{"id":4527,"date":"2021-04-21T21:29:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4527"},"modified":"2021-04-21T21:29:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T21:29:50","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/04\/21\/bubers-basque-story-part-48\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 48"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
If you have comments or questions, or have simply been enjoying the story and want to say hello, please drop me a note!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That afternoon, Kepa was opening the door to their hotel room when his phone began to ring. He fumbled with the key, pushing the door open as he grabbed his phone. He smiled as he saw Maite\u2019s image smiling back at him as he answered it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaite!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cHow did it go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been great so far!\u201d replied Matie\u2019s voice. \u201cMy presentation went really well. There were lots of questions that really showed they were interested in my work. And none that I couldn\u2019t answer. And then I toured a few of the labs and met with some of the professors in the department. They are doing so many cool things here! At lunch, some of the students took me out and we talked about what life was like working and living in Berkeley. So far, it has all been great! I can\u2019t wait to tell you all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buber’s Basque Story is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so glad to hear that!\u201d said Kepa. \u201cThough, I knew you would do well. I always had confidence in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks Kepa. So, one of the professors asked if I could meet her and her group for dinner, to talk about a possible position in her team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat! Where should I meet you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s all going to be shop talk, with just her and the other students.\u201d She paused a moment. \u201cDo you mind?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, no,\u201d answered Kepa as he slumped on to the bed. \u201cYou have fun. I\u2019ll see you when you get back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMil esker, Kepa! You are the best!\u201d He could almost hear the \u2018click\u2019 of her hanging up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, the best,\u201d he said to himself as he let the bouquet of roses he had been holding fall to the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was late at night when he finally returned to the hotel room. Maite was sitting up in bed with the light on and a book in her hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere were you?\u201d she asked. \u201cI was so worried. You weren\u2019t answering your phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was\u2026 out,\u201d replied Kepa as he stumbled to the bed and almost literally fell on top of it, not bothering to get out of his clothes or brush his teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you drunk?\u201d asked Maite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI only had a few drinks,\u201d he said as he rolled on to his side, his back to her. \u201cWhat do you care anyways?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite reached out a tentative hand but then pulled it back. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you didn\u2019t want me around, you could have just said so before I got on that damn plane with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? No, of course I want you here\u2026\u201d she began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot today though, huh? I\u2019m not good enough to be around with your fancy new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mean\u2026 I didn\u2019t think\u2026\u201d began Maite. For a moment, the room was quiet. \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m sorry, Kepa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m tired, Maite. Gabon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost instantly, Kepa\u2019s snores filled the room, almost drowning out Maite\u2019s quiet sobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That afternoon, Kepa was opening the door to their hotel room when his phone began to ring. He fumbled with the key, pushing the door open as he grabbed his phone. He smiled as he saw Maite\u2019s image smiling back at him as he answered it. \u201cMaite!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cHow did it go?\u201d \u201cIt has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Artboard-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1b1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4528,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4527\/revisions\/4528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}