Inspiration

It’s so frustrating!

Diego tries to find a fitting tune to the poem he wrote for Victoria.

It doesn’t sound at all. What is wrong with this tune. Is it the poem, which just doesn’t want to changed into a song?!

Confused, Diego stands up and walks away from the piano. And walks back again. He shouldn’t give up. Zorro never does, so he ought not to give in into this desperation. So there he sits again.

And sits.

No fitting melody enters his mind.

His hands move to the keys again and hang still above then, just an inch, waiting for the master to order them to hit the right keys.

Nothing happens again.

Diego shakes his head. There must be something. So he tries again, he lets his fingers lead the way. In no vain.

Now he stands up. He really should go and do something else. For one moment Diego is glad his father is out today. He doesn’t want to hear his great supporting words. “Diego, why don’t you stop it. With these cracky words, you will never be able to win the heart of a nice lady, unless she is deaf.” Or else, “Diego give it up, this will never do. Just a poem will be good enough to win the lady’s heart. Diego, for whom are you writing this? Is there something you have to tell me?”

A teasing wink would have followed, no doubt.

Goalless Diego walks through the hacienda. The unsingable song is still hunting him. After ten minutes just hanging around Diego decides to go outside. Maybe under the big blue sky he is able to clear his mind to make way for a great song Victoria definitely deserves.

Even galloping on Esperanza through the empty, however rough terrain Diego can’t focus.

Half an hour later, Diego enters the taberna. His frustration over the song has crossed over to the prospect of not being able to marry the girl. He should court her by himself. But how do you do that without raising suspicion while the lady keeps sticking to her hero?

“Buenos diás, Diego,” Victoria almost sings.

“Hola, Victoria,” Diego tries to sound as lightly, though he doesn’t feel like that at all. Something awaken in Diego by Victoria’s cheeriness. “You seem very pleased today. Something happened I should know of?”

Victoria’s smile grows, “of course, there is.”

Diego raises his eyebrow. This is not about Zorro, as Zorro hasn’t shown himself since a few weeks. Before he is able to ask further he gets the answer.

“Diego, you make my day.”

The black eyebrows go down into a frown, “Me, why is that.”

“Well,” Victoria starts mysteriously. With a thoughtful look in her eyes, having her lips already in the position of continuing, and Diego almost hanging on to them, she changes the subject. “Come here!”

In no time, Diego is caught by his hand and taken to the kitchen.

“Victoria, wait a minute!”

Diego never gets a response and is relieved he was the only visitor. His heart however is not so easy. What is she up to?

“Alicia?” Victoria calls out to her employee, “It’s time!”

“Time?” Diego echoes, “Time for what?”

Diego gets a nasty feeling. He knows Victoria too well to know that she is going to put some kind experiment on him.

“Just a minute,” Alicia calls from one of the rooms, “can you keep him busy that long?”

“Ohhh yes,” is the reply.

Diego’s stomach almost turns around. He’d rather breaks free from Victoria’s hand and go back home, but he is sure some gossip will run through town and his father definitely will hear of this. He doesn’t really like to be called coward, but getting the name “the man who is afraid of women” really is devastating.

The next he knows is sitting on the kitchen bench and being served. “Juice?” Victoria asks rhetorically, and starts she humming some pretty sounding tune.

Diego never touches his glass filled with juice whereas he distracted. The tension of waiting really goes by a bullet hitting the bone, but the melody … that’s almost breath taking even though Victoria uses a very few notes and repeats it over and over again. To someone who wasn’t looking for a melody surely heard that Victoria was up to something.

Then Alicia drops in with much bravura. “How is nervous is our man?”

“Not sure,” Victoria answers seriously deep in though, “he hasn’t taken a sip.”

“Not good,” Alicia fills in.”

Victoria looks a bit insulted at Alicia.

“You should have taken better care of him.” Alicia continues as if she didn’t notice Victoria’s reaction.

“That does it, “ some little quarrel starts, “I did and you didn’t show up when I called for you.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Alicia bites back. ….

Diego looks from one to the other, until the ladies get back to where they started.

“Well,” Victoria sighs, “it’s too late now.”

“You’re right,” the other agrees, “now that he is here, we have to continue our quest. The lest pain he feels.”

Diego is very confused and cuts in, “Why am I here?”

That question really gets the women’s attention. They turn to him and have a close friend attitude as if two high school girls are telling the teacher that the school fret during biology ate their homework, hoping not being punished for not having their homework done.

Victoria breaks the silence, “Diego, are you in love with some one?”

“What does that have to do with me being here?” Diego answers by question.

“Have you ever been in love?” Alicia directly asks.

“Si, why?”

“Didn’t she return your affections?” Alicia continues questioning.

“That’s not important.” Diego answers feeling uncomfortable. “What am I doing here, what do you want from me?”

“Just some answers,” Victoria replies and a bit seductively she goes on, “how does the woman of your dreams look like?”

Diego sighs he realises he won’t be able to get to know what these ladies are up to unless he give them some answers. So he decides to give in, a very little bit. “Like every man wants his wife to be. ..”

“Oh, she should be the most beautiful girl in the world, never be complaining about his habits, etc, etc.”

“No, Alicia you got that wrong.”

“Ah, she should be reading and painting whole day.” She replies like she is understanding him.

“No,” Diego contradicts again, quite firmly this time.

Victoria was following the interaction between her companion and her friend. She thinks this getting really exciting, and amazing, as her good friend seems to open up now.

“Alicia, let him speak.” With some earnest look in the eyes so silences Alicia and watches her friend closely, while humming that little tune before Alicia entered the kitchen.

“As I was saying,” Diego picks up where he was interrupted, “my wife to be, should be able to be herself and speak out what is on her mind. She needn’t be the most beautiful creature in the world, but when she enters a room, everyone will notice her because of her appearances, her good nature and care for others.”

Alicia just stares at Diego. She never expected him to say and have such a sweet even romantic description of the wife of his dreams.

Even Victoria seems to be speechless.

A bit unnerving Diego looks from one to the other, waiting for the next to come. During the silence, Diego realises he has found his inspiration.