Caray, Caray!

La Malquerida #77

A child Arrives in Heaven as Another Arrives on Earth

Part 1

Este is trying to comfort Cris without a scintilla of success as she cradles the stuffed white bear in her arms.

Ale shows up at the hacienda with Danilo attached to her like a parasite. Esteban asks Danilo to get coffee as Danilo glares at Ale with an implicit, unspoken threat. Acacia brings Ale the charger she asked for and stares as Ale shoves it into her bag.

The montage of scenes includes the foreman greeting Uli and Hector as they sort out Uli’s business problems; Luisa and Arturo making dinner smiling sweetly and in synch; Cris pushing Este (and the food he is offering her) away as Acacia looms in the background; Perla and Memo outside hugging with obvious happiness; Acacia and Este still distant as Juliana and Norberto continue to make spectacles of themselves at the courthouse. Manuel continues to try and ingratiate himself with Acacia. As Hector pulls Juliana’s chair out from the table, she turns to face him and for a moment it appears she might lean in and kiss him. Hector seems to waiver for a bit and closes his eyes for a brief moment (I changed my initial interpretation after last night – I will be interested to see what all of you thought). In the saddest moment, Este is trying to break Cris out of her depression by screaming at her, which always yields the intended results. Not. She dissolves in further tears.

Acacia cries to Ale how distraught she is regarding Cris. She relates that Cris doesn’t want to see anyone and has made herself a virtual recluse in her bedroom. While the doctor says Cris has been through a very traumatic experience, Acacia says three weeks have passed and she has not improved and their concern and worry for her continue unabated. Ale conveys her heartfelt concern. Ale then asks about Ulises. Acacia said she has not seen or heard from him and is coming to the realization they will not be together. She confides in Ale that Esteban continues to ignore her. She admits his silence is getting to her and she wants to comfort him. Ale asks the question we are all wondering – who is upsetting her more? Uli or Esteban?

Acacia indignantly avows that she wants to get back with Uli. Ale looks a bit skeptical (as do we). Acacia acknowledges she misses Este and Ale thinks Esteban is ignoring her because he is having trouble controlling himself around her. She wonders how long he will be able to resist his feelings.

Juliana defies Rosa and enters Cris’s room much to Cris’s consternation. Juliana makes a fruitless attempt to explain herself, which falls on deaf ears. Juliana tries to play up their years of friendship, capping it off with a pathetic show of getting on her knees, begging and groveling. Cris tells her to leave and not return. Juli says very well with not the slightest bit of conviction as Cris rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Juli runs into Juan Carlos who is less than sympathetic as German appears. Juli strikes out again as German asks why she is there and is far from happy to see her.

Luisa is preparing tea in distress which is evident to Elenita who takes the tea to Cris herself. Luisa nervously enters her room and we are privy to the pregnancy test she clutches tightly in her hand. She sees the results as she murmurs she is pregnant with Manuel’s child. She is barely able to hide the test as Rosa bursts in, noticing Luisa’s flushed face. Under Rosa’s unrelenting gaze, Luisa starts to swoon but protests she is fine. Nevertheless, Rosa insists she wants to call Dr. Andres.

Diana

 

Part II

Acacia and Hector have coffee along with disagreement regarding Este and Cris. Acacia appears to be siding with Esteban as Hector reaffirms Cris has suffered a terrible loss. Uli and Katia then join them. Katia’s rather serious expression momentarily brightens at Hector’s spoken praise that she is an excellent assistant. She looks covertly at him, and there is nothing professional as she returns his look.

Este tries to get Cris to take her medicine. She complies but their arguing escalates and he throws the teddy bear across the room as they hurl hurts and accusations. She tells him to leave. As the door closes she clutches her arms and looks distraught. Este tells Elenita and Juan Carlos he is leaving – they are beside themselves. Acacia hears the tail end of the conversation and marches into Cris’ room.

Luisa calls Arturo. Rubio appears, continuing his menacing manner of the previous night, uttering threatening words and tries to intimidate her by standing in front of her, blocking her way. Mercifully, Esteban appears so Luisa can escape. Rosa sees a note (which I gather Luisa wrote) in which I believe she says she is sorry for any trouble she caused and that she loves Rosa. Please feel free to clarify.

Cris says there is no longer the possibility of happiness with Esteban. Esteban is frustrated yet Cris will not back down from how she feels.

Dan and Perla have a discussion which frankly, I could not follow. The upshot of what occurred physically it is that Dan menacingly alternated between kissing and hurting Perla (when he hit her with the cane, judging by Sabine Moussier’s expression, think it hit harder than intended and that it really hurt). He angrily empties the shelves of papers in the cabinet. The tapes of Norberto and Juli fall on the floor. In what may have been her only stroke of luck in this entire TN, Ale sees and takes the tapes.

Manuel is coaxing the only genuine smile we’ve seen from Acacia during this entire episode and of course, Uli shows up. Uli’s stern face says it all. Manuel jumps up and demands to know what Uli is doing there. Uli presents Manuel with a check and Manuel calls him an imbecile as he dries Acacia’s tears. Yet even more inappropriate hugging.

Hector and Juli are taking a walk as she presents him with a scarf. As Hector inquires after Cris, I get the impression Juli is being less than forthcoming about Cris’ state of mind, Cris’s marriage and last but not least, Cris and Juli’s now non-functioning friendship.

Arturo knows something is wrong with Luisa and begs her to confide in him. She runs away in tears. You are my friend. She relents and tearfully tells him she is pregnant. He asks if Manuel knows and says he should be responsible. No Luisa cries frantically as she hugs him. Later at home, Luisa gently touches a pair of baby booties no doubt left over from Cris’ stash of baby items. She tells Rosa she is fine as Rosa smiles at the shoes. Rosa picks up a yellow outfit and happily ruminates on the joy of a child.

Este tells Acacia he is going to a hotel. Acacia hugs him and as he holds her face, she initiates the kiss, which does not stop at one this time. Finally, Acacia tries to break away. She protests to Este (far too late) that Cris is his wife and her mother. She runs away. In separate scenes, Este and Acacia touch their lips recalling their kiss with equal fervor and longing.

Hector envelops Uli in a hug after Uli expresses his sadness, lamenting the loss of a future with Acacia along and the children they would have had. Uli truly looks crushed.

Cris is looking at Acacia’s baby pictures as Acacia runs in, grabs Cris forcefully by the arm and tells her to try and stop Esteban. As I am not sure I was able to grasp exactly what was said in this pivotal scene, I will ask someone to fill in here. I can say this was a terrible fight, culminating in Cris slapping Acacia.

Rubio tries to physically block Esteban from leaving.

Coming: Alonso’s brief rest is disturbed yet again. Acacia visits Este in his hotel room.

Diana
 

There were so many important events tonight.

I want to reiterate that after watching the replay of the Hector/Juliana scene, I changed my mind slightly and now think Hector is definitely intrigued. I fervently hope I am wrong.

I know we have been speculating as to the fact Luisa might be pregnant especially after Cris lost her child, but the pregnancy test startled me. Did I miss Luisa worrying about anything before this scene?

So much more to discuss but have to get a little sleep.

Thanks for posting this Vivi!

Diana
 

I'll be back in the morning with my comment but before I go to sleep please someone tell me I'm not crazy and that I did see Juliana laughing as she exited Cris' room just a second or less before she ran into JC?
 

TF, Juliana was laughing
 

Yes, TF, you and tofie are correct. Darn - I mean to put that in the recap and didn't. That was an important tidbit that spoke volumes to her non-character.

Diana
 

Thanks so much, DIana. I am watching the episode right now.
Yes, Juliana has sunk to new depths . I, too, thought that she was actually laughing after she left Cris's room. When she met JC in the hall, she turned it into sobbing. What a witch. my guess is that she has been terribly jealous off Cris all these years, and now,she thinks she is in a much better position than poor, grieving Cris. She seems to have gotten her claws into otherwise wise Hector...Cris's old flame... Yuck.

Ack is an imbecile who is playing with fire ..still bear hugging stepdad . Going to his hotel room is just asking for it. Would the writers allow Alonsoms killer to sleep with both his wife AND his daughter. I do not think so. If they do the deed,Ack cannot be redeemed in the end as Ithinkmshe will be...unfortunately.
 

Excellent, Diana! What an episode!

Clarifications, and then a comment:
-Elena notices that Luisa is pale and seems tired. She thinks Luisa is working too hard with the hacienda work, school, and her catering biz. Elena notes how much more hacienda work Luisa is doing, and Luisa says she doesn't want Este to get mad at her grandma again. Elena tries to calm her fears by saying that was a one time incident and Este apologized. She mentions that Andres is coming over anyway (I assume to see JC) and that she should see him too. She panics and refuses. Elena passes the word to Rosa, which is why she came rushing into the room concerned about Luisa getting sick, and she insists that Luisa see Andres. Louisa calls Art and tells him she has to see him right now in order to avoid someone. This is what Rubio overheard and he wanted to know who she was trying to avoid, if Rosa knew she and Art are going out, and whether they are really dating or it's just made up, like when she and Manuel were supposedly novios. We see Luisa leave the note for Rosa and the table that says she had to go meet Art about a work event. Rosa then felt bad for Luisa, working so hard all the time. She's sure that's why she seems so run down.
-Luisa broke up with Art, told him he needs to bring a new partner into his business, who she will help train, and that she is planning on disappearing from Soto in about 2-3 months, and she won't tell her grandma or anyone where she's going. That when he chased her demanding an explanation, and she admitted she's pregnant and doesn't intend to tell her grandma, Manuel, or anyone, intends to disappear, and was trying to avoid being examined by Andres today.
 

I wish that JC or Elenita would have walked up and seen their precious little granddaughter kissing Estenasty. In real life, thinking people remove themselves from temptation instead of hovering around it and hugging and kissing it....Bleeccchhh. Ack is in for a big fall when she discovers that she has been lusting after not only her mother's husband but her father's KILLER. Bring it.

On another note, I Think that Art is very handsome, but I would love to see him without so much product in his hair...I like the fluffy look.
 

Susanlynn, good morning!

Although we will likely know more tonight, I am afraid Este and Acacia will cross the line into unforgiveable territory. I hold Acacia fully responsible for her actions. How can she do that to Cris?

Diana
 

Vivi, thank you amiga for providing all of the details of Luisa and Arturo's conversation which is why Elenita and Rosa are so concerned.

I am so thankful he persisted and got her to admit the truth! I hope he can prevail on her to stay, but my biggest fear now is that once Rubio finds out (and doesn't he find out everything??) he is going to assume Arturo is the father.

As he has clearly shown recently that Arturo is his Achilles heel and I shudder thinking how violently he will react.

Diana
 

-Yes, that bitch Juliana was laughing when she left her grieving, depressed supposed best friend, Cris. Cris was gracious enough to say the loss of the baby wasn't her fault and she doesn't blame Julia, but she hasn't forgiven her for how she lied to her and used her.

-Perla asked Dan for some time off from servicing the johns. She will happily continue to serve as main hostess, prepping the girls, and helping him with paperwork. Dan agrees, but with his usual mix of sweetness, menace, and put downs. He points out how old Perla is now, making her defend herself by saying there are plenty of customers who request her. He picks up on the fact that when he agreed to her request, she didn't get all lovey dovey and call him mi Dani, like usual. Hmmm... He then gives her plenty of paperwork to do by yanking all his files of the shelf- jerk. Memo called her and she happily told him that she didn't have to sleep with customers anymore. It's obvious they want to be exclusive with each other. There was more than one video Ale manager to steal. One was Norb and Juli, but I didn't get a chance to read what the other said.
 

-Througout the episode it was obvious that Acacia was taking Este's side. Hector tried to tell her that as she has never had a child, she can't imagine how painful it is to lose a child, and that Cris needs time and support. Both Acacia and Este seem to feel like 3 weeks is plenty of time. (I seem to recall that Acacia's pity parties for herself last much longer than that for much lesser things.)
-In her argument with Cris, Acacia basically demands that Cris snap out of it, in order to save her marriage and to prevent Este from leaving (not for herself or her own wellbeing, mind you). Cris says that Este doesn't understand her pain and she wants him to leave. Acacia then called Cris a weak woman, which earned her the slap from Cris and a demand that she respect her. Cris then tells Acacia that if she wants to be near Esteban so badly then she should leave with him.
 

This is important enough to bear repeating: "...Acacia basically demands that Cris snap out of it, in order to save her marriage and to prevent Este from leaving (not for herself or her own wellbeing, mind you). Cris says that Este doesn't understand her pain and she wants him to leave. Acacia then called Cris a weak woman, which earned her the slap from Cris and a demand that she respect her. Cris then tells Acacia that if she wants to be near Esteban so badly then she should leave with him.

OMG Vivi. Now, Acacia has always been selfish and self centered but those words were pure poison.

Cris is nothing if not valiant, positive and loving. How Acacia could repay her with those venomous words is beyond me.

Is this the justification she will use to proceed with Este?

She has now joined Danilo and Este in my mind. Acacia, you are dead to me.

Diana
 

Even if they never do the deed, Acacia is straight up betraying her mother right now. She clearly wants Esteban to stay in the house so that she can have easy access to him. She initiated that kiss this time. She's showing more loyalty to him than she is to her own mother, and even voicing it to other people (Hector). Unforgivable!

Diana- You were right that Juli was painting a false picture for Hector, lying about how well Cris was doing and how much Este was helping her. He caught himself before he could say that's not what Acacia told him. I think he knows Juli is full of it. But he did still politely accept the scarf she made for him.
 

Vivi, yes!! There was no doubt she initiated that kiss. Judas has nothing on Acacia.

I am livid.

Diana
 

Thanks, Vivi, for the additional conversations.

What an ungrateful child Ack is. Will the writers redeem her at the end when she discovers the man she is lusting after and betrayed her mother for killed her beloved father ? I cannot believe how callously and disrespectfully she treated her mother. It shows how self centered and immature she is. Cris has just lost a much hoped for baby, and Ack is her only child. I do not want Ack to be rewarded with a happy ending with Uli..no..no..No.
That slap from Cris is going to be Ack's excuse to herself for finally giving in to her desire for Este-icky.

 

Poor Criis..betrayed by both her only child and her supposed best friend. She deserves a happy ending with Hector the hero.
 

Susanlynn, one of my concerns continues to be if Este's murdering of Alonso will be revealed. Only Rubio knows this most vile secret. While I don't wish Rubio a lifetime of happiness, I hopes he lives long enough to tell the secret.

Cris' only child has already stabbed her mother in the back - this confession will only serve to exacerbate that wound. I agree Susanlynn, I think Hector will be there to get her through it as well.

I could care less that Aca will be devastated.

Diana
 

Awesome Diana, whew. My heads been spinning so thanks for getting this down.

Acacia has played this close all along and now we know. I thought it would happen again but didn't expect she would initiate. Still not sure if it is love for Esteban but sure is lust and it's been there a long time.

I understand Cris being inconsolable but don't blame all of this split on Esteban. Of course Cris would never imagine the falling out with him and her daughter is exactly the thing both needed to justify their relationship.

Poor Luisa will pay for her indiscretion, pregnant by that worthless Manuel, while he'll slide right through.

 

Tofie- I'm not blaming Este for the split. I'm blaming him for having an affair with his wife's daughter.

I don't envy anyone dealing with a person who is struggling with depression. But three weeks is a little early to be throwing in the towel on a marriage and your wife, don't you think? This is clearly a man already looking for an excuse to get out. A man truly dedicated to his wife, would understand it's the depression talking when she's yelling at him to get out, and would keep fighting to not only save him marriage, but to help his wife get well. So, yeah, Cris is the one who is telling him to go. But everyone in that house knows that Cris is clinically depressed right now, and so he really needs to stop focusing on how Cris hurt HIS feelings and isn't doing her part.
 

Vivi, I agree with everything you said.

This could not have unfolded better for Esteban and Acacia had they planned it, which they did not.

No way, when Cris told Acacia to leave with Esteban, she intended her to "be" with Esteban but again I thought, out of desperation, Acacia was begging Cris to reconsider and hold on to the marriage(granted, it was also to keep Esteban from leaving the house).

 

It has taken me three weeks to get over hurt feelings at times. And Cris was expected to recover from her grief in the same allotted time frame?

Color me bewildered. And repulsed.

Diana
 

Thanks everyone.

Tofie, I agree with you. Although I understand that in real life a situation like this might put strain on marriage, in this case Cris doesn't know the full story of Este's feelings. And I don't think she should fully expect anyone to understand hers either. Este won't understand the physical and emotional pain she feels.

Some friend Juliana is. I liked how Germán kept trying to grab her arm and escort her out. I can't believe she's showing her true colors when Cris is going through this particular situation. Juliana can't even sympathize that Cris lost her baby?

I wonder who else, if anyone, will Luisa confide in that she's pregnant. It probably won't be Cris and Acacia. Maybe Ale?


 

tofie, yes, ITA that things could not have happened as well if Este and Aca had devised a carefully plotted plan.

And TF, yes Este can't fathom Cris' pain but he could have tried harder and been kinder and more patient.

Diana
 

Juli laughing at Cris' pain makes me hope again that she gets not one dime from Norb. Yesterday, I was all about fairness, and her getting what she legally deserves. Not anymore,
 

Vivi, Juli's greatest punishment would be forced to do a respectable, honest day's work along with those whom she has treated with nothing but the greatest scorn.

She has no idea how seamlessly Luisa and Rosa execute their jobs, making demanding, exhausting work look relatively easy.

She would not last a day.

So Vivi, I agree. Not a penny, not a peso. Let her try and eek out a living - starvation won't be far behind.

Diana
 

OMG!!! MUST SEE TV. The writers are really pouring it on and then some.

Once again a very BIG thank you Diana and Vivi.

WOW! Ale now has not only one but two videos Did anyone notice, I'm
sure that I saw three videos in the mess on the floor but Ale only took two of them. Was I seeing things? Three Videos?

I feel so very bad for sweet Luisa
All she wanted was for Manuel to love her. Well he sexed her but for sure doesn't love her. A tragic teenage or young woman's mistake. The big question is---you can't keep something like this covered up. Yes there is abortion but that isn't going to
happen so when the pregnancy comes to light, will Manuel for the first time in his life become a man and take responsibility?

OMG! I can hear Juliana now. You
did it with that "SERVANT GIRL"???

Rosa tried so hard to protect and guide her granddaughter and now??

I saw it but I didn't think that all of the Esteban haters would see it also. Acacia dove into the water head first last night, she went for the hot kiss.

Tonight, the hotel room. Has Acacia completely lost it? We know that EsteBonkers has.
Are we going to have a sleeping with the enemy here?

I can't wait for tonight although
I must confess and I have said it before that I am more concerned with what happens to Alejandra and Luisa than I am with our self centered, spoiled, confessed Acacia.

Please writers don't give us a Acacia/Ulises love match. Ulises
deserves better---Itzel!!!
the gringo


 

sorry---I meant, confused Acacia.
the gringo
 

Esteban and Acacia are made for each other and why this happened.
 

Gringo- Because she can't cover it up is precisely why Luisa wants to leave Soto before she really starts to show. Can you imagine poor Rosa's heartbreak and worry if Luisa just took off like that. She's her life. This is going to get messy and painful.
 

Thanks, Diana. Great job. My favorite snark: Ale shows up at the hacienda with Danilo attached to her like a parasite.

Hector is only human and Juliana is gorgeous. My take is that he wouldn’t mind getting horizontal with her but he knows he too would have a parasite attached to him after that.

And why doesn’t someone suggest Hector visit Cris? Sometimes an old friend can do what concerned family can’t. Hector would at least have the sense to have a psychologist make a home visit to Cris.

I’m so glad Cris smacked Acacia. She is still the same spoiled 9-year-old who refused to stay home when Cris first married Este. On top of that, Acacia was screaming at her mother to get Este to stay so she and he can continue to play kiss-me/let-me-go/kiss-me, and wasn’t even thinking about what’s best for her mom.
L
et’s see. Este feels down about losing the baby, but he’s functioning – trying to help Cris, conducting business deals, and eating meals. Cris is profoundly depressed and refuses to leave her bedroom or eat. Now which one should a daughter worry most about?

I think Hector realized Acacia is more sympathetic to Este than to her own mother. For the first time he didn’t encourage Uli to keep the candle burning for Acacia but instead to move on with his life.

If it takes finding out Este killed Alonso for Acacia to reject this man, she is still a pile of cow dung to me. It should be enough that this man is her mother’s husband. I’m wondering if Acacia has some unconscious resentment of her mother.
 

"I’m wondering if Acacia has some unconscious resentment of her mother."

She resents her mother because her mother is with the guy Acacia wants
 

Wonderful to hear from you gringo and Niecie.

gringo, Rosa tried the best she could with Luisa. I think if Rosa had tried to talk with rather than set boundaries and demands on Luisa, perhaps Luisa would not have been as determined as she was to do what she wanted and felt. That said, Luisa is headstrong and may very well not have done anything differently.

Niecie, I think you hit on an important point. While I think Cris is wonderful, early on I questioned her decision to leave Aca with JC and Elenita those many years ago. I understood why she did it but it was something I don't think I personally could have done. No criticism, just as honest as I can be not having been in that situation.

You may be right in that Acacia may be submerging great hurt and anger. I am at a loss as to how she could do this to her mother. Your comment may provide a key. I thought Acacia was many things but intentionally cruel was not one of them. I have a hard time believing lust is the only factor in play for such terrible betrayal. Nothing excuses it but it would be interesting to know if that had anything to do with it.

Thank you also for pointing out Hector didn't encourage Uli. Just imagine how he will feel when this all comes out.

I think Hector is trying to be respectful and keep his distance. I hope Acacia's words and actions give him pause and that he does go to Cris. And soon.

Diana
 

I think there are a lot of reasons why Acacia would have pent up resentment against Cris:

1) She fell in love with and married someone who was NOT her sainted papa, Alonso. (little girl Acacia and grown Acacia)
2) She fell in love with and married her crush. (little girl Acacia)
3) Cris called her bluff, and let her move in with her grandparents, instead of giving into her threats/demands. (little girl Acacia)
4) Cris is married to and gets to have sex with the hot man she is attracted to and desires. (grown Acacia)

 

Great comments. It would be very hard for Cris to be around a pregnant Luisa at this point in time. it takes much longer than 3 weeks to stop grieving. Cris is taking care if herself even though she does not want to eat. She is showering, doing her hair and makeup , and dressing. The sleeping was partly depression and partly the physical stress. Este only came back to her because of the baby. He now has an excuse to leave. Good job, Este an Ack...yelling at a depressed, mourning person snaps them right back to normal.
 

Show of hands...who thinks Este and Ack are going to do the bunny hop tonight ?
 

I think something will derail the consummation. Both of them want to bad enough, I just don't see how it goes there. Macking is one thing but bumping boots.....

If this weren't a TN I'd say they would be in the sack within the first minute.
 

Susanlynn, I agree with tofie that I don't think the deed will be done tonight (my fingers are crossed).

Vivi, yes, Acacia has a lot of pent up desire. I just can't give any credence to anything she may want or hold against Cris other than that she felt Cris chose Este over her.

She will never have any justification even for what she has done so far in my eyes.

Diana
 

I keep running through scenarios where Ulis would want Acacia back. He seemed to question his decision a bit last night and this without knowing whats going on between she and Esteban. Should she sleep with Esteban and Ulis know about it, how could he justify to himself a resumption of the relationship? He doesn't seem to lack self respect and no one is twisting Acacia's arm or up to tomfoolery. She's in this with eyes open and lucid.

 

I winder if Arturo will propose marriage to Luisa. No THIS IS NOT A SPOILER. I am guessing cause that always happen in novelas. Este and Acacia will probably not do it tonight way too soon for that to happen. They are both traitors but Acacia is worst. Cris is her mother for petesake. I started watching again. Ale can not be lucky so Dan will discover the cell phone and dvds. I am a negative nancy but the show has too long to go for anything to be resolved now.
Romy
 

Romy, you aren't alone in what you noted might happen. Arturo is very honorable, he loves Luisa and I would be surprised if he doesn't step up.

I have no doubt Manuel won't step up but I've been wrong about so much so..,

Diana
 

Arturo is definitely the kind of guy who would step up to that kind of responsibility (even though it isn't his responsibility). Manuel is not, even though it's his baby.
 

Susanlynn- I also think it's too soon for Acacia and Este to do the deed. I'm hoping they never do, because there is NO coming back from that as far as Acacia's chances of making amends to her mother.