Caray, Caray!

Dora comes to the clinic. Julio told her there was some delicate matter, and she wants to know what it is. Julio says a lot of nothing, but Albieri interrupts and insists on talking to Dora alone. He tells her that she got her accepted in the best dance school in Los Angeles. Without her submitting her qualifications, without them seeing an audition tape, without Dora signing anything. Okey-dokey. Albi says there is just one catch. She has to surrender all parental rights. Oops. No, that comes later. She has to leave tomorrow. He’ll pay for everything. If she’s successful she can provide a better life for his godson. Dora says yes. She leaves and Julio asks Albi whether he told her the truth. He says he’s getting there.

Lucas is gazing at the necklace some more. Marisa grabs it from him and asks Rosa if she thinks Leo would let her wear it. Lucas snatches it back and Marisa leaves in a huff. Rosa tells him he should get rid of the necklace if he’s no longer involved with Jade. Rosa is willing to deliver it to Jade’s relatives in Miami. Lucas is not willing to give it up. But he promises that he won’t pursue Jade anymore, for the sake of his daughter.

Norma and Vicky see Osvaldo at the club and tease him about not being a sultan yet. He says it was all lined up, and Vicky asks, then why did he come back to them. Ozzie’s answer? Because nobody in Arabia speaks Spanish. The whole bar laughs with / at him.

At a bar across town, Chris has hooked up with Armando, an old boyfriend. He’s glad she called him. He never married because he was waiting for her, or so he says. She says she always wanted to be in this bar with someone who would say, “I love you and I want to marry you.” He accepts her proposal.

Meanwhile Leo tells Enrique that Diego’s death will always come between him and Christina, and he can never get over the guilt of being with her when his son died. But still, he can’t get her out of his mind, and he feels guilty for how he treated her. So he says he’ll still be her sugar daddy and set her up in the spa business she wants.

Chris comes home and tells her friends she’s marrying Armando, the Wall Street investor. Just then Enrique calls to tell Chris that Leo will pay for her spa venture. Vicky asks how she can accept his money when she is going to marry someone else. Chris assures her, Leo won’t just pay for the spa, he’ll also pay for her wedding, reception, and honeymoon.

Dora just found out that she and her son have to leave for LA tomorrow morning. So rather than wasting her time packing, planning, spending time with her mother, or getting a good night’s sleep, she goes out dancing. A bar buddy tells Ozzie that she’s going to dance school in LA and that doctor she hooked up with is paying for it. Ozzie struts out to the dance floor and charges that Dora’s son in Albi’s. Ozzie demands that she remove his name from the child; he wants it back. Ever notice that Dora’s hair is short at the club but long everywhere else? Is it supposed to be two different wigs?

Albi tells Luisa that tomorrow morning she needs to find an LA dance school where she can enroll Dora immediately, but he won’t explain why it’s so urgent. Luisa urges him to tell Julio about the mistake. He starts mumbling to himself about how he ignored all his ethical principles and sacrificed everything for the fame he craved. Luisa says, “What’s going on? You’re starting to scare me!” Start? Only start? Luisa must take the last bus.

Jade complains to Ali that Said won’t let her visit him without his permission, and that he says that she is now part of his family, not Ali’s. Ali confirms that this is correct. Jade goes to the kitchen and continues to plot how to be free. She decides to find out the combination to Said’s safe, get her passport, take his money, and escape to the US. She makes a speech about not letting him treat her like his possession. In all this, has she ever given ANY consideration to how he feels? She says that all she has is her dignity, and she refuses to lose that. I guess that’s why she’s stealing from her husband.

At breakfast, Marisa provokes a scene by asking Leo about the green necklace that belonged to Lucas’s mom. Leo doesn’t remember one, and Marisa points out that it was jade. Marisa leaves the table in a huff (she has more huffs than rubber band dresses). Lucas follows. At least they have the decency to argue in private. Unlike Leo, who comes in and involves himself in their argument. METICHE!!!

In Morocco, Jade misses her necklace and the safety it brought her.

In Miami, Dora’s mama hears that Albi is sending Dora to LA. She warns, if you go with him, you’ll never see your son again.

At the clinic, Julio refuses to lie or surrender his ethics to cover this lie. But Albi claims that the reputation of the clinic depends on hiding the secret of the swapped embryos. He says that if the truth comes out, his career will be ruined. After more pressure, Julio agrees to at least think about it. Albi tells Luisa that he is building a spider web to cover his errors, but he’s getting trapped in it himself.

Latifa tells Zoraida that Mohamed is fixated on having children, and she’s worried that he’ll take a second wife. Someone needs to tell that woman that bigamy is illegal in the US. Instead, Z reminds her that Scheherazade saved her life by distracting her husband with stories. Z counsels Latifa to distract her husband too. Mohamed gets home and Latifa distracts him with her dancing. (BTW, there is an excellent youth book retelling the legend of Scheherazade. It’s Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher. I strongly recommend it.)

In Miami, Enrique and Leo are astounded by the amount of Christina’s cost proposal for the spa. Meanwhile Chris tells Vicky that the “extras” in the request are to cover he wedding and honeymoon. Vicky decides she’d rather have Chris for a friend than an enemy.

Lucas puts the necklace in his metal lockbox and puts the key in his nightstand while Marisa “sleeps.” When he leaves the room she recovers the key and takes the necklace. Meanwhile Said checks his safe while Jade is “sleeping” in the same room. Abdul calls him away, so he leaves the safe open. Jade sneaks over and recovers her passport. There is also a big wad of cash. It appears that she leaves that behind, but later with Zoraida, she has it. Said hears when she drops a bracelet, so he goes to check and finds her in bed, with her other bracelet placed on the floor. He gently, lovingly restores it to the “sleeping” Jade.

In the big house, Enrique tells Leo that he doesn’t want to be his go-between regarding Chris. Lucas hears part of this and wants to know what they’re talking about. Leo blows him off and leaves, so Lucas finds out from Rosa that it’s about Chris. Meanwhile Chris is thrilled by the check and imagines the wedding blow-out she’ll have, to spend Leo’s money.

Marisa meets Leo at his office and asks him a favor. She’d like to wear a piece of jewelry from Lucas’s mother for her upcoming birthday bash. Leo takes the hint and apologizes, saying he should have already given her a piece of Isabel’s jewelry. He’ll bring her all the items today and let her pick one to keep.

Jade is excited that she finally has the ingredients she needs for her freedom. She says that it must have been the hand of Allah that allowed her to get her passport and the money for the trip. IOW Allah helped her rob her husband. I suspect that the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments are not part of Islam, but I’m sure Islam doesn’t look kindly upon blasting the second commandment to smithereens (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain). Jade implores Zoraida to help her buy the ticket. Z refuses as always. Jade begs as always. Z caves as always. Jade promises this is the last favor she’ll ask, as always.

At the house, Leo shows Marisa the box of all Isabel‘s jewelry. Marisa de-palms the jade necklace into the box, and then says, “I want this one.” Roll credits.

Friends, I need to say something and I’ll only say it once. Albi’s self-chiding, Lucas’s pining, Jade’s whining, Marisa’s conniving, Christina’s striving, and Luisa’s self-blinding .. it’s just more of the same and I can’t get excited about it anymore. I know that my writing suffers because of my attitude. I will continue to recap because I gave my word. But if anyone gets bored with my lifeless recaps and would like to take over one or both of my recap nights, believe me, I would not be offended in the slightest. I’d even send you a care package of some of the best Mexican pastries north of Baja to show my gratitude. Or to bribe you.

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