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WE STOPPED for a cup of coffee.
"Yes, life teaches us many things," I said, trying to continue the conversation.
"It taught me that we can learn, and it taught me that we can change," he replied, "even when it seems impossible."
Clearly he wanted to drop the subject. We had hardly spoken during the two-hour drive that had brought us to this roadside cafe.
In the beginning, I had tried to reminisce about our childhood adventures, but he'd shown only a polite interest. In fact, he hadn't even really been listening to me; he kept asking me questions about things I had already told him.
Something was wrong. Had time and distance taken him away from my world forever? After all, he talks about "magic moments," I reasoned. Why would he care about an old friend's career? He lives in a different universe, where Soria is only a remote memory--a town frozen in time, his childhood friends still young boys and girls, the old folks still alive and doing the same things they'd been doing for so many years.
I was beginning to regret my decision to come with him. So when he changed the subject again, I resolved not to insist any further.
The last two hours of the drive to Bilbao were torture. He was watching the road, I was looking out the window, and neither of us could hide the bad feelings that had arisen between us. The rental car didn't have a radio, so all we could do was endure the silence.
"Let's ask where the bus station is," I suggested as soon as we left the highway. "The buses leave from here regularly for Zaragoza."
It was the hour of siesta, and there were few people in the streets. We passed one gentleman and then a couple of teenagers, but he didn't stop to ask them. "Do you know where it is?" I spoke up, after some time had passed.
"Where what is?"
He still wasn't paying attention to what I said.
And then suddenly I understood what the silence was about. What did he have in common with a woman who had never ventured out into the world? How could he possibly be interested in spending time with someone who feared the unknown, who preferred a secure job and a conventional marriage to the life he led? Poor me, chattering away about friends from childhood and dusty memories of an insignificant village--those were the only things I could discuss.
When we seemed to have reached the center of town, I said, "You can let me off here." I was trying to sound casual, but I felt stupid, childish, and irritated.
He didn't stop the car.
"I have to catch the bus back to Zaragoza," I insisted.
"I've never been here before," he answered. "I have no idea where my hotel is, I don't know where the conference is being held, and I don't know where the bus station is."
"Don't worry, I'll be all right."
He slowed down but kept on driving.
"I'd really like to...," he began. He tried again but still couldn't finish his thought.
I could imagine what he would like to do: thank me for the company, send greetings to his old friends--maybe that would break the tension.
"I would really like it if you went with me to the conference tonight," he finally said.
I was shocked. Was he stalling for time so that he could make up for the awkward silence of our trip?
"I'd really like you to go with me," he repeated.
Now, maybe I'm a girl from the farm with no great stories to tell. Maybe I lack the sophistication of women from the big city. Life in the country may not make a woman elegant or worldly, but it still teaches her how to listen to her heart and to trust her instincts.
To my surprise, my instincts told me that he meant what he said.
I sighed with relief. Of course I wasn't going to stay for any conference, but at least my friend seemed to be back. He was even inviting me along on his adventures, wanting to share his fears and triumphs with me.
"Thanks for the invitation," I said, "but I don't have enough money for a hotel, and I do need to get back to my studies."
"I have some money. You can stay in my room. We'll ask for two beds."
I noticed that he was beginning to perspire, despite the chill in the air. My heart sounded an alarm, and all the joy of the moment before turned into confusion.
