i just know there are two women and then they threatened to bring in a third woman, and that was bad, because of reasons. until two weeks ago i did not know one of them was, i think, closeted. i have no idea if one of the women really did go away or if that's just your fic.
There are two women. It is 1959 Toledo, Spain. One of them, Marta, is older, repressed, married, working in her family's perfumery. The other, Fina, is working-class, funny, brave, knows she is gay. Fina's father is the chauffeur for Marta's family. They grew up in the same household, but hardly crossed paths because of age and the dictates of class. Fina has been working at the perfume factory, but she wants to work in the shop. She applies for and gets the job. Another girl who wants the position, too, has noticed that Fina has been *looking* at her and cozies up to her in order to bait the truth about Fina's sexuality out of her, and to blackmail her into quitting. Fina does not quit, and the girl goes and tells Marta, hoping that will mean Fina will lose her job. That's NOT what it means. That knowledge activates something inside of Marta, and from then on she cannot ignore it. They eventually get together and, this being a soap opera, shit happens.
Yes, one of them is forced into exile and has been gone since last August (the actress who plays her was pregnant in real life and took maternity leave; the show NEVER explained that she would be back, but the plot of her leaving was left dangling; the show pretty much confirmed her return when it put the actress in the credit sequence for this third season, which just started).
YES. There is currently ANOTHER woman. A FRENCH woman, Mary, who has wormed her way into Marta's sentimental life (the reasons for this are insane; she believes Fina abandoned her, and so she throws herself into this new relationship). Some people are fine with her, some people hate her. She mostly irritates me, because she's not a well-drawn character, and her motivations are weird, and the actress isn't so good (imo).
Anyway, the Marta/Fina story has been crazy, but the core of their relationship is incredibly tender, sexy, and loving--and the two leads have chemistry coming out of every pore.
