Wednesday, July 05, 2017

La Candidata Martes, 7/4/17 Chapter 22: Regina Give In


Too often in our modern lives where appearances are everything one often loses sight of one's true feelings. Most shrinks will tell you that this is why they get rich.
  • D.D.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Regina Gives In

Alonso tried to tell Regina that he was the man who loved her and supported her, but she told him that for some time their relationship has not worked.
All the trouble, all the pain has been your fault,” he said.
No; that isn't true.”
Is this divorce about me or for Gerardo Martínez? That imbecile is all over us, near my house, in my face at all hours. He's responsible for you forgetting your values, your principles,” he said, shaking his index finger like a scolding parent.

No; not at all. This is about you... or do you think this marriage is working? I am fed up with your manipulations and the shadowing. It's for you, about you, and I'm fed up with you.”
It's for your law. Because that's important to you.”
You did that to get me out of the way. You did it to secure your nomination from the party.”
No. I did it for you... but it's obvious that nothing was enough. That's clear. But this business is only a stupid pretext. You're hiding your real intentions.”
What are my real intentions?” she asked, then turned around at the sound of a message on her cell phone. She looked at it.
Alright, go answer it. If it's Gerardo Martínez he doesn't have to wait, huh?”
It's your mother.”
What's happened?”
She's at the house and wants me to get in touch with her. It's urgent.”
My father almost killed her.”
How?”
He hit her very severely. Multiple times.”
Your father must be arrested, Alonso.”
That won't happen. It wouldn't work.”
Ah, look at yourself. This is what you think of such things. He throws her into the garbage after putting her under the carpet. That's how you deal with this. It's unbelievable.”
Now I understand. This is what you think. You come into my office asking for a divorce because what you really want is the power. Absolute power. That's why you're negotiating the candidacy behind mt back, isn't it?”
Alonso would never admit it, but he was projecting his own desires onto her. It wasn't so much that he needed to assign his own faults to her; it was that he could not understand other people having different motives from his own.

Mauro was at Cecelia's apartment with a bottle of Merlot that he proclaimed was the best. She looked about as bored as she might have been with any past client. She took off her shoes reached behind her neck to unzip her dress. Mauro's mood changed.
What are you doing?” he asked. He appeared to be genuinely confused.
Would you prefer to be in the bedroom?”
Wait; that's not what this is about.”
No? Then why did you come here?”
Just to see you. To see what you're capable of.”
What is this? Is this a joke in poor taste? You said you wanted to have sex with me.”
I didn't say that. Never. Forgive me, but you imagined that.” He touched her face. “Cecelia, I never wanted to get into your bed; there have been too many others there.”
She pushed his hand back.
You wanted to humiliate me.”
To the contrary, I wanted to demonstrate that you have many weapons at your disposal. Sex is not your only one. I know you've had a difficult life.” He maneuvered her into sitting down. “If you want to be the governor's mistress, you have to do it well.”
What do you want to say?”
From on this point on, you belong exclusively to Alonso.”
Are you trying to teach a morality class?” She was moderately amused.
Now, this is a class in politics.”
He took his seat and went on about the exercise of power and how sex should be the last card she plays. She didn't quite get it.

Regina got a call from her mother regarding Emiliano. She told her she would be home right away and told Alonso that they needed to deal with this immediately. He attempted to play a maternal guilt card about how Emiliano would react upon news of any pending divorce. He even implied that this would hurt their parents as well. Regina had no patience for this, heading for the door to get home.

Isela told her bartender the bad news that they would need to close the club. It would not be permanent, but would need to be for a while. It was because of her own error.

Gerardo went home after failing to find Teresa at the casino, the one place he expected her to be. According to Ximena she had not returned. Gerardo called Ignacio who suggested that Gerardo check Teresa's apartment. In fact, she was in a cheap establishment playing dice with a couple of working-class men. Mario walked in with Almiro to break up the game. Teresa recognized him. It was almost impossible to know whether she was drunk or pretending to be when she said “You're the father of the slut who is chasing my husband.”
You've drunk quite enough. We came here for you.”
I'm busy,” she said, picking up the dice.
Let's go,” Mario said.
She threw the dice before looking at him again.
What is this about? I've no home; I'm alone. I'm playing.”
Mario had no desire to draw this out any longer. He deftly picked up her left arm and led her out. Almiro had his back, drawing his pistol to move it to the other side, deliberately in view of the three men at the makeshift gaming table, before backing out the door after his boss.

Mauro continued his brainwashing of Cecelia by sullying Regina to her. She seemed willing to believe every stinking lie he wanted to lay on her. However, she also studied him as he told her, “You have a decision to make. Are you my ally or my enemy?”
You think you're Alonso's boss, don't you?”
I am the boss! I have always been. We're together to insure his candidacy and nobody is going to get in the way. I'll ask you again, are you with me or against me?”
I'm with Alonso.”
Then, you are with me.” He stood up. “Therefore, tomorrow you need to be clean. You have to clean up your past. Keep your father in the background and get rid of Isela and those prostitutes.”
What else do you know about me?”
Everything. All. My last word of advice – ” He pinched her nose slightly and sniffed his fingers. “Clean up your nose. Never have anything in your face. Until tomorrow.”
After he left she touched her nose and sniffed her fingers. She was a little annoyed, but whether that was because of her addiction or that it was detected she did not know.

Regina arrived home to find two brands of chaos waiting for her. After her initial shock at seeing Natalia with her arm in a sling she tried to get Noemi to talk about Emiliano, whose bodyguard, Hector, came in to fill Regina in on the sordid details of which he was aware. He had tried to get Emiliano to take a shower, but the boy went into his room and did not admit him. Regina marched in and announced that they were going to talk.
I won't talk to you. You break your word and you are a liar!” he said.
What are you talking about?”
I'm nervous, I need to take a bath, I need to be alone. I need to wash myself of all of this.” He tried to get away from her but she followed him.
Hector just told me that you took a shower,” she said.
I have to shower again! You don't get that I have to get rid of it all.” He scratched his arms frantically, looking as though he were going through withdrawal. He began stripping off his clothes, which sent Regina to the door calling for Hector.

Magda arrived to find Israel pointing a pistol at his temple. He started backing away from her, talking about being a failure and how the only person who cared about him was his granddaughter. Magda reached for the pistol, but that only caused him to point it at her. She begged him to hand it to her, but all he could say was that his son was dead and he had nothing to live for. She begged him to come home with her or let her move in with him, saying that she loved him. She finally embraced him. Some women have quite a fascination with broken men.

Alonso arrived at Cecelia's apartment, knowing that Mauro had just been there. She was a little apprehensive at what he must have been thinking but he laughed before telling her that he trusted her, saying he knew she couldn't do the deed with Mauro. She let him inside and told him he didn't have to buy her a penthouse; she would return its keys.
What do you want, then?” he asked.
You.”
She proceeded to prove this.

Sometime the following morning Teresa got back to Gerardo's apartment more than three sheets to the wind. She found him asleep on the sofa, still in the clothes he had worn the previous day. She approached him silently then attempted to kiss his lips. He woke with a start and immediately withdrew from her. She told him she had been walking all night as she collapsed onto his lap talking about looking for him in all the wrong places and how she was walking dead from not having him. He knew she was pulling her Poor Little Me act for the nth time since their marriage and was immune to it. In fact, he had been immune to it for a long time except as far as how it affected Ximena.

Regina talked with Hector about the drugs Emiliano had indulged in the night before. She charged him with investigating their origin and who had made them available to her son. While that was happening Alonso woke in in Cecelia's bed. She brought him something to eat and they talked about how he was going to handle any issue about him not having been home all night. They finally agreed that he would say he had been working all night (which probably had been an excuse he had made many times before). He talked about changing his image and Cecelia could not wait to start that. They behaved almost as a honeymoon couple.

Regina drove Emiliano to school. He apologized to her for his behavior the night before. She tried to get him to understand that she loved him. She assured him that everyone makes mistakes, including herself. She hugged him. He told her he needed her... and Alonso did, too.

Gerardo and Ignacio were walking toward the senate house and discussing Teresa. Ignacio told him not to worry; nothing had happened. Then he dropped the bomb that the opposition had chosen Alonso as their candidate. Gerardo pointed out that Alonso would be a weaker candidate without Regina. Ignacio countered that Regina was popular and likable and that they would make a strong team; in fact he was taunting Gerardo.

Omar sat in the café reading his newspaper. Nina, Mario's latest protegée, flirted him into having a hot chocolate because it provoked smiles. The old coot seemed to be falling for it. He even kissed her hand when he paid the bill and overtipped her. Naturally, Mario had never warned Nina that Omar had a long track record of abusing women.

Daniela told Regina that they had been receiving condolence messages upon hearing that the party was promoting Alonso as its candidate. Everyone knew that she would be the better candidate. However, she was not to openly support the opposition's candidate. Regina was expected to take a back seat.

Alonso poured champagne for himself, Mauro, and Magda to celebrate his pending nomination, thanking them for their work toward this. However, they were only in the early stages. Alonso talked about doing a door-to-door campaign to talk to the people, from housewives to day workers, to show that he was a man of the people. Neither Magda nor Mauro looked like they believed this. He asked Alonso where he got this idea and Alonso said that it was from Cecelia.
And does your wife know about this?”

Ignacio revealed to Gerardo that Cecelia was the daughter of Isela, who was known for her cabaret and its brothel. He had photos taken to prove this. Before he could go into more detail Nieves entered to tell Gerardo that the party was holding a convocation regarding the support for the new law. Ignacio said they would not attend. He told Gerardo that now was not the time to support this law because it would play into Alonso's hands.

Isela reluctantly closed the cabaret and – per Mario's orders – communicated to her bartender that the girls were to be told that talking could get them their permanent resting place.

Hector was parked at a street corner where he watched Nayeli scoring drugs from a young dealer. He took photos, then reported this over the phone.

Daniela entered Regina's office to deliver some documents from Magda and the news that the opposition didn't have a quorum to make a decision on the law. Regina felt betrayed “We had an agreement!” She didn't want to talk to Gerardo about this. She and Daniela had a minor disagreement on what she should say from there.

Alonso met with Cecelia, Mauro, and Magda to discuss allowing the press access to his personalized campaign. Mario arrived and after Alonso thanked him for introducing him to Cecelia they spoke alone. Alonso told him that he had disagreed with Regina the previous evening although he did not go into detail. Mario, however, was there to tell him about Teresa. He said he had it all on a silver platter.


Laretta went to Omar's mansion to see Natalia only to learn that she was not there and that Omar would also not be attending the event he was setting up.

Rodrigo went to see Ignacio at his office to inform him that the cabaret had closed. He then introduced him to Alma, who had worked there. She was willing to talk. Ignacio gloated to himself like a comic villain before standing up and flirting with her before inviting her to sit down. He took his proper seat behind his desk and looked her in the eyes.
Tell me, why did the cabaret close? What do you know about that?”
They told us it would be remodeled, but they put us out in the street. But after everything that happened with the dead reporter and El Cuervo nobody was coming around.”
What did the boss of this place tell you?”
Isela. I didn't get along badly with her. She's been there a long time; I don't know anything else.”
And what kind of relationship did Isela have with El Cuervo?”
She paid him protection money.”
Ignacio took a photo of Pacheco out of a file and showed it to her.
Do you recognize this subject?”
Yes! There was a party one night. Isela set it up. A friend and I were with him and it was recorded.” She began laughing. Ignacio laughed as well.
One more question today. Do you know Isela's daughter?”

Hector reported his findings to Regina, saying that Nayeli had purchased the drugs and was possibly dealing with dangerous people. He offered to call the police because he had friends on the force but Regina told him she would handle this. She asked Daniela to get Ignacio into her office. She had to tell him about this but wasn't sure what to say. Daniela suggested she talk to Gerardo, but Regina didn't like this advice, especially when Gerardo suddenly arrived at that moment.

Mauro and Magda became concerned over the issues between Alonso's parents.

Ignacio thanked Alma for her information. After she left he congratulated Rodrigo on a job well done. This was prime information and he was handing over a check for it.

Mario had just given Alonso the dirt on Teresa, for which Alonso was grateful. Mario was supporting his candidacy despite any issues he was having with Regina over it. He intended to deal with that. As he left Alonso's office Magda came in to tell him she had to go to see his father to try to get him to see a specialist. Alonso became impatient with this but it only got worse when she also told him she had been unable to communicate with Regina that day. His candidacy was not yet official and he complained “I'm more alone than a dog.”

Gerardo explained his position to Regina. He didn't want Alonso's candidacy to benefit from his party's support. She initially reacted that one had nothing to do with the other, then admitted that he was right.
I asked him for a divorce.”
Regina,” he said in a whisper. He then clasped her hands, but she withdrew them and stood up.
Regina, look at me. I won't touch you. If you don't want me to, I won't do it. I want to kiss you. I'm going to.”

He did, and it was all he expected it to be.

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Comments:
Please note the following:  

Due to the subject matter of this novela there will be strict moderation of the comments. Anything about current or past real-world political situations will be removed.  Discussion will be limited to the story, the production values, and the actors' performances.  Also, episode discussions will be closed once the next episode's recap is posted.
 

Thank you, Urban, for yet another wonderful recap to accompany my café this a.m.

Finally we find out that Emiliano goes to a University so now we know what he does when not holed up in his room.

I wonder what Mario's plan is for Teresa to ruin Gerardo's chances (she could have done it on her own without Mario's direction) and what was said after he dragged her out of the bar.

Uh oh, Regina is not planning on attending Alonso's big candidacy announcement nor is Omar. This is going to be a mess.

Another, uh, oh: Alma and her mouth may not be long for this world after talking to Ignacio.

About time for that kiss.




 

I agree. Alma is a DWW. I doubt that leaving the country would help.

Alonso clearly does not give a flying damn for Emiliano. When Regina ended the call from her mother he should have gone home with her and listened to her on the way. Instead he goes to Cecelia's place to play house, the bastard.

Regina seems to not be aware that he is cheating on her and has been for a long time. That's a time bomb waiting to explode.

Teresa could ruin Gerardo's career and his life with nobody's help. I think Mario is smart enough to know this so I think he's trying to figure out how to kill her and frame Gerardo.
 

Alfredo, so true about the wardrobe for women. I actually haven't "noticed" it which is a big change from the norm.

Urban, excellent point about Regina not being aware of Alonso's cheating yet.


 

Jarifa: Alma brought this on herself. The Big Mouth getting her whacked.

UA: Since UniMas moved this TN to 6:00 PM CST.
 

Thanks Urban for the detailed recap. Why did Laretta choose Alonso as the party's candidate instead of Regina? Mario is collecting dirt on Gerardo whose house is bugged. Imagine if they tape an encounter between Gerardo and Regina. Mario is a master manipulator but he has a lot to hide himself. Its amazing that he managed to keep his two families separate.
 

This comment has been removed by the author.
 

Superb recap, Urban! Also an excellent insight into Alonso's character with your remark about his projecting his own desires--a total narcissist. Otoh, he and Cecilia actually make quite an effective political couple, although not necessarily por lo bueno. How did Mario find Teresa? Does he have her bugged, too? Followed?
 

Gerardo's apartment is being bugged. That serves multiple purposes for Mario in that he can keep an eye on Teresa, Ximena, and Gerardo for all things familial and political.

As to why Alonso was chosen by the party, we don't know yet. We haven't seen many of the other party members. It could be that his main supporters are determined to see him become president rather than his significantly younger wife or the handsome upstart who is making a bid for her heart. She will probably switch political parties before getting to the nomination as well.
 

IMHO, I think they went with Alonso because Regina was too hesitant in accepting Larreta's offer and he was not willing to spend the tremendous political capital it would have taken if she wasn't going in 110%. Regina having "to think about it" was not the answer he needed to go against the Alonso machine inside the party.
 

As for Teresa, I would imagine that Mario would have her followed in order to get the best info to blackmail Gerardo with.
 

Thanks Urban for the totally awesome recap. I've been out and about the past few days so I have relied on the recaps, and I feel like I did not miss a thing.

The reason for the support from the party going to Alonso was said by Laretta. He said that Omar's supporters were supporting Alonso, so it was a combination of things. Alonso using Laretta's lover, Regina hesitating, and Omar's supporters. Plus IMOH I think the political leadership would rather have a corrupt man who will fill their pockets, than a decent woman who will work for the people.

I was shocked that Mauro knows about Cecilia's mother. What are his motives for keeping it quiet?

There are many parallels in this TN:
1)Omar, Alonso and Emiliano are very similar in the way they are toward women, how they don't accept responsibility for their actions, and how they think they are the center of the universe. Me, me, me!!!
2)Mauro and Ignacio - these two are the dirty deed doers for their parties, and they know all the dirty secrets, I expect they will both end up dead or in jail.
3)Magda and Daniela - although very different they are both very dedicated to their bosses and are willing to do anything for them.



 

I think Mauro is a good poker player, figuratively speaking. He holds onto the high cards until it's time to play them.

And I agree that the other men in the party -- all of whom are older than Regina -- would prefer a corrupt man who will line their pockets to an honest woman who will actually help the people.
 

UA: I'm hoping when this nightmare TN ends that Regina becomes President of the United Mexican States when everything is exposed.


 

Steve, what do you think the body count will be? I'm going to miss Wednesdays and Fridays for a few weeks. I've retired this year and I enrolled for a 7 week Spanish II semester at a community college! Grammar isn't difficult for me as I was trained as a Latin teacher 50 years ago in another country but I'm not good at "hearing" the language which is why I watch novelas. Where I live in Michigan I don't come across many Spanish-speaking people. Well I might as well try. Thanks for the recaps. I much prefer this novela to others that are running at the moment.
 

I am so not sure what to expect of the final outcome. The credits show her waving to a crowd with what looks like falling ticker tape, but there was also a shot of Omar hitting Susanna and that never happened.

What needs to be addressed by Regina now is Alonso's failure to be a father. When she finds out where he went after she went home to Emiliano's issues she should hail all her wrath upon him.
 

Thanks so much Urban! I love your putting in the conversation and putting it all together. While watching this part with Mauro and Cecelia, I was wondering what the point was of everything. Seemed like a test to me, because as soon as he left, Alonso shows up, so Alonso must have been behind all of this.

Didn't Regina notice that Alonso never came home last night?
 

Lynette: I'm betting around 36 (the same number of "Yago").
 





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