AT LONG LAST...

Claudio comes in to find Raquel having breakfast alone; he’s told Tonio had gone out. He tries to make Raquel less distant towards him, but she leaves the table and gets pounced on by Evil Max, who takes her to the study. There, he demanded to know why she wanted to remain in Tonio’s house. If she really wanted the lavish life, he had the means of providing it to her. Raquel wearily said she wanted to leave too, but had yet to reach an agreement with Tonio. 

When? Max snarled. 

Soon, she snapped back when she was able to talk to him about it. 

Max said she keeps saying that, but what has she been talking about with Tonio all this time? Raquel tells him it's none of his business. 

Suspicious, Max says she is probably hatching some stupid plan against him in her head, warning her he'll never let her stay with Tonio. Raquel coldly tells him she knows that, but that doesn't mean she will get back together with him either. Max stares at her in frustration as she walks away from him. 

 Maura is angry at discovering Tonio only asked her out to bother Raquel, hence the rest of the afternoon sucked as a result.

Raquel told her father what happened, adding that if Tonio really loved her, he wouldn’t have gone off with ‘her', meaning Maura.   Daniel advised her to let her heart guide her, instead of doubting Tonio all the time; he's convinced Tonio loved her. 

Victoria is surprised to hear from an angry Raquel that Tonio had gone out with Maura. Chucho, the man who had saved Tonio’s life, arrives at the mansion and is allowed in. Chucho is filled with admiration at the grand estate. 

Max isn't pleased to see Martha with Luis, who had taken her for a boat ride. As soon as she leaves them, Max reminds Luis that Martha is Raquel's sister, but Luis is unperturbed. Max tells him they had to think of another plan of action to rid themselves of Tonio. Luis points out that staging another accident might cause a lot of suspicion this time. Max replies, they'll just have to find a way of implicating someone else. 

Martha informs Raquel, who is sulking in her room, that Tonio was home and asked her if she was coming down to dinner. Raquel said no.

Chucho returns the Rolex that Tonio had allowed him to keep since he wasn’t able to sell it. Tonio promised to give him money the following day and allowed him to spend the night. Martha tells Tonio that Raquel hasn’t eaten the whole day, and she could get sick. Without a word, Tonio goes upstairs, while Chucho introduces himself to a bewildered but amused Martha. 


Tonio goes upstairs and enters Raquel’s room without knocking; Raquel was just getting ready for bed and was not pleased to see him.
He asked her why she wasn’t coming down to eat. 'I'm not hungry,' was her reply. 

'Do you want to get sick?' he probbed.

 

  She coldly asked him, ‘What do you care?’ She got up from her chair and tried to walk away, but was grabbed by the arm. Tonio told her not to say that, and she should get dressed and come down to dinner.

When she didn’t say a word to him, he asked what did it matter if he said he did care, she wouldn’t believe him. She gave him a resentful look and sniffled a bit.  Naturally, he asked her what was wrong.

‘You had a good time, didn’t you?’ she asked in a sulky tone, and he had the grace to look embarrassed.
He said he didn’t, and asked her to pardon him; he had no idea she’d be upset, since last night she’d said she didn’t care about him.  She denied being upset; he could go wherever he liked. But since they were married, what would people think?

Was that the only reason, he asked, or more than that?
 Raquel is too shy to say anything.
He urged her to tell him the truth; didn’t she care about him? Because he cared a lot about her. Good way to sell it, Tonio!

Breaking down (and it was about time!), she hugged him, pressing her cheek against his; he hugged her tight. 'Raquel...' he pulled back to look at her. 'I love you, can't you see that?' 

 They exchanged a very passionate kiss, this time on the serious make-out territory  (we all cheered again). Breathless,  Raquel then suggested they go down to dinner after all.

But Tonio, with a glint in his eye and that predatory smile on his face, said he didn't want to eat now.

Smiling back at him, she reached out, and they kissed again, this time a lot more sensually. 

And that's how this interesting episode ended that night, though we can rightly and vividly assume that two sets of clothes hit the floor in a few minutes before the serious action was moved to the bed. 

 So let me get this straight... Tonio takes his bitchy ex-girlfriend out to spite his wife, and then later, he gets lucky... I mean,  he gets his wedding night after all. Men!

Ummm, Raquel,  so how about the church wedding ceremony ... or doesn't it apply to Antonio then?

ANTONIO DROPS A BOMBSHELL

Raquel indignantly refuses to do what he said and when he insisted, she guessed correctly he must have said something negative about her to Tonio and is furious, wonders what he’ll think of her now. Max drags her to his own room to talk, seen by Ramon, who is shocked but says nothing to Tonio who passed by. Raquel refuses to listen to Max and forcibly pushes him out of her way, much to his frustration. Can't you take a hint asshole, she doesn't LOVE you any more! 

Tonio and Raquel have dinner with Maura and Rodrigo. Luis finds Martha alone in the living room and hits on her but she turns him down disdainfully and goes upstairs.

Back at the club, restaurant (whatever), Tonio focuses a lot of attention on Raquel, putting his arm around her and kissing her hand- while they are watching some live show-  which she warmly responds to. But it annoys Maura very much, giving them both a major stink-eye...which neither of them notice.

Rodrigo dances with Raquel later, Tonio watching in amusement. Maura disses Raquel's dancing but Tonio either didn't care about his lady's footwork or  he's deaf to his ex's negative comments.
 Maura and Rodrigo leave them behind when Raquel said she wanted to stay longer, to Tonio's delight.  At Maura’s house, Rodrigo asked why she made them leave early and she muttered something about the noise bothering her. Smiling at her obvious jealousy,  he comments on Raquel, ‘she’s a special girl’, which annoys her more. Tough break but take a hint, bitch. 

Tonio and Raquel get home very late, in a good mood and holding hands. Tonio leads her upstairs, to his room, which makes her uneasy again, but she enters. Tonio gives her shocking news; since it’s been 30 days and the marriage certificate had not been revoked, it was now valid, they were legally married!

Raquel was very  surprised but asked when they’ll get a divorce. Visibly hurt, Toni said any time she wanted but first he had to tell her; he was in love with her. Finally he says it... yay!!!
Alas- fear made her not believe him- she told him to his face that he was just saying that to get her into bed.

Disappointed, he allowed her to go back to her room and immediately she felt ashamed for hurting him. Way to stomp on the guy's heart, Stupid.  But on the other hand, why did Tonio choose his bedroom as the spot to tell drop two major bombshells, was he hoping that night would be their wedding night, or something?

The next morning, Raquel finds Maura the plump piggy in the living room and got a shock when Tonio came down and informed her he was taking Maura sailing in the yacht for the whole day, and won't be coming home for lunch.

                  Raquel  watched them leave hand in hand… a stunned expression on her face.

WINNER!

Tonio confronts Max with what Raquel had told him, but  Max replies that he won’t be going to jail alone. Ignoring him, Tonio tells Raquel to gather her things and come home with him. Max angrily replies she’ll go with him over his dead body and besides, Tonio was too mindful of a scandal to take any action against him. Tonio picked up the phone and called for the hotel's security, claiming he needed help as his wife's jewellery was missing.  Tonio points a pistol at Max when he tries to move towards Raquel.  Not wanting the sticky situation to escalate even further, Raquel hastily said she'll go back with Tonio. The security arrives but Tonio sends him away, saying the missing item has been found. After he leaves,  Tonio warns Max not to return to Acapulco any time soon. Putting the gun away, he dragged  Raquel out of the room.

Tonio arrives back in the mansion with Raquel and her family; Raquel is very embarrassed and wonders what will happen to her now. Later on, Daniel comes to see Tonio in his study for a serious talk, explaining  why Raquel was forced to continue with the deception, it was because of him. He knew he wasn't an ideal father, being a drunk and an old fool but Raquel  loved him very much. Tonio listened as Daniel told him how Raquel wanted to hire a lawyer and get legal help  once she discovered the truth, even though Max had threatened to frame her for Tonio's 'death'. But she was forced to back down, because of Max's threats towards him, Daniel. He also confessed he and his friend's 'trading' operation with his friend, in an effort to earn money because Raquel was the primary breadwinner.

 Tonio immediately guessed he had been selling stolen goods, hence how Max was able to blackmail him and threaten Raquel. Daniel confirmed it, filled with shame, but wanted to be honest with him. He assured Tonio that they weren't bad people. They just had the bad luck of being chosen by his step brother in his dark plot. 

Tonio tells  him to sit down. If Daniel was willing to be really honest with him; was Raquel still in  love with  Max?

Daniel tells  Tonio that if he knew Raquel, he wouldn't ask that question. She was a decent, honest girl- so was Martha (debatable)!and he's not saying so out of paternal bias. Although he loved his girls equally, he admitted his younger daughter was rather superficial. Tonio still wanted to know why they agreed to leave with Max. Daniel was at a loss, all he could tell him was that Raquel wanted  to leave and since they didn't have money, were forced to accept Max's help. Tonio wasn't satisfied by the reason, as he had promised Raquel he wouldn't turn them in. Daniel feels  Raquel would answer that question if he gently approached her. However, he assures Tonio that the reason wasn't because she was still in love with Max.

 Victoria is certain Tonio has a prosecution complex, having heard about the pistol incident. Raquel angrily denies kissing Max, daring the person who had said so to repeat it in front of her. Tonio is convinced she was telling the truth.

At the pool side, Camilla angrily watches Martha flirting outrageously with some friends, calling her a real ‘scum’. Maura notices Tonio strolling by and runs after him. Claudio and a friend, Rodrigo see Raquel going to visit her father.
 Rodrigo comments ‘she’s really beautiful.’ Claudio agrees but adds, ‘she has no class.’ (you're a fine one to talk, lazy bum)

Carla went  to the bungalow and tried to get Raquel to join them at the pool, but she politely declined. In the house, Maura tries to flatter Tonio into going back to her but he refuses, accusing her of merely trying to bother Raquel. Raquel comes in to find them sitting closely together, disdainfully accepting Maura’s invitation to have dinner at a newly opened restaurant. After she leaves, she and Tonio talk at length, she's not pleased about Maura's forward behaviour with him, while he pointed out her abruptly leaving Acapulco with Max made him look like a fool in front of everyone. They reach a compromise and  an agreement of trusting each other more and they are friends again.

Mummy Victoria gives Tonio a message that Claudio and Camilla want to see him about something. Tonio goes to Camilla's place and scolds her for lying about seeing Max and Raquel kissing, telling her to stop saying nasty things about Raquel and keep her nose out of his personal affairs. Claudio's request is  another loan which he refuses. He advises Claudio to get a job from now on and warns  Camilla again to stop dissing  Raquel to everyone or he’ll throw her and Claudio out to fend for themselves.

Raquel is in her room, reading a book when Mummy Vicky interrupts. When asked, Raquel let her believe  she had asked Max to help her out in leaving Tonio, which displeased Victoria very much.
Evil Max returns to Acapulco (honestly, the guy is crazy) and meets with his ally Luis, with plans to kill Tonio again.

Tonio gets back to the house and finds Raquel on the couch in the living room, joining her there. She noticed he’s gloomy and asked what was wrong... was he angry?

Tonio said he was just tired. She points out that maybe  he shouldn’t have gone back to the office so soon after the helicopter crash.

‘I’m just tired of supporting parasites and good for nothings.’

He meant Camilla and Claudia but Raquel thought he was talking about her, which he quickly denied, ‘No! you’re something else.’
Uneasy again, she asked what he meant. Leaning close, he said, ‘Raquel, I like you, I like you very much.’
‘What about Maura?’ she asked.
Tonio assured her that Maura was in the past, she was the one he cared about her now. But Raquel still didn’t feel he was sincere, especially since he came home one day and found a woman who said she was his wife; who he didn’t know or ever met before. It would make much sense if they’d met in different circumstances.

Tonio agreed the circumstances weren’t normal but after getting to know her and talking with her about her problems, why wouldn’t he feel something for her?

Raquel was about to protest again but then Tonio lurched forward and planted a thorough smooch on her (we all cheered loudly that evening!) and this time she didn’t push him away, she kissed him back. He challenged her, she must feel something now. But Raquel is terrified of Max’s reaction and worried about Tonio's safety.

Max suddenly enters with Luis, fuming to see Tonio’s arms round Raquel.
‘What are you doing here?’ Tonio asked, furious.
‘Well, this is my house!’ Max snapped back, shamelessly.
‘No, it is my house and I thought I gave you enough money to go to hell and I asked you not to come back here.’
Max dared  him to throw him out and  he and Tonio grapple, to Raquel’s horror. Luis immediately separated  them and Victoria intervenes. Tonio walked away in anger and Victoria ordered Raquel to tell Tonio Max was not to blame for their problems.

Raquel found Tonio in the study and begs him to let her leave; assuring him she’ll go somewhere where Max will never find her. But Tonio refused to give his permission, but doesn't give her a valid reason.
Claudio warns Camilla not to piss Tonio off by being nasty to Raquel, but Camilla insists no one could kick her out, her father had made the stipulation that Tonio was to make sure she was provided for (sure, but not to gamble your money away). Claudio however feels they could use Raquel to influence Tonio instead.

Max drops a heavy hint to Tonio about already taking Raquel’s virginity. At home, Tonio cheers up a worried Raquel and asks her to prepare for their outing. As Raquel is about to enter her room, she runs into Max, who tells her to tell Tonio she was pregnant, that way he’ll let her go!

NO SURRENDER!

Mummy Victoria believed Raquel ran away because of problems with Tonio- and had probably asked Max to assist her. Camilla lied to Tonio that she’d seen Max and Raquel kissing; he swallows his anger and doesn’t reply.
Martha manages to get in touch with Tonio and gives him their location under Raquel’s nose.
The head servant, Ramon comes back from his vacation and confirms from Victoria and Camilla that Tonio was now married.
While Martha and Don Daniel go sight seeing, Raquel confesses to Max that she’d told Tonio the whole story. Max is angry but is still confident Tonio did not have enough proof against him, besides he would do anything to avoid a scandal. Tonio flies to Mexico City.
Back at the hotel, Max tries to embrace Raquel, saying she’s been avoiding him for a long time, but she pushes him away, filled with scorn when he said he was still in love with her. There’s a knock on the door, it’s TONIO!

SNIPPET: IT'S ON!

Isabella asks her why she was still there after she’d told her to leave the country and enjoy her money with someone else. She refuses to believe the child was Lorenzo’s, vowing to expose her. Laura orders her to leave and tells her maid never to allow Isabella into the house again. Orlando accuses Nattie if taking the tape from his office but she tells him Horsy Gloria had given it to her to make copies. Lisette is overjoyed when Conan tells her Giacormo is going to use his own designs for his new line. Orlando confronts Horsy Gloria about the tape, Gloria admits Isabella had taken it but asks him not to tell Lorenzo. Orlando demands a kiss from her but doesn’t kiss her after all.
Empetriz tells an impatient Isabella about what Lorenzo nearly did to her precious boy. Isabella lost her temper when she suggests Alex was better for her than Lorenzo, calling him ‘an X rated gigolo who would sell his body for pennies’ (true story) and that Empetriz was a ridiculous, pathetic idiot. Lorenzo drops by the house to see how Laura was doing. Silvia is told by Alex his mother was planning on closing her business.
Orlando accuses Isabella for snooping around his office and using the tape to break up Lorenzo and Silvia, calling her an evil woman (and in a polite tone too). Isabella replied she’s merely took back what was rightfully hers, but he can’t prove a thing. She sinisterly warns him not to cross swords with her or he’d seriously regret it, she’ll take him down no matter what. When Orlando pointed out she nursed a sick obsession for Lorenzo, not love, she snaps that he didn’t know the meaning of love and orders him out of her office. Silvia surprisingly proposes that she and Empetriz be business partners (a dumb ass idea if I’ve ever heard one). Laura is hurt that Lorenzo cared more about the baby than her. Giacormo hobbles to the scene of the accident alone (Nattie will half kill you if she knew) and recalls everything; that Laura had yelled out to him before he was knocked down.

SNIPPET: POOR SILVIA!

An angry Silvia doesn’t believe him until he mentions the DNA test which proved he wasn’t the popsie. Giacormo insists he didn’t want Isabella in his boutique and decides to get Conan to replace her. Nattie finds Silvia crying and is disgusted she had believed Alex, but after she’s informed about the DNA test, Nattie realizes why Laura had come to the office. Empetriz is furious that Mimi and Tony have no plans of getting married. Orlando pays Laura a visit and she asks him to get her money back from Alcazar. He agrees but asks her if Lorenzo is really the father of her child. Nattie is cold towards Alex and doesn’t allow him to see Silvia, who is still crying in her room. Conan tells Nattie that Mimi told him that Giacormo suspects someone had tried to murder him. Nattie remembers how that day of the accident, Laura had called and called asking for Giacormo. Conan gets a call from Lorenzo and agrees to run the shop until Giacormo is discharged. Empetriz visits a broody Isabella to clear up the misinformation, who then admits she loved Lorenzo (not love, obsession), during her time in Europe, she had hoped she could get him back at any time. Empetriz again suggests she date Alex (yuck) but Isabella tiredly replied he wasn’t her type and is more determined to get Lorenzo back.
Tony feels a lot better now that he’s put his rage behind him and asks Mimi to be his girl again but she prefers they take it slow this time. Nattie suggest that Laura must have gotten pregnant before Lorenzo started going out with Silvia. Silvia refuses to consider going back to him, since it would mean him abandoning his child; her own father had abandoned her and her late mother.
At the office, Lorenzo asks Nattie about Silvia, furious that Alex had told her about the baby and wondering out loud why she’d broken up with him in the first place. Full of guilt, Nattie confessed about the tape she had given Silvia to listen to, the conversation between Isabella and Laura, which she apologizes for. Lorenzo is angry about it, and decides to talk to Silvia. Isabella runs into him outside and apologizes about her emotional outburst. She is offended to learn that Conan was to replace her. Orlando tells Laura that Alcazar has left the country, much to her distress. Lysette hopes Conan will have his own line one day but he prefers working in Silvia’s factory. Lysette feels he’s merely wasting his talent (that girl is beginning to show signs of narrow mindedness). Lorenzo finds Silvia at the gym. She isn’t pleased to see him and asks him to leave. He tries explaining about the tape and insists he loved her but Silvia replies the tape was merely detail, refusing to believe him. Even if it was a lie, she couldn’t go back to him since he was now going to be a father. Alex comes up and Lorenzo ominously asks him to step outside, he has several things to ‘discuss’ with him. Isabella runs into Tony, asking after his father, who comes out, wheeled by Mimi. He doesn’t fall for her insincere concern, accusing her of sabotaging his catwalk show and criticizing his designs. Isabella insinuates Laura had something to do with his accident and indicates she wants him to be her ally. Tony returns to say the discharge papers were ready. Alex is asked if the results were real or they were manipulated by him, but he denies it. Lorenzo sharply warns to stay away form Silvia; Alex hotly reminds him that Silvia was his girl friend once and will be again. Lorenzo comes to blows with him but is stopped by Empetriz.
Giacormo and Mimi get to the boutique and Conan and Lysette warmly welcome him back. The doctor reminds a tired Laura to take her medicine, to treat her anemia. Silvia comes to visit Giacormo and acquires him as a new client for her business, after showing photos of her clothes. Giacormo asks after Nattie, hoping she had really forgiven him (you can’t expect it to be easy for a girl to find out the man she’s been dating is gay) but Silvia assures him Nattie loved him very much and was really sorry for what she had said to him that fateful day. Neither of them is pleased to see Laura, who came to tell him about the baby. Silvia wants to leave but Giacormo stops her. Laura insists she came to apologies to him, and to Silvia for sleeping with Alex and trying to manipulate her into falling in love with Lorenzo (too late for that) but Silvia replied she sounded like Alex.
Nattie asks Orlando if he really believed Lorenzo was the father of the baby. Giacormo suggests that Lorenzo had the DNA test also, but Laura is confident they’ll both make good parents. Silvia leaves in disgust. Giacormo tells her what Nattie had told him.
Lorenzo is not a 100% sure he’s the father; perhaps she had another lover besides Alex, something Orlando is visibly uncomfortable talking about. He’s surprised that Nattie had found the tape, which he had locked up. Lorenzo is depressed Silvia left him, but refuses to go back to Laura or start a relationship with Isabella. Mimi suggests they throw a baby shower. Laura is angry to find Isabella in her house.

THREE STEPS BACK!

Mimi tells a very surprised Silvia that Laura was pregnant was Alex’s child. Silvia confesses to Nattie that she missed Lorenzo very much.Nattie urged her to talk things out with Lorenzo but Silvia is afraid he might admit that he had cheated on her with Isabella if she did. Lorenzo visits Giacormo who isn’t pleased to hear Isabella was looking after the boutique. Isabella urges Lorenzo to consider having a child with her instead, which he angrily refuses; he had feelings for someone else, Silvia. Giacormo confides in Mimi, who then tells Conan. After much thought,

Silvia dresses herself to go and see Lorenzo. When Alex asks her where she was going, she asks him to focus his nose on his coming child, but is stunned when he tells her the child is Lorenzo’s.

(HE CERTAINLY ENJOYED TELLING HER THAT, BASTARD! )

SNIPPET: A SHOCK FOR LORENZO

Tony tells his father that Laura told him Lorenzo and Orlando tried to kill him because he refused to testify against her in court; but Giacormo dismisses it as rubbish, they could never do that to him. Nattie arrives and the couple reconcile. Lorenzo angrily confronts Isabella about the news paper article. Tony is asked to film a commercial, featuring Mimi, Lisette and Conan modeling Silvia’s clothes. Lorenzo gets a shock when Laura returns the bearer bonds. She reminds him he had made investments abroad to ensure their children were provided for. When he points out that they had no children, she then tells him she was carrying his child.

Lorenzo accuses her of lying since she had been taking birth control pills and sleeping with Alex(besides, after discovering the affair, Lorenzo in turn started sleeping with Silvia), but the results prove otherwise. Tony films the commercial. Empetriz and Alex visit Giacormo at the hospital Giacormo asks Alex to fetch an address book from m the boutique. Lorenzo angrily tells Laura he wouldn’t want to have a  baby with her if she was the last woman on earth. Laura tries to excuse herself, that she had slept with Alex because she’d felt alone, which he scoffs at, refusing to accept her apology or excuses. Laura begs him not to let their baby suffer because of her mistake.
Nattie wonders why Lorenzo looks so pensive. Gloria overhears Nattie telling Orlando Laura had come to see Lorenzo earlier. Gloria then phones Isabella to let her know. (By the way, Gloria reminds me of a horse, with her long face). Alex shows up to get the address book and is very rude to Isabella when she congratulates him on the baby. Empetriz laments over her debts and calls Silvia an ‘unintelligent idiot’ when she enters with Mimi, asking her to move her sewing equipment somewhere else. Lorenzo finds it difficult to accept Laura’s news. Alex accuses his mother for telling Isabella, who insists it was accidental. Orlando is very surprised at Lorenzo’s news, visibly relieved that the tests reveal it is Lorenzo’s.(You know it isn’t his, Orlando, you slept with her last).

At the hospital, Giacormo asked Nattie how she’d found out about his accident, she told him about Laura’s call after he’d left that day.
Lorenzo apologized to Isabella and shocks her by telling her Laura’s pregnancy was his. Isabella insists Laura was lying, angrily breaking into tears, begging him not to believe Laura as she was just using him; she, Isabella was the only woman who really cared about him.
(Lorenzo is really in a dilemma, a pregnant ex-wife, an evil obsessive former fiancée and an ex girl friend he loves dearly but who refuses to talk to him)

SNIPPET: SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

Laura now knows who the father is. The doctor reminds her to come for check ups to treat her anemia (why won’t she have anemia, with her stupid dieting). Nattie is very anxious to see Giacormo. Conan is shocked when she tells him Giacormo’s secret but Nattie added that Giacormo had said he had feelings for her and could possibly sleep with her after all. Giacormo and Tony reconcile. Empetriz borrows more money from Isabella and accidently tells her about Laura’s pregnancy. Mimi and Tony discuss their own unborn baby; Mimi isn’t pleased to see ‘that witch’ (Laura) as she called her, who asks her about her pregnancy. Lorenzo can’t imagine why anyone would want to kill an easy going man like Giacormo. Silvia is furious when she sees the picture of Lorenzo and Isabella in the paper. Alex is told by Laura that he wasn’t the father of her baby!

(It’s most definitely Orlando then)

SNIPPET: WHO IS THE FATHER?

Laura informs Alex and asks him to take a paternity test. Alex has his own plan, to blackmail her if it turned out he was the father. Tony prepares a tape for Mimi. Isabella takes over the running of Giacormo’s boutique until he’s better. Maximo, Mimi’s record producer leaves town with Mimi’s tracks; it turns out he’s a con man. Empetriz is really angry and is excited when Alex tells her about Laura’s pregnancy and the amount of money he’ll make if it turned out to be his child; she is warned not to tell anyone. Lorenzo has dinner with Isabella, not knowing that Isabella had hired a journalist to photo their date. Laura is told by Alcazar that the police are investigating the accident. He demands for his 30% share as he wants to leave the country, Laura accuses him of being a spineless coward but angrily gives him the check. Lorenzo checks on Isabella at the boutique, reminding her it was temporary until Giacormo comes back. Isabella criticizes Giacormo’s designs, but Lorenzo insists Giacormo will remain head designer. Mimi and Silvia come up with advertising ideas for her garments. Empetriz informs Mimi on what Maximo had done and drops a heavy hint to Silvia. Mimi listens to Tony’s tape.
Alone with Giacormo, Nattie slips her hand into his, tearfully asking for forgiveness for her unkindness towards him. He suddenly squeezes her hand and regains consciousness; asking her what had happened to him. Mimi is overjoyed at Tony’s recorded message; he’s now ready to take responsibility for their unborn child. Tony calls Mimi to tell her his father was now awake and apologized to her for his bad behavior towards her.
Alex informs Silvia on the good news, but she pushes him away, telling him not to touch her. Laura prays the baby is Lorenzo’s (nonsense, the last person you slept with was Orlando, who Lorenzo will kill D-E-A-D if and when he ever finds out). Nattie phones Lorenzo to inform him about Giacormo.
Silvia has a dream, where Lorenzo is kissing her passionately, but wakes up suddenly. Nattie asked her what was wrong but she tells her it was a nightmare. Nattie prepares to visit Giacormo. Laura receives the DNA tests.

SNIPPET: A SURPISING DEVELOPMENT

Orlando makes some investigations and told Isabella that the car that had knocked Giacormo down was found, abandoned and the police believe the drivers were hired men. Isabella insinuates that the accident could be linked with Giacormo’s decision to testify against Laura in court. Laura consults a doctor about her illness, who decides to run some tests. At the hospital, Silvia comforts Nattie who is still fretting over Giacormo’s condition, full of regret over their fight, refusing to go home at Lorenzo’s suggestion. He and Silvia exchange looks but do not speak to each other yet again. Isabella ‘accidently’ informs a shocked Tony that the accident had been planned and points out that Laura had a vendetta against his father. But when Tony voiced his suspicions about Laura being responsible for his popsie’s state Laura denied it, claiming that he was probably run down because he had refused testifying against her, insinuating Lorenzo or Orlando could be behind it. Mimi is scornful her statement about Giacormo being her best friend. Empetriz expresses her hope that Isabella and Alex will hook up, instead of him going back to ‘that stupid Silvia’ but Evil Isabella tells her to get that idea out of her head, Alex was in love with Silvia. Empertiz pointed out that if Alex and Silvia got back together, she’ll be able to get her claws into Lorenzo, whom she’s obviously in love with. Isabella coldly reminded her that she invested a lot of money in her clothing factory; therefore she should watch her mouth.
Orlando informs Lorenzo on what he’d found out before leaving. Nattie still refuses to go home and suddenly remembered Laura had called asking about Giacormo after he’d left the office. Conan finally convinces her to go home and rest. Lorenzo and Silvia look at each other as she left. Giacormo moves in his sleep while Tony is there, who begins to pray, with the promise that he’ll change.
In the morning, Silvia asks Conan to call Lysette to help her with an advertising idea. Tony treats Lorenzo coldly when he comes to the hospital, remembering what Laura had said. Laura is given shocking news by her doctor; she’s pregnant!

LA MUJER DE LORENZO IS BACK!

And thank God too, after being subjected to repeats from AIT and GALAXY for ages before it was replaced by the current Cuerpo Del Deseo. It’s now on MBI (at 8.30 pm on Tuesday to Friday) and a few things have happened since Lorenzo and Silvia’s breakup caused by that over made-up barracuda, Isabella, who had showed her a doctored photo of her and Lorenzo naked in bed. Silvia still refused to tell Lorenzo or anyone else why she decided to end the relationship, too full of pride. Her cousin Nattie, meanwhile, is devastated to find out her boyfriend, Giacormo, was gay.
For those who don’t know the whole story, it goes like this;
PLOT
Lorenzo is happily married to Laura. Or so he thinks. Laura is actually bored with her husband and has no plans of giving him the children he wants so badly. She then starts an affair with Alex, an opportunistic personal trainer and decides to divorce Lorenzo. But she remembered that if she did, she’ll lose any chance of acquiring half his estate, according to the pre-nuptial agreement. So she decided to make a way of Lorenzo to be the guilty party, by setting him up with the perfect woman.
First candidate was his personal secretary, Nattie but she was nursing a broken heart after her break up from Orlando, Lorenzo’s lawyer. At the same time, she didn’t want Isabella, Lorenzo’s vengeful old flame (and ex best friend) just returned from Europe to get her hands on him, so the final candidate was Alex’s own twinkle-eyed girlfriend, Silvia, a gym instructor several years younger than Lorenzo.
Laura constantly pushes them together, not realizing that Alex had been paid by Isabella to seduce her and break up the marriage. Silvia and Lorenzo, having a lot in common, become close friends meanwhile. Isabella sends Lorenzo photos  of  his wife in bed with Alex and he and Silvia are heartbroken at the deceit.
As the divorce proceedings begin, Lorenzo and Silvia give in to the attraction they’ve held back for so long, realizing they were in love after all. But evil Isabella has her own plans…

CHARACTERS
Lorenzo: Main character, Laura’s now ex husband, in love with Silvia
Laura: Lorenzo’s now ex wife
Evil Isabella: Lorenzo’s ex fiancée and current business partner, villainess of the story
Alex: Laura’s lover but the affair is now over
Silvia: Alex’s ex girlfriend, now in love with Lorenzo
Nattie: Silvia’s cousin & Lorenzo’s secretary
Conan: Silvia’s cousin and Nattie’s younger brother
Hercules: Silvia’s uncle, Nattie and Conan’s father and owner of the gym where Silvia instructs.
Empetriz: Hercules’ landlady, Alex’s mother and friend of Isabella’s late mother
Mimi: Alex’s younger sister and Conan’s best friend
Lysette: a model, Conan’s girlfriend
Orlando: Lorenzo’s lawyer, Nattie’s ex boyfriend
Giacormo: a fashion designer, Laura’s former best friend and Nattie’s current boyfriend
Tony: Giacormo’s son and father of Mimi’s unborn child
‘Horsy’ Gloria: Orlando’s former lover, Lorenzo’s personal assistant and Isabella’s Henchwoman/accomplice in her schemes.

SNIPPET: A CONSPIRACY….

Laura’s lawyer, Alcazar, succeeded in getting a huge settlement from Lorenzo by telling lies against him in court, although she had been the one to cheat on him with Alex, who is now trying to win Silvia back. Conan and Lysette on the other hand, have repaired their relationship, much to Mimi’s displeasure.
Out of anger and spite, Laura arranged with her lawyer to ‘take care of’ Giacormo, who completely knew of her affair with Alex and had threatened to testify against her (to pay her out for telling Tony about his homosexuality) but had a sudden change of heart and decided to end the operation as the time grew near, but it was far too late.
Giacormo showed up at the office to humbly apologize to Nattie, saying he didn’t want to lose her friendship but Nattie coldly told him to go away. After he left, she got a phone call from a frantic Laura, asking where Giacormo was. Laura managed to find him herself and called out to him but he turned his back on her angrily and got run over by the hired men. Before running away, she called an ambulance to the scene of the accident.
Nattie’s phone no. was found in his wallet at the hospital, so she was the first person who found out. Filled with fear for Giacormo’s life, Nattie sent Conan to find Tony.
Conan asked Mimi where he could find Tony; she and Empetriz were informed of the accident, the silly woman called Isabella to tell her about it.
At first Tony didn’t want to go with Conan (still feeling repulsed by his father) but his conscience got the better of him and followed him to the hospital where Lorenzo, Nattie, Silvia, Hercules, Alex, Empetriz and Mimi were already gathered. The doctor informed them that he was still unconscious. Evil Isabella showed up (merely to be with Lorenzo), glared at by Silvia. Nattie was so full of guilt over her last encounter with Giacormo, very afraid he’ll die. Empetriz criticizes her son’s solicitous behavior towards Silvia, wondering what he saw in her. Tony, who sat by his father’s side, begging his forgiveness for his behavior towards him. Laura is furious with Alcazar for not cancelling the order, but he shocks her by saying it would be in her best interest if Giacormo died. Alex confided in evil Isabella that he really didn’t care about Giacormo, but had merely used the accident to be around Silvia, whom he hopes will overlook his affair with Laura and reconcile with him. Evil Isabella informs him Laura had received half of Lorenzo’s estate, which interests him. Alcazar refuses to go with Laura to see Giacormo; Laura suddenly feels dizzy and decides to go to see a doctor. Although Lorenzo and Silvia didn’t speak to each other, the lingering looks they exchanged said it all; they missed each other very much. Nattie is frightened that Giacormo would die but Silvia urges her to be positive. Laura also appeared and exchanged unpleasantries with Evil Isabella. Tony arrives, insistent on seeing his Dad, who is unconscious. He begs him to forgive him for his bad behavior the past few days.

FUFILLING THE DREAM: BARACK OBAMA

Well, Well, Well, now for the first time in history, there is a black man representing the Democratic Party for the Presidential election- Senator Barack Obama, who defeated Senator Hilary Clinton (former First Lady) in the primaries. One thing, we have to remember is that he’s not just representing the democrats, he’s also representing the entire black race and for sure they’ll turn out en masse to pray he’ll win. And when he wins (Insha Allah), he would fulfill Martin Luther King’s ‘dream’ at long, long last.
This will come as a shock, but during the primaries’ battle, I sided with neither Obama nor Mrs. Clinton. Why, you may ask? For two reasons; as a black woman, I wanted a black man to finally emerge as the President of the U.S.A after years of oppression, racism and inequality but Mrs. Clinton could have become the first female President too, and show the male chauvinist pigs what she can do at the Oval Office. I’m black but also a woman, so I had no idea who to support. The second reason; I’m strictly anti racist, I don’t believe in taking sides with someone just because he/she has the same color of my skin, but because of how the person is within, that is most important. America was racially divided during the O.J Simpson murder trial, most of the African Americans were sure he was innocent.
Obama is now the democratic candidate for the presidential election (something I prayed will happen one day after watching HEAD OF STATE for the first time some years back, my brother never believed it would happen, just like he was sure there’ll never be a female African president, but look at President (Mrs.) Johnson of Liberia today) and I wish him best of luck in the election (which I hope will NOT end up being rigged) and pray there’ll be no more nasty stories or caricatures of him, I heard the story about the alleged photo of him in a website in full African dress, seemed like Mrs. Hilary played dirty as well as turning out to be a sore lose with the way she shunned him when he offered her the olive branch the day after she was defeated, but later so I heard, turned round and said she was behind him. Well, with that development, maybe he’ll choose her as his running mate.
PRAYERS AND BEST OF LUCK TO SENATOR OBAMA!

HAS ANYONE SEEN ''MISSION TO NO WHERE''?

I recently watched ‘MISSION TO NO WHERE’, which is with no doubt, the BEST Nollywood film I’ve watched in years and usually the only Naija films worth its salt in my own opinion are the ones directed by Amaka Igwe (FOREVER, VIOLATED, TO LIVE AGAIN, RATTLE SNAKE), Tade Ogidan (HOSTAGES, RAGING STORM, DAIMOND RING, OUT OF BOUNDS, DANGEROUS TWINS) and Tunde Kelani (O LE KU, TI OLUWA NI LE, THE CAMPUS QUEEN, ABENI, IRAPADA) and let me not forget a few exceptions like SITANDA, KEEPING FAITH and the unforgettable AMAZING GRACE directed by Jetta Amata , which starred British actor,
Nick Moran (LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS).

Like AMAZING GRACE, MISSION TO NOWHERE was filmed in 35MM, directed by Teco Benson (DANGEROUS PROPOSAL 1 &2) who is a good director but I remember how his films’ plots dragged. But he did a very, very good job with ‘MISSION TO NOWHERE’; a very good plot, full of suspense, carefully researched, a dramatic twist in the end , plus a well themed soundtrack(not like the silly ones we are subjected to these days).

THE PLOT: A wealthy and well connected woman (Barbara Soky) is murdered in her study late one night and her body was later discovered by her daughter Pamela (Stephanie Okereke) on getting home from a party. The investigating officer is A.S.P Roger Williams (solemnly portrayed by Sam Dede) assisted by a very efficient partner(Yahseph
Ananaba) whose investigations lead to the discovery that the deceased had been a promiscuous woman and all evidence points to a tall man in a hat and black trench coat(seen leaving the scene of the crime) who turned out to be a gold digging lover she’d later dumped. After an important witness is killed, the trench coat guy was caught but though he admitted (under torture) he had killed the witness who had told the police who he was(the witness was the dead woman’s driver), he was innocent of Naomi’s murder. According to his story, he had gone to the house that night to kill Naomi for dumping him but she was already dead by the time he got there, so he’d turned tail and left.
The climax was the real culprit turning out to be the most unlikely suspect(personally, I thought Pamela had done it). For those who haven’t seen it, I WON’T tell who it was but I’ll tell you this; the viewers have to decide whether or not the person was justified in killing her or not. My Mum(who watched it with me that evening) said even if the person hadn’t done it, Naomi would still have met with a violent death from her jilted lover that night.
I’ve always loved Sam Dede’s acting but his time he surpassed himself- he reminded me of a less cold Daniel Craig(CASINO ROYALE), and Teco Benson deserves lots and lots of kudos for this FANTASTIC work. I STRONGLY endorse this movie, especially those who love detective stories. Congratulations Mr. BENSON!