Raquel confesses

Tonio and Raquel forge a  tentative friendship as the days go by during their trip, Raquel telling him stories about her youth and wanted Tonio to do the same, but Tonio was more inteterested in knowing more about her. Back in Acapulco, Maura persuades a broody/nervous Max to seduce Raquel away from Tonio when they return. Tonio gives Raquel money to go shopping, (in spite of her protests) and goes to the apartment building she had described and the manger confirms there had been an Antonio Lombardo living there months back, but went on business trips often.

Don Daniel is invited back to stay with them for a while and is put up in one of the guest bungalows Seriously, Money is good o!
Tonio assures a relieved Victoria that he and Raquel have ‘made up'. Camilla and Maura notice Raquel leading her father to the bungalow; Camilla makes a derogatory remark about it to Victoria, overhead by Raquel who brushes past Tonio in tears.

 Tonio forcibly takes his sister upstairs and forces her to apologise to his wife, which she sulkily does. Considering how she and that loser husband of hers is so reliant on Tonio, that bitch needed to keep her trap shut more often. 

 Martha is delighted to see her father, finding him breathing the fresh air on the beach.

Tonio tells Oscar, his father’s old friend and family doctor that he  initially thought Daniel had been the one to make Raquel do what she was doing but found him to be a sentimental and humble man.

Evil Max angrily asked Raquel what Tonio had done in Guadalajara  and if he did some investigating, when he finds her alone in the room. She said she didn’t know if he he did; Tonio's reason for the trip had been for business, at least that's what he told her.  She is furious when Max  demanded to know if she slept with  Tonio.  She asked what right did he have to ask her such a question, but he doesn't back down. 

 ‘What if I did? He’s a thousand times better than you!’ Then why haven't you told Tonio the truth yet, girl? 

Max threatened to tell Tonio everything and damn the consequences if she dared go to bed with him- actually pointing a finger at her in a ridiculously childish manner-  and is furious to see Daniel walk in. Tonio sees Max and Raquel leave the room to talk in private, he allows Daniel to entertain him and Martha with anecdotes. Max swears to Raquel that he hadn’t caused Tonio’s accident but she still doesn’t believe him.

The family go in to dinner as Raquel comes in, alone. She shyly shows off the fabulous long dress she has on to Tonio, asking if he liked it, feeling ashamed for spending all the money he’d given her but he assures her it was okay and the dress was pretty. He notices Max entering, then grabs a surprised Raquel and kisses her, to Max’s fury and refuses to join them for dinner. Later on, Max again tries to convince Raquel and Martha to leave Acapulco with him but Raquel refuses and stormed back into the house with Max and Martha close behind; Tonio is still in the room and barked: ‘who is chasing who?’

Raquel nervously said she was going to bed, Tonio ordered both girls to bed, but makes Max stay behind and confronts him finally. Max denies everything and called him crazy, then in a moment of intense anger when Tonio grabs hold of him and accused him of trying to kill him shouted, ‘I wish I did! Nothing could make me happier than to see you dead!’ 

WOW... talking about letting your mouth run off in the heat of the moment!

Mummy Victoria suddenly appears and is told but Max still angrily said Tonio was insane and goes upstairs. Tonio consoles Victoria then goes upstairs to Raquel’s room, guessing correctly that Max had been there earlier to warn her, probing her with questions, in particular if she and Max knew each other before.  Feeling pressured, Raquel ran out of the room, with Tonio chasing her, catching up with her in the living room, demanding to know what she was hiding. Bursting into tears, Raquel finally cracks  and told him Max had introduced himself as Antonio Lombardo when they met.  Consoling her, Tonio led her to his study, where Raquel told him the whole story; adding what she found out after Max came to her room after the memorial service and why she had left the following morning, Max coming to fetch her back after threatening her again. 

Tonio asked her if Max still loved her. Raquel replied he said so, but she didn't believe him, no man in love would do what he did. When asked if she still loved Max, she tearfully shook her head, her love for him was gone forever. 

Tonio then asked if she and Max had slept together, (as if it was any of his business). Raquel murmured no and Tonio sharply asked her to look at him. Raquel faced him and said no again, firmly this time. 

She pleaded with him not to send her or her family to jail, or at least let her take the whole blame for the lies. Tonio consoled her, urged her not to tell anyone about their conversation and sent her to bed. As the door closed behind her, Tonio's face wore a pensive look. 

The following morning,  Victoria suggests Max should go on an extended vacation.

 Maura’s younger sister, Carla, pays a visit to the house, curious to see how Tonio’s wife looked like and is introduced to Martha and Daniel. She invites Raquel to a party Maura is throwing, showing scorn when Raquel said she would have to ask Tonio first.

Carla urged her to come as she didn’t need her husband’s permission all the time. Martha and Daniel leave with Carla who gives them a lift to town. Max angrily grabs Raquel to find out what had happened the previous night but  Mummy Victoria comes in, giving her a chance to escape. 

Max sulkily  said he only wanted Raquel to go on a boat ride with him; Victoria scolded  him for asking Raquel of all people,  Tonio’s wife, such a thing. Tonio makes more inquiries, with Pablo’s help.

Mummy Victoria and Raquel talk about Tonio and Max; she advises her to ignore Max if he bothered her again. Easier said than done, Vicky.

Tonio returns from work and takes Raquel to the study to confab on the next line of action, Raquel tells Tonio Max asked her to run away with him, after Tonio tells her Max requested money to go on a long vacation.  Raquel nods resignedly when Tonio pointed out that while she was coerced, what she did, not telling him or Victoria immediately, was a punishable crime, but still hopes Tonio will not send her and her family to prison. She wanted to go home and leave the damned incident behind.

  Max comes in with some papers and asks where Tonio was. Victoria gets angry when he also asks her about Raquel, ‘why are you always asking about her?’ she demands. Max marched to the study, ignoring his mother's protests.

Max interrupts their discussion, for Tonio to sign a check. Raquel feels like a pawn between them after Tonio asks her to say goodbye to Max. She warns Tonio she won’t let him take advantage of her, as she was not like Maura or any of his other lovers, which makes him wonder if she was jealous.
Max annoys Raquel during lunch, which makes her leave the table in anger but Tonio follows her up to console her and takes her out to dinner again, where he admits he was sexually attracted to her but at the same time liked and respected her enough NOT to take advantage of her like she feared. Max and Maura come up with a plan.

Tonio and Raquel return home hand in hand and warmly bid each other goodnight, after Tonio told her someone was coming over the next day to bring her a dress for Maura's party; one for Martha as well.
 To Raquel’s horror, Max enters her room through the open French windows and manipulates her not to trust Tonio (not realising she had told on him).

In his study, Tonio opens a box and brings out a fabulous sparkling  diamond bracelet from a box. From the goofy smile on his face, we guess he's thinking about the beautiful lady he just left. Is this love already, Tonio? 

 Eagerly, he goes upstairs to present it to Raquel, but alas, sees Max leaving her room!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

                 

        

          

SO VERY, VERY SORRY folks for the long break in transmission; I’ve been very busy; being a
teacher is demanding work and I’m currently working on another book; by the Grace of Allah,
will be my first for older readers. From now on I’ll do my best to publish my posts more often.
This month is special to me since this blog was created on the 10th of May, 2007; the first post
being AND THEN THERE WAS THREE .'MY FAVORITE THINGS' is a year old and I thank the Almighty God for keeping this blog on for so long; in the beginning when there had been no visitors, I’d considered deleting it but my love for writing prevailed. Many thanks to the visitors, most especially fellow blogger, Mrs. Philomena Ojukutu and those who had left comments, I only pray this blog gets more interested readers before its second anniversary.

Now to business… where I stopped.

Tonio didn’t confide in Maura when she confronted him; reminding her that their relationship had
been more physical than loving. I don't see what he saw in the plump piggy  to begin with. Raquel enters and the women coolly exchange greetings. 

Tonio goes to Raquel's room, assuring her he won't force her to do anything she's against, she'll get her divorce if she wanted. But he found her beautiful and wanted to explore the good qualities she had. Taking her hand,  he gently pulls  her to him. Raquel moves towards him  in spite of herself. 

But the initial first kiss is cut short by Max, who tells him the family doctor, Oscar, was here to see him.  Outside, Tonio remarks about Max being  so concerned about him all a sudden, that he would just barge into his wife's room to get him.  After he goes downstairs, Max grabs Raquel by the shoulders, demanding to know what they were about to do and she defiantly told him it was none of his business. 

Tonio tells Oscar he doesn't remember Raquel or her family, not even the wedding itself. Oscar feels he was still suffering from  lingering effects from the accident. Pablo calls to tell him  the investigators who checked the plane found signs of sabotage. Tonio feels Raquel was a con artist who decided to pass herself as his widow which was the reason for her strange behaviour.  Oscar disagreed with him. 

Raquel and Martha are introduced to Oscar. After Martha goes upstairs, Tonio offers Raquel  the phone when she  said she wanted to call  her father, brushing off her concern it was long distance.  However,  there's no answer. 

Tonio gets more frustrated when Raquel gives more vague answers to his questions, in particular why she went back to Guadalajara without Martha and how Max convinced her to return. Max comes in to intervene, which in my opinion was  just asking for trouble. Tonio angrily told  him to piss off. 

Raquel stormed upstairs to her room to pack. Tonio follows her in, locks the French windows before locking her in, over her protests. Downstairs, Max listens as Tonio tells the guards over the phone Raquel is not  to be  allowed to leave the estate. Max snidely asks why Tonio wanted to keep a woman who didn't love him. 

Vicky is astonished to find Raquel locked up and goes to find Tonio to demand why he's holding her against her will. Tonio replied  that he was  certain Raquel was not his wife and he had never seen her before. He had checked his schedule, no trips to Guadalajara at all. Vicky is shocked when he also told her the crash was no accident. Vicky feels he was mistaken and urged him to reconsider, since all their friends believe Raquel is his wife. Tonio makes her promise  not to tell any one of his suspicions.

Martha is not happy at the idea of leaving the mansion when Max tells her to get ready, they were leaving by boat that night. 

Tono instructs  Vicky to order a new wardrobe for Raquel and Martha gives her Raquel's dress and shoe size. He then apologises to Raquel, excusing his initial harshness and doubts  about her due to his amnesia. He didn't feel anything but he did know he wouldn't marry a woman if he didn't love her. As she's his wife, he wants her to help him remember. Raquel tearfully accepts his aplogy, feeling bad for him and filled with guilt. She tells him she would give up half her life so prevent what happened. Tonio asks what she meant by that, but she's unable to reply. 

Taking her hand, Tonio asks her out to dinner but she's reluctant. Tonio assures her he won't fight her if she still wants a divorce but they should at least part as friends, gently asking her to grant  this special favour to him. Raquel nods, giving him a faint smile. 

 Their lunch is then  brought in by a maid. 

Martha felt her sister was being a fool, when Raquel is very reluctant to accept the array of new clothes. 

   

Tonio is told by Vicky  about Raquel's hesitance to accept the clothes. She urges him to be nicer to his wife who was obviously not a gold digger. 

That night, Tonio takes in the sight of Raquel in a white dress trimmed with pale blue, and warmly  compliments her.  Raquel shyly thanked him for the new dress and entire wardrobe. However, when he offers her a pearl necklace to go with it, she firmly refused. 

 Max is furious to hear from Martha that Tonio took Raquel out. He knew very well Raquel couldn't hold her liquor after one glass. Martha didn't dare let him know  that she didn't tell Raquel they were to leave that night. 

At the fancy restaurant, Raquel gradually loosens up around Tonio; smiling and laughing for the first time and they swap anecdotes about their personal preferences. 

Tonio spied Max hovering not far away and leaves Raquel to find out what was going on.  Max sullenly makes an excuse about meeting some friends and leaves, planning on taking Raquel and Martha away that night once she got  back. On getting back home, Tonio offers Raquel the  pearl necklace he’d offered her before but again she refuses it. He moves in for the kill and kissed  her for the first time but Raquel, though drunk, doesn’t allow it to go further. 

However, Martha had seen them go into the room together and mischievously told Max her sister was with Antonio. Max is furious as he had already rented the boat for their escape.

 Max tries to enter Raquel’s room but it’s locked on both sides and she was fast asleep.

The following morning, Tonio’s lazy brother-in-law, Claudio, sees Max furiously shaking Raquel by the shoulders, beside the swimming pool. He suspects they must have already known each before, especially by the way Max angrily brushes him off. He  tells Camilla, who then tells Maura over the phone. 

Raquel again makes a phone call to Guadalajara but her father still doesn't answer. Camilla makes snide comments about the simple dress Raquel was wearing. Raquel coldly tell her the clothes she wears were obtained through honest work, which we viewers know that Camilla doesn't have a clue about. 

However, when Camilla goes  too far, Raquel slaps her! 

Tonio is more and more suspicious of Raquel. He abruptly takes Raquel to Guadalajara and gets acquainted with Don Daniel, who is nervous around him.

Is she or is'nt she???

Lie, Lie and Lie some more! 

Antonio goes upstairs, taking Raquel with him. Mummy Victoria is naturally  confused at Raquel's odd reaction; why hadn't she hugged and kissed her husband, wasn't she glad to see him?

Evil Max's mind began working furiously,  considering the huge  mess he's in.

Inside Antonio's room, Raquel is tongue-tied when he tentatively tries to have a conversation with her. before she could speak, Max barges in to tell  that her sister was missing, a ruse to get her away BEFORE she could break down and tell his stepbrother anything. Raquel  hurries out,  leaving Tonio very confused.

Tonio questions Ezequiel  about Raquel's behaviour when she arrived.  Ezequiel told him  how grief stricken she was,  Vicky giving her a pill to sleep and how  Raquel had asked for  a photograph of him. And also, that Max didn't attend the memorial service but got home very late. 

 In the garden, Max warned both girls  about the consequences if they opened their mouths. He felt they were safe for now because of Tonio's amnesia. On the way indoors, Tonio meets Martha when Raquel introduced them, pointing out surely they had met already, hence no need to introduce her. Raquel manages to avoid having to sleep in Tonio's room when he said they should share the same room, pointing out Vicky already gave them rooms. After they leave, Tonio looks at Max suspiciously, telling him not to go to the office without telling him first. 

 Back in her room , Raquel tells Martha that she disliked Tonio already, he seemed to be the type of man anxious to get her into his bed. Oh how prim we are ... he didn't even lay a finger on you!  Martha thought Tonio was very attractive, besides being very  rich.  Second part was more important. 

Tonio starts questioning if he did have amnesia when Vicky admonished him for keeping his marriage a secret and not telling Raquel his true status. 

Raquel feels Tonio was aware he was being played. Martha feels Raquel should  simply accept the situation, everyone thinks she's Tonio's wife.  Max confabs with Luis on the failure of the plan. 

Next morning, Antonio sends a message to Raquel that he would like her to join him for breakfast in his room. Max slips into her room to coach her on what to say to Tonio, pleading with her to forgive him for his harshness and lies. Raquel coldly tells him she no longer had feelings for him. And folks... she meant it. 

Antonio received her in his room,  noticing how nervous and tense she was and serves her tea. He asks her questions about their 'relationship'.  She tells him they had met at Guadalajara, where she's a salesgirl.  He had an apartment there and he travelled often. They  dated for 4 months and had a small civil wedding, with a promise to get married in church later. She denied being pregnant when he asked. 

Antonio questions why she is cold towards him and didn't seem happy to see him alive. Raquel gave the vague reply of being shocked.  He caressed her cheek, asking her if she loved him. Raquel mumbled, ' I... I want you to divorce me.'

Amused, he asked her for the reason behind the sudden statement, she replies that they had married without really knowing each other and it was best if they broke up now. Tonio asked what's changed between them, was he that bad in bed on their wedding night? Yikes... why go there Tonio? 

Raquel said there was NO wedding night because he left not long after the wedding for a business trip and they've never slept together, which astonished Tonio more. Not surprising, how many women would wait long to  hit the sheets with yummy Tonio? 

Their argument is cut short when the room's extension rings and he's told Pablo is downstairs waiting for him. In his study, Tonio tells Pablo to send him his schedule, to see if he had made trips to Guadalajara. 

Later on, while answering Max's  questions about what went on between her and Tonio, Raquel  notices a woman going up to the house. Max tells her it's Maura, one of Tonio's  'numerous girlfriends'- as a way of discouraging Raquel from having any romantic notions towards Tonio.

A Message From Danielle Steel

April 2008

Dear Friends,

The beginning of April has always been a huge challenge for me. Most of my children are terrible practical jokers and thoroughly love torturing me on April Fool's Day. They call to tell me every imaginable horror, and of course I fall for it every year. Each time, I swear that next time I won't answer the phone, but of course I do...and I fall for it again. I'm sure this year will be no different!

On a more serious note, Passover will come in April. It's an important holiday in the Jewish faith, celebrating the end of slavery and liberation of the Jewish people in biblical times. It's a wonderful time to gather friends and family around the dinner table and enjoy one another.

I hope that, whatever your faith or activity, April will be a happy, peaceful month for you. Just watch out for practical jokers like my kids on the first!

Love,

Danielle

P.S. You are always welcome to visit me at my home on the web:
http://info.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin21/DM/y/exxb0Mx6Ij0V50H860Ee

----------------------------------------------------------------------

My Wife?????????????

Max enters the room and finds Raquel asleep. He wakes her up and covers her mouth when she's about to cry out in disbelief. She hugs him and excitedly bombards him with questions. He asks her to follow him to the garden where they can talk. He then tells her his real name and that Antonio is his stepbrother. Raquel is full of horror and anger at his lies and demands to know if he had anything to do with the plane crash, which he hotly denies, insisting that Antonio had a lot of enemies. But now that everyone believes her to be Mrs. Lombardo- Antonio's widow, she is his heir. Afterwards, she can marry Max after her mourning. That's his 'great plan' folks, marry Raquel and have unlimited access to her money!

So finally... we learn the reason behind the lies to Raquel and the plane crash. What a grade-A bastard! 

Raquel angrily refused to have anything to do with the scheme, vowing she will march upstairs and tell Victoria the whole story. Max then turned nasty and silences her with blackmail-should she open her mouth, he'll tell everyone the whole thing had been her and her family's idea and it was her word against his. Raquel is stunned at the change in the man she loves. Martha is told and is torn between staying at the mansion and avoiding going to jail for something they didn't know about. Angry and confused, Raquel wonders what to do. Getting back to her room, Raquel finds Martha there and tells her what happened; she married Max, Victoria's son, who had passed himself off as his stepbrother and how he'd threatened her. Martha feels she should go ahead with the deception; they will now be rich. Raquel doesn't want to do so, especially deceiving Victoria, who has been good to us. Martha points there was nothing they can do. They had no money to hire a lawyer and besides, if Raquel denounces Max to Victoria, she will say she's never met nor laid eyes on Max and say Raquel was crazy. She and Daniel weren't going to jail because Raquel got involved with the wrong man. 

Unable to sleep, Raquel went downstairs to the pool area very early in the morning and saw the staff cleaning the pool. Ezequiel hurried over to see if  'Senora Raquel' needed anything and talked about how the household missed 'Senor Antonio' very much. Raquel asked Ezequiel what type of boss her 'husband' was and to see a photo of Antonio, she misplaced hers.   Ezequiel is surprised but takes her to Antonio's study and rummages about until he finds one. He left Raquel alone, staring at Antonio's smiling face.

Hmmm....

 

Meanwhile, Chucho's nephew manages to get help and Antonio-from now on I'm calling him  'Tonio'- is taken to the Red Cross for treatment. He asked the doctor to please call his house and alert his family.

Raquel is unable to forgive Max for his deceit and adamantly refuses to pass herself as Tonio Lombardo's widow. Max tries to manipulate her, saying Tonio is a ruthless bastard who has enemies an didnt respect women. Raquel pointed out, if that was true, then Max was no better and she wasn't going to be his accomplice. She was going to tell Vicky. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that, her photo was all over the papers and Vicky, to cover for Tonio, had told everyone they'd known Raquel for a long time. Max asks why she was so upset, she now has wealth and power and she'll have him as a husband eventually.

 Raquel roughly pushes him away from her, snapping that a man in love wouldn't do what he did. And there was no way she'd marry him. (The one they had is of course invalid).  Max leaves the room and Raquel starts packing her suitcase. While having breakfast with Martha, Max tells Martha to convince her sister to keep her trap shut. Martha is more concerned about the benefits than going to jail, which she doesn't want. Vicky joins them, asking where Raquel is. 

At the Red Cross, the doctor tells Tonio he had a broken rib but no serious damage to his head, according to the X-ray, though he may forget some details. 

Raquel packs her bag and catches a flight to Guadalajara, leaving a note for Martha. Max is furious to hear Raquel is gone and tells Martha not to tell anyone, she should say Raquel is lying down. He leaves the house to fetch her back. Ezequiel receives a call from the doctor treating Tonio, that he was ALIVE! Amazed, he gives the phone to Victoria who is overjoyed. As Camilla and Maura discuss Tonio's secret marriage, Camilla gets the news from Victoria via the speaker phone, Victoria adding she had already sent Pablo to bring Tonio home. 

Victoria hurries to Raquel's room to tell her but finds Martha, who is shocked by the news and tells her to wake Raquel, she needs to go and tell Max. Not knowing what to do, Martha grabs her purse and runs to the main gate, much to the surprise of the guards. The guard tells her Max instructed him not to let her leave.  Victoria is surprised to find pillows under the blanket and Raquel gone. 

Evil Max gets to Raquel's apartment before she does, as he used the company's jet, while she had to change planes in Mexico city.

Pablo enthusiastically greets his boss and tells him how happy everyone would be thrilled to see him, especially his wife. Tonio stares at him in surprise. What???

'I'm not married' he tells Pablo. Pablo insists that he is, they found the wedding certificate with his signature and they've all met Senora Raquel. 

'Raquel?' Tonio repeated in disbelief.

The doctor said as he had a severe concussion, maybe he had temporary amnesia. Pablo told Tonio about the plane ticket found in his study. Apparently, he got married in Guadalajara the day before the accident. Tonio, of course, is baffled. He would remember being married, even if he missed some details! 

Raquel arrives and is very angry to find Max already in her apartment; he had arrived first because she'd had to change planes on the way. He reminds her there was nothing she could do and demands she returned with him. She refuses to return with him, preferring to go to jail and will hire a lawyer to charge him for fraud.  Max warned  Raquel she would have her father's fate in her conscience, as he's been helping his friend sell stolen goods, to Raquel's horror. Her timid father admitted it, the reason why Max was able to blackmail him. Daniel begged his daughter to forgive him, he did what he did because he felt bad about Raquel being the primary provider. Max insisted he had nothing to do with Tonio's death and it was her word against his. A journalist to interview Raquel but she leaves the room, and the reporter notices the framed photo of her and Tonio. Max makes excuses for Raquel and the man leaves. Raquel too sees the doctored photo of her and Tonio, guessing it was Max's handiwork. 

Vicky is not pleased Raquel left and that Martha kept it from her, surprised when Martha explained Max told her not to tell anyone.

On the drive home, Tonio asks Pablo what Raquel's surname was. 

Martha calls Daniel, who tells her that Raquel and Max already left. Daniel is horrified to hear the real Tonio is alive and on his way home. Vicky is now happy, eager to see how Raquel will react to Tonio's return. 

Camilla and Maura discuss the good news, Maura is quiet and abruptly walks away when Camilla asks her if she would confront 'her naughty boy' for jilting her. Victoria felt sure the reason Raquel left was out of grief for Tonio. Camilla makes a rude remark about her in-law and Vicky warns her not to disrespect Raquel. 

On the plane, Raquel coldly tells Max she now hates him. Max is confident she will come around. 

 Tonio comes in and warmly hugs his stepmother who of course, is very happy to see him. Pablo takes his leave. Vicky wastes no time telling him they all know about his secret wedding but support him. Tonio tells her he doesn't remember Raquel. Mummy Victoria immediately suggested he must have short-term amnesia. Tonio argued even if he doesn't remember his wedding, how can he not remember what his wife looked like? And why would he marry in secret without at least telling Victoria? And where was Raquel? Vicky told him  Raquel had gone home and Max went to fetch her, which baffles Tonio even more. Why would his wife leave? 

Victoria shows him a photo of Raquel in the papers, which he looks at thoughtfully. Well?

Tonio said no, she doesn't ring a bell. However...  'she's very pretty,' he admits.

Mummy Victoria is sure he'll remember once he saw her in person and tells him how she had to cover for him because people would find it very strange he married in secret. Vicky added that while she saw Raquel was working class, she found her sweet and already liked her.

Camilla and Claudio come in to welcome him, his sister scolding him over the secret wedding.

 Playing along, Tonio grinned, explaining he wanted to surprise the family. Camilla again disses Raquel and Vicky tells her to keep quiet and let her brother rest. The couple leave and Vicky goes to arrange a meal for him. 

 As Tonio helps himself to a glass of water,  Raquel comes in, heading towards the stairs. She spins around when Tonio calls her name. She stops, staring at him in shock.

Tonio takes in her beauty, with narrowed eyes. 'Come closer.' he said. Zombie-like, she does so and Tonio continues staring intensely at her. 

Mummy Victoria comes in, delighted that Raquel has seen her husband was alive and well. Max comes in too, frozen in shock (as well as he might be), expressing his happiness at Tonio's miraculous return unconvincingly.  Vicky wondered why Raquel looked like she'd seen a ghost. 

Tonio moves close to Raquel and takes her hands, telling Vicky Raquel was merely overwhelmed with emotion. Raquel was obviously filled with terror when Tonio calmly said it was late and he'd been waiting for her, now he wanted to go to bed. Taking her by the arm, he led her upstairs.

Kata kata don burst be that!

NO ONE BUT YOU: Snippet 2

Grief stricken,  Raquel catches a flight to Acapulco to attend Antonio's memorial service. She's accompanied by her sister, Martha  and find  the entrance to the mansion packed with reporters. She wonders if they were at the right house. Ezequiel is sent to the gate by Victoria to bring them inside, after one of the guards calls the house. 

 Raquel is very bewildered at the grand surroundings and wealth  Antonio never  mentioned he had, while Martha is thrilled. Victoria kindly welcomes her stepdaughter-in-law, showing her the marriage certificate for Raquel to verify. Raquel cannot understand why Antonio hid his wealth and family from her.  Camilla instantly takes a dislike to her brother's wife. Go fuck yourself freeloader.  

 Max of course keeps out of sight , under the pretence of carrying out thorough investigations about the crash. In Guadalajara, he tells Daniel the truth about himself and blackmails him.  Before he left, he removes a photo of Raquel and himself from the frame and replaces it with a doctored one of her and Tonio, in case journalists came over to interview Daniel. 

 Raquel and Martha are loaned mourning dresses by a very reluctant Camilla...what the hell is her problem?  Victoria comes in with purses for the two girls to use and finds Raquel sobbing in her pillow, poor thing.

Downstairs, Camilla is also crying for her brother. Claudio is bitter over Antonio's unexpected secret marriage , which entitled Raquel to be the heir of the vast estate instead of Camilla. All Camilla can think of was the idea of her brother marrying a low class woman instead of her good friend Maura, who is also angry about what he did. They all go to the memorial service.

Antonio staggers  until he reaches a road before passing out. A boy about 18 finds him and hurries to get his uncle Chucho. Chucho examines him but finds he's not dead. They carry him to their shack. The family returns and Victoria urges a subdued Raquel to go upstairs and rest. She asks a servant where Max was and is told he's not been home all day.

Antonio regains consciousness again and asks Chucho where he was. He checks the time but notices his gold Rolex was missing from his wrist and indignantly questions Chucho, who protests he only took it off to keep it for him (a likely story). Antonio asks him to find a way of contacting his family. Chucho replies that his nephew would do his best to get help when he goes to sell their wares.
Back in Acapulco, Max returns after everyone else had gone to bed. A servant tells him where Senora Raquel is sleeping. Max braces himself and goes upstairs...

Let's see how you intend on explaining yourself, Evil Max. 

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE: NO ONE BUT YOU (Snippet 1)

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, things are a bit boring now that CATALINA y SEBASTIAN has wrapped up, although there's LA REVANCHA on STV and EL CUERPO DEL DESEO on AIT, GoTel as well as Superscreen (which was once called Clapperboard )but somehow I just don't fell inclined to follow them, which is why there are no posts about them in this blog.

Instead I'm taking my visitors waaaaayyy back in time to about 1993,when NTA presented us with a telenovela most people argued was as fabulous as its predecessor, THE RICH ALSO CRY. This was TU O NADIE or as we knew it then as NO ONE BUT YOU, a.k.a YOU OR NO ONE.

Starring Andres Garcia (currently playing Pedro José Donoso in EL CUERPO DEL DESEO) the lovely Lucia Mendez and Salvador Pineda as the villain, Max(see him as the very nasty and obsessive Lucio in ESMERALDA).

The story opens to the city of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Raquel Samaniego, the beautiful heroine of the story,  reddish brown curls framing her face,  is just returning from the shop where she had purchased her dress for her wedding to her love whom she had been dating for six months; a young engineer called Antonio Lombardo. She enters the humble apartment she shares with her disdainful younger pouty faced  sister Martha (Luz Maria Jerez) and their widowed (and simple minded) father, Don Daniel. Call me harsh but these two are going  cause poor Raquel a lot of  trouble several episodes from now. Moving on...

Raquel shows her wedding dress to Martha who admires it.  Raquel  then receives a phone call from her fiance, who promises to return from his business trip in time for their wedding day that very weekend. But as soon as he hangs up, the fiance's face visibly changes as his henchman, Luis (Tony Bravo) tells him his stepbrother, Antonio wanted to see him.
  
Ehh???

The viewers are initially confused but it's actually simple as we follow it.

 Raquel's fiance's real name is Maximilliano Alveniz and he's the stepbrother of the real Antonio Lombardo, a fabulously wealthy  man whose father, the late Alberto Lombardo,  married Max's widowed mother, Victoria. Alberto had left a huge trust fund and a permanent position in his company to Max in his Will but to the angry and greedy Max, he had been cheated as Antonio (the legal and true heir) had been given the entire estate, minus a big trust to Antonio's married sister Camilla. Let's go on...

Max sulkily goes to find Antonio, who is at the balcony watching the ocean view. We don't see his face immediately but  Antonio turns when Max demands to know what he wants.  The camera zooms in on   a very  handsome man roughly  in his mid or late thirties - the extremely yummy and manly looking hero of the story, played by  Andres Garcia.

 Max gives him the deep stink-eye (he's very good at that as viewers will find out for the rest of the telenovela) and  flares up as usual at the calm yet firm queries from his stepbrother about some business matters- Max had approved   a construction project Antonio didn't authorise. After Antonio informs him the project was a no go,  he walks out on him, running into  Mummy  Victoria (Magda Guzman; La Usurpandora  viewers will recognise as Fidelina) who guessed from the scowl on her son's face and snarky words  that there has been another   altercation between him and his stepbrother. 

 When she asks him what happened between him and his 'brother', Max coldly reminds her that just because she married Tonio's late father- Alberto- it doesn't make Tonio his brother and how unfair 'the old man' had been to him and Victoria, leaving the bulk of his wealth to Antonio.

  Is this guy for real? 

Back in Guadalajara, Marnie wonders why Raquel and Tony preferred to have a small civil ceremony, which will not be .attended by their friends. Raquel reminded her of their plan to  have a large church wedding after there's more money. Martha goes all sulky when Raquel tells her she will have to start paying the rent and other bills after the wedding, as their father will not be able to, apparently Raquel is the only one in the household that has a steady job and has been the primary provider. 

In Acapulco,  the  Lombardos are at dinner and Victoria tells Antonio that Maura (his girlfriend) came looking for him while he was out but Antonio doesn't seem interested in calling her back, as he was going to be busy the next day. Max tells them both he will be going out of town and gets angry when Antonio tells him he could go since there's nothing serious pending- snappishly telling him he didn't need his permission, storming off.   

Distressed, Victoria  discusses his latest argument with Max, urging him to see Max's  ( non existent) good qualities. Antonio calmly brushes Victoria's concerns aside, he's  more than used to Max's tantrums  and envy and reminds her that he only tolerated Max because of her. Planting an affectionate  kiss on his stepmother's  hand, he  bade her goodnight.

 

Don Daniel returns after celebrating his favourite daughter's upcoming wedding at the bar with his friends, brushing off Raquel's worry about him ruining his health with too much drink. 

At Guadalajara a few days later, Max and Raquel have their civil wedding in Raquel's apartment officiated by a judge. Max used Antonio's signature (he spent hours practising it)on the marriage certificate after the bride signed, then followed by Don Daniel, Martha and the judge's secretary who are the only witnesses.

The couple then go to his apartment where he begins to  passionately kiss her neck but she gently pulls away, reminding him that they were not yet married by the church. Yah... our heroine is old fashioned that way. He's about to argue when the phone rings. It's Luis, to tell him that Antonio was leaving on a business trip.

Raquel is very confused when he tells her the office demands his presence and takes her home, with the promise of calling her and arranging the big church wedding after he got back from his trip.
Antonio is mildly surprised to see Max back from his vacation, Max sullenly lies that he had some work to catch up on.

Antonio leaves the mansion and the villain asks Luis if the trap has been set... the reply... YES.

Oh no... the foreshadowing of murder afoot.  

Antonio and two men enter his private plane and take off. They haven't been in the air long before the plane makes odd noises and moves in an alarming way. The pilot does his best but is unable to prevent what happened next. The plane plunges down a valley and there's a huge CRASH!

Back in Guadalajara, Don Daniel talk with Raquel about Tony. When the subject of finances come up, Daniel tells Raquel a  rich old woman wishes to have an estate sale but Daniel's friend doesn't have the capital to buy several of the items. Raquel is appalled when Daniel coaxingly asks her to help him out with the  money. She doesn't approve of Daniel's relationship with his so called friend because he sells stolen goods. 

Back at the mansion, Antonio's sister Camilla and his voluptuous girlfriend, Maura (eww)  are at the pool, discussing him. They go in just as Max is about to relay the bad news to his mother... Antonio's plane had crashed and there were no survivors! The three women burst into tears.

Camilla runs to her house at the other end of the beach to tell her husband Claudio the bad news. He looks pensive then gently reminds her that Antonio's estate was now theirs. Very sensitive Claudio. 

Camilla is of course  furious. 'What are you talking about, Antonio was my brother!' and cries again.

As Victoria is grieving, Max gives her another surprise, he hands her a document he had found in Antonio's drawer in his room.To her amazement, it's a marriage certificate; why on earth had he gotten married without telling anyone and to a girl they did not know?

Finding the number in Antonio's address book(Max's doing), Victoria calls Guadalajara. Raquel is amazed when Victoria introduces herself as Antonio's stepmother as he'd told her many times that he had no family. Victoria gently gave her the bad news.

                             'NO!' Raquel cried out in anguish. 'IT CAN'T BE TRUE!'

Meanwhile, several miles away from Acapulco, Antonio, the only survivor, regains consciousness. Not knowing where he is, he  staggers away from the wrecked plane and the dead bodies of his friends.

                          To read ALL the episodes in the proper order click  HERE