The Spanish Love Deception

After their conversation, Lina and Aaron participate in a directors’ meeting along with three other mid-management engineers of their design firm InTech: Gerald, Héctor, and Kabir. During the session, Kabir informs Lina that she has been chosen by the boss, Jeff, to plan and host a special all-day welcoming event designed to improve customer relations. Lina tries to avoid taking this responsibility, as she regularly overworks and is currently covering for two employees on maternity leave.

Gerald makes a number of sexist remarks, trivializing Lina’s abilities and implying that, as a woman, planning a social event should come easy to her: “Just prepare some activities, get some food delivered here, put on nice clothes, and crack some jokes. You are young and cute: you won’t even have to use your brain all that much” (23). Lina holds her temper and notes that none of the other directors spoke up on her behalf.

A few days after the directors’ meeting, Lina and Rosie text each other. Rosie texts from Around the Corner, their favorite coffee shop, while Lina works late. Rosie tries to lure Lina to join her. Believing there is an unspoken attraction between Lina and Aaron, Rosie asks if she will reconsider Aaron’s offer. Lina rejects this notion, thinking, “There was no simmering tension between Aaron Blackford and me. […] Aaron didn’t love anything—he couldn’t do that without a heart” (31).

Aaron enters Lina’s office with a stack of documents and planners intended to help her plan the upcoming special event. Despite her protestations, he rearranges her desk. He lays out his materials and explains how she should structure the event.

Gerald’s crass behavior comes up during the pair’s conversation. Aaron expresses surprise that Lina felt abandoned by her co-directors. He remarks, “You’ve never needed anyone to fight your battles, Catalina. That’s one of the things I respect the most about you” (40). Grudgingly, Lina decides to accept Aaron’s help in planning the special event.

Lina talks to her mother over the phone. Her mother gives her advice about what she should wear to the wedding. During the conversation, Lina’s mother asks if she is still bringing her boyfriend to the wedding. When Lina hesitates, her mother asks if she and her boyfriend have broken up. Lina is tempted to confess that she fabricated the story or to say that they broke up.

Lina’s mother talks about her cousin Charo, who doesn’t believe Lina has a boyfriend as she hasn’t seen pictures of him on Facebook or Instagram. With that, Lina insists she does have a boyfriend and will bring him to the wedding. Her mother asks for her boyfriend’s name.

At that moment, Aaron walks into Lina’s office with more details on the special event. Looking at him absently, Lina speaks his name, which her mother repeats. Lina’s mother realizes Aaron is in the room with Lina. Aaron realizes Lina’s call is personal and waits until she gets off the phone, teasing her about making such calls on company time.

Later at lunch with Rosie in the social room, Lina relays that her mother thinks Aaron is her boyfriend. As they discuss the dilemma, Aaron enters with an urgent message for Rosie. Lina follows Rosie, pretending she asked her a question.

On Friday evening, Lina exits the office building to catch the subway and discovers it’s raining. Drenched and slipping on the pavement, Lina notices a car stop next to her. Aaron offers her a ride home, but she resists. They carry on a brief argument until the cars behind Aaron begin honking and yelling.

Lina gets into the car, sitting on the edge of the passenger seat. A truck cuts them off, and she almost hits the dashboard. Aaron puts his hand against her chest to prevent her from striking the windshield. He tells her to sit back and buckle up, driving her to her apartment in Bed-Stuy (Bedford–Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in north central Brooklyn).

Aaron parks and asks Lina if she’s made up her mind about his offer. After attempting to dodge the question, Lina asks if he’s making a joke, as the two years they’ve known each other have demonstrated their incompatibility. He assures her that he is serious, and that there is something she can do for him in exchange for him going to Spain: He needs her to be his date at a charity event the next evening. Lina agrees to the deal.