Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.

Julio knew he shouldn't get involved—the less people knew of him, or the less they knew the truth about him, the better.

There was even a part of him that wished he had never involved Andrés in the first place. Out of everyone he's met ever since he arrived at the hotel, Andrés wasn't just a decent man, he's a good man.

Whatever—or whoever—was behind his sister's disappearance was obviously important, possibly even dangerous. If Cristina's disappearance warranted a lie coming from the very most powerful people in the hotel, then the last thing he wanted was to be the reason why innocent bystanders like Andrés to get mixed up or hurt.

So, really, he shouldn't get involved.

But even when he knew that he had to leave before any of the waiters notice that he's missing (or worse, recognize him), he still chanced a look at the dance floor where she danced with her fiancé with all the indifference of a stranger trapped in a loveless match and couldn't help but think that—

No, no, he thought to himself, don't do it, don't get involved.

He shouldn't get involved. Especially not with an Alarcón.

After all, he got what he wanted already. The only reason he stole the white tie suit from the linen room was so that he could pretend to be a guest, so that he could talk to Lady, so that he could find out what really happened to his sister.

That was the entire reason why he went to Cantaloa, the entire reason why he traveled 600 kilometers by train—he couldn't risk that even for a woman like Alicia.

But then her mother—Doña Teresa—made the announcement and suddenly, she was engaged to be married to the hotel director.

He should have walked away. He would have walked away if he hadn't heard her argument with her mother earlier in the afternoon. He would have walked away if he knew that she was in love with Diego. He could have walked away if he saw in her eyes that she could at least be happy with Murquía.

But one look was all it took to know that she was the type of person who would never be happy living the life others wanted her to live. It doesn't matter if the cage is gilded with all the gold in the world, it's still a prison cell all the same.

He didn't really know her, but he could tell that she was different from the others in the hotel. Where the guests thought them invisible or treated them like furniture they could simply replace, she took the time to know their names, made sure to be kind, to thank them.

Don't do it. Don't do it.

Julio wasn't an idiot. They were from different worlds, and she was engaged—he was attending her fiesta de compromiso[1], for God's sake.

He knew she deserved better than a camarero[2]… but he also knew that she deserved better than dancing with a man who didn't make her happy, better than someone who didn't make her eyes light up whenever she saw him.

Maybe he was a romantic—which was stupid because love and romance only ever brought him trouble, grief, and a stint in a cárcel[3]—but he always believed that someone should only get married for love.

Doña Teresa cut in for a dance with Don Diego and Alicia had this look of hurt and defeat as she made a beeline towards the balcony.

Don't do it. Don't get involved. Don't even think about —

Julio quickly slipped a guest's cigarette tin from the side-table into his pocket.

He could already hear Cristina's voice reprimanding him in the back of his head: you know you always fall for the wrong kind of woman, Julio.

She said it with Cecilia and he had no doubt that, if she were here, she'd say the same thing about Alicia Alarcón.

He really should try to forget about her. Maybe tomorrow, he'll actually start trying.

But that was for tomorrow—tonight, maybe he could forget they're from two different worlds and tonight, she could use a friend in Doña Rosalina Molin's nephew and smoke a cigarette or two.

Alicia turned around when the door creaked open and he flashed her his brightest, most charming smile and said his apologies without sounding the least bit apologetic.

"Sorry. I didn't think anyone was out here."

Translation footnotes:
1Engagement party
2Waiter
3Prison