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!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cInterview?\u201d asked Maite. \u201cOh, right! Berkeley. It feels so long ago\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d asked Idoia, taking a sip of her gin and tonic. \u201cIt was just last week!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite looked over at Kepa, a combination of a twinkle and panic in her eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa sighed. \u201cThe flight back\u2026\u201d he began. \u201cIt was so long. So many delays, canceled flights, and bad service. California feels like forever ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite nodded, surpressing a smile. \u201cBai,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019m just so glad to be back and hanging out with you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut what about the interview?\u201d asked Koldo again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe interview went well,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cI mean, I haven\u2019t heard back yet, so I don\u2019t know if I got the position, but I think I did well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koldo\u2019s shoulders slumped a little. \u201cWhen would you be leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite looked up at the faces around her, all looking at her expectantly. She picked up her zurito and took a sip, savoring the cold on her tongue while letting it draw out a bit longer than normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019m going,\u201d she finally answered. \u201cEven if I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cZer?\u201d exclaimed Itxaso. \u201cWhat? How could you pass this up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell,\u201d began Maite. She looked over at Kepa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A voice popped in her head. \u201cIt does not make sense to reject the offer,\u201d echoed the deep voice of Garuna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She scrunched her eyes. It had only been a day since they got back, and she had not gotten used to having Garuna in her head. For the most part, it was silent, but once in a while it would chime in with some commentary, almost like a second conscience. Maite had her hands full enough with her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ignoring Garuna, she turned to Itxaso. \u201cMy parents,\u201d she began. \u201cAnd you guys\u2026\u201d She swept her hand in a grand gesture around her. \u201cAll of this. I\u2019m too Basque to give this all up, even for just a little while.\u201d She looked over at Kepa. \u201cAnd I would miss this guy\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koldo raised an eyebrow. \u201cDid something else happen in California?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa blushed as Maite answered. \u201cKepa and I are dating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheers went around the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout damn time!\u201d exclaimed Koldo as he raised his glass toward the center of the table, joined in moments by everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite couldn\u2019t resist, pulling Kepa in for a kiss as everyone cheered again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSo,\u201d asked Koldo as they stood around a high table in one corner of the bar, \u201chow did the interview go? You\u2019ve got to tell us all about it.\u201d \u201cInterview?\u201d asked Maite. \u201cOh, right! Berkeley. It feels so long ago\u2026\u201d \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d asked Idoia, taking a sip of her gin and tonic. \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"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":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1xy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5924","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=5924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5925,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5924\/revisions\/5925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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