{"id":4546,"date":"2021-04-28T16:08:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T16:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4546"},"modified":"2021-04-28T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T16:08:14","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/04\/28\/bubers-basque-story-part-49\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 49"},"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

The next morning, Maite quietly opened the door to their room, just in case Kepa was still asleep. She had gotten up early and gone out, not able to sleep next to Kepa any longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she entered the room, the bathroom door opened at the same time. Kepa stepped out as he dried his hair with his towel, his body otherwise naked. Maite\u2019s eyes wandered down for a moment before she caught herself and looked at Kepa in the eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got you some coffee,\u201d she said, holding out a cup as Kepa wrapped the towel around his waist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMil esker,\u201d he said as he took it from her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI also got some pastries,\u201d she said as she walked into the room, grabbed a tray, and placed the tray and the pastries on the bed. She sat down on one corner.<\/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

Kepa came over and sat on the other corner, taking a sip of his coffee. \u201cLooks good,\u201d he said as she opened the small box of pastries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKepa,\u201d Maite began. \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m sorry. I wasn\u2019t thinking last night. I got caught up in all of the talk about the science going on here, was excited to continue it into the evening, and just thought it would bore you. But, really, I was thinking more about myself and less about you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa took another drink of his coffee. \u201cLook, Maite, I know I\u2019m not always going to fit in all aspects of your life. I can\u2019t claim to understand all of this stuff you study. And, to be honest, sometimes I feel a bit insecure about it, that you can\u2019t really talk to me about your research. I\u2019m always afraid that you are going to meet someone else who really understands what you are doing and that has a connection with you that I know I\u2019ll never have.\u201d He paused for a moment, looking down at the cup in his hands. \u201cI am afraid that you\u2019ll find someone better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEz!\u201d cried Maite. \u201cThere is no one better for me than you! I have enough people to talk science with, I don\u2019t need that from you. You and I share so much more. No one could ever replace all of those memories of playing together at your baserri or in the plaza when you came to ama and aita\u2019s taberna. And now, with all of this stuff with the zatiak, you and I have a connection that literally no one else can have. I can\u2019t imagine going on this adventure with anyone else but you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you Maite,\u201d said Kepa as he put his cup aside and took her hand. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry for lashing out last night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I know I hurt you. And, really, that\u2019s the last thing I want to do. I\u2019m really sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApology accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow how about one of those pastries?\u201d asked Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ll keep for a little while longer,\u201d said Kepa with a smile as he pulled Maite over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next morning, Maite quietly opened the door to their room, just in case Kepa was still asleep. She had gotten up early and gone out, not able to sleep next to Kepa any longer. As she entered the room, the bathroom door opened at the same time. Kepa stepped out as he dried his […]<\/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-4546","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-1bk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546","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=4546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4548,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546\/revisions\/4548"}],"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=4546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}