#is how they’re all leaning toward beatriz

[nexility-sims]

yeah i skipped 20 years it's fine

[youwontlikethisblog]

Locura Mia <3

Remember when Betty clarified everything to Mario and Armando about Nicolas role in Terra Moda and general manager?

She let them know that though Nicolas did manage Terra Moda that he didn't do anything without her say and that she was still the legal representative of Terra Moda.

One: that sets aside the fear of Betty giving too much responsibilities to Nicolas for the sake of him noticing her as she clears the air that she is the one with the last say.

Two: that Nicolas has Betty blinded.

This is both Mario's and Armando's worry, they talked about it at the cocktail the night before and Betty goes to clear the air so they aren't worried or distrusting of them.

However they still decide to enact the sinister plan.

When Armando realizes that Betty potentially cares for him as more than her boss its when the guilt of hurting sets in but when he hears Betty speaking on the phone with Nicolas he decides that he will make Betty fall in love with him.

Now, I want to make it clear that Armando is not in love with Betty. He's confused about his feelings. As well that Armando is worried about Eco Moda, the future of it, and his. That's why he agrees to do that.

Later that night when Betty returns to the meeting room after having spoken to Nicolas she tells them that because she's staying to work that he{Nic] will be going to talk and deal with the lawyer and Armando gets mad at her but she explains why it's important that they do that and Mario agrees.

Then Armando tells Betty to bring him the entire bottle of whisky and she asks if he's well and that he's drinking too much which he tells her to bring it to him.

When she leaves the room Armando tells Mario that she's no longer listening to him or obeying him.

This again proves again that Armando isn't solely worried about the company as now his subconscious is the one leading as he now worries that Nicolas is taking Betty from him.

I do believe that Armando would have fallen in love with Betty regardless of Eco Moda and Terra Moda.

What we have seen so far(before Nicolas was introduced as the love interest of Betty) was Armando slowly building a friendship with Betty as he was also developing feelings for her but all of a sudden these small moments of him just simply liking to spend time with Betty at the office and letting his guard down and letting her into his personal life come crashing into a wall of realization that he isn't ready to face and when he is being forced to face it he decides to deny it. Had it not happened like that I do think he would have ended up falling in love with her in the long run.

As a writer you have to think of all the possibilities that can happen. A scene you write has different alternative endings and you always go with the best one that pushes the story and the intensity forward.

So when watching the romance begin I often wonder what could have been of that scene and where that could have lead the story. When his original secretary quit because she fell in love with him the girls told Betty that Armando was never even aware of it and that he didn't even pay attention to her, it is a fact that Armando doesn't like getting involved with the employee's of Eco Moda so we can assume that it was true. After all when Bertha mentioned that Mariana had foretold that she'd quite her job Armando didn't even look fazed by it. He had no micro expressions or reaction to that. It was as if it wasn't important to him that she quit or why.

She wasn't important to him and she didn't really matter at all as he tells Betty that if she were to leave Eco Moda he would miss her.

Armando is hella drunk here. His eyes are droopy, he can't stand straight at times and he looks like he wants to run out of there.

Betty despite her feelings is trying to keep everything professional. When Armando tells her that they should cheer for something Betty cheer's for Eco Moda, now here Armando is acting. He isn't really talking with the heart.

I often talk about Armando but I am honestly so excited to finally start talking about Betty and her complexities because this romance isn't just from Armando's perspective but Betty's too and she deserves to be talked about more.

From previous episodes we know Betty had a relationship with a guy named Miguel. We know this because when Roman asked her to go out with them for the night as a joke Betty mentioned it after her Don Hermes didn't let her go and later that night after she got stood up she wrote in her diary something that personally moved me a lot.

"When will someone give me the opportunity to give them my love?"

Most times when we're watching a romantic drama or reading one we get this trope of the main character wanting to be loved themselves. They're searching for someone to love them because they've got this idea that love is meant on what others can give you. Armando is like that. He bases love on what others can give you, just like his parents and Marcela is the exact same way however real love isn't like that at all. That's being selfish.

Real love is wanting to give yourself without expecting anything in return and that's how we see Betty show her love towards Armando but the reason why it moved me so much to hear Betty say that is because she wasn't looking for someone to love her but instead she wanted to give her love, she wanted someone to give her the chance to give all the love she knew she could give to them. Betty, our sweet and kind Betty wasn't looking to be selfish in love.

However because of the fact that she did once love someone, she gave her love to someone who didn't appreciate it and just used her Betty is traumatized. It wasn't just heartbreak that she dealt with but she dealt with a humiliation that broke down her self-esteem more, ruined her self worth and killed her.

Though Betty knows she's "ugly" to people and that because of that no man will ever notice her, she believed that her love, the love she could give, would make someone love her. She believes that real love isn't based on physical attraction but rather a deep rooted spiritual connection with someone. Betty has a very beautiful understanding of love.

So it isn't just because her parents raised her to be a decent human with morals that she is keeping things professional but as a defense mechanism.

She is keeping herself away so she won't suffer again but her emotions start to win over after Armando asks her to dance.

She leans her head closer to him, not resting it on his shoulder, and we hear her inner monologue of "I can't believe it." in a hopeful and shocked tone while Armando's inner monologue is the same words his tone is disgusted.

He is disgusted to be so close to Betty, that he is dancing with an "ugly"(I always put quotation marks when I refer to Betty as ugly because she is very gorgeous to me!) woman.

When they return to the table Betty, as a concerned employee but also someone who is secretly in love with her boss respectfully tells Armando to forgive her for not minding her business but that he's drinking too much and he has to drive.

Notice the shift in tone from Armando's voice. Before he asked Betty to dance and they were talking Armando's tone was superficial. It was manipulative but this time it's careless and he's annoyed.

Again here you can notice in the same scene that shift as he lies to Betty and tells her "I'm enjoying my drinking" he shifts to look at her so they can talk better and his emotions give way here as he says "or what is it? What's your problem, Betty?" his facial expression switches to anger as he asks her in an accusing tone "or what am I so boring?"

Betty quickly tells him no "It's not that."

"Then explain it to me. Since Calderon left all you've wanted is for us to not drink, to not dance, to not do this or that. Beatriz, tell me, am I boring guy?"

I recalled Armando talking to Marcela once(when they were going to decide whether they got married though the church or court) and he told her "It's not about me. Are you sure you want to be married to me for life? I'm a really boring guy and you know that."

Here we can tell the difference in how Armando views these two women. While with Marcela he doesn't care that he's a boring guy, he does care that Betty doesn't think of him that way.

You can argue that Armando is drunk therefore he doesn't know what he's saying but he's manipulative by nature. He can do that sober or drunk and we saw that already in the scene before he asked Betty to dance. Besides have you ever heard the saying that toddlers and drunks have one thing in common and it's that they both can piss their pants but speak the truth.

Armando is a lot more drunk than he was at the start of the night with just him and Betty.

Once again Betty reassures Armando and in a loving voice tells him No , but that she understand he is worried for the company, marcela and that he is in a place unusual for him and with company he's not used to.

Really pay attention to Armando's tone. It constantly shifts from being natural to being forced. You can pick up when he is lying and being manipulative to it being honest.

Before I continue this I want to bring a detail I've noticed that came full circle the night of the museum.

Betty often tells Armando not to explain things, that she understands him. Armando however, unlike with Marcela who he just gaslights and manipulates, with Betty he constantly wants to explain things and talk them through, but Betty telling him that he understand him holds a lot of weight in their conversations because she truly does.

Armando takes in a deep breath, squints his eyes at her, before he speaks. He's thinking of what to say to her and trying to figure her out because unlike all the other women who Armando has been with(it's not because of what he said that he didn't know how to seduce an ugly woman) Betty isn't responding to any of his advances. She continues to keep things professional and behaves like a concerned employee so naturally Armando is confused and trying to figure a way to make things work.

He agrees with her about the first thing she said but disagrees about him not being in a place he'd enjoy that he's having a good time and all of that was said in a natural tone but when he leans closer and whispers drunklike "and as for the company." He widens his eyes and tells her "I love it."

Betty's eyes grow wide and she looks at him and then around. She looks surprised but also scared.

She tells him that she thinks he should drink slower or mix his drink with water and he chuckles at that.

"You're not coordinating with what you're saying."

"What? How am I not coordinating with what I'm saying?" He has a smirk on his face and turns to look at her, making eye contact he tells her "'cause I tell you Beatriz" he switches from openly speaking to now whispering as he finishes off by saying "I enjoying being with you." he says looking around the room. This represents the actual dilema he is facing. We know he does like spending time with Betty, especially in the previous days so we know that's true but notice how he was able to talk so openly before until he had to admit that he likes spending time with her. He whispered it to her and looked around the room. He knows he's somewhere that none of his friends or people in his social circle would be in so he isn't paranoid that they'll catch him. It symbolizes his inner battle. He's embarrassed to be seen with a woman like Betty, so he denies to care for her, however he admits he enjoys her company.

Now Armando lets his guard down, you can tell that he isn't as tense however still feeling nervous, he touches his upper lip and leans forward on the table "I'mma tell you something you know." he chuckles and points to Betty's drink "there with you blackberry juice" he chuckles, he finds it endearing, he touches his lips for a micro second often seen as a sign of nervousness. He's nervous to confess this to Betty or even to say it outloud.

Betty is starting at him freaked out and girl I WOULD TOO.

"See when you started working for me, if they would've fired you then I wouldn't have cared or been affected by it but now if you left I wouldn't be able to bare being without you."the haws theme song starts to play and he crazily looks around him. He really doesn't want anyone to hear him say these things because he is embarrassed to feel this way!

Betty's expression doesn't change. She's like a deer hit with headlights.

"But it's just a matter of custom. I'm sure if I left Eco Moda and I left everything organized for the new assistant they'll accomplish-" she's interrupted by an angry Armando.

As Betty was telling him this he took a drink and then started to rub his eyebrow; self soothing.

"Nonononono! I'm not talking about another assistant. " he hisses at her. "I'm saying that you," He chuckles nervously and swiftly covers his face, smiles and says "this is incredible." he fidgets with rubbing his forehead and his tone of voice is what lets us know he is being truthful to Betty. Here Armando is nervous to confess this, not only because he is confessing it to Betty but because now he has to accept it and no longer deny that he does care about Betty. He is being vulnerable.

Do you remember when you'd talk to your crush in middle school how you'd get, especially when the conversation shifted to talking about who you liked?

Armando's behavior reminds me of that.

The literal translation of what he tells her butchers the meaning as Armando tells her "Yo estoy diciendo, es increible esto, pero usted me haria falta, me haria falta como mujer."

"What I'm saying is that you, i can't believe this, is incredible, but I would feel the absence of you, the absence of you as a woman." his tone is very truthful. It isn't like before where it shifted from lying, manipulation and being somewhat truthful. Now it's coming form the heart and we later get more examples of this.

"Um sir please don't continue drinking anymore."

"Why? Why not? I need to drink, see." He drinks from his whisky. "You know why?" he shivers, slightly coughs because of it and shakes his head. "You know why I need to drink? Because I need to, I need to get out what, get out what I have inside of me about what I feel for you." Betty again is looking at him like a deer with headlights. "This is serious don't look at me like me shocked eyes. I'm going to tell you." He slurs. "Since I found out that you have a boyfriend right-"

"But I don't have a boyfriend."

"well, well, whatever, whatever he is, I don't care." He starts to angirly point his finger on the table and with a tone that matches continues "since I found out that guy Nicolas Mora exists I began to feel like bad." He's hunched forward, leaning towards the table and then turning to Betty, his face is very expressive as he shows that what is saying is hard for him to say because it pains him "like this wimper inside of me, I felt like a discomfort that I didn't like and I reflected, I started to think." He begins to act out him reflecting. "Reflecting. Armando, what's going on with you? and I discovered that I'm jealous, I'm jealous of Nicolas Mora." his eyes are wide and lips pursed, showing that he is stressed or holding back emotion.

"Sir don't joke."Betty's voice is shaky, she looks like she's got her heart in her throat as she is leaning far from him. She is afraid of what he is telling her and on guard.

"Do I look like a clown to you?" Betty shakes her head "No right? I don't play with that, Betty. I don't play with that."

Notice the shift in his tone again. It went from being his natural voice, albit drunk and slurred but still his natural tone, to now again being raspy, it's the best way I can discribe his tone which he has whenever he is being manipulative towards anyone. Armando grabs his glass to drink from it which shows us that now he no longer is being honest.

The next sequence is Armando trying to seduce Betty. She explained that she's got nothing going on with Nicolas and tries to excuse herself but Armando tells her to stay and that she isn't going anywhere.

This is him using his power of position to keep Betty in a situation she wants to run from. It is wrong. We know this and so does the writer as we get the Jaws theme song and a creepy smile from Armando. This is intended to be this way and not to be mistaken as something romantic.

He leans in closer and tells her "You fascinate me." Betty reacts to him being so close and leans forward and puckers her lips and they kiss. Armando's reaction is him being grossed out by it.

For the comedic effect Betty opens her eyes and then faints.

What do we get from this?

Armando is a piece of ish!

Now that that's out of the way.

We see Betty struggle with what's going on. She really is scared of what Armando is doing and saying because she doesn't want to have her hopes up and she's afraid of what it entitles. She doesn't want to get hurt.

Armando as always is all over the place. One moment he is angry, the next annoyed, then grossed out, and then he is being vulnerable, honest and baring his bones and then he is being manipulative. I am personally exhausted, imagine him?

Betty wakes up and apologizes, tells him she doesn't know what what's going on and that she crossed the line. She gets up and leaves and Armando goes after her.

See unlike the women of the past, the models or whatever, Betty isn't reacting like he expects her to. She isn't flirting, fawning, getting closer to him. She is in her seat silent while he speaks, telling him to stop drinking, that he doesn't know what he's saying.

Betty runs out of that place and once outside she touches her lips and thinks to herself "He kissed me, he kissed me."

I already mentioned how someone else wrote a post about Armando and the reason he doesn't date women outside of his social circle and here, now, in this scene he is going against that. He is doing the very thing that he lectured Mario about.

He used his position of power to keep Betty there. We get a scene of Armando sitting at the table with his head down and his fist clasped together, unlike with Mario who did that to show power, Armando's body language allows us to see that he is doing it to self-sooth.

I imagine that he is processing everything but mostly feeling guilty for what he is doing. Guilty for taking advantage of Betty and following through with the plan to seduce her and then it hits him that he kissed her. He touches his lips over and over again, it doesn't seem like he's wiping his lips as he gently rubs them and repeats that he kissed her. His brows furrow and instead of having a face of disgust he shows to have a face of confusion because now he is left with the feelings that that kiss produced and left in him. As well as him realizing what he is capable of doing.

Again, Armando is aware that Betty isn't society's standard of Beauty and aware that she isn't want he imagined in his perfect woman body wise, so he is grossed out by the idea of having something physical with her because of his obsession with perfection. This doesn't mean he is grossed out by her, just the idea of her, if that makes sense.

Which I know it's hard to understand, muchless explain right now but I am tired and hungry so I will leave y'all off here.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

'Til next time :)

Ps again ignore my typos.

[doodleimprovement]

AHIT Victorian AU :: Act 2 :: A Realization Long Overdue

Lord Arelius finally has a breakthrough while the girls are sick - though it does, frankly, take a figurative slap to the face.

This is a longer one, folks <3

-

He couldn’t focus. 

God, he couldn’t focus for anything or anyone. 

He had contracts to renegotiate, people to contact, *things to do* 

But his heart had been in his throat since the morning, when he was woken by Cecilia, telling him the girls had horrid fevers. 

The flu. They had the flu.

There had been a small burst of infections in town, several people rendered bedridden but no deaths. 

But no children had been infected. Not until Beatriz and Harriet. 

Doctor Buonacci had been called immediately, with the physician telling them that the best that could be done was mitigating their symptoms and letting the virus take its course. 

It hadn’t been what he wanted to hear, but he knew that if anyone was going to be honest with him, it would be the good doctor. 

He stared down at the letter he was composing, a renegotiation with the house of lords concerning something-or-other that his jumbled brain couldn’t focus on. He brushed his hair back for what must have been the 10th time, and he stood up from his desk, grumbling “Damn it all”

There was a knock on the door, and his head whipped up “Come in” 

Morgan pushed the door open “Uh, afternoon, m’lord” 

He forced his shoulders to relax, he was used to such a conscious decision “Good afternoon, Morgan. Is something going on?” 

“Missus Carlile is askin’ for ya. She says she need y’r help” 

The Lord’s brow furrowed “alright” he answered, quickly clearing the papers on his desk “Tell her I will be right with her. Is she in the kitchen?” Morgan nodded before leaving down the hall. 

He huffed at her sheepishness around him. Vanessa had really left her mark on the girl. 

Putting his coat back on as he walked into the hall, a part of him wanted to veer left at the fork to check on the girls, but he resisted that want - an easy task that made him feel guilty - and walked right over to the kitchen’s side entrance. 

“Cecilia?” He voiced as he opened the door, seeing her toiling over a pot of soup - the aroma alone making him feel sleepy and calm. 

“Ah, there ya are!” She pointed her spoon at him “I need you to help me bring the girls somethin’ light to eat. The broth from this soup should be good for ‘em” She explained “Doc Bonnie said that addin’ pepper can help with their sinuses'' 

He smelled the slight spice in the air at her mention of it. “Harriet isn’t the biggest fan of pepper” he pointed out

“Which is why we’re not tellin’ her, and you’re helping me with it” 

Well, he understood the logic there. 

She filled two small bowls with the broth and handed one to him, along with a spoon 

“M’lord, if I may..” Cecilia started 

“As if i could ever stop you” he responded with a slight smirk. She smiled back. 

“I know y’r worried about them” She continued “Morgan says you’re never sittin’ at your desk when she goes to you.” 

“Well of course I’m worried” He argued “They’re just children. The flu is… well, it’s dangerous for everyone” 

Cecilia gave him a knowing smile “Allow yourself the luxury of caring for them, Lord Lukas” She advised “You’ll feel better if you do” 

A bit confused by her wise words, he didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant before she turned around and started for the double doors to the dining room - a more direct route to the girl’s room. 

When they arrived, the only light was coming from half an open window. Harriet was half in-half out of the sheets, sleeping with her mouth open, a slight wheeze to her snore. Beatriz, meanwhile, was awake and staring at the ceiling, looking as if she hadn’t slept in days, despite the flu only hitting her this morning 

“Hey there” Cecilia started, keeping her voice soft. Little Bow turned her head, raising her hand and waving a little bit. “How ya feeling?” 

Bow’s expression - a slightly disgusted one - told the adults all they needed to know. 

“Think you can drink some broth? You need to have somethin’ in your stomach. Doc Bonnie says its important” Cici explained “M’lord, can ye wake Harriet an’ see if she’ll have the broth?”  

Lukas nodded, and placed the bowl on the side table, sitting carefully at the edge of the bed and cautiously reaching to her forehead, wiping her bangs away from her eyes. God, she was still burning up. He suppressed his worry once again, and quietly spoke 

“Harriet? Can you wake up?” He requested, his hand going to her shoulder to shake her slightly. 

She shifted, and stopped snoring, her eyes taking their time to open, she groaned a bit as she looked at him “Huh..?” 

“Hello there, little fool” He brushed her hair back again “How are you feeling?” 

She pouted, and responded with a pitiful whine, covering her eyes with her arm. 

He chuckled a little “I know how that feels” he grabbed the broth “Are you able to sit up?” 

Her eyes were watery, but she nodded and managed to sit up straight “M-m’cold…” 

He frowned “I know you feel that way” He comforted, “Cecilia made you and Beatriz some warm broth to help” He glanced at Bow, watching Cici help Bow’s slightly shaking hands so that she didn’t spill. 

He decided to copy her, and while Hattie still looked miserable, she did drink the broth. It spilled a bit, but he diligently used his kerchief to wipe her face. 

“Does that feel better?” He asked, glancing at Bow, who was laying back down, and nodded at him. “Hattie?” 

The girl just sniffled, leaning forward into his arm and groaning again. He chuckled just a little “I know, I know” he consoled, pulling her off and rubbing her arms “You’ll feel better soon” 

She reached and grabbed his sleeve, tugging at it “C-can.. Stay..?” 

He blinked “.. Stay?” 

Bow turned on her side, looking half awake as Cici grabbed the now empty bowls. “... I’s lonely here” She admitted

The man blinked, his brain trying to catch up to the melty feeling going on in his chest. 

Hattie’s hand gripped his sleeve a little tighter. 

He took in a deep breath, and wiped at Hattie’s forehead again. 

“I’ll be back” he told her, and watched as she let go of his sleeve, disappointment painting her features. “It’s okay.. I’ll be back” 

He stood quickly, walking out of the room only to be stopped by Cici right outside the door, who was glaring at him with a disappointed frown. 

“What are you doin’ Master Arelius?” She stared him down. 

He didn’t respond at first, recalling what she’d said to him earlier 

‘Give yourself the luxury of caring for them’ 

Well… He wasn’t getting any work done anyway. 

“... Have my appointments cancelled” He announced to her, his head finally catching up to his heart. 

“Shall I have Markus called in, Master?” 

“... Yes” 

She finally gives him a smile. “Hurry yourself then. Those girls need you” 

Lukas nodded, determination set into his face and turning on his heel toward his own room. 

He’d only be a minute

-

He returned to the girls room after a few minutes - seeing that Bow and Hattie were back to staring at the ceiling. A guilty feeling settling in his chest. 

Enough, enough. You’re here now. Don’t linger on how long it took you.

He carefully came up to the side of the bed, Harriet catching his figure and looking up at him. She blinked tiredly, but reached out for him almost immediately. 

Not hesitating, he reached back and pulled her up against him. Her feverish forehead pressed against his collarbone, and she let out a relieved sigh - his body running cold seeming to be a blessing for once. 

Beatriz watched with some confusion in her eyes - she was seemingly much more aware than Harriet was. 

Shifting Harriet over to one arm, he reached out to her with a questioning expression, keeping his voice calm and quiet. 

“I’m not going anywhere” 

That seemed to be exactly what she needed to hear, and she crawled herself out of the bed sheets and clung onto him like a koala, muttering a ‘thank you’ into his shirt as his arm when around her. 

It took a little… finagling, but he eventually ended up in the middle of the bed, with Harriet on his right, and Beatriz on his left, the two girls curled up against him, Bow finally seeming relaxed enough to actually sleep. Harriet meanwhile, was about half awake, her breath wheezing slightly from her poor little respiratory system. 

His hand gently rubbed her back “how are you feeling?” he whispered “Do you want some water?” 

She shook her head, sniffling “..Why’r you here? Aren’t you- busy?” She asked, looking up at him with her tired eyes. 

He let out a breath before answering “Because you and Bow need me” He answered succinctly “And you two are more important than a few letters and appointments. Those things can wait” 

Her tired expression seemed surprised, but then it melted into an exhausted, but unmistakably happy smile as she readjusted herself to be more comfortable. 

“Mmh… Mist’r Conners is right” She muttered, finally seeming to start to fall asleep. “Y’r a good papa..” 

Just as her eyes closed, his heart stopped for a moment, before it started thudding in his chest. 

Papa

Father. She said that he was a good… Father

His heart nearly overwhelmed him,and his vision blurred. He held the girls a little tighter

“.. Papa, huh?” he whispered, taking in a deep breath. 

Those papers at the corner of his desk needed mailing as soon as they were recovered, then.

[xxrainbow-princessxx]

Protective - Leo x Isabella

Synopsis: Alessandra and Natalia are soon turning eighteen and are a complete liability. With Isabella and Leo’s patience wearing thin, can they try to get their children to understand why they are overbearing

Tagging: @drakewalkerfantasy @itslaniquelove @kingliam2019 @kimmiedoo5 @mom2000aggie @lorirwritesfanfic @lorircreates @hopefulmoonobject @rafasgirl23415 @texaskitten30 @rainbowsinthestorm @desireepow-1986 @speedyoperarascalparty @liam-rhys @choicesficwriterscreations

Leo was at his final tether with his two daughters. Alessandra and Natalia were becoming a law onto themselves whilst they remained in Laurentia for their schooling forcing his hand. The seventeen year olds begged and pleaded with their mother but Isabella simply passed it off as ‘tough luck’, they had been warned far too often by their father that the next wrong step for either of them was boarding school and lo and behold, Leo kept his promise, shipping the girls out Switzerland to continue their schooling. Things seemed to settle down in the first few weeks but as Isabella and Leo sat down for lunch one afternoon, the King’s phone began to ring. It was the school. “What do you mean they didn’t turn up for lessons?” Leo raised his brow in question, “It’s a boarding school in the middle of nowhere... how could they?” Leo began to shake his head as he stared at his wife sighing, “These girls are going to be the death of me...” He listened as the school principal kept apologising explaining they were in the process of checking their security footage. Leo clenched his jaw in anger, “Where are their protection officers?” seeing red immediately as the principal explained they were not on the campus either.

Isabella continued to poke her fork around her Salade Niçoise as Leo slammed the phone down onto the table. “Bella... I swear I am...” Isabella raised her brow stopping her husband in his tracks, “Let’s call them and see if they answer...” Leo reached for his phone but Isabella shook her head, “I’ll call...” she tried Alessandra first but there was no response, Natalia on the other hand answered happily, “Buenas Tardes, mama...” she exclaimed happily. Carefully Isabella approached the subject, “Mi querida...” Leo began to roll his eyes incensed, “Why do I have your papa opposite me ready to explode as both you and your sister are not in school? Where are you?” Natalia began to laugh not realising she was on loud speaker, “Mama... it’s so boring... they’re making us take classes in things we already know, languages we are already fluent in... so Sasha and I decided to go check out something we didn’t know, so we went into Geneva to see the sights...” Leo nearly took a heart attack, his face reddening with pure anger but Isabella kept her cool, “That’s ok mi amor... we can talk about that later... but is Elena and Beatriz with you?”

Isabella could only trust what her daughter told her, Natalia confirming that their protection officers were in tow until she heard Natalia shouting across to Beatriz, “Bea... can you talk to mama?” Isabella closed her eyes and took a deep breath after hearing the protection officer speak, “Beatriz...” the Laurentian Queen continued, “...once the girls are finished on their little tour, please bring them back to school at once... Lia, Sasha...” Isabella began to sigh as her daughters took the phone back, “We love you... but your father is extremely displeased... we don’t want anything to happen to you both so please go back to school...” The Princesses looked at one another, pouting heavily as the confirmed in unison, “Ok mama... we love you too...” Leo was fit to burst but Isabella raised her index finger, “Don’t...” The sandy haired Cordonian folded his arms angrily in frustration, “What the hell do they think they’re playing at?!”

Leo barked, “When they were home, it was running after boys... now it’s breaking out of school and heading off somewhere because they felt like it! I didn’t send them to an all girl, Catholic boarding school in the asshole of nowhere for nothing!” Isabella bit down on her lip trying so hard not to laugh as she teased, “What were you expecting? That they would become nuns or something?” Leo ran his fingers through his hair as he growled, “For how much it costs a fucking semester... quite frankly... yes!” The petite brunette slowly shook her head, “This isn’t on me... I loved school... Do you remember what you were like when you were turning eighteen?” Groaning, Leo ran his hands down his face mumbling, “That’s what I’m afraid of...” his sea green eyes rolled to the right as his wife grinned at him, “I never cut school until I met you...” she teased, “You were always a bad influence... but...” Isabella sighed heavily, “We will need to speak with them, let’s do thatnext week during half term break...” Leo nodded in agreement, “No eighteenth birthday party either... I’ve had enough of this shit...”

Isabella had a heavy heart as her two daughters returned the following week, Leo was still reeling from their last escapade but as they came home, immediately the two girls opened their arms, hugging him as tightly as they could, “Miss us?” Alessandra giggled as she kissed her father’s cheek, “Like a hole in the head you two...” chuckled the Laurentian King embracing them back. He had found it so difficult with them being away from him and Isabella but he felt he had no choice. “Come...” Leo smiled, “Your mother’s made lunch for us all...” Leo escorted his daughters quietly outside into the orangery away from the hustle and bustle of the Palace staff. Alessandra and Natalia both smiled as they seen their mother, running to hug her and not wanting to let her go. Nico rolled his eyes, sitting beside his mother as the twelve year old stuck his tongue out at his older sisters causing Alessandra to scowl, “Don’t be a brat Nico!” she hissed at her younger brother as Isabella gestured for them both to sit.

“Girls...” Isabella’s shoulders dropped, her bright, white beaming smile began to fade, “I’m sorry... but we need to talk about last week... your father and I...” Isabella’s chocolate brown eyes looked across to Leo sadly, “We’ve discussed it... and we’ve decided to cancel your birthday party at the end of this week...” As the girls protested, Natalia stood up as she pushed her chair out glaring at her parents. “This is bullshit!” she barked, throwing her napkin onto the table but Leo was not in the mood for stroppy teenagers. He pointed at her growling, “So help me God... get your ass back on that seat! Sit down and for once do as you’re told, your mother is speaking!” Alessandra pouted as she folded her arms, “This is seriously unfair... you can’t do that!” The look of devastation on their faces broke Isabella but Leo stood his ground, “If you both weren’t running around acting like spoilt brats... you wouldn’t be in this mess... we gave you your last chance when you went to Lac Léman and...” he spoke matter of fact with them as the Princesses eyes began to water, “You blew it...”

Natalia leaned across the table, fluttering her long eyelashes, “Papa...” she sighed, “We don’t want to be there... we miss our friends, we miss home, the classes are too easy...” she fell back into her chair slumping, “We went to a museum to actually learn something new...” a coy smile began to form across her face, “So why should we be punished for something that isn’t exactly our fault?” Isabella raised her brow cutting in before Leo lost his temper, “Natalia!” She barked, “This is not a laughing matter! You’re both meant to go to College, make a career for yourself before you need to engage in more Royal duties... and neither of you will disrespect this family any longer!” Alessandra bit down on her lip as Natalia stayed quiet, they had pushed the boundaries too far this time as Leo growled at them both, his fist slamming down onto the table “What the hell were you both thinking?! Anything could have happened!” His calm sea green eyes darkened, “Just go to your rooms...” he sighed with frustration but before the girls could push out their chairs, Leo stood up, “On second thoughts... I’ll go...” as he glared at his daughters shaking his head in disbelief.

“Mama...” Alessandra’s hazel eyes widened as she quietly spoke, “Papa’s really angry with us...” Isabella rolled her dark chocolate eyes to the left towards her daughters, “Mi querida...” she sighed, “...it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that... your father... he, as you both well know would move heaven and earth for you, but he’s disappointed and understandably so...” Alessandra and Natalia looked at one another, they knew they had to make it right some how. “Mama...” Natalia sniffed, “We’ll go apologise... I don’t care about a stupid party... I just don’t want...” she began to cry. Natalia wasn’t the crying type but for her to be so open, in front of everyone; Isabella knew she was being sincere. “I don’t want him to hate me!” The Princess was always so closed off regarding her feelings but right now, she couldn’t hide it from the world. Isabella began to smile nodding in agreement, “Mi amor... he could never hate you... but I think he’d appreciate that...”

Later that afternoon, Alessandra and Natalia sighed heavily as they went to their father’s office knocking on the heavy oak door waiting to be called in. They had never been so nervous. As Leo barked “enter...” Both Natalia and Alessandra kept their heads down as they slipped quietly through the door, both of them stood in front of their father as Leo looked up at his daughters. Alessandra’s eyes clocked onto the picture frames around his desk as Leo leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, “Something I can help you with?” Alessandra’s eyes locked with her sisters as Natalia sighed, “Papa... can you come sit with us?” as she gestured to the couch, “Please?” Leo wondered what they were up to, playing along with their request, he pushed his chair out and moved to the couch. Alessandra called down to the kitchen to ask for some Cordonian tea to be brought to her father’s office but her eyes followed all the pictures Leo had on his desk, all of them of his children. Making her way to the couch, Alessandra sat on the left, Natalia on the right. Natalia’s bottom lip trembled, “Papa...” she sniffed, “I am so fucking sorry...” as she dropped her head into her hands, “I don’t want you to hate me!!”

Leo put his arms around his youngest daughter, “No baby girl... no...” he cooed, “I could never hate you or your sister...” kissing the crown of her head, “You two are the best thing that ever happened to me... when I was your age... I just messed around, no thought for anyone else, I was a massive pain in the ass, just ask your Uncle Liam...” Leo began to smile as his daughters both rested their heads against his shoulders, “I just want better for you two... know enough that if you ever didn’t want this... you could do anything you wanted... not rely on who you know, but what you know... be the smartest person in the room...” As the tea arrived, three cups were poured. Leo turned his head side to side looking down at them, “You pair don’t have a clue what goes through mine and Isabella’s heads when you decide to do a disappearing act... I’m ready to send out the National Guard!” Alessandra’s brow furrowed, “But papa... we’re gonna be going to College soon...” Leo began to chuckle loudly, “Doesn’t matter.. You two will always be my baby girls, even when you’re ninety and have as much plastic surgery as your grandma...” Natalia shoved Leo playfully as she laughed, finally a smile came across her face. “We’ll try so much harder...” Alessandra mumbled quietly as Leo nodded, “That’s all I want...”

Alessandra hugged her father tightly but Natalia still remained quiet, “Sasha...” Leo sighed, “Can you give me a minute with Lia?” The Crown Princess nodded, “Ok... I’ll see you both later...” as she picked up her things, leaving quietly. Waiting a moment after the door closed behind her, Leo’s brow furrowed, “What’s up sweetheart...” her hazel eyes met her father’s, biting down on her lip she mumbled, “Can I come home? It was my fault that we left... I just wanted to do something that didn’t revolve being a girly girl. Papa... I miss my friends. Sasha’s fine... they love her there, she’ll be a Queen one day... me... I’m a no one, just a copy of a more important person than me...” Leo put his arm around the Princess as he leaned down whispering to her, “No baby girl... you are you and just as important... Is that what you want?” Natalia nodded quietly as Leo smiled, “I’ll not make you do anything you don’t want to...” The Princess began to grin, “Thanks Papa... can I ask you something?” “Anything beautiful... what is it?” Leo replied warmly as Lia’s eyes narrowed as she grinned with her dazzling smile that matched her mother’s, “Can we go to the game tonight?” Leo chuckled warmly, “Of course... let’s take your sister and go to the Marina...” getting the girls out of the Palace would help with hiding their birthday presents. Maybe he would change his mind about the party...

[mczreads]

The Golden Hour

Beatriz Williams

Published July 9, 2019 by William Morrow.

3 stars

I was given an ARC of this book by HarperCollins. This does not affect my review. Any details quoted here may differ from the published copy.

I can see why The Golden Hour is touted as a beach read. The sprawling, languid descriptions of the settings in the novel, specifically The Bahamas and Florida, set the reader’s mind in faraway places and other eras that are particularly appealing for summer. The story follows two women: Lulu, a journalist sent to the Bahamas to write about the governing Duke and Duchess of Windsor during WWII, and Elfriede, a woman sent to convalesce at an clinic in 1900 after developing postpartum depression. Both woman fall in love in their new locales and struggle to define happiness, family, and loyalty for themselves. The story alternates between the two women, revealing connections between their lives. While categorized under historical fiction, this book leans more into romance than history. And that’s fine! Just know that if you picked up the book for the real-life details of the Windsors, an unsolved murder, and espionage, those details are passing backdrops for an ongoing love story. I rated this book a 3 because it has its merits--mostly descriptive language that sings, placing the reader right where the author Williams wants--but the writing struggles with voice and accents, and the story would have been so much stronger if the protagonists could have been involved in more of the action.

Spoilers under the cut.

My ARC of The Golden Hour is over 460 pages long; the book should have delivered much more action, or it could have been edited to half its length if unnecessary filler had been cut.

Most of my frustrations are with the chapters narrated by Lulu. The author does give each protagonist her own voice, but with Lulu she narrates using dialogue filler. Narrative sentences include, “didn’t they?” or “if you know what I mean,” and even, “Now, where was I?” I sense that Williams is attempting to characterize Lulu through her voice, but these additions add nothing to the story or her character. She’s the sole American, and this could have been shown in her dialogue with the British characters she works with in Nassau. On my first trip to London, I created a misunderstanding over the word “bacon” in my first 24 hours. A similar disagreement could establish Lulu’s American identity, or her sass and humor could come across by speaking more bluntly than those around her.

Speaking of dialogue, Williams includes characters of different nationalities in this story. Lulu is American, Elfriede is German, Nassau residents are the British colonists and the hired native Bahamians, and supporting characters are from all over Europe, including Scotland. Guess which group of people speak in broken, phonetic English? If you guessed the Bahamian housekeepers and hired help, you’d be correct, and I hope you didn’t strain your eyes rolling them as hard as I did.

Accents can be tricky to write, and from a writing perspective, there’s a fine line between including details that create a living scene and writing something so jarring that it slows the reader down or takes them out of the story altogether. From a human perspective, authors have to be aware of how they’re characterizing speakers through their accents. And in this story, Williams does not treat all accents equally. The Bahamian dialect is written phonetically, a Scottish brogue is described as hard to understand and then “translated” into perfect English, and the Germans are only distinguished by dialogue tagged, “he said in a German accent.” Elfriede’s accent is mentioned once, in an English lesson from her lover, where it’s written to be adorable. The kicker is that much of Lulu’s story is spent with the Windsors during WWII, and their attitudes toward Hitler (sympathetic but not wanting to advertise it) and the Bahamians (straight up racist) are meant to shock because of course these views are wrong and of course anyone who feels this way is a bad person... yet the writing then creates a dynamic where white American, British, and German characters are written to be easier to understand, and therefore easier to sympathize with. And I’m sure that’s not what Williams intended! It’s aggravating to see an author undermine her own point because she didn’t examine her biases, and I wish a beta reader or editor had pointed this out.

The details I was most excited to read about--the Windsors dealing with the ramifications of David’s abdication, and the murder of Harry Oakes--occur around Lulu, but do not involve her. She’s hired to write about the Windsors, yes, and she yearns to write about the real news instead of a glorified gossip column. But nothing comes of her yearning, as she continues to humanize the Windsors, specifically the notorious Wallis, even as she suspects that they’re involved in illicit dealings. There’s no dramatic reveal or dangerous confrontation. The reader is merely informed that the Windsors were plotting treason. Similarly, the murder of Harry Oakes occurs while Lulu preoccupied with her lover, which would be fine if she were at least involved in the fallout. You’d expect a journalist to cover an infamous murder trial, right? Except Lulu’s just a columnist, so the story skips over the investigation and trial, and the reader learns the outcome through gossip at a party (and again, the Windsors are involved in ways that aren’t entirely legal). The final 30 pages of the book include all the best action, but it’s done by other characters while Lulu waits.

The bones of a killer summer read are all present in The Golden Hour. Williams can compose some solid writing. Take this description of a long train ride: “Margaret lights a cigarette and stares out the window at the passing shadows, black on black, while I settle myself against the corner and listen to the rhythmic clatter, metal on metal.” Doesn’t that echo the same “rhythmic clatter” she describes? Doesn’t the sentence feel like the rocking of a train through the dark? But her skill makes the omission of any significant action almost cruel. This could have been a longer story of intrigue and romance, or it could have been a short story of love, but in the end it only partially delivers.

[alyooops]

Answer all of the wlw soft ask questions 😁💕

Well then,,, :)

how long have you known you liked girls? all my life

talk about the girl who made you realise you liked girls uhh… I guess I could say my first crush; a girl in 6th grade named Nicole, though nothing came of it because I’m awkward as fuuuuuuuu

are you in a relationship at the moment? nope

do you have a crush at the moment? too many

describe your crush! but really, not currently? I’m just getting back into being “social” so I haven’t really had the ability to develop any real ones, i guess

do you tend to like more masculine, feminine, or androgynous girls? all, though i guess I seem to lean more towards fem or andro girls

do you look/dress more masculine, feminine, or androgynous? I like to dress more feminine, but with how I look I think it turns out more androgynous :/

what’s your gaydar like? the worst

tall girls or short girls? I hate choosing!!! umm… tall

intimidating girls or kind girls? kind

hugs or kisses? mmmm…. i’d say hugs; they’re comforting :)

do you have an ideal ‘type’? what would they be like? not really

what’s your favourite personality trait of yours? umm… this is tough due to my self-esteem, but since this is something I should be working on, I’ll say…. my empathy

what’s your favourite personality trait for a girl to have? sense of humor 

what’s the best thing about liking girls? the fact that all girls are beautiful and amazing

do you have any friends who are wlw? yup

have you ever been to pride? if so, what was your first pride like? nope

do you like the lesbian flag? yeah!

what was your first kiss with a girl like? awkward as hell

who was your celebrity/fictional gay awakening? oooo…. umm, my memory is awful, but i think I remember having a crush on Mrs. Huxtable from the Cosby Show (showing my age there I think)

what’s your favourite lgbt+ movie? favorites are hard for me…. I also haven’t seen a ton of LGBT+ movies.

who’s your favourite openly wlw celebrity? ugggggh…. well Ellen is of course, an icon, and really blazed the trail, especially for openly queer characters on tv and movies I think. Also, Stephanie Beatriz is a blessing

do you wear makeup? sometimes, though I’m usually lazy, and I’m still learning :/

who was the first person you came out to (if you have)? My BFF, Stacy

has anyone ever come out to you? yeah, my BFF and my roommate who I’ve known since high school (plus my cousin and another friend, but those were more, “oh yeah, I relate” type of coming outs)

have you found a community of lgbt+ people? definitely! :)

do you have any older lgbt+ people you look up to? no, pretty much everyone is around my age or younger

do you identify with butch/femme labels? mmm… hard to say really,,, i guess no?

who’s your favourite fictional wlw? right now, Trini for sure (plus Kim cough we all know she’s bi cough cough), though Korrasami is a close second and third

what experiences are you looking forward to having in the future (kissing a girl, going to pride, etc)? meeting more people and making friends, maybe going to pride if I had friends to go with, certainly dating again, but that’s probably a long way off

Thanks for the ask :*

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

Welcome to the 99

oh hey it’s the YA/B99 crossover that I was up til 1 AM talking about with @jewishsuperfam. I want to Write this but also feel like if I post it on here I will Trick my brain into thinking it’s not a real fic.

Which it isn’t since I can’t promise updates or a hard and fast timeline just know that I have Too Many Ideas about it

this is dedicated to Stephanie Beatriz who dressed up as America Chavez for Halloween, what a Gift

this takes place in like....idkkkkk season two????

It’a a Monday morning briefing which means that the only person even remotely paying attention is Santiago.

Captain Holt saying the phrase “pilot program” perks up a few ears and the word “Avengers” has everyone straightening in their seats, even Rosa, who goes from her typical relaxed feet-on-the-table position to feet-flat-on-the-floor-let’s-get-ready-to-fight in a matter of seconds. It might be noteworthy except for the fact that Captain Holt is saying that they’re going to get to work with freakin’ Avengers. 

“Oh my god,” Jake hisses to Boyle. “I think Rosa was an Avenger. Look how freaked out she got.”

“Peralta,” Holt says in the tone he reserves solely for Jake. “Is there something you’d like to add?”

“Uh. No sir. Just that I’m suuuuper excited!”

Holt gives him a Look before turning to the rest of the detectives. “As I said, this is a pilot program, spearheaded by Captain Steve Rogers to try and foster feelings of safety and trust between civilians and the superpowered community. The group we will be working with isn’t as high profile as the Avengers, nor will they be here all the time--though I believe Detective Boyle and Sergeant Jeffords have worked with at least one of their number on occasion--ah, here they are!”

They are a handful of people who all appear to be in their mid to late twenties. Three of them are still wearing their sunglasses inside and they honestly look more like a group of people who partied too hard over the weekend and are still hungover.

“Coffee,” the woman at the front of the pack croaks. “I need coffee.”

She looks familiar but Jake can’t place her. She is elbowed by a guy with dark floppy hair that is equally familiar and unplaceable.

She clears her throat and strides to the front of the room, hand outstretched. “You must be Captain Holt. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Now that she isn’t croaking for coffee like some sort of hungover monster, she sounds a lot like...a hungover monster who needs coffee. “Sorry we’re late. We just got off of a flight from--” Dark FloppyHair elbows her in the back and she continues with “destinations unknown. It was a red eye.” She looks like she’s thinking very hard about taking off her sunglasses before deciding against it. “We were called in to...engage a hostile...and this individual had a sonic weapon.”

This gets her a lot of blank stares.

“Look, it was a weird weapon and a lot of us look like we got hit by trucks. That had arms. That held baseball bats, that they then used to beat us with.”

She pulls off her sunglasses with what looks like a lot of effort, prompting a disgusted, pained “ew” from the collective 99. 

“Hit by a car that had arms that beat you isn’t how I would have described anything but somehow, it is a perfect description,” Jake admits once she puts on her sunglasses again. “Hit by a bloodshot machine would have worked too, I think.”

“Oh nice!” 

Holt clears his throat. “Ah. Yes. Why don’t you introduce yourselves?”

“Right! Well, I’m Hawkeye,” the woman says, gesturing with the cup of coffee Dark FloppyHair got her. “This is Wiccan--” (”Wiccan,” Jake scoffs to Charles. “His name is Dark FloppyHair.”) “--the guy with the white hair is Speed, like the drug--(”Thanks, Hawkeye, exactly what I wanted you to say in a room full of cops.”)--the big guy is Hulkling, no relation, and the tiny pocket person who is...sitting on that man’s shoulder...is Stature,” she finishes with a sigh.

“You can’t call me a pocket person, I’m not even wearing the suit!” Stature takes offense, even though she is a super teeny blonde lady who has somehow seated herself on the Sarge’s shoulder, Gina looking on with envy.

Hawkeye decides to ignore this remark. “This isn’t all of us, it’s like...half of us? But we won’t all be working with you at the same time, and this is the group that will probably be here the most.”

Her red-rimmed eyes are invisible behind her mirrored purple sunglasses but Jake thinks she’s staring at Rosa, who shifts in her chair. Almost like she’s nervous which is impossible because Rosa doesn’t get nervous. Rosa doesn’t even sweat.

“Thank you...Hawkeye,” Holt nods and gestures towards a chair. She sits and leans back, putting her feet up on the table just like Rosa does.

Jake smacks Charles in the arm. “Look!”

“As I said, I am Captain Holt. The man Stature is sitting on is Sergeant Terry Jeffords. Detectives Scully and Hitchcock are....nevermind. And we have Detectives Amy Santiago, Charles Boyle, Jake Peralta, and Rosa Diaz.”

Hawkeye and Rosa are definitely having a stare-off. 

“Detective Diaz?” Hawkeye finally says. 

“Yes, do you know her?” Holt asks.

“Never met her.” 

[youwontlikethisblog]

You Betrayed Me!

Armando finds out that Betty's "boyfriend" gave her money to invite everyone in her friend group to have lunch.

He nears Patty, Marcela, and Hugo cackling at the expense of Betty, as always, and smiling he asks what they're laughing about, that he too wants to laugh.

"We're talking about Betty's boyfriend." Marcela says calming down from her laugher and Armando's huge smile falls and he displays a pissed off expression. "Ah you don't know she has a boyfriend?" she chuckles.

"Nono I didn't but I'm not interested in the personal life of Beatriz. Who is he?" now his voice is low. However you can tell he is angry but controlling himself.

"I think she doesn't even know it herself." Patty jokes.

"But I am dying to know who he is 'cause that type of species, of people, we need to study. We should stick them in a research laboratory with cameras and when he gets close to give her a kiss he'd grab her by the ears and(proceeds to pucker his lips as if he were sucking in air) all drooling." Hugo insults and laughs.

"Ah! No! I can't imagine anyone could have the balls to kiss her." Marcela laughs and covers her face in disgust.

"Right! Up until now I was convinced that the only thing that could kiss her would be a bat." Patty says.

"Aside from that, the man ia a millionaire!"

Armando turns to look at Marcela and then at Patty.

"Millionaire no. Multi-millionaire. He lent [Betty] money so she could take her friends out to eat to the Corrientazo.(Proceeds to mock Sofia's voice and naming the menu)"

"With so much trickery she managed to get a multi-millionaire. Does she think we're all stupid? As stupid as the supposed multi-millionaire boyfriend she got?" Mean girl cackle.

Armando mouths the 'multi-millionaire" part.

All three of the mean girls laugh or cackle like wenches.

"What's wrong? Ah it's because in front of Armando you can't talk bad about Beatriz."

"Ah Armando one thing, why don't you tell that moscorrofio to introduce you to her rich boyfriend that way you can make business with him and get money to run me my check."

"Ha-ha-ha. You're all super funny today. "

"See he doesn't even believe it that Beatriz found a rich boyfriend"

Hugo complains about not getting paid so bla bla bla.

The camera then switches to Armando being centered, head down, staring ahead under his brows, nostrils flared, lips tight, and his classic hand passing lightly over his hair as we hear a menacing voice:

"I'm going to kill Beatriz Pinzón Solano."

One thing is for sure here: Armando's ego is being dragged through the mud.

The arrows thrown at Betty end up hitting him as he is the one that has the balls to kiss(in his imagination AA) her.

As they insult, ridicule, and make fun of Betty and her boyfriend Armando is getting a taste of what he's afraid of. The ridicule and social embarrassment he'd face if he were to ever be seen with Betty as his girlfriend out in public. His reputation is important to him and he is afraid of being laughed at and he's now seeing it. He is witnessing first hand what he knows people in his social circle will say behind his back and Betty's.

Now it does upset him and he is angry that Betty has a boyfriend as everytime he hears that he has the exact same expression: Anger disguised as disinterest.

When Patty mentions that he[Nic] is a multi-millionaire his anger now centers in disbelief and betrayal.

Swiftly he turns to Hugo and with a smile on his face until he hears again "multi-millionaire" and he turns to Marcela, mouths the words and stares at her.

The phrase that comes to mind is "stomach tied in knots." but not in a good way. He looks tense, pissed off, hurt, and scared.

All these emotions center around Betty and her "boyfriend". Why would Armando feel betrayed? Why does he feel hurt? Why is he pissed off? Especially more when money is mentioned?

Money for men is power. The more you have the better you are. It's seen as a sign of being untouchable, stronger, more important, and better than everyone else.

Men use money to boost their ego and feel better about themselves. So for him to hear that Betty's boyfriend is a multi-millionaire is a kick to his ego, but also his fear that Nicolas is turning Betty against him and by consequences will take away his money therefore it would make Nicolas Mora better than him.

Now Betty's friends suck.

They constantly use her to make fun of Patty. They never respect her privacy or her wishes to maintain her personal life secret from others in Eco Moda and are always so nosy in her business.

They care more about their ego than they do about Betty's wishes or feelings.

Even Bertha tells Betty that she can't deny them the pleasure of rubbing it in Patty's face that Betty has a boyfriend.

The only ones that show some kind of redemption are Mariana, Aura Maria, and at times Inesita.

Because of them the hostility of Armando and his distrust of Nicolas is fed. As they constantly spread false information and use Betty's intimacy as a pawn without caring about the consequences. They suck.

Betty leaves a lollipop on Armando's desk.

As Armando enters his office we can see the lollipop on his desk.

Why does such a simple object hold such meaning in this scene?

Betty exits her office.

"Did you eat well?"She speaks in a peaceful tone.

"Mhmm" he avoids her.

"Sir, I need you to sign this paper for the legalization of the money Terra Moda paid to your family." Armand snatches the paper from her hand to sign and then throws it at her. "Thank you." Betty looks at the paper. "I have some really good news! Regarding the sells report and with the advances that Mr. Mario Calderon managed to get we are able to cover the overdraft with the bank and pay everyone tomorrow."

Armando slowly looks up at Betty, under his brows he gives her a dead stare. "What joy, no? Beatriz." he says sarcastically.

Confused Betty stops smiling and stands up.

"I knew you'd like the news." she walks towards her office and then returns " Sir may I ask you a question?"

"Mhm."

"Are you upset with me?" Armando, again slowly looks up at her.

"If i'm upset with you?" He laces his fingers in front of him, head tilted towards her, eyes dead focused on her. "No." he rest his elbow on his desk while he makes his hand into a fist, moves his right arm to rest behind him on his chair. "I'm not upset with you, Beatriz." He blinks rapidly. "It doesn't upset me at all for you to go around the halls of Eco Moda to shout to the four winds that you've got a rich boyfriend. That doesn't bother me." he is angry. Now he already discussed the situation with the Love Guru himself and they drew the conclusion that Betty was referring to Nicolas and Armando. We know that he was jealous, both economically and emotionally.

"Me?"

He stands up quickly, picks up the lollipop and starts to gesture pointing at himself and moving his hands in the air in front of him. "No! Me! Me! Beatriz you said you have a rich boyfriend." he leans on his desk towards Betty and hisses at her. "You told Patricia."

"I haven't said anything, Sir."

"No. I said it. " He walks from behind his desk to stand behind Betty. "Since I'm the one with a rich boyfriend! Beatriz you're lying to me. "He shakes the lollipop in the air. "and what pisses me off the most are lies. You did tell Patricia Fernandez in the hall that you have a rich boyfriend and I asked you a favor, to please not tell anyone about this-this-what we have, our relationship, yes. "he jerks to see behind him. "that it wasn't going to leave the both of us, right. You started talking about it. You tricked me! You betrayed me! You betrayed me, Dammit! You Betrayed me!" he angrily throws the lollipop onto the floor.

"Sir, I swear to you by the most sacred thing in my life that I didn't say anything. Allow me to explain. We[the secs.] were all waiting for the elevator and I told them I'd invite(lunch would be on her) out to eat because they're really low on money and I had taken out sixty thousand pesos from the petty cash fund to help them. In that moment Patricia showed up and overheard the conversation and started attacking me, asking where I had gotten the money, as if insinuating that I had stolen it from Eco Moda. So then they, to defend me, started to yell at her that I didn't have any need to have stolen that money and that I earn a really good salary and am a really good administrator and outside of that, Bertha said that I have a rich boyfriend but I've already explained, Sir, that she is always nagging me about Nicolas Mora."

"It's cause you told them you are committed or in a relationship with Nicolas Mora. Or what's going on, Beatriz?"

"Um nonono, Sir, how do you draw that conclusion? I haven't said any of that. Bertha said that to mortify Patricia but again, I repeat, I don't have anything with Nicolas Mora, no more than a friendly and work related relationship" she smiles nervously.

Armando stands up from his desk and walks behind it.

"Look Betty this isn't right. I don't like for people to be making assumptions or speculating. You shouldn't have said that, neither Bertha or anyone else. I don't want what we have to be jeopardized or that there's a rich boyfriend around. I don't like that, understand me."

"Yes sir. I talked to them already and asked them to not bother me about Nicolas Mora and they'll do it. Besides I don't have anything with Nicolas. In any case I want you to excuse me because of all of this and I want us to stand clear that I have word and I'll die before I don't fulfil it. I'm never going to betray you, Mister. I am incapable of breaking something so sacred to me. Do you believe me, Sir?"

"Yes, I believe you."

"It just that for me it's really important that you believe me."

"Yes I believe you."

"Do you swear?"

"I swear, swear, swear. I believe you, I swear!"

"Thank you, sir."

This was a heavy scene.

Armando is furious. He can't sit or stand still. This isn't for show. He truthfully feels this.

Betty is nervous and scared. She stands still, only moving when Armando nears her.

The lollipop actually plays a huge role here. It is a symbol of Betty's affection(just like chocolate bar that he shared with Mario). When Armando hastily picks it up, he is holding her affection. As he waves it in the air he is questioning it. As he throws it on the floor he is discarding it.

This represents Armando's furry and how quickly he is to react to it. He doesn't pay attention to consequence or details. He is solely focused on his own pain and yes, he is in pain.

As he repeats over and over again that Betty betrayed him.

Why does he feel betrayed? He talked this out with Mario and they both drew the conclusion that Betty was probably talking about him[Armando](the rich boyfriend). However Armando still feels betrayed.

Let's take a few steps back and break this down to simple actions.

Betty arrives to Eco Moda. She leaves a chocolate bar for Armando on his desk.

Mario and Armando have a briefing where Armando doesn't talk about his feelings and when he does Mario doesn't take him serious so he shuts off and gets angry at him instead.

Betty and him talk. He talks to her sweetly.

Betty's friends use her to make Patricia jealous.

Patricia, Marcela, and Hugo make fun of Betty and insult her and her "boyfriend" while Armando watches and witnesses first hand his biggest fear that keeps him in denial; public humiliation and people talking bad about him behind his back. His ego is bruised.

Mario and Armando discuss this new tabloid. Mario then mocks him by asking if he's jealous. Armando refrains and tells him to get serious.

Betty arrives back to Eco Moda and places a green lollipop on his desk.

Armando arrives to Eco Moda and enters his office.

Betty hands him a paper to sign. He pulls it out of her hand and then throws it at her. He then proceeds to yell(whisper but yelling at the sametime) at her and like a lion paces in his symbolic cage of feelings.

At the peak of this he expresses his true feelings.

Betrayal.

Once again Armando feels bamboozled.

At the start of the day Betty's gift represented hope. It gave him the understanding that things were going well and all of a sudden he finds out that she is "talking" about her rich boyfriend[Nic] to everyone. This causes him to want to murder her. Now when he talks to Mario they conclude that Betty possibly wasn't talking about Nicolas but instead him, Armando. His feeling of betrayal moved from feeling jealousy to now feeling like he can't trust her.

To some degree, not only because he doesn't want to face public humiliation or Marcela finding out about them, Armando does want to continue this relationship with her as it means he removes Nicolas from her life and you know what that means to him. So he does want to keep it tight lid.

However Armando has a problem, he can't control his rage. He can keep himself composed in front of people he doesn't want to give a bad impression to but with people he sees every day he has no problem exploding on them. This is the one emotion he is never shy to show.

Now as he stares at Betty, the one who he has trusted so much, as a potential liar, someone who could have broken his trust, he feels deep anger and hurt. He believes that she isn't respecting his wishes and worst of all playing him.

Her gift now though still represents her affection, is something he no longers cares for in his furry or how he treats it.

As she explain her side of the story he inspects her. He is suspicious and watching her closely.

Now seeing things from Betty's side. She is now looking at the man she has worked so hard for, to prove her worth, her important role in the company and his life, who has worked so hard for his trust, question her, it causes her a deep anguish.

She clarifies things but she needs him to believe her. She needs him to trust in her, to see her, to not question her integrity, to not pull away.

This is similar to the time that Betty confessed that RagTela had offered her a 10% commission and because at this point things were vastly less complicated for Armando emotionally, he listened to her and he showed that he trusted her. However this time Armando now agitated and frustrated over the whole situation tells her "I swear, swear, swear! I believe you, I swear!" because he wants the conversation over.

This isn't enough for Betty but she takes his word. You can tell she feels awful about the whole situation.

People that tend to not show emotion, live in denial of them, and basically just avoid them tend to feel extremely exhausted when we are placed in emotional settings. Be it an argument or just a conversation that is heavily rooted in emotions we tend to burn out quickly and just want the entire thing done with.

Armando is the exact way except he doesn't have the luxury of taking some time off to recharge emotionally like many of us do. For months this man has been on an emotional rollar coaster with the company and now in his personal life.

When Mario shows up to his office we can clearly see a very tired Armando.

Betty isn't like that. Though she knows how to control her emotions, she wears her heart on her sleeve with the people close to her. She isn't afraid to show her affection, though afraid to speak of them she is, Betty still wants people to believe in her.

Again though Betty and Armando are similar in a lot of ways the way they react is what sets them apart. Betty faces her problems and she finds ways to fix them. That's who she is. She explains her side of the story to clear the air but mostly because she doesn't want Armando to not trust her. His trust in her means a lot to her. It's what she has worked so hard for.

So while he is emotionally exhausted at the end of their argument, Betty isn't. Betty is hurting and afraid once again of what it all means.

[youwontlikethisblog]

Thank You For Dropping Me Off, Sir

Now I've talked a lot about Armando's denial and given the facts to prove it. What I don't want getting lost in translation though is that though Armando does care about Betty, you cannot deny that he is also concerned over the company, however it(his feelings towards Betty) is the the real reason he continues with the plan.

@el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle (They're the poster about Aura Maria and Mario their post is Episode 64, go read it if you haven't had the chance!) mentioned something that I hadn't thought about all that well, that due to Armando's tendency of people pleasing he often does things out of a deep responsibility for their happiness and his guilt.

When Mario manipulates him this day(the day after he first kissed Betty) he really switches language as he tells him "I don't like this." "I'm worried." He's after our(my) money." which moves Armando to continue with the plan, for the sake of Mario and the company and everyone else in the company but now he has another reason, he somewhat wants to understand what he feels.

Now let's jump into the scene I'll be breaking down.

Betty is being dropped off by Armando. She is still keeping this very PG, trying to justify his actions to them being work related. Again this is very true of a person who has experienced real heartbreak of the romantic kind. Like I mentioned in the previous post I was in toxic friendship, when that friendship was over I spent years guarding myself around anyone and making no efforts to from friendships of any real substance and when I did I worked really hard to keep them at arm's length. This was my defense mechanism and I appreciate the fact that they show this with Betty.

In most instances they don't portray characters with emotional damage all too well or one could assume that Betty does this because she's insecure and though to some degree that's true, Betty also does this to protect herself from having to once again experience heartbreak and this time from someone who she actually cares about, not someone who in some way forced himself to be her interest.

Miguel wasn't just a guy who used her and got money out of it. That wasn't the only thing that broke Betty.

Miguel presented himself as a love interested to Betty, who didn't like him at first but was flattered by his attention, as she later tells Armando that she up to that point thought no man would ever pay attention to her as a woman. Betty was somewhat guarded but once she let her guard down she fell in love.

She says she gave all of herself and all her love to him. He was her first love but Miguel didn't care. To Betty what Miguel did translated to him finding her so repulsive, so heinous, and disgusting that even her love wasn't enough to change his heart and he shared her naked spirit to his friends all for money and to make fun of her. It wasn't a question of ego but rather of worth.

This with every right left Betty traumatized. So when she speaks over him, interrupts Armando and justify it as him being drunk, not knowing what he was doing, depressed, stressed, anguished for the company and exceeding himself with beautifiers, she is trying not to feed her hope. She is trying to remain grounded and safe because unlike with Miguel Betty on her own has discovered who Armando is and decided to fall in love with him. What she feels for his is true and genuine feelings that weren't "forced" or pushed onto her like with Miguel. If she allows herself to believe what he is saying she is allowing herself to fall victim to loves cruelty again.

Armando soberly repeats the same things he had drunkenly told Betty the previous night. That he can't live without her.

"But you haven't lived without me, Sir. I work by your side more than eighteen hours (Girl I would've done killted myself if I had to work beside a man as neurotic as Armando for 18+ hours a day!No matter how good the view is!) a day."

"Yes but now it's different, Beatriz, because I feel these desires[I can't really hear what he said] to caress you, to kiss you." He says leaning forward after touching the side of her face with the back of his fingers, but Betty pulls back and says "No".

As he pulls away Armando studies Betty's face and looks embarrassed as well as confused at Betty's rejection all the while trying to remain composed.

This is when Betty names the list of reasons not to believe Armando is interested in her and Armando gets mad at her.

He openly yells "No,no,no, I'm not confused Beatriz!" he says between clenched teeth and turns to look at her. "I am not. I feel perfectly sure that what I'm saying is the truth."

"Sir, the thing is that it's not possible for you to have taken notice of me."

Angirly now Armando screams at her "But why!"

Why does he react so angrily at Betty for this? For one because he doesn't like for Betty to invalidate his feelings(again this shows he feels comfortable being himself around her) and that she wouldn't believe that he likes her.

I mentioned already that Armando's tone gives us a true understanding of what he's saying and with what intention even when his body language is different. Here he is upset that Betty doesn't believe him and mostly that she doesn't see why he'd be interested in her.

"But why?" he asks more calmly at seeing Betty's reaction.

She nervously begins to explain "Because I know your type really well. You are of fine palate. You like women who are ninety, sixty, ninety, tall, pretty, with class, and-and I don't correlate with any of those characteristics, sir."

"Yes that's true." They both laugh nervously, "Betty, Betty, Betty." He is now trying to find the words to speak. "I love,love, your-your, strength hmm" He nods and here we see him slowly become more honest as he finds the qualities of Betty's that he loves/likes. "I love that energy that I feel when we're together, I love it. I love the way you do things like so sure of it." He smiles and turns to look at her and then tells her. "I also love your softness(tenderness/gentle nature)." he says looking away from her now being shy and then looks back at her and tells her "I love that gift you've got, of managing people. I really love that."(y'all this is why she works 18+ hours with him, I get it).

Again he starts to struggle to find the words but he finds them and unlike the first reason he listed (her strength) he is actually being honest even though he is doing the same gesture(from what I've read often times when you are reading body language you don't just focus on the gesture but overall the entire context; like tone of voice, subject of conversation, speech patterns, ect. We can conclude that Armando is being honest here as it shows a very natural pattern of behavior of his here instead of seeming tense, now he is actively wanting to find the words to speak) "I love your sensibility, man, you've got a very special sensibility." Betty now looks away from him with a slight smile and he seems Contentment with her reaction(Even in the past, before all of this, Armando has always had a face of contentment/joy when he sees Betty smile, especially when he is the one that makes her smile and because of that he kept trying to actively treat her better so that he could be the cause of it; it's a sense of reward really. He did something nice for her and she'd be happy and that would make him happy. A clear demonstration of this is when Armando talks to Betty about her new raise) and he tells her "Betty it's because you're like a little angle to me. Plus I love your personality, what a (the word he uses literally translates to hot or scorching but we'll use another one) welcoming personality and and I love you intelligence. The way you so efficiently do things. It's because I think that any man would find all of that attractive now, don't you think?"

Armando started struggling to consciously find what he likes about her but all of a sudden he can't stop naming them or talking about the things he finds attractive of Betty's. Like a vail has been dropped in his brain all of a sudden>

"Mmm, no." Betty shakes her head in response to his question. "Definitely not, Sir."

"No?" He chuckles nervously "then I don't know what's going on with me then so then I'm going crazy...crazy for you. See I want you to know that since I found out about Nicolas I felt a lot a lot of fear. I felt a lot of anguish and believe me, I felt a lot of anguish but also this desire to caress you and kiss you. " In this sentence we get a shift of tone of voice showing that he shifts from being honest to being manipulative.

"No, no, Sir. What I was only going to tell you is that I don't understand why you feel that about me. I can't find any motive why[you would]."

Armando's tone has now shifted to manipulation, no longer being light hearted and natural.

"This goes to prove that what one feels goes beyond physical appearance, the stereotypical, you understand me?" then again shifts to his natural voice "Betty I know that you've probably thought that the woman of my life has to be a ninety, sixty, ninety, with these marvelous curves, with generous breast, blue eyes, very tall," he says very clearly showing that he likes that and Betty seems down about it until he turns to look at her "like the models, right? But look none of those models have made me happy. I haven't felt for anyone, what I feel for you Beatriz Pinzon Solano." The final sentence he says with conviction. You can't overlook or ignore that as confusion, this shows us that Armando to some degree knows that what he feels for Betty goes beyond anything he's ever felt for anyone.

Now next he closes his eyes to go onto this monologue that beauty isn't what media feeds us but rather something that is deeper than skin. That is it based on the substance of a person, speaking Betty's love ideal here. Why does he have his eyes closed?

He can openly talk about Betty and the wonderful qualities that he finds attractive but he can't openly talk about Betty's physical appearance because up to this point he hasn't accepted or had to face that reality yet.

Betty the whole time is paying attention to what he's saying, his body language. This is why Betty lives sure and convinced of what he is telling her because she's learned to read him like her favorite book and that's the thing.

Betty is very aware of Armando's feelings, boundaries, and flaws. Just like Mario is and we see that in the office when they see each other for the first time after the kiss. Betty inspects his behavior and then decides to act like nothing happened, not only to protect herself but to not make him uncomfortable. The difference however is that while Mario uses his knowledge on Armando to manipulate and force him to do things, Betty doesn't. Betty uses this knowledge to help him and to encourage him in his growth by celebrating his victories and standing beside him when he fails. She doesn't demand for him to change or stop doing what he is, instead she allows him to behave how he does but she isn't shy to show how she feels about it. While Armando isn't so much intune or aware of Betty's feelings because he's so focused on what Betty does for him, however this doesn't dismiss that because of the way Betty loves him, it also inspires him to change and that's really the biggest lesson we get with these two and we're only getting started.

"Are you sure you haven't had anything to drink, sir?"

"I'm sober, Betty, but I'm hallucinating, and that's real." he looks away from her and then back "I'm hallucinating but for you. Of you, Betty." he leans forward. Now the music here gives us the understanding that it is meant to be intriguing(I love the soundtrack so I looked it up and that's legit the title track for this theme) .

Music is a huge part of cinema as it is proven to affect the audience and convey feelings otherwise dismissed. The music creates an air of mystery now because we don't know if what Armando is saying and doing is honest now while in the past we could pick up on it now it's a lot harder to do so.

However one can imagine that while he had his eyes closed he was pictureing Adriana Arboleda sitting in front of him(why else would they show us Mario giving him the picture and telling him to just picture her instead) instead of Betty.

Betty turns to look at the moon after he points it and she smiles.

"Yes the moon is very beautiful. How curious." she speaks as Armando now looks at a picture of AA. "It's the same moon that's inspired so many poets throughout a lot of human history." Here Armando takes in a deep breath is seems to be pumping himself up, he takes off his glasses. Betty is still looking up at the moon and says "There's nothing that inspires more than the moon." Armando sleeks his brows(he wanted to look presentable IG) and agrees with her, now his hand under her chin her turns her around towards him.

"And that's our moon, Beatriz and this is our night." He now leans closer.

Now I see many people point out that Armando's eyes are open when he kisses Betty but this is something he does with Marcela as well which indicates that it isn't based on disgust but mostly guilt.

As they kiss at first his eyes are wide open and then tightly shut(if I'm being honest, as a person who hates romance(ironic huh) I hate with a passion, kissing scenes so this is hard for me to watch lol like I've seen from the nose up, nothing below that so I know how Armando reacts as wella s Betty but the mouth part is the one that grosses me out the most) . Betty takes ina sharp breath and pulls away and now Armando opens his eyes surprised and does the same.

"No, Sir.." Betty is now the one struggling to find words.

"You didn't like it?" He asks but states at the same time.

Betty nods gently, however her eyes are wide. Betty is terrified here and it isn't because Armando is taking advantage here(he's not) it's because she is terrified of all the implications it means. For one she is allowing herself to have hope for a relationship with Armando, for her to show her love to him and for him to love her for it, despite the fact she's "ugly". It means that she is setting herself up for a potential heartbreak that could be the end of her.

"Lets move from here, it's cause my dad peeps out through the windows and he can come and see what's going on and I don't want that."

"Yeah me either."

They move from location and Betty proceeds to speak.

"Sir this isn't correct. I don't know what's going on with you. I'm starting to get worried, Sir. "

"What is it Betty? Is that you suddenly don't feel anything for me?" He tries to stay composed but his micro expression shows worry.

"Of course I do." He looks somewhat relieved while maintaining a poker face. "I admire you a lot. You're a man that's so-so interesting." he smirks and raises an eyebrow showing approval of what she said as well as confident in himself 'Of course you do'.

"I started to feel that you were special for me when you started to defend my work. To value me as a professional." He still seems pleased but not as much. As Betty relays all of this in the professional element(While Armando focused on the person). We know why it was so important to her that Armando did this and why he became special to her for it, however Armando doesn't. "and I realized how important I am for your life.(osea, how important of a role she plays in his life)" Armando now has eyebrows raised and is blinking rapidly. He is really paying attention to what she is saying. and trying to comprehend as well "All of these things attract me from you." she says timidly.

He now has to face this new reality, that though he confessed true attraction based on her person, Betty has only relaid professional or work related qualities that attract her, not him as an individual and why it bothers him.

"That-that's wonderful, Betty."

"But this is crazy, Sir. You have a girlfriend, you're going to get married." He turns from he and opens his mouth slightly in shock and then turns back to look at her. "You can't leave Marcela to start a relationship with me."

He now looks at her with a frustrated expression.

"It would be terrible, your family would not allow it... and what would happen with me? You have to really think this through."

"No, Betty, but of course. It can be crazy, of course. What's happening is that I already... I already experienced something. Yes and I already confirmed that I want to keep living it. Now you're right I can't breakup with Marcela, just like that. The situation with Eco Moda is too difficult to end things with her right this moment, plus my relationship with my family is in crises, I think they wouldn't take the sandal and neither would I but you better than anyone know I don't love Marcela. See if that's the case, what's the fear? Let's continue ahead, Betty. Besides it's about feelings. I have to feel for you, you have to feel for me. We'll see til where we go. Don't you think?" The music theme is titled "secrecy".

"I'm just so afraid, Sir."

"Or is it because you feel more for that sir, Nicolas?" he says with a tinge of jealousy.

"Ay, sir, lets take Nicolas out of this conversation, you want to?"

"Yes clearly, that's what I want. So what then? What's the fear? Huh? You've risked everything for me, see, together we've done a lot crazy things. We've been accomplices in a lot things and now you're going to tell me that you don't have the bravery to live this next to me? Or you don't want to live it, Betty?

"Of course I do, Sir."

"Yes?" He now shifts to kiss her.

After their kiss, after Armando does that disgusted face again, Betty agrees to be his other woman.

His phone starts to ring and Marcela is a very possessive manner tells Armando that she's waiting for him and just wanted to make sure he was going to go over, that she a very delicious dinner for him.

After he hangs up and he agrees to drop her off he tells Betty "You look very precious." And she scoffs in a lighthearted way, finding it funny that he'd say that.

Marcela legit made fun of her and said that she looked worse than she had the day before so it amuses her that Armando would say that.

"One last question, will Mr. Mario Calderon know of this?" she asks as they arrive at the front of her house. "It's just that you both are so trusting of each other, you tell each other everything. I wouldn't want for him nor anyone to know of this, Sir. In some way you have a relationship with Ms. Marcela and by accepting this affair I take on the role of you lover."

"No don't say that." Again this entire things highlights Armando's true nature of his obsessiveness with physical perfection and how it's the only way he can ever be attracted to a woman so he feels grossed out by the idea of having to do anything more than kissing, and lover implies that they do more than kissing. He'd know, he's an expert in the subject.

This is when Armando promises to Betty not to tell Mario about this.

This is his second mistake with Betty.

The first being that he starts his relationship in the bases of lies.

The drop off:

Now as the nights go on there's a change of pace to the drop offs in front of Betty's house.

This first time Betty waves good-bye to him and he repeats to himself he's a piece of ish over and over again, angirly. Duh, he feels guilty.

Betty's dad then opens the door and Armando urgently drives off. Later we see that he does this frequently but slowly he begins to take a while longer before driving off, which demonstrates his longing for Betty.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

Don’t I Know You

Read Part 1

brought to you in part by @jewishsuperfam

Dedicated to Stephanie Beatriz

The 99 works pretty well with the Young Avengers. Jake is proud that for the most part the squad hasn’t been obnoxiously nerdy. Sure, it’s been two days, but still. Two days is a lot for them.

He still can’t put his finger on how he knows Hawkeye, or the Wiccan kid. Maybe if he knew their real names...but there’s some sort of etiquette about the secret identities. They could look, but they don’t to be polite.  

And sure, it’s only been two days but already Hawkeye has stabbed Hitchcock for accidentally pouring out her coffee and Gina has stolen Wiccan’s eyeshadow and apparently Amy and Stature went to the same school. 

“Psst! Amy!” 

“What, Jake? I’m trying to finish my arrest reports.”

“Check out Rosa and Hawkeye.”

Amy looks. “What? I don’t see any--did Rosa just smile? No. I must have had a seizure.”

“No,” Jake lowers his voice. He’s not even whispering, he’s really just mouthing things really aggressively. “I think Rosa might be a superhero.”

“Jake, don’t be absurd.”

“No, look! Look at how she interacts with Hawkeye!”

As if on cue, Hawkeye grabs Rosa’s mug and takes a long drink from it. 

“Jake, she just really likes coffee. She punched Scully for spilling her coffee.”

“I thought that was Hitchcock?”

“Yesterday was Hitchcock. Today was Scully.”

“But Rosa let her!” Jake insists. 

“Because Hawkeye is an Avenger.”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

“Here’s to our first Centipede bust!” Captain Holt raises his glass. “Thank you to our Avenger friends for helping everything go off without a hitch.”

The squad cheers.

“All right, Jakey!” Gina shoulders her way between him and Hawkeye, who he still can’t figure out how he knows her. “We’re gonna party like it’s Billy Kaplan’s bar mitzvah.”

Hawkeye chokes next to him. “What?”

“What, you don’t remember?” Gina leans on her elbow. “Oh, silly little Hawkeye. Baby bird. You don’t remember us?”

“Party...like it’s...Billy Kaplan’s bar mitzvah...” Hawkeye drags the words out as Wiccan falls off of his chair because he’s laughing so hard. “Oh. Holy--what? That was you?”

“In the flesh, baby bird,” Gina offers her hand to Hawkeye, who looks confused about if she’s supposed to kiss it or not.

“Gina and Jake, I can’t believe I couldn’t place you!” Hawkeye shakes her head. 

“What the hell is going on?” Rosa snaps, looking from Jake to Hawkeye to Gina to Wiccan.

Billy Freaking Kaplan rights himself, wiping tears from his eyes. “Jake and I went to the same synagogue growing up. He got drunk at my bar mitzvah and threw up all over the place--”

“Which is how we met,” Hawkeye interjects. “Gina had him in the girls bathroom as he barfed up his entire life.”

“We fist bumped!” Jake remembers suddenly. “I don’t remember your name, though?”

“Kate Bishop,” she says, reaching out her hand for him to shake.

“Whaaaaaaat.”

“Kate Bishop the heiress?” Gina asks in a way that is more a demand than a question. “What the hell are you doing in spandex fighting crime?”

“Well, first of all, it’s not spandex--”

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you!” Jake ignores whatever going on between Kate and Gina. 

“It’s the eyeliner,” Billy shrugs. 

“But we were so tight as kids! I should have recognized you. I’m sorry, man.”

“You guys...knew each other as kids?” Rosa seems to force the words out.

“Best buds!” Jake exclaims. “Until we had an argument about which superhero is best and then I got drunk at his bar mitzvah and his mother forbid me from ever seeing him again.”

Rosa’s eyes widen slightly at this, which is her version of slightly horrified. “Huh. That’s...that’s good to know.”

“So, Billy, how have you been?” Jake fills the ensuing silence.

“Uh, well. You know. Magical. Gay. A superhero.”

“Oh, oh. Nice. Yeah. Cool cool cool.”

“You?”

“Oh, you know. A cop. Broke. Super awesome detective.”

“Cool. Nice.”

“Wow, this is hella awkward,” Gina shoves shot glasses towards them. “Let’s get drunk and pretend you two aren’t lame.”

Jake spends the next week reassuring Charles that even though Billy was his best friend, Charles is his current best friend. 

Speed and Kate, it turns out, are the ones Sarge and Charles have worked with before because Kate Bishop is (ew) a PI. She’s not a crappy hack one, though, so that’s something. 

And not that he’s keeping track (just kidding he totally is), but Rosa is avoiding the Young Avengers. She trades cases so that she doesn’t have to work with any of them. 

Not suspicious at all, Rosa. Not. At. All.

Jake has never seen Rosa look like this. He’s seen her look angry. He’s seen her mad and scary. 

Rosa looks terrifying and furious. 

Also, her eyes start to glow as she shoves up her sleeves. 

She takes off down the street towards Jake and Hawkeye at a run, only faster than any human should be able to run, jumping over cars--jumping over freakin’ cars!!! She pushes off of the roof of one of those dumb cube cars and is about a hundred feet in the air, elbow pulled back so as she comes down she lands a punch to the slug-thing’s nose.

Which explodes in a spray of green goo and something black and sticky that is probably bone.

“Hawkeye,” Rosa snaps, offering her hand to the archer and pulling her to her feet. 

“Miss America,” Hawkeye grins. “Good to see you again.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

The two move so that they’re back to back, Hawkeye nocking another arrow and Rosa putting up her fists. Star tattoos start to glow on her hands. 

“I knew it!” Jake pumps his fist. “You’re totally an Avenger, Rosa!”

“Jake, I’m working here.”