Bizirik Berriro (Alive Again)

Chapter 5

Gaizka called the next afternoon. I'd just grabbed some pintxos for lunch and was sitting at the table in the kitchen when I heard my phone ring.

"¿Hola?"

"Hola, Oihane? It's Gaizka." My heart dropped into my stomach.

"Oh yeah, hi."

"Hey, so, we get off practice in a bit so I was wondering if I could stop by the restaurant and hang out for a while."

"Here?"

"Sure."

"Um...yeah. Yeah, that's fine. I get off in about two hours but it should be okay."

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

"Great."

"Agur."

"Agur!" I hung up, and smiled.

"Who was that?" asked Nagore, who'd just come in. "Please tell me it was Fernando." I shook my head. I wasn't expecting anything from him.

"Gaizka," I replied, smiling.

"That's um...great!"

"You don't sound too thrilled." She shrugged.

"Eh. If he called then great. I just don't think--"

"That he's my type, right?"

"It's not that."

"Then?" She sighed.

"I don't know. I just think-- Oh, never mind. He called you, and he's coming over here, right?" I nodded. "Then I'm sure you'll have fun and it'll be fine."

"Are you criticizing my taste in men?" She laughed like I'd just insulted her.

"What? No. No no. You can like whatever guy you want."

"Then what the hell is your problem?" She sighed.

"He has a girlfriend, Iane." I froze.

"He what?"

"I asked one of the guys about him the other day and he said that he had a girlfriend back in Vitoria. I'm sorry, Iane."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't anyone tell me? And what the hell is he doing coming over then?" Nagore shrugged.

"I don't know. Ask him."

Of course this would happen. Just my luck. Five years with one guy who turned out to be a dick, and the next time I end up interested in a guy he's already spoken for. Great. And I had probably twenty minutes until Gaizka arrived and I had to come up with a way to both keep him occupied and try not to snap at him.

He came in about twenty minutes later, when the only people in the restaurant were tourists.

"Mucho guiri aquí, ¿no?" he asked, smiling, nodding towards the blonde heads and large figures that graced the dining room. I laughed, his relaxing demeanor making me forget everything else.

"That's what happens when it's five in the afternoon; the tourists think it's dinnertime already." He grinned. I told Nagore to man the counter while I showed Gaizka around the kitchen. When I finished, he stood behind the counter with me.

"Is there anything I can do? You still have like another hour and a half of your shift left."

"You can always take a walk around here, the Zazpi Kaleak are pretty quiet this time of day," I replied. "I mean, it's all pedestrian, and it's quiet, so there's no need to be paranoid."