Imelda didn't really notice it at first. Men have always tried to get her attention and overtime she learned to ignore their attempts. Sort of.

Sure, there were a couple exceptions, like when boys had first started courting her and presenting her with useless, battered gifts and she had to chase them away from her house, oftentimes with her shoe already raised above her head. On more than one occasion those particular men were heard screaming as they ran, nine times out of ten with fresh scratches on their faces. Overtime, their attempts with her grew less frequent. And when Imelda married Héctor, there were only two times she had to chase someone. Their tries had stopped.

For a while, anyway.

Now it seems that since Héctor is gone, the men in town have started their antics again. Another way Héctor keeps worming his way into Imelda's head, and another reason why she wishes he's here.

At first Imelda didn't pay any attention to it. To the men with roses in their hands and suits freshly ironed. To their tinny, off-key voices when they're brave enough to serenade her just as she's closing her eyes. To the way they look at her-- eyes flashing, wicked grins that turn to terrified gapes when she glares at them.

Imelda didn't notice at first, because they've always been that way..

But this feels different somehow.

This time there is more forcefulness to the mens' actions, almost like mischeiviousness. This time when they serenade her, it's closer to her window and sometimes Imelda catches them trying to look inside. And when they catch her attention, not only are they smiling, but they sometimes work up the nerve to approach her and try to take her hand.

Those men-- the bolder types that are often trailed by the curious, gleeful eyes of their friends and other onlookers-- ended up with more proof of Imelda's annoyance than others.

And sometimes they have the nerve to do it in front of Coco, too. Twice when Imelda and Coco are in town Imelda hears the familiar voice of one of Ernesto's amigos. She never bothers to ask his name becuase she doesn't care who he is.

As usual, he walks up to her with that plain, rehersed smile Imelda has seen way too many times. There is a decent looking boquet of flowers in his hands, more decent than usual, which puts Imelda on her guard. At first, he ignores her and bends down to Coco's level, reaching out to her. Coco veers back, tilting her head at Imelda with an uncomfortable gaze. Imelda picks her up and glares into his eyes.

Then he starts to speak, staring at her with those eyes, flickering with the usual daring look that brings back more memories of Héctor than Imelda is even close to comfortable with.

He says, "Would you like to go somewhere, Señorita? I have a few places in mind."

Imelda's stony gaze doesn't change. "No." She decides, for now, that she's going to ignore the fact he called her "señorita" even though she's married.

She starts to turn away, still holding Coco, when he jumps in front of her. "It won't be for long. And I think your daughter would like it, too."

Coco lets out a little gasp, but Imelda can't tell if she means it or if it's random.

And that's when she gets a closer look at the boquet in his hand, the sun glinting off of something inside it and giving off a blinding light. A ring, she realizes quickly, similar to the one Héctor used when he proposed to her.

Seeing this causes Imelda's heart to ache, at the same time her face heats up from growing indignation.

"I'm sorry," she says with as much emotion as she can manage without sounding too threatening, "but I can't accept. I have a husband, you know."

"You... you do?"

Imelda draws in a breath and lets it out slowly, calming herself down. "Sí. Héctor Rivera."

"But he left, didn't he? He isn't here."

Imelda feels her heart drop, knowing how true it is. Coco starts to squirm in her arms, making little noises as her feet kick against Imelda's stomach. Imelda hides her winces of pain beneath her bland response and hard gaze. "My answer is no, and that's final. Now leave me alone." She starts to walk away, loosening her grip so Coco stops flailing.

But unlike the others, he's relntless. His voice is now tinged with desperation. "Be reasonable, señorita! Give me a chance. I promise I'll be way better than Héctor Rivera."

Imelda stops walking and turns at the way the man spits Héctor's name. No other person in Santa Cecilia ever say his name that way, not even his biggest rivals. The meaning behind the tone and the statement grabs Imelda harder than earlier as she glares.

She steps closer to him and lowers her voice to a growl. "If you approach me again, you'll regret it. If I can deal with Ernesto, I can deal with you."

The man's gaze hardens to match hers as he glares at the ground. "Fine. My apologies, then." But his voice does not sound remorseful.

Imelda starts taking long detours around the town square to avoid him and the other men. And every time they try to attract her to them, Héctor's quirky ways fill her mind and take her over as she chases after them with her shoe in hand.