XANA had become a fairytale granny. As her mother had already predicted, the first XANA, number 8, would be very important in the events that would happen to her great-granddaughter Esther throughout her life. 

It was Sunday the 28th of August 1988 and Esther was turning 18. Monday was the company's day off and it was perfect to celebrate coming of age. Everyone wanted to be with Esther on such an important day, but Angel and Elvira started working in Madrid and had only one day to leave XANA and the General in Valencia installed and prepare for their little son's return to school. 

The flowers that arrived in the theater dressing room shook Esther. The bouquet was gorgeous! Of course, it was Aunt Blanca, along with the exquisite taste of her godmother Esther Gloria, who had it decorated. Eighteen white roses, for each year of life, rosemary branches, wild flowers each one smaller and more perfect… were Esther's favourites. Next to it, a huge box with a dress worthy of a princess that Elvira bought on her last trip to Paris and that she saved for years for that day. It came with a very sentimental letter from her family and Alfredo Kraus himself was moved when Esther read it to him in the dressing room. The princess of Kapurthala was already of age. 

Esther didn't tell anyone that it was her birthday. She got along wonderfully with her gay friend, an actor and singer with whom she laughed a lot and shared many moments on and off stage. When the actor, figured out about the important day, went from dressing room to dressing room announcing; "Who's up for the coming-of-age birthday of our partner and little diva, Esther Barco!," she yelled like crazy. Tomorrow we don't have to get up early and we don't have a show, we're going to have sushi dinner and then go to the trendy disco. We will do it the American way, each one will pay their bill and together we will invite the birthday girl. Many signed up.

Esther and the gypsy sat together in the restaurant. His wife in front. Esther got along very well with the director and she did not intend to harm her. He spent the entire dinner teaching Esther how to eat with Japanese chopsticks and there were times when no one was looking that they fed each other. While the director talked nonstop with everyone except her husband. She never spoke to the dancer, she left him alone, she paid no attention to him and for a few days they had slept in separate rooms.  

If she really had been in love with him, she would have tried to stop the attraction that existed between her husband and Esther. Everyone at the disco was already very happy with the Sake, the wine, the liqueurs and the glasses of champagne that they had drunk and they went straight to the dance floor to give it all.

 As if the script for the movie had already been written, Esther left the club before anyone else, she wanted to get to the hotel alone. She got into the first taxi and at the same time the gypsy who had decided to accompany her so that she would not go alone entered through the other door... Esther was wearing the dress that her mother gave her and she really looked like the princess of Kapurthala as they called at home. The moment that XANA avoided so much had arrived. That night Esther for the first time, would be loved and bewitched by the gypsy, they would light the bonfire of passion without being aware of the alley where they got into and of everything they had left to live. 

Esther Barco, how could it be otherwise, had in her last name the sea, the birds, the sun, the memory, the tranquility, the adventure, the goodbye, the fish...

XANA was convinced that Angel, her son-in-law had Jewish blood. Since she miraculously recovered her mobility and her voice, she told Elvira in a mysterious tone, that from the period of King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. , the Jews were already in the Iberian Peninsula where they remained until the end of the Middle Ages in the 14th century, when the Catholic Monarchs made the biggest historical mistake by expelling them from Spain. Barco, Bar in Aramaic means son of, and Torrijos, the second surname, that of her mother, was Sephardic. One night, XANA heard how Doña Emilia sang to Esther, a lullaby in Ladino, which is the language used by the Spanish Jews, while in her temple, she cooked an exquisite lamb that gave off a soft aroma of cloves, cinnamon, thyme and honey. Her long hair to her waist and full of Doña Emilia's natural waves, with eyes bluer than the sea and her nose so personal clearly demonstrated that she could have Jewish reminiscence. And the fact is that her husband, Angel's father, Don Isidoro, had an aquiline nose and very blue eyes. Angel's brother, Isidoro, had a lot of vision and initiative to attract good businesses like the Jews. Everyone always spent the summer in north of Spain Santander and there he met his wife eating squid frog. She owned the entire building that occupied one of the corners of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid and downstairs had a small restaurant called "La Joya" that was always empty. Isidoro quickly realized that there was not a single restaurant in the Plaza Mayor that sold squid and he had the brilliant idea of ​​bringing them from Santander. He bought a huge fryer that everyone could see from the street and they started selling squid inside the bread. Within a week, the queues went around the square and began to earn a lot of money. And became the most famous mini restaurant in Madrid. 

Elvira was fascinated with XANA's story about her in-laws, and she was very thoughtful saying it out loud with her pleasant sense of humor; —Well, Angel has inherited only the color of his eyes and his nose, which he left to his sons Ismael and Daniel. Esther, ever since she had the use of reason, was already beginning to feel something very deep for the Jewish culture. She greatly admired their peculiar beauty, their enormous intelligence, and how quickly they grew in business. But what captivated her most was the phrase; Jesus King of the Jews. 

Madrid 1989. Paco Romero was the most important professor of Spanish classics at the Amor de Dios studios. Esther had been studying with him for two years and had gotten along very well with her parents. Paco was very worried, he saw in Esther a dance figure and he was realizing the transformation that she was undergoing both physically and mentally since she return from Barcelona. He immediately spoke with Elvira and that same afternoon he went to eat at her house to tell her what was happening. 

After classes Esther would see the gypsy secretly. She waited for him at the bar to come by with the car, and they went to the country house to sit at a picnic table to eat pipes. They were more and more in love and just wanted to be together. Esther thought that nobody had noticed their relationship, but already in Barcelona the day after the spell, the whole company was looking at them, murmuring and criticizing. 

Elvira knew her daughter very well, and she knew that the more she forbade her to do something, the more she would do it. She would try by all means to make her understand that this relationship could not lead to anything good. That even if they had separated, they had been together for many years, and that woman would be full of jealousy and rancor. That the gypsies had their own customs and laws, that she was not a gypsy and that they would never let her be herself. She was starting a beautiful career and that she had her whole life ahead of her to fall in love with the right person. What Esther did not know yet was the painful news that she would very soon receive from her crush. 

The envy that Esther received from her dance partners became full-fledged bullying. In flamenco class, Esther was transformed. Almost all of the rehearsal clothes she wore were black. She wore two T-shirts one on top of the other, the more ripped the better, full-length woolen legwarmers with straps, two long skirts down to her feet, one a flowing silk knit with fifty-seven godés, and the other straight. She would tie up, from the waist to the knees, a very old crocheted shawl from her great-great-grandmother XANA and she would put arm warmers on her arms and a big scarf around her neck. In many classes she would wear a natural flower or a sprig of rosemary. She was always next to the guitarist, who naturally fell in love with her immediately and the class took on another color. The teacher left Esther in charge of the class because he was going to have a glass of wine at the tiny bar on the corner of the cave, where he also met with three or four other teachers, all of them flamencos. The students were delighted with Esther, because she already proved to be an excellent teacher. The foreigners were so happy that they didn't miss a single class, they left their country for a few months to study flamenco and never came back. Some became good dancers and worked mainly in tablaos. For them, working professionally in a private dance company was very difficult. They related to all the dancers in the bar, which was the best part, they only went out at night to places where there were flamenco shows, and they became true friends. But the Spanish professionals were not so amused by Esther's success. And Esther, on her side, had no need to stay after seven hours of daily flamenco classes, in a bar, practically dressed to go home, begging for work. 

Even so, the admiration of her companions was evident and getting along with Esther was easy. So they went out to the theater together to see dance shows, they always had a drink after class at the bar, they talked about how handsome some flamencos were and they were already liking each other. the foreigners each went out with a flamenco. It was very difficult to see a foreigner without a partner. And most of them were delighted in the role of their lover. Esther kept her relationship a secret, but the bailaoras were older than her, very savvy, and they already knew. 

The Virgen del Socorro, who was already back in Madrid and in her place, the sewing machine, had a halo with a different light… they had to be careful, something was going to happen. 

It was a Saturday in early June and it was unbearably hot in Madrid. After the last class, Esther and her classmates went as usual to have a coke at the bar next door "Los Chanquetes", they began to talk about the huge expenses that living in Madrid meant, away from their homes and far away of family. And Esther, who was very generous, came up with the idea of ​​inviting her "friends" to eat and swim in the pool at her villa. It was the perfect plan to spend the afternoon and they wouldn't have to spend money on eating. Elvira and Angel did not return home until evening. 

The Filipina made them a bowl of chips, which were delicious, and they ate them by the pool. Natural granita juice of orange, watermelon and blueberries with exquisite beef burgers, which the pilot still brought from Argentina every Friday. The bottle of vodka from the mini bar inadvertently got into each glass of juice to liven up the afternoon. The famous and delicious XANA rice pudding, ice cream, chocolates, shots... They were watching dance videos, contests, etc. and they spent a quiet and fun day. 

The following Monday and without giving any explanation, none of them spoke to Esther again, they did not look at her face, they did not greet her and if they entered the bar where she was, they went to another. Esther thought that they were playing a joke in bad taste. After how nice she had been to them, she didn't understand a thing! . No one had given her parents anything, nor had they inherited a fortune. Besides, it was not her fault that her father worked in the studio day and night to support his family, a big house and a Filipina. Elvira also worked at the hospital, the expenses were enormous. But above all they were noble, good and very understanding parents. 

Esther came home super sad and very disappointed, she didn't want to go back to class, eat or see anyone. She locked herself in her room and only let Nina in, who licked her tears and put the paw on her hand, to remind her to give her the order to lie down on the floor pretending to be asleep, caress her tummy, and thus make her smile. And the dog got her goal, she was smart as a person. When Elvira came home from work, there was no way to find her, she was so tiny, that she would hide in the dressing room inside a shoe box to play and then receive hugs, lots of affection, little kisses and smiles that it was what Nina liked. 

Elvira brought her daughter her favorite meringue milk ice cream, which after two days without eating, tasted like blessed glory. She told her that she had to be very strong and as she always calmed her down with one of her wise sayings; — Baby, there are also good people in life, but it is better to be alone than in bad company. Your father and I have already told you that the entertainment world environment is very unpleasant. You stand out from a very young age, you shine and you do not go unnoticed. In order to succeed, they will trip you up so that you fall and you will have no friends. Now that you have finished high school you have time to decide whether to continue with dance or start studying journalism, or art history and architecture at university. 

At that moment the phone rang and it was from the office of Luis Dávila, Luisillo. One of the choreographers who participated in the jury in the contest that Esther won, offering her to be part of the cast of her dance company as a solo dancer, in the opera "La Traviata". As she was of age, she would be the first time to sign a contract for the entire summer abroad. Esther decided to follow the path that she had started to pave since she was five years old and she remembered her great-grandmother's advice; — Do not allow anything or anyone to force you to abandon your dreams. Elvira agreed with her decision, she was an artist and she would have decided the same. And it was also just what she needed in those moments to separate from the gypsy and forget what had happened. XANA already predicted how much her granddaughter would suffer with her jealousy and envy. And this had only just begun. 

Italy, Macerata. Spheristerio Theater. It was dress rehearsal day. When Esther saw herself on top of the spectacular neoclassical-style stage, inaugurated in 1829 and designed by the architect Ireneo Aleandri, with capacity for more than three thousand people, her hair stood on end. She felt some nerves in her stomach that left her the moment she played the music… she was in the theater with the best acoustics in all of Europe. Dancing alone in 90 by 26 meters! With a huge Doric colonnade of 56 columns that transported you to another world, it was a great responsibility. Another great super production where Esther would learn by leaps and bounds. 

The first thing they gave her on the plane was the rehearsal plan that she would have as soon as she arrived. She didn't know almost anyone and she sat next to the tailor who made her smile when she asked the steward if he could please open the window of the plane because she was hot. The first month, they would dance each day in Giuseppe Verdi's three-act opera, “La Traviata” based on Alexandre Dumas's novel, The Lady of the Camellias. The costume was a black lace corset, with a long gold and black skirt, five layers with a spectacular flare that weighed a ton. In the mornings they would rehearse Giacomo Puccini's opera “Manon Lescaut” with five acts and six scenes, which they would perform the following month and where they had to wear huge white wigs of the time and all the choreography was pure ballet. 

The studios were huge and beautiful and were attached to the apartments where the twenty dancers were staying. Esther shared a room with a dancer who stole her favorite black cashmere turtleneck sweater as soon as she arrived, saying it was hers and that she had brought it from Spain. She was used to stealing from her classmates, she was a kleptomaniac and coincidentally very close friend to the Director's daughter. 

The next day was the premiere and Esther called XANA to tell her what had happened to her. She didn't want to tell Elvira, so she wouldn't suffer . Esther was sure that she was purposefully given new roommates so she could steal from them and that they knew they would shut up for fear of being expelled from her. Esther filled the position of a dancer who had previously been expelled for the same reason. But what no one imagined was that this time, they were facing a great dancer, with a very strong personality who complained about the robbery. But that was just the welcome detail, revenge was saved for opening night. 

That night the moon shone so brightly that, as if it were a spotlight, it illuminated the stage and magic began to take over all the artists. Luisillo, the choreographer, liked to tell little stories within others.

 Esther played a dancer who is late for dress rehearsal and the director gives her a chance. It was a three-minute solo and Esther had to have her dress prepared between boxes, in the temporary dressing room for quick changes. Since she danced in two choreographies in a row. Esther left her dress ready for her, but when it was time to change, someone had taken it from her. What Esther felt at that moment cannot be described in words, she knew that she was fired and that the next day she would return to Spain. Luisillo was a perfectionist and a failure like that in an opera of that prestige, he was not going to consent to it. Esther put on the rehearsal clothes that she had inadvertently left there just before going on stage, instead of taking them to the dressing room. Under no circumstances could she go out with the same clothes as the previous choreography and going out naked was not an option. She had two minutes of time, while she prayed an Our Father, she steeled herself, went on stage and danced better than in rehearsals and with the same confidence as if she were wearing her dress. She shone like a star in the sky and the three thousand people gave her a standing ovation when she finished. Luisillo, when he saw her come out of it without her dress, froze. The Director's daughter and the kleptomaniac had removed the dress from her room to take revenge and hurt Esther. 

Luisillo's son, who ran the office, sent for Esther to inform her that she had to return to Spain. They couldn't admit what had happened. Esther swore to him crying, that she had left her dress in her place and that someone had taken it from her. He asked if she knew who did it. She said that she didn't see it , but told him that her roommate had robbed her, just as the Director walked through the door. She had been so good alone and the public liked her so much that he announced to his son that the performance from that moment on would stay for the rest of the contract like that. And that therefore Esther Barco would continue in the company. 

Esther requested a room change and retrieve her sweater which miraculously appeared that very night in her suitcase.