Caray, Caray!

We return to Bertha and Roberto in the Genoves living room. She has just made him an offer he surely won’t refuse. Help her conquer David, and she’ll give him “anything” he wants (lo que quieras). He looks suitable enticed and gives her hand a slimy kiss. “Claro. Con mucho gusto.” (Of course. It will be my pleasure/with much pleasure.)

At the Club, Mario is waiting for Adolfo, but is also taking the opportunity to see/watch Gabi. Abelardo doesn’t like him being out and about in his condition, and obviously doesn’t want him to have any confrontations with Adolfo. He tries to rush him out and points out that he only sees Gabi’s little sister and not Gabi. As their gaze pans the club and up the staircase, we see Saturday Night Fever meets Solid Gold dancer Marcos and Susana make their grand entrance. He in white jacket, gold lame shirt buttoned down to there, and black pants. She in a matching outfit of white bomber jacket, gold lame bra (because that little thing can’t be considered a top), and black tights passing for pants. Her long midriff is completely bare.

Susana is very impressed by how classy the joint is. Julieta seats them at a small table for two, not far from Mario and Abelardo. Susana immediately recognizes them. She also immediately orders a bottle of the most expensive champagne, since this is a celebration of their newly acquired riches. She points out to Marcos the guy they saw in those photos at the empty house, and Abelardo the guy who first opened the door to the house. Marcos seems to care more about the expense of the drinks they just ordered, than this interesting little mystery.

Gabi arrives. Abelardo greets her and brings her to greet Mario. Mario asks after her father since he wants to “purchase another book.” Gabi informs him that her father is out of town and actually no longer sells books.

She leaves to do her work, but finds Roberto. She makes it clear to him that NOTHING happened between her and Carlos, and she doesn’t want the wrong message conveyed to David. He tells her (lies) that Carlos told him that nothing happened and agrees not to tell David anything. Just then David walks coldly by without saying anything to either of them.

He heads straight to his father to greet him. Mario claims he is feeling a bit better. This pleasant exchange is ruined by Roberto who weasels in to greet Mario. It’s clear he’s looking for any opening to ingratiate himself with Mario and find out more about him and his habits. Bristly David mercifully cuts the conversation short by excusing himself and taking Roberto. He then questions Roberto about why he and Gabriela were talking just now, and the master of half truths and lies tells David that Gabi was asking him to not tell David about her dirty weekend away with Carlos. Hothead David gets suitably pissed, and wants to go confront them both right now, but Roberto talks him down and convinces him to go the route of cold, calculated revenge.

At this point the audience begs to see a handsome good man, with some common sense, and we are rewarded with a Medina sighting. He is gallantly seeing Elsa home to her door. She thanks him, calling him formally Architect Medina. He asks her to please call him Mauricio. He asks permission to call her and she gives it. She is looking very lovely, but it’s obvious that she is still shaken up and distracted by her brother’s “visit” earlier. Just then JJ arrives, looking perturbed, to further throw her off her game. Mauricio happily greets him and bids him and Elsa good night.

Without any further greetings or chit chat (Hey, how was you’re date with Medina? He seems like such a good guy. As your *brother* I would be so happy if you ended up with a guy like him.), JJ jumps right to the point. “Donde esta Marcos?” Elsa is surprised he knows and he explains how he saw Marcos earlier when he came to the apartment. They search through the house and find that he’s done a search through the house himself, leaving Elsa’s belongings scattered, his identity papers missing and her money as well. Elsa weeps. JJ tells her not to worry about the money as he can give it to her again. But Elsa is weeping about more than just the money. Her own beloved brother robbed her. JJ comforts her with a hug.

At the AFI, Leo and his partner Ramon discuss the new assignment the bosses have given Leo. He’s to look into the escape of the prisoners and their connection to the narco-traficking gang he’s been after. First they’ll start with all the relations of the escaped prisoners.

At the Club Gabi and Juli look at David and Roberto chatting. Juli now doesn’t trust Roberto as far as she can throw him, and has no faith that he won’t rat Gabi out to David. They are interrupted by Susana who wants to know where the bathroom is. But first she asks who Mario is and if he’s an artist (remembering the actor’s makeup). They inform her he’s one of the Club owners. Next her roving eye lands on David and Roberto and she wants to know who the handsome guys are. Gabi, getting a bit territorial, wants to know WHY she wants to know. She lies that one of them looks like a guy she knew in L.A. which puts up Gabi’s suspicion meter. But she explains that one is the son of the owner and the other is a friend. Susana runs off to the bathroom with her new info, and Juli wonders if David could have also been fooling around with this girl in L.A. at the same time they were there with him.

They look towards David who has nearly hit the top of the stupid meter. Roberto is playing him masterfully. David’s all a twitter about how he thought he was dating a decent girl, with a strict father. Blah, blah, blah. It’s all too painful to recount. Roberto lies that Carlos said it wasn’t difficult at all to get his way with Gabi. Take her to a nice place, give her gifts, etc. David explains that she says she wants to get married and won’t go away with him. Roberto’s easy solution for David to get even with her is a sham marriage-- get what he wants, and then dump her. (I am so ready to slap them both right now. Ugh!)

Adolfo enters and Mario spots him and calls him over. Mario invites him to his house tomorrow. He hasn’t felt well, so he can’t travel to Adolfo’s. The only reason he’s at the Club is because he came to see David at his office and then David invited him to have a drink. While they talk, behind them a very drunk Susana demands to know how many diamonds they have left and to see them right now. A not as drunk, but just as stupid, Marcos pulls the satchel of diamonds out and starts counting them. Susana grabs at them and takes out one she claims will be for her to keep. Marcos tries to grab it back and in the mini-struggle it flies through the darkened club, to the feet of Adolfo. (The precious has made its way back to its master.)

They search for it on the dark floor. Marcos crawls around Adolfo’s feet getting closer to seeing the diamond, when Adolfo turns around to find out what the heck is going on. He gives them both a good hard look, but Marcos manages to find the diamond and pocket it before Adolfo sees what he has. Marcos returns to his table and Adolfo turns back to Mario to agree to the meeting. As Adolfo departs, he tells the head waitress not to serve anymore drinks to Marcos and Susana. David and Mario leave together, and Roberto looks pleased as punch with himself for a job well done in creating mischief. On his way out, David briskly grabs Gabi and tells her he’s coming to her house tomorrow to talk to her.

Drunk Susana snaps her fingers to order their bill. She’s bored of this place and wants some fun. She wants to return to the house with all the pictures of the old man they just saw. Adolfo, meanwhile, seats himself at Roberto’s table. Adolfo has noted how sickly (desmejorado) Mario seems. He wants Roberto to pay special attention to things related to Mario’s health, especially what medications he’s taking. Messing with his meds may be the easiest way to do away with him.

Susana and Marcos arrive at the hideout house. Obviously Abelardo has not fixed those glass window blinds or found a better way to secure the place. Susana is curious about all sorts of things—this house, and who put the diamonds into the shoes. She goes straight to the bedroom door. But this time it’s locked. Marcos thinks they should go, but first he heads to the little boys’ room. Susana decides to play a game of hide and seek with him, and lodges herself into a nook just beside the bedroom door. When Marcos finds her and the hanky panky grabiness ensues, they are both shocked to find that their kisses and the champagne are not the reason why the world seems to be spinning. They themselves have somehow spun around in the wall niche, from the living room, and into a tunnel! They decide to see where it goes, and head down the staircase and into the tunnel passage. They freak out realizing how long and deep the tunnel is, and decide to turn back (for now).

It’s the end of the night at the Club. It’s closed up and the staff are all in their street clothes ready to go. Gabi and the piano player (Brenda?) sit at the piano while Brenda plays a tune. Gabi is impressed and wonders how difficult it must be to learn to play, but Brenda tells her anyone can learn. With training Gabi could become a virtuoso too. (This may just be a throwaway scene, but they do give this piano player lots of face time and I wonder if she’s well known. I also think it points to how many opportunities to do something with her life Gabi would have had and taken, had she not been moved around so much and had a proper education.) Juli arrives with two other waitresses, and all the girls decide to head out for tacos before returning to their homes. At the neighborhood taco restaurant, the girls are having a great time, chatting, chowing down, and listening to the upbeat music playing in the background. Gabi and Juli get up and do a cute sexy dance in unison, and then Gabi grabs one of the guys who works there to dance with her. He’s shy, but he looks pleased. The girls whoop it up and begin the man talk. They are all impressed, but not surprised, that Gabi has all those rich guys after her, fighting for her. Juli throws in that she even has a police officer crazy for her. Gabi shyly sips her soda as they tease her. But Gabi starts saying David isn’t the Prince Charming he seems to be. He’s plenty distrustful (desconfiaba) and a jerk/ashole-ish (sangrón) sometimes. Those guys are used to getting their own way and are daddy’s boys (hijos de papi), she says. One of the waitresses still thinks Carlos is pretty delicious (buenisimo). They tease Juli about Roberto being after her too. All the other customers they get going after them are old, bald, fat, with mustaches and cigarettes dangling from their mouths!

It’s morning at the Genoves house, and Ale and Mario talk about David over breakfast. Mario is worried that he’s working too hard and has too many responsibilities as he’s left very early again for work. Ale tells him not to worry. David can handle it. He asks about Bertha coming down to breakfast with them. Ale reminds him that Bertha is a late riser (that’s one way to say lazy moocher). The two get to talking about Ale’s business. Mario wants to know about this new project and client she has. She explains that her client is an eccentric young man who bought the house next door that they originally wanted to buy. He’s attaractive, but strange, and for this reason she was distrustful of him and asked for half of the full payment, 2.5 million pesos, up front. Mario informs Ale that the house belonged to an old guy in prison at the time they tried to purchase it, and Ale wonders how it ended up belonging to Elsa’s friend. Mario tells her that the old guy died in prison and willed his house to a Juan Jose Victorio. Ale immediately realizes that this is Elsa’s friend. He’s the one who sold the house to Señor Ocampo. Mario wonders if she ever met JJ. Nope, she only heard about him. She asks why all the interest on his part. Does he know JJ? Mario says that the name sounds familiar, that’s all. Ale looks like she does not believe that lie.

At the Guillen breakfast table, Juli tries to calm Gabi’s nerves by saying David doesn’t know about the trip with Carlos. Gabi isn’t so sure. These last few days he’s been so strange, serious and different. She tells Juli about his invitation for her to go with him on a business trip. Juli isn’t surprised. All men are the same! (Todos son iguales.) Our dad was right. Guys of that social class don’t want anything serious with girls like us. Gabi agrees, but she loves David so much. The phone rings and it’s their dad informing them that he’s got a job and house lined up for them in Baja California. He’ll be back Sunday to help them pack up and then they’ll go. In the meantime, inform the landlady and their jobs that they're leaving. Gabi agrees reluctantly, but can’t hold back tears.

Elsa’s also having a bad morning. JJ sits with her at her table as she tells him about her sleepless night. Even when he was a little boy, Marcos always caused lots of trouble for their mother. She’s worried about the kind of trouble he is in, and will continue to get into. JJ tells her not to worry. He has to turn himself in. In the meantime, JJ will find a good lawyer for him and try to get him out on bail (bajo confianza). Elsa knows that Marcos would never turn himself in. And she is ticked off (me da coraje) that he stole that money from her. JJ tells her again not to worry about the money. He’s got that covered.

At the Guillens' the door bell rings and it’s strange, stupid, serious David. He’s polite enough to ask what’s wrong when he sees Gabi has obviously been crying, but goes right back into stupid mode when she tells him nothing is wrong. When he asks about her father’s return, she lets him know he’ll be back Sunday and shortly after they’ll all move. David skips right by this important detail and gets back to talking about the trip he wants her to accompany him on. She tells him again that she does not do that sort of thing. “What if we got married before going?” “Como?!” (What?) “If you want to, we get could get married tomorrow.” Gabi is left impactada as we go to commercial.

Gabi asks for clarity. Is he asking her to marry him? He says yes, and she runs into his unwelcoming, stiff arms. “Really? You really want us to get married?” David continues to lie, which is obvious to us because he exudes no joy. But poor Gabi would never be able to guess at David’s less than noble plan, and is more concerned with the suddenness of it all, and it not being the proper way to go about getting married. “Why tomorrow? Shouldn’t we wait for my father? Shouldn’t we inform both our fathers? What about the blood tests and paperwork?” David makes excuses about her father not liking him, and also about him being his own man and not needing the permission of his father to do something her wants to do. And he’ll take care of all the legal paperwork, she need not worry about that. He puts the ball into her court and tells her she needs to decide. Just tell me if you accept or don’t accept. Gabi says she can’t. David turns to go, saying this proves she doesn’t love him. He finally successfully manipulates her into saying yes. She loves him, like she’s never loved anyone before. (Te quiero como nadie.) She looks unsure, but gives him a loving hug.

At Elsa’s, the door bell rings, making Elsa and JJ both hopeful and worried that it’s Marcos. JJ answers and finds Leo and his partner looking fierce and serious at the door. Leo asks for Elsa and comes in. He confirms that she is Marcos’ sister and asks if she knows what happened. She lies that she doesn’t. He explains the escape and the link to narco-traficking. He wants to know if her brother is involved in some way with this narco-traficking gang. Elsa badly lies that she hasn’t seen Marcos. She tells them they can search the house, and Leo sends his partner off to do so while he continues to question Elsa. He advises her to turn her brother in if he makes contact with her. They will find him, and he will only make things worse for himself the longer this goes on. If it turns out he is involved in this narco-traficking gang, then this could put him away in prison indefinitely. He drops a few names of the mafiosos they are looking for. Elsa takes note, but maintains a pretty good poker face. She says she will turn her brother in if he does contact her, but she also assures him her brother has nothing to do with narco-traficking. She thinks he just took advantage (aprovechar) of the situation to escape (huir).

Leo’s highly efficient cop senses then turn to JJ. He wants to know if he’s a relation of Elsa’s and if he also knows Marcos. JJ nervously claims he has no idea where Marcos is hiding. Ramon confirms that no one else is in the house. They excuse themselves and Elsa collapses on the couch in nervous relief. She wants to know what they’re going to do. JJ is sure the police are going to be watching Elsa’s apartment. They have to find Marcos and convince him to turn himself in. Elsa has no idea where he could be. She never knew who his friends and acquaintances were. In the meantime, JJ does not want Elsa to stay in the apartment. She’ll only get dragged into Marcos’ troubles and he does not want her to get in trouble with the police. She tries to argue, but JJ is not taking no for an answer.

At Adolfo’s, Deborah has arrived from L.A. and greets him with a seductive kiss. He wants to get right to the business at hand (asunto). He shows her the two diamonds that he’s sure were in the shoes. She examines them and confirms that they are indeed the gems she put in the ugly black platforms. He tells her about the guy who sold them to the jeweler. Adolfo is sure he’s the girls’ accomplice. Deborah can’t believe that the girls lied about throwing the shoes in the trash. They just don’t seem the type to do this. They seem so innocent. She wonders why he doesn’t speak to them and make them return the jewels. He explains that he can’t, since they are such good friends with a police commander that’s been on his trail. He explains that he searched their house already, but found nothing. He leaves her looking worried as he goes off to do business.

In their bedroom, a nervous Gabi confides in Juli about her and David’s plan to get married tomorrow. Juli has all the same questions Gabi did about the suddenness and informing their dad. But ever the romantic, she is super excited for her sister. Marrying David is like winning the lottery! Gabi feels it’s all wrong since she has no time to arrange her affairs and invite her friends. But she loves him so much. Juli wants the details, for which Gabi has no answers, since it all happened so quickly. Where will they live? Will his family be in attendance? Juli then wants to know what will happen to her. Will she be left alone and have to move with their dad, when she never wanted to move in the first place? Oh no! She’s not moving and she’s not quitting the Club! Gabi scolds her. She can’t leave their dad alone and she can’t live alone either. Juli tearfully disagrees.

Caramelo is teaching her dolls proper manners, through scolding and spanking (nalgadas), as Limon prepares the breakfast table in the hotel suite. They sit down to eat and Caramelo asks about inviting her friends, the children of Don Filemon, over to play with her and watch tv. (This kid needs some friends her own age to play with.) Limon thinks they need JJ’s permission first. Just then JJ arrives with Elsa and her two suitcases (yes, TWO, unlike the magical one small suitcase that holds EVERYTHING that we always see in telenovelas). Caramelo runs into the arms of her Tia Elsa. They are happy to see each other. Caramelo is beyond excited to hear Elsa is going to live with them for a while. She wants Elsa to sleep with her in her room, or is she going to sleep in JJ’s room? All the adults get flustered and tell her of course Elsa will sleep with Caramelo in her room. JJ and Limon will bunk up together (but not *together*). Limon and Caramelo take Elsa’s suitcases to the room, while JJ starts to finally question Elsa about her date with Medina. She says he’s a nice person whom she gets along with (me cae bien), and JJ starts to act like a jealous lover/overprotective brother. Does she also “get along” with Carlos? (Oh no he didn’t!) If one’s not visiting, she’s going out with the other. Elsa is NOT having that conversation again. (Has JJ forgotten that mega slap she gave him last time?) She has done nothing wrong with either of them. JJ says that even so, it appears otherwise and people will talk. She wonders if he’s so worried about her reputation, then why did he invite her to come live here (in a hotel, with a single man, who is NOT her brother). JJ argues with her. “That’s different.” “Why?” “Because my intentions are different!” “Oh that’s right. Because to you I’m like a piece of furniture or your sister. But I’m not! (No lo soy!) Get it into your head. I’m not your sister!” JJ has no answer to that.

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Part One by NovelaMaven

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