Caray, Caray!

So the two guys are in Rod's office, singing the praises of Gavi and her mom, but Rod would rather talk about business. They practically beg him to go to their expo-fairs. There's one in Europe (Germany, France, and England, whose native languages just happen to be the extra ones that Gaviota speaks, but shhhh don't remind Rodrigo) for organic foods and beverages, and then a tour of cities in the US for boozes & beverages. The one in Europe starts next week, and even though Rodrigo does tequila for a living and was planning to export it abroad anyway, I guess he hasn't given any thought to doing trade shows at all. He loves the idea, though - thinks it could help with his "treatment." He catches himself before he reveals too much, but the two guys are too happy to notice anyway.

Sofia and James are on their way to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard for brains and courage, respectively. Sofia figures that all she needs to do is ask around, and she should have no trouble finding out who Frankie's special lady is. She wants to begin her quest is with Crispin. James nervously begins telling her that he, James, isn't Frankie's favorite person, and that what he's doing could be like declaring an open war on him. This doesn't make Sofia feel any better about her long-held suspicion that James has been holding out on her, out of some sense of male solidarity. He pleads ignorance, but she's on a mission.

She gets out of the truck and approaches Crispin, who is obviously drunk, with his eyeglasses askew. He recognizes her and tells her that Frankie went to the Plaza. Crispy says Frankie's got lots of young lady friends, not just one. He offers her a special drink that's meant to soothe an angry spouse. She takes off, crying a bit, and Crispy mumbles something about how the drink will tighten the biliary ducts (a reference to the humors of yore). She tells James to take her to the Plaza. She says she's gonna kill Frankie. James insists that she's misinterpreting things. She doubts this, and I'm wondering why he's so desperate to keep Sofia from the truth when she already knows more than enough to be hurt. She gets in his truck and covers her face with her hand.

At the CRT, someone named Miller (one of the guys that were in Rod's office, but I'm not sure which one) calls to let Dr. Blondie know that Rod's going to the expos. Dr. Blondie forwards the call to Gaviota and chuckles to himself in a borderline-nefarious manner.

Gavi tells Miller she'll be at the airport to say goodbye to all the CRT tour people. After the call, Gavi tells Dr. Blondie what a great time Miller says he had. Dr. B tells her that Rod is going to the expos in Europe and the USA to promote his tequila, and surely he'll want the help of his right foot (meaning Gavi - I assume that's similar to "right hand" but perhaps without the autoerotic connotation).

He tells her to call Rodrigo and offer him any support from the CRT he might want. This request surprises Gavi, so he tells her to have Nancy do it if necessary, but it has to be done quickly, because the fun starts next week and will last for a month.

Gavi has Nancy call Rod's office to offer that support, but Margarita says that Rodrigo is gone for the day. Gaviota speaks to Marg and asks if Rod said anything about a trip. Marg hasn't heard anything yet. Gav gives Marg the message about the CRT's support, wanting to iron out the details, and tells her that if Rod doesn't want to speak to her, then to please call Nancy instead. And also, Gavi wants to know how Rod is doing. She hopes he's doing well. Marg confides that Rod was agitated at first when he came back from the hacienda, but Daniela came to see him, and he's calmed down since.

Back at Granny's house, Pilar asks Dani what's up with Rodrigo - she's been worried about him. Dani tells Pilar about the counseling. She assures Pilar that Gavi is the victim, not the cause, of Rodrigo's trouble - and if not for all the crap their family pulled, the two of them would be happy together right now. Regardless, Pilar says she'd feel better if Gavi would take up with Dr. Blondie. She's relieved to hear that Rodrigo has decided to stop pursuing her, and hopes Dani will cut off her friendship with Gavi and give all of her support to Rodrigo. Dani says, "I know," but doesn't actually say "I will." She says it's sad that two people who were born to love one another can't experience that love.

Dr. Erika has worn another pretty let's-have-a-picnic dress to the office today. Rodrigo is joking around with her, asking if she's got the instruments and anesthesia ready for his operation. She says they'll work superficially for now, and eventually they'll get to the root of the problem and find out if it's possible to make the pain bearable.

He tells her about his trip and says he'll probably have to suspend his treatments for a month, huh? She says if he takes her advice, then when he comes back he won't need her. He asks whether she's speaking as a doctor, or as Erika. She says as Erika. If she were speaking as the doctor, she'd be trying to set up appointments for as soon as he comes back. He explains about the trip, and she tells him he could have done that over the phone.

Rodrigo is frustrated that he hasn't even paid for a session yet - she's spending time with him and paying for their restaurant meetings. She says that's because she enjoyed their dinners, and when he meets with her in the office he should take it as a small token of friendship from Erika. "Have a nice trip," she says, getting up and extending her hand.

"I can't leave like this," Rodrigo announces dramatically, but it's just one of those idle things people say before a commercial. When we come back it turns out that he wants to know what she was going to say to him last night. It must have been pretty good if she was willing to postpone other appointments to see him. She says something like they couldn't have concluded much in just one session.

He wants to know what they should do. Erika shrugs and says he's the one with the time constraints, not her. He tries to explain in a metaphor: if there were something horribly wrong with his teeth, a dentist could fix them up over a weekend with some intensive work. Can a psychologist do something similar? Laughing, Erika asks if he would spend the weekend at her office. He laughs this off a little too brightly, like when a little kid tries to bluff you and then backpedals like mad when you call his bluff. He jokes that they'd then get a bad case of claustrophobia. Then she says three days in a restaurant wouldn't be an option either, but he likes that idea better, especially if she's going to pay her client's bills.

She says she does have an idea (still laughing nervously, he says "it's not electrical shocks, right?"). She says she sometimes meets with clients at a resort in Tepostlán. A weekend really won't be enough, but they should be able to make some progress, and when he comes back, they can make more appointments. At the very least, it will relieve some of his stress.

She assures him that it's cool, she meets lots of clients there. Rod flops down on the sofa and he hints around that maybe it would be a problem for her family if she gave up a weekend for him. She says it's business, the same as him leaving his family for a month - they understand when it's for business, right? As for her, she assures Rodrigo that she doesn't have a husband... or kids... and her last boyfriend, she left him at a psychiatric clinic in Mazatlan. ("He went crazy?" Rod asks. "No, he's a psychiatrist.")

(I think I missed something somewhere in this scene - either whatever advice she was supposedly offering as Erika rather than as a doctor, or whatever it was that she was going to say to him at the restaurant the previous night.)

Back in James's truck, James says the last thing he wants is for her to damage her relationship with Francisco. (HA!!) She coaxes a little more info out of him: he admits that Frankie is not a saint. He likes to party with lots of women, but there's nothing serious going on - they all know she's his wife and they respect her. (By "respect" I assume he means "have a hearty laugh at.") He promises that if he knew of anything serious, he'd tell her. (I guess screwing around, possibly knocking somebody up, and bringing diseases home doesn't count as something serious as long as they don't get divorced over it.) Unconvinced, Sofia says the girlfriend must be from another village, or maybe in Guadalajara. James knows nothing of such thinks.

"There goes Francisco," Sofia exclaims, jumping out of the truck. "Don't worry about me, go back to the hacienda." (James goes on to visit the Wizard and gets his balls back, as we shall see. Uh, I don't mean we'll see his... oh, never mind.)

Frankie is in the process of flirting with two bimbos on a bench, who want to go to a spa. On seeing Sofia, he immediately sends them away, telling them to say hi to their husbands for him. Sofia knows he was making plans with them, but he tries to turn it around on her, scolding her for scolding him in the street, why you know how these villagers are, it could make trouble with their husbands... Sofia yells at him and says everyone knows about his flirting. He wants to know who is making up such rumors!

A passing bimbo greets him by name, and he offers her a distracted benediction. They argue about whether or not their marriage has gone to hell yet. Embarrassed by her loudness, he begins leading her out of the plaza, away from curious ears.

She dares him to deny that he's popular with the ladies of Tequila. Two more bimbos pass and sweetly tell him he's well accompanied. He tells them to say hi to their parents for him. He tells Sofia of course he's popular among the agave growers and tequila distillers.

He practically drags her along, begging her to drop that attitude - people are looking. She sarcastically remarks that all these women must just be his friends, then? They get to his car, where yet another bimbo says hello - I am laughing so hard I can hardly type. Sofia gets in and ANOTHER bimbo comes by as Frankie tells Sofia to roll up her window.

Sofia complains that it's too hot, he puts on the AC, she screams that she doesn't want the AC and refuses to close her window, so Frankie overrides her and rolls up the mirrored windows himself for privacy. She sarcastically suggests that he turn on the radio really loud too. He likes this idea, but she wants to ask him something first: if all these women here are his "friends," what does he have elsewhere? Where's his favorite girlfriend hidden? "James is poisoning you against me, isn't he?!" He asks Sofia if she ever had to live in the same house as her husband's ex-fiancee. He's got no girlfriends or lover here or anywhere in all of Mexico. And he hopes she doesn't keep talking, or they'll have an accident on the way back to the hacienda. Sofia thinks an accident would be the best thing that could befall them at this point!

They're still arguing when they get home. He's claiming that he's famous due to his excellent work and because Sofia is his wife. (This does not explain why no men greeted him, and nobody greeted Sofia, in the plaza!) Sofia is not impressed with his excuses, but he wants to make things right. "You're going to break up with one of your girlfriends?" No, he thinks they should spend 24 hours a day together. But if she doesn't go for that, then it looks like their marriage is over and she doesn't think it's worth fighting for. She tells him she'll think about it, because she doesn't want to be fighting with him day and night. He says if she has another idea, he'll gladly do whatever she wants. He tries the skunky French on her, and she rejects his nauseating attempted kiss, and takes off to think.

James shows up while Frankie is sipping a dainty glass of sherry. "Thanks for taking Sofia to town to spy on me, I appreciate that a lot." James says it was bound to happen sooner or later. She wasn't going to stay cooped up cooking and ironing for him forever; she already knows just about everything; Frankie should have been more discreet. Frankie tells him to mind his own crops; he knocks over the white king chess piece, ooooooh I'm so scared. He calls James a snitch; undaunted, James denies tattling and says he's seen Sofia suffer a lot because of Frankie, and he told her some things that were on his conscience. He warns that he'd better not see Sofia crying over him again.

(I hope those balls are here to stay, and aren't some sort of novelty dissolving balls the Wizard gave him as a joke.)

It's night time at the Basurio. Rodrigo tells Isa that he's going on a month-long trip and will be leaving her alone, the way she likes. She pretends not to understand what he means about her liking to be alone. He says she can have the whole place to herself and do what she wants. She agrees that that pretty much sums up the pact of their marriage.

He's not crazy about leaving the kid for such a long time, but Isa tells him it'll be okay. It's not the first time he's abandoned his wife and child. He says what really worries him is that Enriqueta might not be around. And he's uneasy about personnel changes in the building - like there's a new night watchman, for example. Isa says yeah, she knows about that - she asked for a new night watchman because the previous one was inattentive. She asked him to do two things and he didn't do them. There wasn't any hot water, and he didn't do anything about it. And then on Sunday she went to the supermarket with the baby, and he wouldn't help her with her bags.

Rod thinks this sounds very odd and unlike the night man - plus, what was she doing out so late with the baby? (Needed diapers and milk.)

(Night watchman mystery solved!)

Then Rod tells her he's only going to be around till the end of the week - he's spending the weekend at a resort in la Sierra de Tepostlán to unwind before his trip.

Isa asks him to cut the crap. Does he distrust her? (Rodrigo seems confused.) What does he think he has on her? Because, she says emphatically, she hasn't been up to anything. Bemused, Rod gets up for dinner.

At home, Gavi pours herself a nice tall glass (okay, it's just a regular caballito) of Rodrigo's tequila and flashes back to when he showed her the label with her kiss on it.

(Funny - I just noticed the tequila is sort of reposado-colored. Does this mean there's already a blanco? Or did they not bother with a blanco?)

Meanwhile, at the Basurio, Rodrigo flashes back to Gavi telling him (in front of Dr. Blondie) to stop being so jealous, and that she wants to be with a normal person. Then he flashes back to Erika telling him that if he doesn't confront his fear, he can't solve his impotence, his jealousy, his relationship with Gaviota. He has to be willing to find out for himself if there isn't another woman out there for him.

Frankie is watching maybe a telenovela when Sofia comes in and offers him a second and final chance. He kisses her hand for so long that I begin to suspect that he's stalling for time. Then he strokes her face, and gives her chaste little kisses, and strokes her hair while she stands there like a block of wood. Fortunately, we don't see any more of this.

It's the next day. Nancy reports that Rodrigo hasn't called back yet. At Montalvo Corp., Rod tells Marg to set up a meeting with his executives for first thing tomorrow, and asks about his travel plans. (He's leaving for Frankfort at 6 on Monday afternoon.) As for returning Gavi's call, he's not sure what to do. Marg says that Gavi also wanted to know how he was doing, and to call Nancy if he didn't want to speak to Gavi. Rodrigo says he'll email Nancy instead.

At the CRT, Gaviota, Dr. Blondie, and some other people are talking about getting chefs for the expos. Unfortunately, they can't get the people they want on such short notice. Who can they get that will be able to come up with tequila-based dishes? Dr. Blondie has a solution: he'll do it. See, he's an expert chef.

I apologize to certain people for mentioning La Fea Mas Bella yet again, but just in case you were wondering why you felt the ground reverberate at this moment: It was the thud of every Aldo-disliker hitting the floor, convulsing with derisive laughter.

Shortly thereafter, Nancy gets a call from Margarita, and an email shows up on her screen. Gaviota leans over her shoulder to read:

To whom it may concern: I appreciate the interest you expressed regarding my impending trip to the US and Europe; be advised that I won't require any assistance or support from the CRT for this launch. I've already contracted with the necessary outlets to promote Ardiente Pasion independently. At the same time, be advised that I will no longer be using the services of your institution's Public Relations department. Respectfully, Rodrigo Montalvo.

As she reads, Gavi imagines Rodrigo dictating this message to Margarita. She takes the phone from Nancy and scolds Marg and asks what's up with this outrageous email saying that Montalvo doesn't want anything to do with the CRT. Marg seems surprised by Gavi's anger and says she was just following orders. Gav wants to speak to Rod, but he refuses the call. Gavi says, "Fine - just tell him we got the message." Smiling, Rod wants to know what Gavi said, and is glad to hear that she was annoyed. He instructs Marg not to pass him any more calls or messages from the CRT, especially from Mariana. "Especially from her," he repeats.

Super-plus impactada, Gaviota delivers the shocking news to Dr. Blondie that Rodrigo has fired them. Dr. B keeps a poker face and says "sorry." She says she knows it's not the end of the world, but he says it must seem that way. He hands her a hanky and tries to cheer her up by reminding her of how humorous she found his claim of being an expert chef. This seems to work. Nancy comes in, and Gavi laughingly repeats it to Nancy. Gavi tells her how desperate they were to find a chef, and now their boss is going to make up recipes that are based on tequila. Nancy finds this even more humorous.

"If you think that's so funny, you can both try out my dishes tomorrow night at my house." Nancy snickers that he's got a screw loose, and Gaviota worries about indigestion, but they stifle themselves as best they can because it's unwise to offend the cook.

---

Miércoles
Hili breaks up with SanWanna... again.
Dani gives Gavi a detailed status report of Rod's treatment and whereabouts.
Gavi throws a tantrum at Dr. Blondie, as any mature, capable businesswoman would do.

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