Caray, Caray!

Cristina loses the high-stakes game she was playing as she is declared Armando's wife. Leo gives her a little smile, drops the glove she gave him and leaves.

She heads for the Ladies with Dora and Vicki right behind. She vows that she will make Leo regret what he has done. She will get married (me caso). "But Cristina," says Dora, "you already got married (ya te casaste)." "What have I done!" she wails.

Although Leo is assaulted with flashbacks as he drives home from the wedding, he says that he has finally freed himself from Cristina.

Now we move forward 3 years indicated by Daniel changing from the little Aztec baby as they call him over on TW to an older child. Albieri has been spoiling the child rotten for the last three years so that, as her mother predicted, he doesn't want to be with Dora, he wants to be with 'his father.' [What happened to Julio's concern that Dora be told the truth?]

Latifa has finally gotten pregnant. As usual when Mohamed is deeply moved, he refers to himself in the third person.

Mohamed says that their baby will be born in Morocco. They will go immediately. The happy news reaches Morocco. Nariza pretends to be happy for Latifa. This news gives her less to complain about and diminishes her status in the family. Said tells Jade that the only thing alloying the happiness of the news is that she isn't carrying his baby.

Mohamed distributes food to what appears to be total strangers in celebration of the news. [Mohamed and Latifa are really a cute couple and about the only sympathetic characters in the novela.]

Joy and celebration reign as Mohamed and Latifa return to Ali's house except for Nariza, appropriately dressed in black, who says that the baby had better be a boy.

Up in her room, Latifa tells Jade that the child will be a boy, named Mohamed. She tells Jade that she is very happy and asks Jade if she is happy with her rich husband who covers her with gold. Jade tell Latifa that she if she had another chance, she would live her life the same way, so wonderful was the happiness she had with Lucas. Latifa suggest that she will feel differently when she has children. Jade says that she won't have any children.

Lucas tells Rosa that he doesn't want any more children.

Said tells Jade that he wants a child and he is taking her to doctor. [Of course, he assumes that it is her fault.] Then Jade sees an opportunity. She tells Said that the best fertility doctor is in Miami in the US. She claims not to remember the doctor's name and suggests that they not tell Uncle Ali about this. Said asks why and Jade replies that Ali thinks the best doctors are in Morocco and it would be kinder not to disillusion him and maybe the treatment would be for both of them. Said says no, Muslim men are very fertile.

Zoraida gives Latifa a folk remedy for morning sickness - holding a key. Then she and Jade retire to the kitchen for a chat. She tells Zoraida about the Miami trip. Zoraida can't believe that Said would take Jade to the same city where Lucas lives. Jade replies that she hasn't mentioned Lucas in years; Said has forgotten about him. But for her time hasn't passed. She loves him as much as she did before. Zoraida says that time doesn't pass for Jade. That's what she read in the coffee grounds. Except that it wasn't. Here, from Paula's recap of the Feb 24 episode is what Zoraida read in the coffee grounds:

“A love that will last your entire life. Joy that turns to sadness that turns to joy.” Jade inserts, with excitement, “Then we’ll be together! He’s el amor de mi vida! I knew it the moment I saw him!” Zoraida continues, “You’ll meet the same man two times (i.e. Jade will meet him for the first time, twice. Time will pass for you but not for him. The past and the future will cross in front of you, and you will decide whether to take the path that leads backwards, or to continue forward. Love will last a lifetime, but it doesn’t say you will be together. Perhaps you will lose him and re-find him later.”

Bad prophecy? Sloppy writing?

Jade wonders if Lucas still thinks of her.

Well, of course he does. To illustrate this, Leo is playing some really kitchy Moroccan music. Lucas turns off the CD player. Always sympathetic to the feelings of others, Leo tells Lucas to grow up and if he doesn't like the music, he can go to his room. [Whatever happened to, 'this is now your house, treat me like a guest?']

Danelito #3 is not a great actor. He tells his mom that he doesn't want to be poor like her and insists that Albieri is his father. When Dora says that Albieri is only his godfather, the kid wants to know who his father is.

Luisa wants to take Danielito to visit the Ferrers and she can't understand why Albieri keeps making excuses about why this can't happen. Albieri is interrupted by Danielito calling to ask Albieri to pick him up. He says that he is Daniel's father.

We see that of course Danielito has the birthmark that Diego and Lucas had/have. Marisa sees the birthmark on Lucas and he tells her for our benefit that Natalia will not have it. It is inherited from the mother. Then Marisa tells her friend that Lucas is so not like Diego. Diego was passionate and all the girls adored him. She says that it was strange. She lost the man that she adored and then all of a sudden, there he was. She mentions that when she met Lucas he had a Moroccan girlfriend, nothing serious. When her friend asks if she knows where the old girlfriend is now, Marisa says that she hopes that she is lost in the desert sands and never shows up again.

Jade, of course, is hoping for the opposite. She tells Zoraida that Said will tell her whether she can go to Miami with him after the party for Latifa. Zoraida hopes the answer is no. She is afraid of what would happen if Said and Lucas came face to face. Jade says that she won't get close to Lucas. She made the promise to Allah to give him up if his life was spared. If she had the courage to do it then, she can do it now.

A spying servant (who seems to have learned Spanish while Jade hasn't learned any Arabic) has told Ali about Jade's plan to go to Miami. Ali is totally opposed and says that he will convince Said not to permit the trip.

Jade tells Zoraida that they will see who has more power over Said, Ali or her.

Jade knows how to persuade Said. She gets all gussied up for the party.

When Nariza makes snide comments about how much gold Said is throwing away on her, Said tells her not to pay attention. He says that Nariza has a 'carácter fuerte,' a strong personality, a euphemism for someone who is really obnoxious. But, he continues, she has a good heart. "She works hard to hide it," replies Jade. Said tells Jade how much he loves her and that he will give her anything. "Take me to Miami," says Jade.

Leo recalls to Enrique that it was in this bar that he saw Cristina the day that Natalia was born. Enrique says that he hasn't seen Cristina around. Leo replies that he believes that she went to Argentina with her husband. Enrique says it is too bad that Leo couldn't get past what happened with Cristina and Diego. Leo replies that it's worse than that. He says he will never forgive himself for not preventing the accident that killed Diego. He should have paid more attention to Diego but instead he was besotted with Cristina. [So Leo is going to torture himself with guilt about not paying enough attention to the son he no longer has while he pays no attention to the problems of the son he still has. Way to go, Leo.]

Of course, Cristina is now arriving back in Miami.

Dora tells Vicki that she has heard Osvaldo is back in town and she is dying to see him. There is at knock at the door. It's Cristina.

She fills us in on what happened with Armando. He was a swindler - all lies. He never had any money. One day he just vanished and now his creditors are after her. She lost the money Leo gave her in a bad investment so now she is dead broke. However, she says that Leo will pay for all that has happened because it was his fault- he didn't stop her wedding to Armando.

At the party for Latifa, Ali doles out wisdom from the Koran to Mohamed and Latifa while Jade bewitches Said with her dancing. He is like putty in her hands and agrees to take her to Miami.

When they arrive, Said takes Jade to a nice hotel. He says that he was only in Miami before when he was a boy and doesn't remember anything. Jade announces that since they are in America, she is taking off her veil. Said refuses to let her. She must not show herself to anyone but him. Jade won't give up. She points out that the Koran does not require that a woman cover herself and that many women in Morocco don't wear a veil. Said replies that all the women in his family cover themselves. Her beauty is reserved just for him. He doesn't want her to 'exhibit' herself to any other men. We see how seriously Jade takes her vow not to see Lucas. As soon as Said goes to take a shower, Jade looks up the telephone number of the Ferrer house and calls on her cell.

We don't see who, if anyone, answers the call. Lucas is playing tennis. He agrees to meet Marisa later at a restaurant.

Cristina shows up at Leo's office. Now here's how I would have written it: Cristina: 'Leo, I behaved like a complete idiot in marrying Armando to make you jealous. How about we start over as friends and have lunch.' But no. Cristina rants and raves. She accuses Leo of ruining her life and asks why he didn't stop her from marrying Armando and throws her unpaid bills on his desk.

Of course, of all the restaurants in Miami, Jade and Said are in the same one where Marisa is waiting for Lucas. [We seemed to have missed something here. The woman with Marisa at the pool and at the restaurant is named Adriana and since she arrives with Enrique, she must be his wife or girlfriend.] When Jade goes to the bathroom, Marisa hears Said say her name. She instantly knows that this is Lucas's Jade.

The credits roll.

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