+ uno 
"solamente se que yo contigo quiero estar." 
(i only know that i want to be with you.)

"Are you sure she'll pick me up? What if she doesn't come? Then what will I do?" I said into the old payphone with very visible hints of nervousness on my face as my eyes scanned the crowded area. The airport in Mexico City was something confusing to me. All the signs around me were in Spanish, which was something I wasn't used to, despite speaking the language and there were bustling crowds of people everywhere the eyes could see. I was used to seeing everything in English, having lived in the United States all my life and it was a regular thing to see everyone speaking to each other in English. This was like travelling to an entirely different world. A world where everyone only spoke Spanish.

From the other line, my older brother replied with a hint of annoyance tinging his words, "Yes, Belen. She said she'll be there to pick you up when you arrive. The family are the ones paying for your flight and accommodations, I would think they'd be punctual. It can only affect them if you have to come back to the US." It was about the billionth time I had asked him the same question. 

Our parents had founded a translation agency when they were in their twenties, having both studied translation and communications when they were in university, which currently had opened a branch in which they taught different languages to people in different parts of the world. Now that they were in their forties, they had enough money to retire comfortably and my brother Van Daniel had taken over, at twenty five years old. At twenty years old myself, and fresh out of college with an associates degree, he had promised me a spot in the agency. And my very first assignment had been in Mexico City with a woman whose husband wanted to learn to speak English because they'd be moving to the United States in a few months. Lucky for me, I was ready and available to make the trip across the border into the Mexican capitol.

Just as I was about to reply, I saw a woman with a sign in her hands that read Anna Belen Santos. She was dressed in elegant clothing, her golden blonde hair concealed perfectly and her eyes were hidden away behind sunglasses despite being inside a fully lit building.

"Found her." I grinned from my end.

"You can thank me later for this." Van Daniel said and I could practically see the smirk on his face though we were in two different countries at the moment.

Confused, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You'll see." He stated simply before hanging up and the line went dead.

I walked over to the woman slowly and hesitantly. She was a petite woman who even appeared secretive in her stance, like she didn't want to be noticed. My brother's words echoed in my mind as I tried to figure out if I knew who she was. But considering what he said, there was a high chance that she or her husband were people I had seen on television and probably even admired.

When I approached her, she smiled at me warmly, removing her sunglasses to reveal herself. She was even more stunning than she had initially seemed when I walked up. "You must be Anna. There are hundreds of agencies here in Mexico, but I heard stellar recommendations about your family's agency, and my husband wants to learn English, so we thought we'd give this a try."

Her voice was melodic and soft as she spoke to me in Spanish.

We shook hands while I nodded my head in confirmation, "Yes, my name is Anna Belen, but at home I mostly just go by Belen. You must be..." I trailed off, wracking my brain for a recollection. Van Daniel had told me her name, it was a name that had sounded familiar too, and a name I had read on their file once before travelling to Mexico. But at the moment my mind was blanked.

"Silvia." She offered with the same polite smile remaining on her face, "Silvia Pinal."

Again, the sound of her name rung a bell. But I couldn't remember for the life of me why her name sounded so familiar. Then again, there were probably a million Silvias in the world and here in Mexico there were probably quite a lot of women with the same name as her. "Its nice to meet you, Miss Silvia. I look forward to starting my work with your family."

In order for them to pay me a living wage, enough to make a living for myself, child care was included in my services.

I had been told the family had two small children--a daughter who was two years old and a son who was basically a newborn, and having a degree in primary school teachings, my brother offered them something they couldn't refuse. Due to this, they had offered me a room in their mansion in Mexico City, where they would remain until the start of the husband's tour across Latin America. Then we'd all go to the United States, where her husband would work.

Silvia gestured towards the exit, prepared to lead the way out of the airport.

"Shall we?" She smiled brightly. She was so pretty and there was something so familiar about her face and her voice, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I nodded nervously. "Sure."

I was unsure of how things would go with the family, I was a stranger in their home after all. But so far, Silvia seemed like a lovely woman and I only had to wait and see for her husband's approval who would be the one I'd be teaching. And I also needed to have the children's approval.

I think saying I was nervous was an understatement.

.

When she led me out of the airport and into a waiting luxurious black car, that was when I knew she was a person of money. But I should have known that before since my family's agency was know for being contacted by famous people. It made me wonder who her husband was.

We drove up to a nice neighborhood in Mexico City, passing all sorts of beautiful scenery and stopping in front of a grand mansion. The neighborhood was one I recognized as Zona Rosa, or The Pink Zone, a neighborhood where it was said that Mexico's wealthiest people lived. Anyone who was anyone lived in this area. My eyes took everything in and my jaw dropped in awe at the sight before me. Back in the United States my family had money and we lived in a nice area. But the rich area in Mexico City had so much more color, and more culture.

The car finally came to a complete stop at the bottom of a flight of steps that led up to the front door after passing a gate and a security booth. We got out of the car and I followed up the marble steps and into the sitting room with my bags in tow. Silvia had politely offered to help me, but I thought it rude to allow my employer to carry my things. Besides, she was such a sophisticated looking woman that I almost doubted she would have ever carried a luggage in her life.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the couch which looked like it had never been sat on.

I nodded silently and did as she instructed me. 

Seconds later, a little girl with silky black hair pulled up into pig tails ran into the room, jumping on her happily. "Mommy!" The little girl yelled in Spanish. She looked like she could barely walk properly, let alone talk. But she seemed perfectly able to communicate with her mother.

And I found it curious how much she reminded me of someone. Her smile especially.

"Enrique, amor!" Love, Silvia called into the enormous house, taking the little girl, who seemed like she could barely stand on her own, into her arms. "Please come over here, I want you to meet your new English tutor."

I awaited anxiously to find out who this famous husband was. I could almost picture the drum roll sound in my head and I was filled with anticipation. When he walked into the room slowly, my heart came to a complete stand still.

"Hello," He smiled at me and even gave an awkward wave of his hand, though he seemed a bit surprised that I was so young. It had definitely served to take him by surprise like I know it had taken Silvia by surprise too even though she didn't say anything of it. But I could easily say the same thing about him. "I am Enrique Guzmán, its so nice to meet you. Welcome to my home."

Screaming on the inside, but keeping my composure on the outside, I gulped, eyes beaming with excitement. Van Daniel had really done me the biggest favor in life. It had been a known fact to the people in my family, ever since I was fourteen, that I loved Enrique Guzmán and it had always been my dream to meet him. My parents even teased me for years as a teen calling him my boyfriend every time he appeared on television. I thought he was the perfect human being, the perfect man. So tall, handsome, talented. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I said, "I...uh, my name is Anna Belen." My voice cracked embarrassingly and I looked down at my hands as I started to blush. Then I mentally scolded myself or being so embarrassing. Way to be dumb in front of your idol, I said to myself.

He took a few steps closer to me before extending a hand out for me to shake. I took his hand in mine, hyperventilating on the inside with just the warm touch of his hand. My own hand was at the moment dripping with nervous sweat.

"Welcome to Mexico." He told me with a grin.

"Thank you." I smiled back.

-

so this is the first chapter of the story.

for those of you who might know silvia pinal and enrique guzman, i made some changes to their history together. they got married in 1967. but in this story it is 1964 and they're already married, they have been married for three years now. and their children alejandra and luis enrique were born in the early sixties, even though in real life they were born in the late sixties.

it just serves to help my plot a little more. so at the start of this, enrique is twenty one and silvia is thirty three. their age gap is 12 years in real life and i want to keep it that way.

anna is twenty. 

enrique's daughter alejandra is three years old, while his son luis enrique is about three months old.

thank you for reading and giving this story a chance. it means the entire world to me. most likely i will post another update tonight, since i have about eighty chapters of this story already pre-written and sitting in my drafts collecting dust since 2014.

-clary