnancy, they are very much mistaken. She doesn't care how well situated Gavi is at the CRT - she'll get her fired even if it costs Isa her own life! "Nothing will stop me! I will speak personally with Avellaneda, and if they want a war, oh yeah, it's on, baby!!"

"Don't be silly, talk to Rodrigo first, and then decide what to do," Sofia mutters dully. (They don't prescribe Valium as much as they used to, so I'm thinkin' maybe Xanax.) "Don't start a scandal for no good reason."

Isadora growls that that damn Gaviota is not going to snatch her husband away from her.

Meanwhile, Gaviota is telling Daniela that she doesn't want to start trouble with Isadora. She begins explaining her attitude, and Dani sits on the desk to listen. Gavi says she's not an opportunist, nor a bad woman - she just wants to keep her word.

Dani says that Gavi doesn't know what Isa, Minerva, and Sofia are like - they haven't stopped trying to ruin her life. Gavi says she has an agreement with them. Anyway, Dani should put herself in Gavi's shoes - Rodrigo's a married man and his wife is expecting a baby, and then his wife came and begged her not to meddle in their marriage, to leave them in peace.

Dani is shaking her head in disbelief. She says she'd understand Gavi's attitude if their marriage were normal, but it's not. It's a sham. He didn't impregnate her by mutual consent. (Gavi: "Huh?") Dani explains that Isa had the insemination done on the sly, as a way to keep Rodrigo from leaving her! "You wanna know what I think?" Dani asks needlessly, but she doesn't get a chance to say.

Stunned, Gavi blurts that that is not the story she got from Isa. Dani smugly guesses that Isa probably told her that they made that baby the natural way, through "intimate relations," and Gavi's not the only woman in Rod's life. "When are you going to learn the lesson?" Dani asks Gaviota. She tells Gavi not to believe any of her family's sneaky attempts to keep them apart. "Why would you believe that cheating liar?" she asks Gavi. She grabs her bag and goes to the door in disgust (again).

Gavi angrily repeats that Isa's his wife, she's going to have a baby, and Gavi's going to respect that. Dani summarizes (long-windedly) that it's just as she thought, Gavi doesn't care about Rod, and he's going to have to forget about her forever. She reaches for the doorknob; Gavi grabs her arm and says that's not true.

"Then prove it. Talk to him!"

Gavi says okay, we'll meet next week. This week is too busy. Dani talks Gavi into accepting a date with him today. Otherwise, maybe she won't have a brother, and it'll be on Gavi's conscience.

From Gavi's desk, Dani calls Rodrigo at his office and sets up a date for 6:00. Rod says that if Gavi doesn't show up, he'll know that she doesn't want anything to do with him, and then he'll forget about her. And he'll break their promise to always be good friends.

Dani hangs up. Gavi complains about the time. Dani says it'll be a problem for Rod to go home too late - his home is like a prison. She warns Gavi of Rod's promise that if Gavi doesn't show up promptly, he'll assume the worst and give up their friendship. Gavi promises to go and thanks Dani for coming. She says she needed someone to call her arrogant to her face.

As Dani and Gavi come out of the office, Gavi tells Dani she's going to need to cancel something important, but it will be worth it. Just then, Alonso and Susy come in, and Alonso asks Nancy to give some things to Susy for Avellaneda. He takes a call in his office, and Gavi explains to Daniela who he is. Dani hints that he's "interesting," but Gavi says that after Rodrigo, other men don't interest her. Finally Dani leaves, reminding Gavi, "at 6:00."

"Who's that?" Susy asks, somewhat snottily. Gavi cluelessly says that was Rodrigo's sister. "I've never seen her before - did she come here to harass you too?" (An odd question, considering she just saw them hugging.) "No, she's different - she came here to give me a message." Nancy wants to know more. Susy pretends to be interested in some reports, but listens as Gavi tells Nancy that she's got someplace to go and won't have time to go home and change. Nancy asks if it's this evening's meeting of the agave congress. "Don't be nosy, Susy!" Nancy scolds gently. "Don't worry, we all have our secrets," Susy laughs.

Gavi and Nancy stand around awkwardly, but Susy lingers. Nancy whispers, "You're going to go with the handsome one, right?" "I'll tell you later, but right now I have to ask permission to leave early." Nancy rolls her eyes. Susy pulls her nosy nose out of that report she's totally not reading, and smirks.

Alonso is concerned that Gaviota won't show up for the meeting this evening, and he'll have to go it alone. She says no - if he lets her leave early, then she definitely won't miss the meeting. He grudgingly agrees.

Susy is dialing and murmuring to herself that Isadora will pay well for this information. The line beeps a busy signal. "It's busy," Susy remarks for the benefit of those who have never heard a busy signal before.

(I wonder if Elvira was once as pretty as Susy, but all that evil smirking and scowling eventually took its toll. And if so, how many more changes will Susy get until that mean face gets stuck.)

The line is busy because Isa is asking Rodrigo what time he'll get home. He says 9, but if she wants to talk... she says she doesn't want to discuss it over the phone. He explains that he has a business meeting with Eduardo Saldivar (I think that's the guy who took Gavi and her mother to the party on Christmas Eve). "Are you going alone? I feel sooooo lonely," she whines. "I'd like to go with you!" He reminds her that she's got just two weeks left to her due date, and the doctor told her to take it easy. After his meeting, he'll come home and they can talk about whatever she likes.

"FINE." She hangs up and begins dialing again right away, muttering, "You're lying to me." Practically hyperventilating with rage, she asks Elvira who Rodrigo has an appointment with. "As far as I know, nobody." Not even Saldivar. She suggests that maybe there was a cell phone call. "Maybe" isn't good enough for Isa - she asks for Saldivar's number.

Just then, Rodrigo leaves. "Your husband just left," Elvira reports. She gives Saldivar's number to Isa. Isa asks the usual questions - any strange phone calls for Rod, etc. Elvira says that Dani came by for a visit. Elvira doesn't know what they talked about, but Isa is already flipping out again.

Next, Isa starts to call Saldivar, but is rudely interrupted by a contraction. Said contraction is then rudely interrupted by a phone call. Isa catches her breath - it's Susana, letting her know that Daniela was there too. It was very suspicious, and afterwards, Mariana asked her boss for permission to leave early. Susy is sure that Mariana's going to see Rodrigo.

"Don't let her go. Keep her busy until I get there. I want her to say to my face that she's going to see my husband!" She calls for the maid and demands her bag and keys. Poor Enriqueta, who still has yet to learn how to read Isa's moods, reminds Isa that Rod doesn't want her to drive. Maybe call a taxi instead? "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR A TAXI!!!" Enriqueta scurries away for the bag and keys. Isa follows, but gets doubled over with another contraction. She grits her teeth and is standing upright by the time her bag and keys arrive.

Say what you want about Isadora, but you'll never see this woman doped up on Xanax and ironing some ingrate's shirts. "Did you take my cell phone off the charger?" Enriqueta offers to go get it, but Isa says forget it. She's out the door.

Interlude: Clarita and Doña Jose walking down the street, chatting. They complain about a muchacho on a noisy motorcycle. He rides right up to them, blocking their path. He takes off his helmet and twirls for them - it's Hilario, with a haircut (which I don't like as much as his old hair) and some groovy new threads. He brags about his new bike's power (200 horses), and the women giggle. Clarita gently scolds him for not having visited lately, and he promises to do better. Then he shows off the new magazine ad that he's in - it's a photo of him wearing jeans and a hat and no shirt. The caption reads, "MACHO JEANS - THE FREEDOM TO BE."

Clarita's jaw drops. "¿Como así?" (Again, drink 'em if you got 'em.) Doña Jose squeaks out an excited, but incoherent uncaptioned comment. Hilario smiles with relief when he realizes they don't think it's ugly. He says he wants them and Gaviota to have a copy. (We're then treated to a long, lingering, gratuitous close-up of the ad.) Doña Jose tells him to sign his autograph. "I'm just a model, not an artist," Hilario bashfully answers. He excuses himself and tells them to say hi to Gaviota, but doesn't get on his bike right away. With some prompting from Clarita, he finally asks her for a blessing. She happily gives it, tells him he's handsome, wishes him good luck, and tells him to be good.

I've only been watching these things a little over a year, but I'm pretty sure this means that his luck will run out, he'll stop being pretty, and he'll become bitter and rotten. Let's hope I'm wrong... but I have a bad feeling as those 200 horses carry him off.

Clarita tells Doña Jose what a good boy Hilario is. DJ (who still has a silly grin on her face) says she hopes his new friends don't corrupt him. (Hah. Famous last words.) This is met with another "¿como así?"

Back at the CRT, Susy tries to detain Gavi with some trivial task. Gavi says she has something important to do. Susy puts on an attitude and says she should have known better than to ask Gavi for a favor, she forgot she's an important executive now. Gavi agrees to quickly scan the translated English and French versions of Avellaneda's letter for errors while she waits for the taxi. Susy babbles and babbles about nothing while Gavi is trying to proofread, but Gavi's quick and approves both letters. Gavi says she'll wait for her taxi outside so she doesn't miss it - it's tough to get one at this time of day. She leaves.

Frustrated but inspired, Susy grabs the phone and uses a fake voice to call the taxi company and cancel Gavi's ride. "It's already arrived? Well, please send it away. Thanks." She chuckles evilly, and I swear I can already see the Elvira creeping in around the eyes.

Rodrigo is already at the restaurant, making arrangements with the bartender for Gaviota's arrival at 6:00 sharp. He's picked out a seat and a bottle of Montalvo tequila, and he's also brought musicians and a big bunch of red roses. He nervously wonders if he's forgotten anything. The bartender is impressed with Rodrigo's preparations, and doesn't think anything's missing. They do a fist-bump, and Rodrigo sits and waits with that big dumb grin on his face.

Gavi gets outside, and the doormen inform her that her taxi has already come and gone - she called to cancel it. Gavi says it wasn't her, but they don't know who it was. She tells them she'll just catch another. She begins hoofin' it down the sidewalk, when a black SUV pulls up alongside. Isa waddles up and starts screaming at Gaviota about the usual. "It's not so easy to get a taxi, is it? But I'm going to help you keep your date!" Gavi says nothing - just turns and walks away. Isa chases after her. "I bet you'll have lots to talk about organic tequila," etc. and they'll toast to their project. It was a great ploy, an ideal pretext for them to see one another, right?

Gavi tries to explain to Isa that the organic tequila really was Rodrigo's project, and that he communicated only with Gavi's secretary, etc. She tries to walk away, but Isa grabs her arm and hauls her back! "Can't you face me?" Gavi replies, "You've said what you had to say - now leave me in peace!" Isa continues to scream about Gavi trying to steal her husband, but another one of those rude contractions happens. Gavi runs over to help her into the CRT building. Isa doesn't want Gavi's help, but Gavi's afraid the baby will be born on the street. "If you don't want to go into the consejo, I'll call you an ambulance." "THERE'S NO TIME FOR AN AMBULANCE!" Isa cries in panic. Gavi points out that Isa can't drive like that. She won't allow it. She'll take her to the hospital.

Isa hates the idea, but is in no condition to resist. Gavi says she doesn't have the heart to just leave her there like this. Gavi manages a quick prayer to the Virgencita as she walks around to the driver's side door. She tells Isa to buckle up good, because she's never driven one of these big things before. "Where's the clutch?" "It's an automatic!" Isa hurriedly explains how to drive it. I have a feeling that this used to be a longer product placement ad, but THERE'S NO TIME FOR A PRODUCT PLACEMENT AD NOW!

Gaviota's first attempt to pull away from the curb doesn't go well, and Isa accuses her of being vengeful. Gavi advises Isa to pray.

Gavi doesn't know the way to the hospital, either. Fortunately, instead of screaming THERE'S NO TIME FOR DIRECTIONS!, Isa tells her to take a right.

This is going to be fun.

"Be calm, be calm please, nothing's going to happen," Gavi chants impotently as Isa howls in pain. (I see they're driving a Blurmobile.) "Get out of the way, we're in a hurry!" Gavi shouts out the window. (I should try that on rt. 128 tomorrow.) "Come on, give me a break!" She honks the horn. "Come on, you animal, hurry it up!"

Isa clutches at Gavi's arm and shirt and hair, forcing Gavi to halt her verbal abuse for a moment to ask Isa to let go. "I'm having contractions," Isa explains at a calmer moment. (Isa's usually not that dumb... you have to laugh!)

Isa tells Gavi to take another right. Gavi puts on the left turn signal. She is making Leticia Padilla-Solis look like a professional driver by comparison.

Rodrigo is still waiting at the restaurant. I guess he never replaced that Rolex he ruined when he burned down the Hernandez shack, because he has to ask someone else what time it is. It's 6:00! He calls over a waitress to set up the bottle and glasses.

Thanks to some serious atmospheric interference, I've got a fuzzy picture and sound and no captions for the next part: Dani rehashes with Elvis, contently telling him that Rodrigo and Gaviota are together right now. Elvis says something, Dani says something, my picture and sound and captions come back, and Dani and Elvis are saying how much they love each other. Kisses! (See the Comments for details on what I missed!)

Gavi and Isa are stopped at a red light. Gavi is cussing the thing out, Isa starts howling again, Gavi turns to help and of course that's when the light changes and the other drivers start honking their horns. Isa panics and thinks she's going to die. The car in front of them isn't moving, and now Isa has passed out.

For a moment, I wonder why Gavi is so upset now that she can finish their drive in peace and quiet. Then I realize that the patient was also the navigator, and Gavi has no idea which way to go. Naturally, a policeman rolls up, because there is always a cop when you need one. (Actually, considering the way Gavi was driving, perhaps it's not so surprising that the police showed up at that moment. I'm guessing that every motorist with a phone called to complain about her.) He escorts them the rest of the way.

The candles at Rodrigo's table have burned down quite a bit by now. He's on the phone with Nancy, who assures him that Gavi left a while ago. "She's not coming," he tells himself sadly.

Lucy and Ethel have arrived at the hospital. Isadora is conscious again. The hospital staff put her on a stretcher and wheel her into the building. Gavi thanks the policeman and runs in behind her. She holds Isa's hand and tries to reassure Isa that she's out of danger and her baby will be okay as they rush her to the maternity ward. Isa whispers, "gracias." She must really be in pain.

Gavi pulls one of the nurses aside and asks her to make sure Isa gets the best doctors because it's her first baby and she's scared. The nurse says "don't worry," and I'm sure the next thing she'll do is ask all the doctors to reconsider whether they're qualified to perform this highly uncommon procedure.

Meanwhile, at the big congress thing, Avellaneda is droning on about whatever he's talking about (I'm not even attempting to follow). Visitors from all over the world listen to a translated version of his speech on headphones and nod their approval. Avellaneda shakes one of those green pencils for emphasis. In the audience, Alonso mopes at Gavi's absence, and then sulks near the door as Avellaneda finishes his speech and greets the attendees.

Eduardo Saldivar finds Alonso and says hi. I guess Eduardo isn't a member of this group, but he's hanging out at the request of one of his clients. The picture/sound/captions go again, but I can hear Alonso mentioning his assistant, and Eduardo asking who she is. "Oh, you'd know her - Mariana Franco!" Eduardo is happy and surprised to hear that she's working for Alonso now. They talk about how great she is, and Alonso asks if Eduardo knows what went on between her and the Montalvos. I can't catch every word, but it sounds like Eduardo's telling him about how the Montalvo women got her fired and spread lies about her to everyone in the business.

Eduardo also says that Mariana and Rodrigo had a romance, but the sound and picture are so bad at this point that I miss the rest of the conversation. Fortunately, again, some helpful people have filled this in in the Comments section!

At the hospital, Gavi tries to register Isadora at the front desk, but isn't able to answer many questions. She knows the name of Isa's husband, but that's about it. She tells the receptionist to call Isa's peeps and get the rest of the information.

Next, the receptionist wants a deposit. Yes, I am serious... Gavi is going to pay the deposit for Isadora's hospital stay... the irony is so heavy, you could do Frankie's shirts with it.

Gavi looks for a phone to call Rodrigo. While a man sings (somewhat off-key, I believe), Rodrigo is very, very sadly paying off the musicians and telling the bartender that Gaviota is not going to come. The bartender shakes his head sympathetically. "If by some miracle she does show up, let her know I was waiting," Rodrigo tells him. "You won't forget my name, right?" "Montalvo," the bartender reminds him. "Montalvo," Rodrigo repeats, as if it is a curse. He slams the roses down on the bar, glares at his lonely table, and leaves.

As soon as he's gone, the phone rings at the bar. It's the bartender's buddy Mariana, looking for Rodrigo. (I'm not sure if the bartender also knows her as Gaviota.) Next, she tries somewhere else (I think probably Rod and Isa's place) and leaves a message that he's needed at the hospital.

She kills some time in the gift shop, looking at baby stuff and rubbing her own belly. A little outfit catches her eye, and it's times like this I wish we had a Golden Circle of Goodbye, because it's very jarring to go right from that to the previews for tomorrow.

---

Wednesday
While the amigos hug in the waiting room, a doctor interrupts to announce that it's a boy.

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