Destilando Amor - Summary

Summary

The story begins in the fields of Jalisco, where the harvesting of the agaves takes place each year. Workers Teresa "Gaviota" Hernandez and Clarita Hernandez go on the bus from Guadalajara to Tequila and from there, go to La Montalveña Hacienda, property of Amador Montalvo. At the same time, Amador comes to Tequila with his wife Pilar. The patriarch of the Montalvo family has a feeling he will die, but his wife tells him it is nonsense. While his son Felipe and his wife Constanza are visiting, Amador is dying, and he tells the overseer of the Hacienda Roman, to not leave Gaviota and Clarita without work. Meanwhile, most of the family is overseas. Bruno, son of Amador and Pilar, and his wife Fedra, are in New York City managing the headquarters of the Montalvo Corporation. Rodrigo, Aaron, and Sofia are living in London (Sofia is living with James O'Brien), and Daniela is in Paris studying dance. The four get calls from the rest of the family saying Amador is dying, so they leave what they are doing and leave at once. Amador dies, and the funeral is held the next day. At the mass that is held for him, Gaviota leaves some flowers at the coffin, and Rodrigo goes to the front and pray at the same time as Gaviota. That is how the two first meet. Gaviota and Rodrigo begin meeting each other, and Rodrigo tells Gaviota that he will have to go to London and keep on studying for a doctorate at Cambridge University. The day before Rodrigo has to go, he and Gaviota go into the agave fields and make love. After Rodrigo leaves, Gaviota finds out she is pregnant. So she goes with this photographer who has been bothering her every year she comes to take pictures as a model and send her to Paris. Gaviota accepts, and in the end, goes to Paris with Madame Colette (Rebecca Mankita). At her arrival at Paris, Gaviota finds out she was tricked, and finds out she was sent to work as a prostitute. Gaviota escapes, and since she hasn't eaten food, she faints in front of a restaurant. Benvenutto Verducci, the owner of the restaurant, helps her and gives her money to go to London. At her arrival, Gaviota searches for Rodrigo, until she sees him at the corner of a street. Excited, she crosses the street without looking, and she ends up being run over very grotesquely by a car. Rodrigo sees the accident, and he goes for a closer look, but he doesn't see who it is because he gets a call from his uncle Bruno saying that his parents, Constanza and Felipe, died in a plane accident at Toluca International.

Gaviota and her mother Clarita find a small apartment in Mexico City. Gaviota finds a job as a hotel receptionist. She looks for another job and sees an opening for a secretary at Montalvo Enterprises. She applies, using the assumed name Mariana Franco Villareal, the name given to her when she went to Paris. She interviews with Aaron, the head of the company and Rodrigo's cousin. Gaviota is insistent with Aaron that he hire her. Finally, she is hired as a receptionist. Meanwhile, the provision in Amador's (the late patriarch) will specifies that the first born son is heir to the Montalvo fortune. Minerva, Aaron's wife, is insistent that she become pregnant first. Aaron, a womanizer, runs around with Pamela Torreblanca, an old friend. Minerva finds out that Gaviota is working at Montalvo Enterprises and tries her best to get Gaviota fired. Isadora continues to try to seduce Rodrigo, to no avail. Rodrigo and Gaviota are still in love with each other. Minerva announces she is pregnant.Rodrigo thinks Gaviota is working on a farm in Veracruz, so he goes there to try to find her. Little does he know she is working for the family business. Gaviota has worked her way up in the company all the way to manager, much to the dismay of some of the Montalvo family. Minerva thinks her husband Aaron is sleeping with Gaviota, which he isn't. He is sleeping with Pamela Torreblanca, his mistress. Gaviota decides to change her name legally to Mariana Franco. She has to call Rodrigo on an important matter, and is hesitant. Meanwhile, Minerva and Aaron fight, causing Minerva to fall down stairs.

Minerva loses her baby. There is a provision in Amador's will saying that management of the company has to be done by a family member. All hands point to Rodrigo. He doesn't want to, but he has to go to the office on the important matter that Gaviota called him about earlier. Gaviota tries to disguise herself, to no avail. Rodrigo finds Gaviota, and they embrace and kiss. Now that he has found Gaviota, Rodrigo decides he wants to run the company. Gaviota and Rodrigo get together. Meanwhile, Aaron is involved in shady dealings with the company that he's trying to cover up by using Rodrigo and Gaviota. They go to the ports, separately, to check on tequila shipments. Meanwhile, Isadora wants to be artificially inseminated. She undergoes tests in Mexico, then goes to Houston for treatment. A neighbor, Francisco, discovers her and tries to seduce her. He succeeds, and they go on a trip to Acapulco together. Aaron decides he wants to divorce Minerva because she won't give him a son. He wants to marry Pamela and hopes she'll give him the son he wants.Gaviota becomes friendly with Benvenuto, an Italian chef. Rodrigo, in his jealousy, thinks she is running around with Benvenuto, when the friendship is strictly platonic. While working in the office late one night, Gaviota sings her farmer's song. Minerva and Isadora overhear her, and find out that Mariana is Gaviota, and scheme to get her fired from the company. Mariana is fired and made her appear as she robbed the company and was Aaron Mistress. She lefts and brakes all memories from the past. Gaviota and her mother endure hard economic times haunted by the powerful Montalvo family. Someone who knew her from his good works with Montalvo's enterprise help her talking to Rodrigo about her hardship so he makes a reference letter to The Regulatory Commission of Tequila so she is accepted to work there.