Caray, Caray!

I caught yesterday's episode at the gym and when dude threw Ivan over the table as if he was nothing, I found it so cartoony and unrealistic.
 

Like a beanie/QTH moment LOL
 

Yah. . .that was funny! Did you also notice the acrobatic flips the "good" guy. . don't know his name did as he was fighting the bad, scruffy guy? Yah, cartoony but serves for good language practice.

Does Amaya have Max's number? Why didn't she call him and didn't she tell him she was married? Musta missed that!

Lila
 

I laughed so hard at Ivan's ninja moves too! That whole fight was ridiculous, especially when the police wanted to detain Mariana too, even though she threw no punches. But it looks like Mariana and Ivan's relationship is about to turn from hate to young lurv soon.

Cassandra G.
 

I laughed so hard at Ivan's ninja moves too! That whole fight was ridiculous, especially when the police wanted to detain Mariana too, even though she threw no punches. But it looks like Mariana and Ivan's relationship is about to turn from hate to young lurv soon.

Cassandra G.
 

From what I can see is that neither Max nor Amaya has each other's number. Max thought of calling every firm in the building to find her.
 

You're right, Florida. Oh yeah, I think Amaya tore Max's number up some time ago. Poor Max, he looked crushed! He mujst think this girl is oooone player!

And yes Cassandra, Ivan is so going to fall so hard for Mariana. She's pretty feisty so I don't know how easily he'll win her.

Do you guys think. . sorry for not knowing names, Max's recently dumped girl friend will go for Professor Dude, Max's friend? I hope Max doesn't try to take her back now that he sees Amaya is "occupied."

So glad to have this space to talk about this show. Acoradada back in 2007 was in this spot and one of my first novelas. Great to have others to discuss it with! :D

Lila
 

It's clear that Amaya loves her daughter, but I think she babies her too much. She talks to her as if she were a tiny toddler. I think she (Amaya) better start laying the groundwork about the status of her marriage instead of continuing to pretend "for the sake of her child" that they are a perfect family, otherwise, it's going to hit the little girl like a cold shower and do more emotional damage than if she is prepared ahead of time that something is wrong.
 

Well, I've just answered my own questions about Max and the "dumped" girlfriend by watching the first half of today's ep. Oh well. The show is young.

Lila


 

I was so touched by (can't remember his name) Max's dad going to Italy to see his oldest daughter on his birthday
It doesn't make up for ignoring her before but its a fantastic first step

I just hope he doesn't blow it if/when she comes to Mexico

 

I loved the reunion episode! Tio Leo is totally forgotten. It was well-done by the actors.

Can someone help me out as to what episode we're on? I watch online, and Uni doesn't even have this on their novelas y series page.

Kelly
 

We're on episode 20 as of this Friday. I have Hulu Plus, so I watch it there. I know regular Hulu has all the episodes avaliable except the 5 newest so if you really wanna watch but don't want to pay you could always be a week behind.

Cassandra G.
 

Hello to all,

I really like this novela
beginning with the theme song with Amando Manzanero.
 

Hi, Floridia! I like it too seems though it's not creating a lot of conversation. It's a busy time of day and lots of people are still at work. I appreciate the space to discuss it though and I'll keep watching. I'm glad it's on hulu+ also!

Lila
 

Mon Oct 13 - Part 1

Omar wants $500,000 US from Lucrecia. He’s sure she can get it, after all, she’s married to a business tycoon. When Luce complains to Omar the price she had to pay to become what she is now, he tells her that leaving her was for the best. She doesn’t agree. She had to give up her dreams of a career. He scoffs, as a singer? She had little talent, mediocre. He thought he could train her voice, but he was wrong. Luce gets up to leave and tells Omar she’ll give him the money but not what he’s asking for. Well then, Omar will tell Mauro her “condition” before he married her. Omar gives her a week.

Max and Jorge are Skyping with Iván and his dad, Hector. Max tells them he needs to have a mixer and dehumidifier installed. He’s sending them money. He’s also naming Iván as lead developer in the field. Also, they are not going to use new technology, they are going to use the old machinery for processing. Before they sign off Iván tells Max he is still looking for Amaya and her sister. Max tells them it’s no longer necessary, he’s found Amaya in the city.

Amaya is telling Don Manuel his SIL’s project is marvelous. The basis of the campaign will be the five human senses. The product “placement” will be in the heart and not in the head. She’s excited about starting work. Don Manny lets her know that due to his SIL’s upcoming wedding and honeymoon, it will just be him, Amaya and Jorge, his SIL’s business partner. Before she exits, DM gives Amaya the contact information for the attorney.

Lucio, Mauro & Elo are at the doctor’s office. Lucio waits outside while the Dr. tells them about a new series of neurological tests that might be helpful in Lucio’s case, but also a deep hypnosis treatment which might unlock the source of the provocation for the recent episode that tormented him so, involving his mother. Not necessarily that she is to blame, maybe there has been a transfer of fear. Lucio had already told his therapist he has a secret that broke his heart. Mauro and Elo are stunned.

Devious Cesar has hidden spy cameras installed in Horacio’s office and also wants an app to track his computer usage. The first thing he gets to see (and overhear) is Horacio’s conversation with Cipriano. He needs to know what can be used to ruin coffee plants. Cipriano accepts the mission. Cesar seems pleased.

Salvador (Yummy) Romero is finishing up a class and asks Flavia to stay behind—but not for what she thinks. He asks her to comport herself better and stop acting so coquettish infront of him. At first she denies, then she is offended.

Consta and her University faculty friend are having coffee and discussing the Max problem. (What is her name? It could be Cecy, Nora, Rebecca or Silvia—I’ll call her Nora for now.) Nora doesn’t think that it’s too outlandish after 5 years apart, that Max wouldn’t look at another woman. Time did not stand still. She and Max are not the same people they were 5 years ago. Consta denies it.

Does Consta really love Max, Nora wonders. Of course she does. Then why didn’t Consta follow him to Italy after her father got adjusted to his widower-hood. She just sat here and waited for Max to return. Now Consta is offended. Then Consta tells Nora about Sal’s confession of being in love with her. Nora does the equivalent of rolling her eyes—it’s about time! What? Yes, everybody knew it but Consta. But, Consta contradicts, they were just friends, that’s all she considered him. They got to be quite close because Max asked him to look after her while he was gone. She really wasn’t aware he’d fallen in love with her. So, Consta, what are you going to do now?

Max is in his office daydreaming before his “date” with Amaya at 2 o’clock. He says to no one in particular that Amaya and his Star Coffee have become central to his life. Amaya is also daydreaming.
 

Mon Oct 13 - Part 2

Jorge has gone to get a bite to eat in a nearby restaurant and sees a woman sitting alone at the next table. He introduces himself to none other than “Lovely” Caro. He reminds her that they saw each other before in Don Manuel’s office. Then he invites himself to sit down and they have a nice conversation.

Luce sits in the lobby of the hotel and orders a martini to calm her nerves. In a flashback, we see what Lucio saw—walking in on his mother in flagrante delicto and her threatening him with abandonment if he ever said anything about what he saw. She was definitely menacing.

Mauro, Elo and Lucio return home. Lucio goes upstairs. Mauro tells Elo he feels guilty he was never a good father. Elo says that’s not true. Yes it is, he never participated in their lives—Juliana moved away from him, Max and Cesar spend their time fighting, Flavia is rebellious and Lucio is, well, like that. He spent his time away from them, in his own world, making money. Elo tells him that what counts are all the ways he’s changing. Mauro takes Elo’s hand and tells her he’s counting on her to support him. What would they have done without her? He’s decided he wants his family together and united.

Max leaves for his “date” with Amaya. Amaya is doing the same. Max gets a table by the window and positions himself to watch for her entrance. Amaya is on her way when she gets a call from school. Valeria fainted and she needs to come right away. It turns out Valeria is fine but Amaya missed her date with Max AND didn’t let him know she wouldn’t make it. Max waits and waits. He’s disappointed and confused.

Saucy (but slightly over the hill) Emma enters Horacio’s bugged office and Cesar quickly learns of (and watches) their relationship getting physical right on his desk. (OK: Cesar is a VOYEUR, in addition to being into S&M. What’s next.)

Mariana tells her mother about her scholarship. They are overjoyed. Neena shows Mariana the shoes she bought (my mistake—they only got a dress on Friday). Cip arrives to ruin the moment for mother and daughter. He gripes that he’ll be out of a collector’s job this harvest season so they will have to work harder to meet his needs. (I wish I could reach into the tv and strangle him.) Mariana thinks he should do other work during the year and not just at harvest time. Maybe help Neena with supplying the restaurants with her dishes. He claims that’s women’s work.

Hector and Iván are walking and talking about Iv’s opportunity to work on the new project. Maybe some day he’ll be able to have his own lands, his own coffee plantation. He admits to his dad that he wasn’t in accordance with Max’s request to stop looking for the sisters. Even though Max found Amaya, they made a fool out of him, especially the younger sister. He wants to confront her so he’s going to keep looking.

Luce arrives home and Elo tells her about the new treatment for Lucio. Her face says she’s not liking that.
 

Tue Oct 14 - Part 1

Lucrecia is seen reacting to Elo’s news that there is a new treatment available for Lucio which includes hypnosis. She thinks it is unnecessary. Lucio lacked oxygen when he was born. There’s nothing else to uncover. She’s not going to expose him to any useless suffering.

Amaya puts Valeria to bed. Caro calls and wants to know how it went with Max. It didn’t happen. Caro says not to worry, they’ll find Max on Monday.

Max is having the same conversation with Jorge. They try to figure out why she didn’t show up. Max is sure she was looking forward to their meeting as much as he was. He’ll find her if he has to call every office in the building. Jorge reminds him he doesn’t even know her last name. Maybe she changed her mind, maybe she’s married or has a boyfriend. After all, wasn’t Amaya trying to avoid some man in the hospital? Max doesn’t think she’s married—she wasn’t wearing a ring. Jorge posits that though yes, they had things to talk about, maybe you don’t mean as much to her as she means to you. They leave to sign the contract with Don Manuel.

Mariana arrives at the fiesta full of anticipation but when Hortensia looks around for Iván to make the introductions, she can’t find him. The girls start to dance together and Iván spies her. Mari catches sight of Iván and she tries to leave. He detains her and they start arguing. Some loser behind the table goes in to “save” her and then tries to put some moves on her, holding her tight in his arms. Mari struggles but he won’t let go. Iván sees this and we are entertained by the “Flying Burrito Brothers do Tae Kwon Do.” The scuffle is broken up by the police and all three are hauled off to detention.

Laura wants to know how Iván fits into all this. Hortensia explains he’s the son of the finca administrator where she lives and he’s the guy she was going to introduce to Mari. She didn’t know they already “knew” each other.

Iván asks Hortie to let his dad know what happened and to come pay his fine. Mari begs Veronica to tell her friend Laura to call her parents and tell them she’s spending the night with Laura. Iván tries to tell her he’s really sorry, but she tells him to shut it, estupido. Hector arrives to pay the fine. Iván wants to pay someone else’s fine, too. He’ll pay Hector back. It’s for Mariana, that girl he’s been looking for.

Max and Jorge are at home having a drink. Max is making himself a bologna sandwich (cute). They are chatting about the business contract. Max is conflicted that the business relationship with Don Manuel is getting stronger while his personal relationship with his daughter is getting weaker. He will get together with Consta to let her know that Amaya is a reality, what he feels for Amaya is real and they can’t continue their relationship. Jorge wants to know if Amaya weren’t in the picture, didn’t exist, would he still marry Consta? Max says there isn’t any IF, Amaya exists.

Horacio arrives home. Amaya has to deal with him. She’s pithed he never answered her frantic calls and texts all afternoon. She tells him what happened to Val. Where has he been, he smells of alcohol. His excuses hold no truck for Amaya. And no, they aren’t going to celebrate his new position tonight because of Val. He wants to know what is the big deal, then. The two of them can go out and celebrate. She diverts any amorous advances. No, again. It was to be the three of them.

Horacio goes in to see Val. He lies and tells her no one notified him of her incident or he would have flown to her side. They conspire to prepare a surprise for Amaya the next day. They’ll go to breakfast and spend the day together.

 

Tue Oct 14 - Part 2

Constanza is pacing in her room replaying in her head the things Max said (we shouldn’t get married because there is another woman in my life) and what Salvador (Yummy) Romero said (he’s in love with her). Max texts her and asks if he can take her to breakfast the next morning. He has something to tell he. She agrees. She also has some flashbacks of becoming Max’s fiancé and staying behind after her mother died and he went off to Italy.

Mauro has gotten ready for bed and is telling Lucrecia (who isn’t paying attention, flipping through a magazine) about the new treatment for Lucio. She finally looks up to say, NO, over her dead body (so to speak). Mauro thinks it might also benefit her, too. How so? To perhaps find out why Lucio behaves so aggressively toward her (agredir). That doesn’t really bother her. Sometimes people are particularly aggressive towards the ones they love the most. Lucio knows she forgives him for everything. She does it for love. Subject closed. Only Luce doesn’t fall asleep. She thinks to herself that for nothing in this world can she risk hypnosis for Lucio. She has a flashback to her dalliance with Omar (…he was cute when he was young….). She comes first.

Lucio and Flavia are having fun with a drawing he made of Luce. Flavia puts devil horns on her. Lucio says she broke his heart. She echoes Lucio’s sentiments. Lucrecia always comes first—ahead of everyone else in the family, except César. Lucio tears up the drawing.

Max goes up to his bedroom and stretches out on his couch. He thinks about Amaya. He knows something serious must have happened for her not to come to meet him. Amaya is thinking about Max and the elevator kiss. What is he thinking about her missing her “date” with him; what will he think when he learns she has a husband and a child. Oh, how she wishes she were already divorced when she met him.

Next morning, Mauro, coffee in hand, goes in to see a sleeping Lucio. Elo’s words are in his head—‘how he’s doing things differently now.’ He tells his sleeping son he’s even willing to go against Luce to get him the best help. Then he starts to think about Juliana and hopes she will come to his birthday celebration.

In Venice, Juliana buys an art book as a present for Mauro’s birthday. She’s been separated from him for so long she doesn’t even know if he’s still interested in art. He may be a complete stranger to her. She texts Max to tell him she’s coming but wants it to be a surprise. (Remember, she has an OPEN ticket, to use whenever she decides to book a flight.) Max will pick her up. No, she’s going to stay in a hotel—until she sees the lay of the land.

Mariana returns home in the morning. Neena is pretty sure she didn’t spend the night with Laura because Mari would have called herself and not have Laura call. Mari is about to tell her what really happened when Cipriano emerges in a bad mood. He’s worried about her reputation (read that: marriage prospects). He doesn’t want it spread around the pueblo that she’s a loose woman. The argument goes on. Mari can’t win. She says it won’t happen again. Cip is surprised as hell she caved in.

Iván is also chastened when he and Hector get back to the finca. Hortensia pulls him aside to find out what happened with Mariana. Was she released? He doesn’t know. She may be back home by now, but he does know she doesn’t want to have anything more to do with him. Hortensia tells him how she came to meet Mariana, through their friend Laura—because Mariana wanted to talk to someone who knew about El Paraíso, who were the owners, etc., and that was going to be you.

Horacio, Amaya and Valeria go to breakfast at a nice outdoor restaurant. They seem like a normal, happy family, for all the world to see. Horacio is presenting her with a new set of rings, to replace the ones she lost in the river. Guess who sees them together…Max.

 

Wed Oct 15 AND Thu Oct 16 - Part 1
(Combined by scenes)

Max sees the “Happy Family” at the outdoor restaurant. He misreads the “Happy” part when he sees Horacio giving Amaya a set of rings and holding the big heart card Valeria made. Max feels betrayed by Amaya. He wonders why she hid that information from him—a husband and a child. He quickly cancels the reservation and leaves (in his cute blue sneakers).

He meets Consta and steers her to another restaurant. He’s angry and tense and Consta wonders who put him in such a mood. Whoever it was must have really hurt him. He tells her she has no idea how much. They decide to go ahead with the plans to get married. The big question of where they are going to live is resolved. They will have an apartment in the city and a commuter marriage. Max will be at the finca most of the time and she will stay in the city.

Meanwhile, Valeria goes to the ladies room and Horacio and Amaya engage in a bitter argument over their pretend “Happy Family” show. She doesn’t like the way he is using Val to manipulate things to go his way. They accuse each other of infidelity and abusing their marriage vows. If she leaves him, it is NOT for another man. She no longer believes in him and she’s had enough – something she told him before her accident. He killed what they had with his cheating and lies.

At the Pueblo, Laura comes to visit Mariana to find out what happened at the police station. Mari tells her Iván paid her fine but inspite of that, she never wants to see him again. That’s too bad, Laura tells her, because he was the one who was going to fill her in with the information on El Paraíso she wanted. Mariana will just find someone else. She also thinks it was decent of Iván to pay her fine—and besides, he’s really cute. Laura hopes the story doesn’t get spread around school and begs Mari to tell her parents.

SHOWER ALERT: Iván is showering. Dripping wet he swears he’ll forget Mariana.

Mauro and family are having breakfast al fresco. Max has gone to breakfast with Constanza. They discuss Mauro’s upcoming birthday celebration and Juliana’s joining them. Lucrecia doesn’t think she’ll come. Jorge thinks she will. Flavia hardly remembers her.

Evil César calls the airline and pretends to be Mauro and cancels the tickets. He has the confirmation number, which only Mauro and Genoveva, Mauro’s secretary, are supposed to have. Now he’s sure that after this Juliana won’t even want to talk to Mauro again.

Flavia is taking a sunbath. She and Luce snipe at each other over her excessive interest in Max’s friend Jorge. Luce thinks it’s inappropriate. She belittles and insults her daughter. Flavia gives as good as she takes. Jorge is watching from the window while he checks up on the progress of clearing the fields in the Tierras Estrellas and getting the equipment ready. Jorge will be returning to the finca on Monday—after Don Mauro’s birthday party. He’s not sure about Max since he will be overseeing the publicity campaign. Iván mentions he knows why Amaya and Mariana came to the finca.

Dolores (Neena) is telling Amparo that making extra dishes for her restaurant is going to be too much. They sit to chat and Amparo spills the frijoles about the kerfuffle at the fiesta. Dolores is aghast. She had no idea—two guys fighting for Mari and they all had to spend the night in the pokey.

The loser in the fight is in the bar when Cipriano walks in with his drinking/gambling buddy and spills the rest of the frijoles, but he’s hoppin’ mad about it. Cipriano almost starts another kerfuffle of his own.

Cipriano gets home and lights into Mari for being a lying little B**** and hits her. He’s ashamed of her. He’s not interested in what really happened. It’s all about how it looks and her reputation.

Mari is in her room and doesn’t want to eat. She tells her mother later that she didn’t think anyone would find out. Now she’s told her everything. She swears she didn’t “do” anything wrong to provoke the fight.

 

Wed Oct 15 AND Thu Oct 16 - Part 2

Salvador (Yummy) Romero is talking to Nora (until I know her name, she’s Nora) about Consta. And yes, Consta told Nora what Sal had said. Nora has never thought Max and Consta were right for each other, they are complete opposites: she likes the city, he likes the country; she’s an intellectual, he’s a simpler, laid back guy; Max loves kids—and they both know how Connie feels about kids. She’s tried telling Consta repeatedly, but she’s blind and deaf. Nora gives Sal hope that maybe Consta sees him with different eyes and not ones of just a friend.

After Max and Consta have sealed their decision with a kiss, they go off to make all the wedding arrangements. He’s distracted momentarily by memories of Amaya with her “Happy Family.” He takes a call from Iván about Amaya. The Amaya that came to the finca with her sister is indeed the same Amaya, daughter of the former administrator, who lived there over 30 years ago. She wasn’t lying. Max doesn’t let him continue. He doesn’t want to know anything more about her ever again. She’s not who she appears to be. Furthermore, he doesn’t want anyone at the finca to mention her name since Constanza will be spending time at the finca after they are married.

At the same time, Horacio, Amaya and Valeria have gone to an amusement park. He’s acting like an ass, trying to do his best to charm Valeria. He succeeds. He’s the perfect father (but not the perfect husband). While they are otherwise occupied, Amaya calls the attorney and apologizes for calling on a weekend. Amaya learns that mothers usually get custody and in DF she can get a “divorce express” as long as there is a legal separation. Finances and visitation will come later—after the divorce. That can take a long time. Horacio actually overhears and swears there will be no divorce—ever.

When Amaya finishes the conversation, she takes her wedding rings off and silently asks Valeria’s forgiveness for the change that’s coming. Horacio is looking on menacingly. Instead of spending the rest of the day together, Horacio wants to go home. Amaya doesn’t understand his change of mood and they argue again out of Val’s hearing. Once home, Horacio decides to go out. It’s work. It’s an emergency. The emergency is Emma.
 

Wed Oct 15 AND Thu Oct 16 - Part 3

In Venice Juliana finds out as she’s ready to check in the reservation was cancelled by un tal Mauro Montesinos. Juliana is incredulous, crushed and angry all at the same time. She’s convinced Mauro did it on purpose just to hurt her. He never wanted to see her. Now it is she who doesn’t want to see him.

(OH, Crap! Another Classical Music-loving Evil Character. Give us afficionados a break, please.) Evil César, relaxing, is interrupted by Lucrecia. She’s still concerned about Max and the Tierras Estrellas. EC tells her not to worry, nothing will grow there. Luce is actually worried because long ago she told Mauro the rightful heir, Florencia’s daughter, died, but she’s not dead. If she comes forward to claim the land it would be bad for her. EC assures her, that with this heir far away, like Juliana, they are out of their lives and so it shall remain.

Juliana is now thinking it was probably Lucrecia that convinced him to cancel the tickets. Mauro could never stand up to Lucrecia. Franco recommends calling Mauro. No, she’s not going to do it. She thinks it was Max that talked him into the reconciliation in the first place. Franco suggest she call Max and maybe he can help straighten things out. Around the corner, son Alan is listening.

Mauro is having another flashback of young Juliana and how he tells her that to live in the house, she must follow Lucrecia’s rules. Now he wishes he had supported Juli. Lucrecia was not a good stepmother, nor a very good mother, either. Luce interrupts and lets him know they are going to have a big birthday bash, even though that’s not what Mauro wants. It’s too late, she can’t cancel on all her friends (NOTE: Luce uses the feminine: amigas, so none of Mauro’s friends were invited. Que pena.) In the middle of this pity party, Max barges in furious because his nephew, Alan, just sent him an e-mail telling him Juliana’s flight was cancelled—by Mauro. Mauro swears he didn’t do this and he’ll get to the bottom of this. What is Juliana thinking of him at this moment.

Maybe César knows something about this. He’s the one that gave Genoveva all the passenger information. At this moment, our resident perv is getting a foot rub from his sweetie. He tells Max to go to hell and he’ll be there in the morning. Max says, no, now, Mauro’s orders. Luce goes out to meet him to put him in the know. Mauro is a raging bull [José Elias really chews up the scenery when he does angry.]

Regrettably, when Mauro calls the airline, he doesn’t have the confirmation number. (Evil César and Luce exchange knowing looks.) He acts all indignant when the finger might point at him. It has to be Genoveva’s fault. She and Mauro are the only ones with the confirmation number. She probably cancelled it when Juliana never checked in. Max reminds him it was an OPEN ticket—it didn’t need to be cancelled. There’s nothing they can do until Monday.

Mauro calls Juliana. It’s the middle of the night in Venice. She doesn’t want to talk to him—ever. Don’t call again, she tells him. Franco suggests if Mauro had cancelled the ticket, why would he call her? Alan confesses he sent Max an e-mail and maybe his abuelo wanted to explain what happened. At the other end, Mauro is so hurt. Max will help, but first he needs to know exactly what happened.

 

Wed Oct 15 AND Thu Oct 16 - Part 4

Carolina arrives to comfort Amaya. Caro wonders if Horacio’s change of attitude, right after Amaya talked to the lawyer, might mean he overheard. Maybe. Amaya tells her she remembered something about her parents—a fight they had. The man her mother was in love with was a friend of her father’s! It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces are starting to go together.

Horacio is pushing Emma around at her apartment and tries to get her to bed by force. She tells him if he’s mad at his wife, not to take it out on her. Why doesn’t he just leave her? He starts forcibly undressing her and says he will never leave his wife or family.

Flavia runs into Salvador (Yummy) Romero in a bar. He sees her and tells her he was just leaving. He makes the big mistake of telling her that his heart already belongs to someone else, but it’s a forbidden love. He won’t tell her who it is.

Birthday breakfast is being served but Mauro is not present. Max comes in and asks for coffee……

Juliana opens the door and it’s Mauro. He tells Juliana that he wanted to spend his birthday with her and so it shall be. Cara de impactada de Juliana.


 

Fri Oct 17 - Part 1

Venice – Juliana opens the door and sees Mauro standing there. It’s awkward and tense but she lets him in. He swears he didn’t cancel the ticket but he’s going to find out who did it. He would never humiliate her like that. He meets Franco and Alan, his grandson. [I admit I choked up when Mauro met his grandson.] They leave so Juliana and Mauro can talk alone.

Juliana tells Mauro how Lucrecia treated her like a nuisance, an intrusion, when the real intruder was Luce. She never liked Juliana and never hesitated to show it. Juli felt so alone, without her father’s support. The two had been there for each other until Luce came along. Why HER? Mauro decides to tell her about his romance with Florencia. Juli sort of remembers her. They had planned to get married—Flo loved Juli and Juli had responded in kind. It all ended when Luce showed up pregnant. That would be César. So, yes, he married her to give the child a name, a home, protection. He didn’t marry Luce for love.

Juliana wants to know why he stayed with her? He thought about it many times, but after suffering his severe depression (losing Florencia in the river accident—but he doesn’t mention this part), he lost the will. Juli says, “because you did, you left everything in her hands.” [Despite memories of Gasca and Tio Leoncio, I wanted to reach out and hug Mauro and tell him everything was going to be ok. Sniff.] Juli continues, “Lucrecia was the one who provoked and promoted the rivalry among your children, especially César and Max—and took every opportunity to hurt me—and yes, that is why I left.” Mauro gets down on his knees and begs forgiveness. He was a terrible father and wants to make it up to her. He invites her to come with him to visit El Paraíso to relive their happier times together. “That place,” he reminds her, your grandparents’ lands, your mother’s, belong more to you than anyone. Half is yours by inheritance and the other half, left to me will, of course, be divided 5 ways.” He wants to go there right then. She decides she wants to, but can’t right away.

As they hug in relief and happiness, Franco and Alan return. Their reconciliation is complete, the whole family content.

Mexico, D.F. Sunday breakfast – Lucrecia is furious at Mauro for doing this to them, for walking out on his celebration when all the arrangements had been made. Max says Mauro wanted to mend fences with Juliana, it was his choice. Flavia doesn’t see what the big deal is, she can see the point of his wanting to be with Juliana. [BTW, did anyone notice the Montesino mansion is identical to the Lascuraín mansion in Mi Corazon es Tuyo?] Max thinks it should be their gift to him on his birthday.

Lucrecia is still pithed. Regardless of how he wanted to celebrate, he should have told her. She storms off, César follows. Max calls Consta to tell her the party is off and why. She’s disappointed because she wanted to use the celebration as an excuse for Max to re-ask for her hand in marriage—a do-over, as if they were really doing it for the first time.

Lucrecia and César commiserate. They foresee Mauro wanting to reincorporate Juliana into the family and the family business. César tells her not to worry. If Juliana tries anything, with the lands, properties, business enterprises, César will take care of keeping her away—just as he did with Max. Disappointment on her face, Luce says she tried so hard to make César seem the heir-apparent in Mauro’s eyes and not Juliana. She says how she paid an investigator for years to give Mauro false information on Juliana’s whereabouts, just to keep her at a distance from Mauro. César isn’t worried. Next to his father, he’s the one with all the power.
 

Fri Oct 17 - Part 2

Elsewhere in the D.F. Sunday – Amaya gets up early and starts work on her project. She and Val will do something special together, go bowling. Since Horacio came in late last night, he’s still asleep, but they will leave him a message on where to catch up with them. Horacio never calls and never joins them. Neena calls to tell her about Mariana’s “detention” incident. She gets on the phone with Mariana and she admits that one of the guys was none other than Iván, Max’s friend. Amaya recalls when she met him at the cabañas, when he brought Max’s dad there. Well, he works at El Paraíso. She thinks maybe El Paraíso belongs to Max’s family. Amaya wants her to investigate further. Mariana says things will be more complicated now. And, no she hasn’t seen Max again, but probably will on Monday. She’s desperate to explain why she didn’t show up for their coffee on Friday.

Somewhere in D.F. – Carolina’s ex runs into her in a shopping mall. It’s been a long time. It seems he’d like to get back with her again. She claims she’s better off without him, even though she’s the one that walked out on him. She recalls his attitude of indifference provoked her exit.

Montesino Living Room – [The Whiteness dazzles, compared to our two darkest evil characters] Eloisa is suggesting that instead of complaining about Mauro, she should support him. Luce knows he’d been trying to contact Juli for years. Suck it up and stop playing the drama-queen victim. Luce reminds her SHE is Mauro’s wife and not Elo. Elo hisses back—because you took him away from me, like you did every man who showed an interest in me. Luce smugly replies he never showed any interest in Elo, the poor little thing that she was. Still, Elo thinks he would have been happier with her than he has been with Luce. Juarever, but nobody had better find out how you feel because, if it gets out, it’ll be the last day Elo works in their house.

Lucrecia and César are up on the balcony, looking down into the garden at the congenial, happy gathering of the rest of the siblings with Jorge and Eloisa. They are admiring Lucio’s artwork for the Café Tres en Uno and how Flavia was able to turn it into a 3-D image and spin it around. They are laughing and having a good time. Cesar and Luce laugh, too, but conspiratorially. They come back downstairs. Cesar goes to get drinks and Omar, the “art” dealer arrives for the party (he wasn’t invited, of course). César introduces himself (unknowingly, to his probable bio-dad).

El Paraíso fields – Hortensia stops by to talk to Iván, who is helping clear the fields. She’s surprised Max doesn’t want to know anything else about Mariana and Amaya—to the extreme of no one being allowed to even mention her name. She teases Iván that he is interested in Mariana. He only half-heartedly denies it.

 

I apologize for the big boo-boo in the 3d paragraph in Part 1. It wasn't Gasca Jose Elias was playing in Alborada, it was Alberto LaFont in Pasion, equally interchangeable meanies.

I can't go back and change it now. So sorry, Jose Elias, will you forgive me? On bended knee and tears in your eyes? Ufff.