MAX'S "PAWN"

Well so far so good; Raquel & Tonio seem to always work out their problems each passing day. But die-hard telenovela fans know better than to sit easy- a mistake my family made when we first watched NO ONE BUT YOU several years ago. Raquel and Tonio (thanks to a lot of third party interference) had more and more problems that threatened their marriage greatly and it took a lot of strength from the couple to overcome them. Max had another plan to wrestle Raquel away from his step-brother & sworn enemy and he was going to use an unlikely source, Raquel's sister, Martha.

Maura, Tonio's spiteful ex, also had something else in mind and the funny thing is, it began as a prank but started an unexpected chain reaction. Read on...

The next morning, Maura, smarting over Tonio's words to her, tells her younger sister

Carla about it. Carla has a sudden idea...

Luis(one of the chauffeurs and Max's henchman) and Martha went for a drive and Luis suggested she take the wheel and learn how to drive. Martha eagerly accepted and to her surprise found it easy. Daniel consoled Chucho who was still upset; he wasn't at all sure Tonio would help him again after hearing about the previous night's debacle. Daniel is still confident Raquel would be able to influence Tonio, for his sake.

 At the mansion, Raquel and Tonio are having breakfast. She remarked they've been married for a while  now yet she still didn't even know more about his line of work. He asked if she was interested in the business but she wasn't, she was more interested in him. She suddenly asked what had run through his mind the fateful night he  first saw her.

Tonio looked at her seriously and said he'd thought,' who is this beautiful woman?'

Raquel laughed and asked him to be serious, but he insisted that he was. For a moment he had actually wondered if he had amnesia and if the lady in front of him was his wife or not. He then asked her what she'd thought when looking at his photograph. Embarrassed, she asked how he knew about that.

He replied Ezequiel told him. She explained that she had wanted to see how the real Antonio looked like out of burning curiosity  and had  though he was attractive, though he was a stranger.  Tonio said if what had happened hadn't happened at all, he wouldn't have met her, and he had no regrets.  As they smiled at each other, Ramon appeared with the phone, Raquel had a call from Guadalajara. 

Raquel took it from him and said 'hello?'

No answer. That was because it was Carla on the other line; she grinned at Maura then hung up.

Very puzzled, Raquel stared at the receiver, saying that the person had hung up without answering. Tonio asked Ramon if the caller had given a name. Ramon replied the person was calling for a Mr. Roberto Aguirre. She said she didn't know him. Tonio is surprised as well but accepted the answer. (trust me folks, that fictional chap caused more trouble than you could ever imagine).

Meanwhile, Max and Luis met in his room; he asked if Martha had been going out with Luis as planned ; he said yes and he's found an actor willing to go with the plan they'd hatched. Max ordered him to make sure Martha agreed to go on a date with him as soon as possible for everything to work. They left the room and went outside; Raquel, alone in the living room, watched them leave. Daniel tentatively joins Raquel to speak with her, from the look on his daughter's face, she still wasn't pleased with the trouble he caused. Daniel is apologetic and Raquel felt it may be best for him and Martha to go home, rather than abusing Tonio's kindness. Daniel asks Raquel to convince Tonio to help Chucho again, not to give him more money; but a job.

Tonio paid another visit to Oscar, who still felt hostile towards Raquel and felt he needed proof before accusing Max of attempted murder. He also felt Tonio was not being objective when it came to Raquel, blinded by his love for her. It was her word against Max's. Tonio  insisted he wasn't a  love struck little boy; he knew what he was doing and he and Raquel loved each other very much. Oscar asked him if he planned on having children with her because he has obviously slept with her already. Just how was that any  of his business? 

 Tonio's  answer was a firm yes. Though they were yet to discuss the topic- Raquel was going to be the mother of his children. With that, he left.

But later in the day, Tonio, unable to concentrate at work, called the house. Ramon gave the

phone to Raquel, she asked if all was well. Tonio said nothing was wrong, he wanted to hear her voice and he couldn't concentrate. When she asked why, he said she knew why  he was distracted. 

 Raquel blushed red, smiling. He asked her what she was doing and she replied she was waiting for him to come home. He then told her to instruct Ramon to start the yacht; they would go on a

boat ride that afternoon. He hung up, after saying he loved her. Raquel put down the phone and went to the kitchen. 

Martha agreed to go on a date with Luis. 

After another talk with Daniel, Chucho decided to approach Tonio himself but hoped Raquel would still put in a good word. 

Raquel and Tonio spend a very romantic and pleasant day on the yacht. Cuddling Tonio after he comes aboard from the water, Raquel asked... what was he like in his youth.  Tonio listed them out (some of them we probably guessed already), an over achiever,  temperamental, and very jealous over keeping  anything he had, adding, 'I still am,' taking the words out of Raquel's mouth. She warned him she was the jealous type too, so he better watch himself. The couple resume kissing and cuddling. 

Meanwhile, Maura told Rodrigo about the prank because she wanted to take it further; she asked Rodrigo to get someone to pose as Roberto Aguirre  over the phone. He agreed to do it.

On getting back to the house, Raquel was informed that some flowers had arrived for her and Mr. Aguirre  had called again. Tonio told Raquel that he had sent the flowers but he wanted to know who this Roberto was. Raquel again said she didn't know any Roberto Aguirre, maybe it was a crank caller. Tonio believed her but by nature (as we already know)  he was rather jealous and possessive, so these strange calls didn't please him at all. In his study, he asked Pablo to find out all he could about Roberto Aguirre.

Later he joined Raquel in her room, where she was admiring the flowers he'd sent her and the loving message on the card, saying she would enjoy them the same way if they and her things were moved into his room. This guy honestly doesn't waste time.  Raquel smiles shyly. She tells him she had a wonderful time at the yacht and he promised to take her out again. Raquel looks forward to it but teasingly warns him not to ignore his work. 

Going downstairs they found Chucho, who pleaded with them to help him again; reminding Tonio how he'd saved him, he was willing to do anything around the house. They decided to give him a servant's job and he thanked them gratefully.

Luis met with the man who was to carry out the plan Max had hatched, which would involve Martha.

Raquel and Tonio finally started sharing the same room instead of going back and forth all the time. Raquel also decided to pay him a visit at his office and see how he worked. Chucho eagerly started work as a steward,very proud of his clean white uniform.

As they arranged , Raquel arrived at Tonio's office, where he warmly welcomed her.  Pablo watched Raquel  admiringly as Tonio showed her some blue prints of a hotel being built for a client, and takes her arm to show her around. 

That evening, Martha borrows one of Raquel's purses for her date, lying to her sister that she was going out with Claudio and some of his friends.  She and Luis had an uneventful time at the restaurant and nightclub and drove home afterwards. Half way there, Luis suggested she tried her budding driving skills again, which she happily agreed to and took the wheel. As she drove slowly along the road, the hired actor came out of the bushes and pretended to trip, falling against the front of the car and onto the ground.

Martha screamed and pulled over. Luis got out, pretended to examine the man and ran back into the car, saying the stranger was dead, she had killed him. Martha is very frightened at what she'd done. Luis takes over the wheel and they drive off.

 However, someone saw the whole thing! As the man began to get up, who should hurry over to him but Chucho, who was returning from his visit to Mercedes (or Meche as he preferred calling her) and Gabriel. He hurried to the man, asking if he was alright. The man ran away instead of answering him, much to his surprise. Martha was consoled by Luis, who led her into the house then told Max everything had worked according to plan. 

Meanwhile Chucho, getting back, is very puzzled to find the runaway car parked in the mansion's garage.