CHAMPAGNE APPETITE, TEQUILA INCOME

By Jo
EnyaJo@aol.com

#10 TRIO: Marta's kitchen, empty shoe, tequila
QUOTE: "Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?" - Edgar Bergen (via Charlie McCarthy)

~~~~~

Diego loved when Senorita Alvarado was away. Her absence meant the absence of her most trusted friend and mentor, Marta, who had a sharp eye for slackers, and a tongue that was even sharper when she caught one. The household staff was usually brought along on the trip or reassigned to other parts of the estate while Maria Teresa was away. With each trip away, she would also allowed some workers leave for a couple of days. Senorita was such a compassionate entrepreneur that she would make sure that all of her workers at some point over a year received a short vacation, with pay.

She was one of the best employers in Alta California, and most of the workers of the region knew it. Being a worker on the Alvarado plantation was one of envy or ridicule, depending on who was doing the talking. There were those who thought it a fool's paradise to work on a plantation that could fold at any moment only because it was run by a woman. Those dissentients were usually the workers who had the "Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?" attitude, who would never be hired by either Senorita Alvarado or her foreman, Eladio, in the first place. There was a greater number of manpower who jumped at the opportunity to fill a sporadic job opening on her plantation. Time off with pay was a major draw, but her land was near the water, which made working the fields that much easier.

While Senorita was away, and Eladio was busy with his family after nightfall, sneaking into the main house was pretty easy if you were careful not to make your presence known. As Diego held a full bottle of tequila and lead the lovely Lupe through the door of Marta's kitchen, they were careful not to make noise or take the chance of being seen through the windows by any blabbermouths. Diego stepped lightly through the house to the guest bedroom, feeling Lupe's hands on his waist.

She whispered, "Do you know the way? It is so dark."

"Sh," he cautioned her, then whispered back, "I have the eyes of an owl, my lady. Just follow me." From his explorations of the house on previous occasions, he knew the layout. After courting Lupe since her arrival in Senorita Alvarado's employ three months before, Diego had been telling Lupe that their first night together would be in paradise. A stolen evening in the guest room of a mansion was the closest thing he could come to it for the time being. Even though Diego was paid better than others in his station, saving reales was difficult. His dwelling on the Alvarado estate was adequate, but not luxurious, not what Lupe deserved. He knew she was trepidatious about this, and had never been in the residence before. He hoped she would eventually be comfortable in their surroundings to make the night magical.

After passing through the hall to the door of the bedroom, Diego lifted Lupe into his arms and carried her over the threshold as she giggled with delight. He shushed her softly as he kicked the door closed behind them and laid her on the bed. He was about to pull the cork from the bottle when he realized that they hadn't brought along some glasses. He could go back to the kitchen to get a couple; they would just have to remember to wash the glasses and replace them in the cupboard after straightening the bed and removing all traces of their existence when they vacate the house just before sun up. He was just about to go back to the kitchen when Lupe grabbed his arm and pulled him down for a kiss. She shifted on the bed, kicked off her shoes, and started to undo Diego's shirt. He thought this evening would move slowly, that he might have had to make her drunk before... But no. Lupe's movements made Diego know that she had been waiting for this night just as much as he.

Just as he covered her body with his own, smothering her with kisses, he heard the main door open. He lifted up with a jerk and saw Lupe's panic-stricken eyes.

"I have never seen or heard such a pompous ass in my entire life, Marta!" he heard the Senorita announce in the parlor, her voice echoing through the house.

They weren't supposed to return until Friday!

"I do not know why we could not have stayed with Don Rico, we did not have to leave Monterrey in such a hurry," he heard Marta retort, her voice close to the door. "It is even more dangerous to travel at night. I am surprised we made it home in one piece."

Knowing that Marta's bedroom was just across the hall from where they laid, and she had to be tired after the journey, Diego's mind flooded with escape routes as Lupe was quiet as a mouse, tight with fright.

"I know, I know," he heard the Senorita say in a testy manner as he and Lupe slipped down from the bed. Diego looked up to the window. "As I said in the wagon, it would be a long explanation to Rico about why we left Don Alfonso's hospitality so soon."

Diego rushed to the window and unlatched it, the sound of which was louder than he had anticipated. "What was that?" he heard Marta ask. He grabbed the bottle off the bed and slumped to the floor. Lupe grabbed a shoe just before he went under the bed and pulled her with him. As the door to the guest room opened, he saw that Lupe was only holding one of her shoes.

~Jo