AN: My first delve into the Coco fandom...a meetcute!
Hector looked across the busy plaza. Surely a Saturday morning crowd like this would bring in many tips-maybe even a few tamales or a handful of beans from the vendors selling their wares. He strummed a few strings on his guitar to test the tuning and played the first chord to give Ernesto his starting pitch. No one paid them much mind for the first few songs, and they had only a small handful of coins in the open guitar case in front of them.
As they started the chorus of the fourth song, crooning in harmony to the rapid strumming of the guitar, Hector saw the most beautiful woman on earth enter the plaza. A girl in a white dress with a woven shawl hanging around her shoulders. A long, dark braid with a colorful ribbon woven through it swung over her shoulder.
Hector barely registered when they ended one song and began another, his fingers floating over his guitar with practiced ease and the words spilling out of his mouth without a second thought. His eyes followed the woman around the busy marketplace and his heart began racing the closer she got to their makeshift stage.
Finally, she cast her eyes in their direction, and Hector nearly melted. Fortunately, they were at the end of the song and Ernesto signalled for a few moments' break before the next song. Hector pried his eyes away from the woman to see where Ernesto was looking, and to his dismay, he'd spotted her as well. She walked toward them and smiled.
"Hola, Señors Mariachis," she murmured, looking up at the pair of them through impossibly long lashes.
"Hola, Señorita," Ernesto responded suavely, sweeping his sombrero off his head and bowing low before the woman. She smiled and withdrew a lace fan from her basket, opening it and fanning her flushed face.
"Your music is muy encantator," she complimented, dropping a few coins into the guitar case. She had a silvery voice, and Hector decided at that moment he'd listen to that voice forever, if he could.
"Why thank you, ma'am. Ernesto de la Cruz, at your service." He took her free hand and kissed her knuckles. Hector stood awkwardly by, still holding his guitar, stunned in her glow. "Any requests?"
"La Llorona is my favorite," she replied.
"Then La Llorona it shall be," Ernesto cried grandly turning toward Hector.
"Huh?" he asked, dazed.
"The lady requested La Llorona," Ernesto prompted through gritted teeth. Hector's fingers began playing of their own accord, and when he blinked again, the song was over and she was still standing in front of them, smiling behind her fan. A small crowd had gathered around them and there was a smattering of applause as they finished the song.
Ernesto, never one to turn away from applause, smiled broadly and thanked their listeners. A few of them took his attention and Hector finally found his voice to talk to the senorita.
"I'm Hector."
"Imelda Rivera. You have a great talent, Hector," she complimented. "Are you from Santa Cecilia?"
"Yes, Ernesto and I grew up here," he answered nervously, fingering the frets on his guitar.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My family just moved here."
Before Hector could reply, Ernesto swept back into the conversation.
"I must thank you for suggesting that song, Miss. It was very popular among the other market patrons. Our day will be a successful one, thanks to you." he said in his most charming voice.
"Please dine with us tonight. My familia lives at the end of the street. My father loves mariachis, and my brothers love to meet new people."
"You're very kind. We accept," Ernesto replied. Hector could only stare, thinking of the prospect of an entire meal sitting across from the most beautiful woman he'd ever met.
00
They dined with Rivera family that night and thanked their hosts with a few songs, including La Llorona. Imelda sat enraptured as Hector plucked the song on his guitar and Ernesto sang the haunting lyrics. The evening ended as the sun set, and Ernesto and Hector set out across town to the little flat they shared above the dry goods store.
As they walked past the back of the Rivera property, however, they heard singing. Beautiful singing. It was coming from inside the fence, and Hector found a knothole to peek through. Sitting beneath the leaves of a pomegranate tree was Imelda, a tabby cat stretched out in her lap. She was singing La Llororna to the cat as she scratched behind its ears.
Hector listened in awe for a moment at her beautiful voice before realizing that Ernesto was pulling himself over the fence, landing quietly on his feet. Hector looked around, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next. It wasn't as if he could get himself and his guitar safely over the fence, especially being leaner and less muscular than Ernesto.
Imelda jumped, startled as Ernesto started to sing along.
"I didn't mean to frighten you, Senorita," he apologized gallantly.
"Where's your friend?" she asked coyly.
"Ah, we don't need him to make beautiful music together," Ernesto replied, sweeping off his hat and sitting down beside her.
"On the contrary. He has the guitar," she countered, standing up and taking the cat along with her. "Use the gate this time," she instructed, pulling a speck of dust off Ernesto's shoulder and looking toward the far end of the garden.
She passed the knothole that Hector had been looking through and was now leaned against. He jumped when her finger poked through and caught just under his ribs. She bent close to a crack in the boards and whispered to him.
"Don't be a stranger, Senor Hector."
00
Hector spent hours sitting across from her and Ernesto after their Santa Cecilia concerts, at which she was a fixture. Ernesto's quick humor was no match for her sharp wit, and listening to them go back and forth would have been entertaining if it wasn't so painful. Hector could hardly bear to watch them flirt. The only thing worse he could think of was not being with her at all, so he sat with them, writing music in a little red notebook.
All his songs were about her, although Ernesto was too dense to realize it. Hector's favorite was his most recent creation-Un Poco Loco, patterned after their colorful banter-Ernesto's flirtatious questions and Imelda's sarcastic responses.
What color is the sky?
You tell me that it's red
Where should I put my shoes?
You say put them on your head
The chorus, though, was about Hector, and what he wished he could say to her.
You make me
Un poco loco
Un poquititito loco
The way you keep me guessing
I'm nodding and I'm yessing
I'll count it as a blessing
That I'm only
Un poco loco
Ernesto accused him good-naturedly of skirt-chasing as he came up with love song after sickeningly-sweet love song. He supposed it was better that way-that Ernesto assumed that the time Hector spent taking long, aimless walks through town were spent with a different woman every week. In truth, he spent the time imagining what it would be like walking the same streets with Imelda at his side, on his arm. Then he'd spend the last little bit of the walk bringing himself back down out of the clouds, reminding himself that his dream girl belonged to Ernesto.
But every time they sang one of the songs he wrote for Imelda...he couldn't help but look out into the crowd and find her stunning brown eyes. He put his heart in the song and sang it to her.
00
They were packing up after a performance one evening and Imelda was making her way through the dissipating crowd to greet them.
Hector had just tucked his guitar into the case and snapped the latch closed when Imelda caught her foot on a root and tumbled forward. Without regard for the safety of his instrument, Hector dropped the case to the ground and reached out to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Ay, Hector, what would I do without you?" she asked as they straightened themselves out.
"You didn't hurt yourself?" he asked, brushing away the compliment.
"My ankle is a little sore, now that you mention it. Could I lean on you for a few moments?"
Hector's brain clicked into overdrive as she wrapped her arms through his and leaned her slight form into him.
"Will you be able to make it all the way home?" he asked cautiously, not knowing what he'd do if her answer was no.
"No need, no need," Ernesto said grandly, stepping forward and gathering Imelda into his arms like a groom might hold his young bride. Hector sighed. "Carry the instruments, mi amigo," he requested. It was probably Hector's imagination, but as Ernesto led the way down the street with Imelda in his arms, he thought she looked longingly back at Hector.
00
One day, Ernesto had a sore throat and begged off from a concert at the plaza to stay home with his cup of tea and honey. Hector knew Ernesto must not be feeling well at all if he decided to skip a performance.
It was odd performing without Ernesto, and Hector decided he preferred song writing to performing solo.
After the concert, Imelda came forward with a smile on her face as she always did. Hector packed up his guitar and turned to her with a nervous smile.
"I'll see you home?" he said, half as an offer and half as a request.
"Thank you," she replied, turning down the street toward the Rivera Hacienda.
Hector chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to figure out what to say to her. Songs? He could spill forth anything he felt with just a few chords...but trying to talk to her? It was nearly impossible.
The breeze blew gently and Imelda shivered.
"Hold this," Hector said, passing Imelda his folder of music and setting his guitar case on the ground. He shrugged out of his jacket and tucked it around her shoulders.
Their walk was quiet, and Hector cursed his natural shyness and wished for all the world that he had one ounce of Ernesto's charm. His brain, though, was whirring at top speed because this was exactly what he dreamed about on his long walks alone-him, Imelda, and the moon.
"I've never heard some of the songs you performed tonight. Are they new?" she asked.
"Well, not exactly. Ernesto doesn't like them, says they won't go over as well with a duo. Love songs...they're for a man to sing for his woman," Hector explained.
"They're very pretty love songs. The woman you sing them to is very lucky," Imelda answered. Hector didn't mention that he'd been looking at her the entire night. "Especially this Juanita. You speak very highly of her."
Hector chuckled nervously.
They stopped at her doorstep and Imelda looked up at him through dark lashes with eyes that sparkled in the moonlight.
"Here's your jacket." She pulled the too-big garment off her shoulders and tucked it over his arm, her hand lingering. "Ernesto usually tries to kiss me goodnight," she said.
"Well...that's our Ernesto," Hector said with a weak smile, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. She giggled and everything Hector was holding back almost came spilling out.
"Goodnight," Imelda whispered, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek before letting herself into the house and closing the door with a quiet click.
Hector skipped the whole way home, guitar case and all.
00
They'd just returned from a grueling six week tour. Their train had arrived in the wee hours of the morning, as cheap trains always did, and instead of going to bed, Ernesto took his share of their meager earnings and went to the tavern.
Hector was content to fall into his lumpy bed for a well deserved rest, and when he woke up, the sun was streaming through the window. He cleaned himself up and went to the market below to find something to eat from a street vendor. When he returned to the exterior staircase that led to their small upper room, he was surprised to find Imelda Rivera sitting and waiting patiently on the steps.
"I'm glad you're back in one piece," she greeted with a warm smile.
He smiled sheepishly to show her his newest addition-a tooth now coated with gold after the majority of it had cracked off when he'd pulled Ernesto out of a barroom brawl.
"Mostly one piece," Imelda amended, coming closer. There was something different about how she approached him-with confidence and a purpose that scared him a bit.
Hector looked around nervously. It wasn't often that he and Imelda were alone-he tried his best to make sure it was a rare occurrence simply because of how he felt about her. She was Ernesto's, though, and he wouldn't hurt his best friend like that.
He took a step back as she advanced on him with fire in her eyes-fire that made his blood boil with want-need.
Finally, he had nowhere to go. His back was pressed into the stucco, and his chest was pressed into Imelda's. Oh, if Ernesto caught them now...She ran her hands over the detailing on his jacket, her beautiful brown eyes focusing on his lips for a moment before she leaned closer and pressed them to her own.
After a breathless minute in which Hector's stomach did flips and his heart sang a thousand new songs, she pulled away with a self satisfied smile.
"But...you and Ernesto…" he protested weakly. His heart wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and show her a real kiss, but his head reminded him of his duty to his friend.
"You thought I've been following you around because of Ernesto? Chasing after you, flirting with you, because I was after him? Oh, Hector, you're so dense," she exclaimed, looking up to the sky.
"You...you like me? This whole time, you've been after me?"
"Si, you miserable tonto!"
Hector wasted no time in grabbing her by the hips and pulling her as close as possible, fingers digging into her skirts. Imelda shrieked excitedly and her eyes grew wide as Hector brought his forehead to rest against hers.
"You could have told me sooner," he murmured, wrapping her tightly in his arms and lifting her off her feet in a kiss.
They broke apart in surprise when the gate banged open and Ernesto stumbled in.
"Have you two finally figured things out?" he asked, a little drunkenly. "Thank goodness." He hauled himself up the stairs and into the apartment, no doubt to sleep off his night.
"Did you write any more songs about your lady loves while you were gone?" she teased, turning her full attention back to him. Hector nearly melted as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Those songs, Imelda...they're…"
"About me, Hector. I know. I know I drive you un poco loco. Well, you make me muy loco. In fact, I have some song lyrics for you, as well. No dejaré de quererte." I'll never stop loving you.
"La llorona? That story doesn't exactly end happily."
"Ay, but ours will, mi amor. Ours will."