How to change your live in ten easy steps.

[argentine_rose]

But no one said it would end easy.

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Step Six: Complications.

[argentine_rose]

Eva Duarte did not make departure that simple.

She had somehow got the idea that she was leaving with him, that he was “her man” and that they would start a new life together in Buenos Aires. Clearly the girl was delusional if she thought he would whisk her away like some knight on a steed. He couldn’t help but find her more than a little naïve. What did she think he had waiting for him in the city, a castle with servants?

She wasn’t just delusional. She was just a girl.

Step Seven: Persuasion by way of perseverance.

[argentine_rose]

Eva knew exactly what she was doing. If she kept at this long enough he’d have no choice but to take her with him. Her family, thankfully, was wising up to the game. Sure, she had to spell the plan out to one of her brothers when he asked what was going on, but once clued in he argued for her side beautifully. Once Eva had the entire Ibarguren family on her side, debate was like talking to a brick wall. She wouldn’t budge; neither would they.

Step Eight: Dammit.

[argentine_rose]

So he’d been insulted. So he’d been had. So he’d been forced to drag this little girl with him to Buenos Aries. Could he dump her off at some bar and slide away home, leave her staring at the lights as slipped out of sight? Tempting, but he didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to just toss her aside; he wanted her to understand what it was like in the city, that there were liars and cheaters and hedonists who didn’t care about any person but themselves, and ideal but their own pleasure. That Eva had ambition was obvious, but she was ambitious without knowing what she was getting in to.

So he’d show her. He’d show her exactly what life was like in the magical city of Buenos Aries.

Step Nine: A Musical Interlude.

[argentine_rose]

What's new Buenos Aires

Step Ten: Exceptions.

[argentine_rose]

Except, after she had danced, after she had sang, the exultation came down. There was a lesson to be learned about the hidden nature of Buenos Aries, about the hidden nature of men. She had known since she was very young that her papa had another family, a legitimate, middle class family. She had known that men often kept their mistresses a secret, had known how they carelessly sported with women the moment they stepped out of their wives’ domain. But she hadn’t known, hadn’t felt, hadn’t experienced the cruelty of this act, the cold selfishness of this act, until she had looked into Magaldi’s eyes and saw that he had used her. That he was married and had a daughter didn’t hurt her so much. That he looked at her that way, that cold, uncaring way-she couldn’t take it. Turning, she began her slow decent of the stairs to--to what?
I don't expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it--wouldn't you?

So what happens now?