Cap 77
For those of you who missed it and are rubberneckers at heart, we have a quick 30 second redux of the jaywalking chismosota, Paloma, going air-born courtesy of an unsuspecting SUV. Afterwards, we see a worried Arturo accompanying the ERT’s and/or paramedics rolling her into a room at TOHIMC [yep--the only hospital in Mexico City].
In another part of said hospital, Hector the Director is telling Aurora that he’s suffering from TMI and that he’s hard put to think that his little girl is all grown up now. He’s stumbling around for the right words with her. But, like most grieving papas, he’s relieved to hear that she at least used birth control (and we’re relieved she’s not the only one in her crowd still a flippin’ virgin....). Just then Hector gets a panicked call from Art about the accident and Hector rushes down to the ER.
Teresa now sees them rolling PatPal into the surgery ante-room area. She’s been waiting to see her OBGyn and she’s surprised to see Art following along with the unconscious PatPal! “--Y-y-you were with Paloma?” Art asks her to trust him and then says they’ll talk later. She strategically changes tactics, grabbing and hugging him close. “--Everything will be fine. Have faith, my love!” But, her eyes shoot daggers towards the wall behind him and the steam curls out of her nostrils.
Aurora, meanwhile, has come to tell Mariano about PatPal’s accident and injuries-- internal hemorrhaging--and then calls Martin to let him know also as Mariano races to the surgical area.
Tere, meanwhile sidles into the subject again and tries to ask Art how he just happened to be there to see the accident. Just then Hector runs in to the lounge area to tell him that PatPal is conscious now and wants to speak with Art. He runs back with Hecto an avoids answering Teresa. Tere next spies Mariano rushing the same direction, grabs onto him and feigns Miss Sweetness and Light in shocked concern. Her cheek goes to his shoulder. “--Paloma was run over! Sniff, sniff! --Ohh! I know we never got on together, but please do what you can for her!” Mariano brusquely says he will and rushes off as Viewerville checks his white coat for traces of smeared make-up and mascara.
In the surgery area, Mariano arrives as Paloma tells Art she loves him and asks him to take over her children’s foundation. Mariano says they’re going to operate so Art leaves. Mariano tells PatPal to stay calm while he goes to prepare things for her surgery. Tere sees him leave, sneaks into the room, and hisses. “--So! You were with my husband!” Paloma accuses her of two-timing Art. “--You... cheated on Arturo... with... Mariano, Teresa!” Tere angrily grabs PatPal’s hand and bends it backwards, asking menacingly if Aurora told Martin who then ran to her with the gossip. Paloma, tho’, bites back, letting her know she and Art slept together the night before. “--Do you know... who he ...spent the night with...that night he... left ...you... in Cuernevaca?” Tere goes into a rage! “--Are you telling me that--!” Suddenly the alarms go off on the screens. Paloma suddenly stops talking and gasps her last. (Tere has avoided being found out again! I swear, the gal has more lives than room full of felines!) Tere freaks at the sight and high-tails it out of the room before she’s discovered.
Armando, meanwhile, arrives home early and surprises Rufugio with the fact that he’s just paid off his debts in full to Gema. The lawyer in Tere’s firm told him to get the signed IOU’s and then to rip them up once he got home. They do, like a couple a kids makin’ mudpies. FF>>
Back at the hospital, Mariano comes out into the lounge to tell Aurora, Art and Tere that PatPal will be checking out of the hospital feet first. Mariano hugs Aurora and tells her to stay strong for Martin. She, on second thought, decides to play along instead of brood, and gives Art her shoulder to weep on.
At Casa del Bigote: Maira and Ruben agree that they don’t want Aida chumming with anyone who’s close to Esperanza. Mariano is part of that scene and that past they’ve agreed is now in the rear view mirror. Ruben emphasizes that’s the main reason he doesn’t want Aida slumming with him. They’ve got to figure a way to get her away from Mariano, but they aren’t sure how since if they say anything she’ll just get more involved with him.
At Espe’s and Johnny’s, Espe makes it clear that she doesn’t want the problems that having his girlfriend around will cause, i.e., Abuelo Grumps. He promises not to bring her to stay with them then.
Back in the hospital’s lounge, Aurora and Tere talk about death. Tere admits she’s never wished death on anybody, especially after the experience with her sis, Rosita. She nearly lets the cat out of the bag about being there seeing PatPal at bedside give up the ghost.
Refugly is there visiting Juana who wants to call Hector up to give him grief for being late and possibly standing her up. Ref suggests that maybe she really is just looking for a way to call it quits with the guy so she can go back to the man she really loves --Cutberto.
Tere now has flashbacks to being in that same hospital lounge area when Paulo died. Aurora drags her back to the present. She sees Tere’s tearful reaction and misinterprets all of this, telling her that she thinks in spite of everything that’s happened, she’s still the Teresa that Aurora used to know and love because, although she hated Paloma, Tere’s doing all she can to put that aside to support Arturo through his pain. Just then Martin rushes in and gets the bad news. He has a major melt down and uses’s Aurora’s shoulder to cry on--they were such close friends, he and Paloma. Sniff, sniff. He and she really were close. Sob, sob!! FF>>
Juana is ready to read the riot act to Hector when he finally comes by for their date. She eats her words once Hector explains about being stuck at the hospital because his long-time charitable friend, Paloma, died that afternoon. Juana realizes it’s Teresa and Arturo’s Paloma who died. She mentions that Paloma was Art’s ex-fiancee and that Tere and PatPal never got along because of her continually trying to separate Arturo from Teresa. Hector seems surprised to hear that side of her.
Back in the hospital’s lounge, after a few more words of support and consolation, Tere asks Arturo again what was going on between him and PatPal considering he’d promised that he’d never see her again! He fudges and says to trust him, and adds that he told PatPal there could never be anything between them because the only woman he loves is her. Tere pretends to be satisfied with the answer, but the look on her face when she hugs him is anything but.
Aeeeeda gets back home from the hospital and has told Papi and Mami that Paloma flat-lined that after noon. “--What luck that tenement rat, Teresa, has! Paloma was the only woman that Arturo would have left her for and the fool had to up and croak!” Her parents can’t believe the callous attitude in their little princessa. Aeeeeda says, well it’s not that she meant to be disrespectful (naw, it just an ingrained part of her personality), but it is what it is. Papi Bigote tries to talk Princessa into forgiving him and working at the law office with him again. Aeeeda is not in a forgiving mood. Papi lies again and tries to make his case that Espe’s been the one telling lies. Aeeeda says tell the hand, and oh BTW, that the slumdweller obviously didn’t really give a hoot about Papi anyway! “--She’s already got herself another guy to suck face with [busquearse=smother with kisses, neck, make-out] !” Ruben suddenly feels ice-water running through his veins.
Tere and Art finally return home. Art says the chapter with Paloma and him is now closed. Tere says fine, and she trusts that he told her the truth about the other night; but also, it does hurt to see the way he loved Paloma. Art says it’s in the past and asks if she’ll go to the funeral with him. She says tho’ she’d like to support him in this, no she’d rather stay home.
Aurora is still consoling Martin at the hospital. (Yawn.) FF>>
Back at Art and Tere’s, Tere regains control of the home situation by seducing Hubby.
The next morning, Juana chats with Teresa and tells her she saw Art sitting alone in the dark in his library when she got home late last night, and is down there now (morbidly) sipping his morning coffee. She figures it was over PatPal’. Tere, rather relieved, says things between the two of them are better than ever now that PP’s pushing up daisies. The woman, Tere complains, was nothing but a pain while she was alive and continues to be even in death considering how he’s moping for her. She wasn’t going to the funeral, but she knows it would be worse if she tried stopping him. (I think that’s what she was getting at.)
Art is thumbing through the Luna Turquesa novel that Paloma gave him, reading the loving inscription there, and remembering the bittersweet.....
Juana says it can’t be helped because PatPal was a part of his past. Tere agrees, but says, hey, the man is supposed to be hers and NOBODY else’s. Juana gets after her for speaking ill of the dead, but Teresa says she was a thorn in her side, trying to steal away her husband! “--And just where is it written that just because somebody dies you can’t say something bad about them?” Juana gives up and tells her to hurry and get dressed. She needs to be with Art and that should help make him feel closer than ever to her now.
Fernando drops by to offer a little sympathy. Art tells his BFF that he can’t believe how painful this is. He feels sorry for both Paloma and Tere. Nando tells him it was an accident, that she crossed the street without looking. Yeah, but she was there to meet him. “--What? You had a date?” No, says Art, he’d gone the next day and broken it off, but she’d called saying there was something important he needed to know. After everything, Nando says, you don’t suspect she was trying to get back together? No, says Art. “--Her voice sounded anxious and I know it had to be important. But, I never managed to find out what it was she wanted to tell me.” Nando is angry because he still believes Art was in love with her and that the two were wanting to find a way to get back together. Art swears different.
At the wake, Mariano and Aeeeda stop by to give Martin emotional back up, and assure financial support with the foundation. Martin’s comforted, he says, to find that Paloma was so loved. As for the foundation, they’ll have to wait for the reading of the will to see what happens with that. “--And with her shares of Luna Turquesa!” adds little Miss Minted Millionaria.
Luisa stops in for a chat with Teresa. She sticks up for her big brother since PatPal was such a big part of his past, but she’s clear that she is in solidarity with Tere. Tere says she has a bad feeling that Art never really ever got over Paloma. Luisa says she’s certain that he did, though! Well, then, says Tere, what PP told her must have been simply to upset her. What is she talking about, asks Luisa. Tere swears Luisa to secrecy-- her brothercan’t know! (Riiiiiight! She knows the kid leaks like a sieve when it comes to keeping secrets, but if anybody can accidentally on purpose wrangle the truth out of Art, it’s Luisa! ) Teresa draws in the unsuspecting Lu, telling her in sweeter-than-sugar confidence that “altho’ she can’t prove anything,” she believes Art and Paloma spent the night together the night he left her alone in Cuernevaca!! “-- Since I can’t prove anything, you’ve got to swear you won’t say a word to him! The other night she called me to tell me she’d spent the night with him the night he left me there in Cuernevaca. You don’t suppose he did, do you?” Luisa assures her absolutely not! He adores Tere! Why, she probably found out from Martin who found out from Aurora and ran to PatPal with the news; and then she decided to use it to upset her! Tere smiles to herself as Lu takes the bait.
At the same time, downstairs, Art admits to Nando that it took a lot of strength not to start hitting the bottle last night. He didn’t even go to the wake; all he could do was think about Teresa. Nando’s confused at that remark. Why? Art explains that it bothers him that she’s hurt and still doubts he wasn’t there with Paloma at the time of the accident. All he could do was assure her that they weren’t lovers. He never really clarified anything, though. Nando can’t believe he wouldn’t have admitted the truth to her. Art says he couldn’t tell her about their making love that night because he knows how it would hurt her and she’d definitely divorce him!! “--I just couldn’t tell her!” Tere calls out from the upstairs balcony. “--What couldn’t you dare to tell me, Arturo??”
Back at Casa de los Cucarachas Caceres, Aeeeda complains that there were so many people at PatPal’s wake she thought she’d never get out of there. Art, though, never showed up thanks to Tere’s leash. Just as well for her and Mariano, though, she adds. Maria’s surprised that Arturo didn’t come to the wake. Maira then complains to Aeeeda about her slumming with Mariano. She feels he’s been a crutch since Paulo’s death that she doesn’t need any longer. Aeeeda gripes at first, then giggles and says, oh she’s only doing it to get under Teresa’s skin. Maira says Tere made it obvious the day of her wedding she wanted nothing more to do with him. Aeeeda snickers that even so, she knows it irritates the heck out of Tere to see her dating him, and admit’s she’s never intending to look for love like Paulo’s again. On the other hand, she’s not going to stop trying to get Teresa Chavez’s goat! Maira says well her papa thinks things are getting pretty serious considering Mariano told him he was thinking about marrying her. Aeeeda giggles some more. Marriage is the last thing on her mind. “--Really????”
Art swallows but thinks on his feet. He stammers out about PP’s asking him to take over her foundation for her and his agreeing to. She says oh, that’s wonderfully admirable! Wow! If you’ll allow me, I’d like to help you with it! He thanks her and hugs her as Nando watches and signals his disgust at the way he’s just lied to Teresa like that again.
At the hospital that day, Aeeeda stops in to see Mariano to clarify the bit about telling Papi that he wants them to get married. Mariano says naw, she’s got it wrong. Her father thought he wanted to marry her for her money alone. He doesn’t need her money, she says, considering how well he’s doing there now. He says that marriage would be a serious step and they’re just getting to know one another, and as long as she’s comfortable with him, he’s game to continue the relationship. Her daddy only is looking out for her best interests. No, she says, he’s got a way of always twisting things to his advantage, like the business with that Esperanza. How could he continue to get involved with Espe like he has?
Speaking of Esperanza, she’s on her way to work when Ruben jumps in front of her demanding she come back to him. Espe lets him have it for the way he dumped her in front of wifey’s BFF (and the way they all dumped on her at Teresa’s wedding). Mr. Big tho’, seems to think there’s is forever and starts up the same ol’ same ol’ about finding a way to tell Maira the marriage is kaput. He begs her to come to his house to tell Aeeeda that he wasn’t lying. Like what part of N.O. doesn’t he understand?
Elsewhere in the barrio, Fito offers Johhny his digs to lodge Ms. Pati and him.
Our mustachioed mauler won’t take NO for an answer. He grabs and put’s a major lip-lock on Espe just as poor Hernan the Galan comes walking down the street to fetch her. Hernan misinterprets the mouth mash, and looking like a poor kicked and abused puppy dog, he heads back to his car with his tail between his legs.
Tere stops by Mariano’s office. She warns him that as long as he’s got Aeeeda on his mind and in his bed, it’ll be strictly business between the two of them. She ignores his quip about Aida being the only one he can’t screw around with and gloats that destiny persists in throwing them together. Art is supposedly the one in charge of PatPal’s foundation now, she will be his assistant. Mariano doesn’t seem to like the idea one bit. (Ha! Dealing with Art would be bad enough, but now Art and Teresa together???? Holy freejoles! The sexual tension and payback in those meetings! Can you imagine the amount of spritzing to mark territory?? It’s gonna get really rank in those meetings--and neither Teresa nor Viewerville can wait!)
Meanwhile, El Bigote is either on the phone with Maira or Genoveva saying that the will is going to be read tomorrow morning and then they’ll know who the new partner in Luna Turquesa will be. (My guess is PP’s faithful lapdog and mouthpiece, Martin, comes out the winner there.) He hangs up and Maira’s accountant asks him for a moment. Seems the books show there’s been some big-time embezzling going on and the only one able to manage that, says the accountant, would have been Ruben.
Back to Mariano and Teresa, Aeeeda walks in on the two of them. She hears Tere bragging about her being a new volunteer and immediately starts hanging all over Mariano. Well, she's volunteered help at the foundation with Mariano. Didn’t I my sweetie-patootie-cutie-tootsie-wootsie? MMMMM!!!!SSSSsmooooooooochhhhh!
Mariano plays right along and tells Aida that she doesn’t have to worry about him; he’s not going to be seeing anybody but her! Tere takes the hint and leaves. Outside, in the reception area she stops to wipe away a tear and then thinks better of it. She checks in with Espe to talk about PP’s death and her helping Art out with the foundation.
At the same time, Hernan stops in to tell his best bud, Hector, what happened with the pregnant gal he was interested in. Heck, anyone else in her situation should have been thrilled but she rejected him flat outright, he says. So, he wants some time away and asks Hec to sign him up for some convention or other. Hec obliges for his buddy. Conversation changes to Hec and Juana’s relationship progressing. Nothing doing till he gets things solved regarding his estranged wife. Hernan says perhaps they’ll do just fine, tho, living separately like many serious couples do. That would be fine with him but it’s up to Juana. The main worry is that he has no idea how he’ll feel or react once his wife resurfaces.
Espe tells Tere that it’s a good idea sharing more time with Art. Tere admits that she still hasn’t been able to forget Mariano. However, she’s certain that Aeeeda is just trying to make her upset the way she hangs on Mariano. Just then Tere sees Aeeeda walk out of Mariano’s office towards them. She acts like she’s completely oblivious and begins cheerfully congratulating Espe on three successful months being preggers. Aeeeda overhears the business about the baby and is stopped-dead-in-her-tracks impactada.
Labels: Teresa
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