Best Kept Secret

but once again she took him by the hand, this time guiding him towards
the bed. He pulled off his shirt and tie, desperate to touch every part of her at once. She fell back on the bed and pulled him on top of her. Moments later he let out a loud sigh.
    He lay still for a few seconds before she slipped out from under him, gathered up her clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. He pulled the sheet over his naked body and impatiently waited
for her to return. He was looking forward to spending the rest of the night with this goddess, and wondered how many times he could make love before the morning. But when the bathroom door opened,
Gabriella stepped out, fully dressed, and looked as if she was about to leave.
    ‘Was that your first time?’ she asked.
    ‘Of course not.’
    ‘I thought so,’ she said. ‘But it’s still three hundred pesos.’
    Sebastian sat bolt upright, not sure what she meant.
    ‘You don’t think it was your good looks and English charm that persuaded me to come up to your room?’
    ‘No, of course not,’ said Sebastian. He got off the bed, picked up his jacket from the floor and took out his wallet. He stared at the remaining five-pound notes.
    ‘Twenty pounds,’ she said, obviously having come across this problem before.
    He took out four five-pound notes and handed them to her.
    She took the money and disappeared even more quickly than he had come.

    When the plane finally touched down at London Airport, Harry took advantage of his uniform and joined the crew as they strolled unhindered through customs. He declined
Annabel’s offer to accompany her on the bus into London, and instead joined the long queue for a taxi.
    Forty minutes later, the cab came to a halt outside Giles’s house in Smith Square. Looking forward to a long bath, an English meal and a good night’s sleep, Harry banged on the brass
knocker, hoping Giles would be at home.
    A few moments later, the door swung open, and when Giles saw him he burst out laughing, stood to attention and saluted.
    ‘Welcome home, captain.’

    When Sebastian woke the next morning, the first thing he did was to check his wallet. He only had ten pounds left, and he’d hoped to start life at Cambridge having saved
eighty. As he looked at his clothes strewn across the floor, even his new leather belt had lost its allure. This morning he would only be able to visit places with no entrance charge.
    Uncle Giles had been right when he’d told him there are defining moments in one’s life when you learn a lot about yourself, and you deposit that knowledge in the experience account,
so you can draw on it at some later date.
    Once Sebastian had packed his few belongings and gathered up his presents, his thoughts turned to England, and starting life as an undergraduate. He couldn’t wait. When he stepped out of
the lift on the ground floor, he was surprised to see Don Pedro’s chauffeur, peaked cap under his arm, standing in the lobby. He put the cap back on the moment he saw Sebastian, and said,
‘Boss wants to see you.’
    Sebastian climbed into the back of the Rolls-Royce, glad to have an opportunity to thank Don Pedro for all he’d done, although he wasn’t going to admit that he was down to his last
ten pounds. On arrival at Martinez House, he was shown straight through to Don Pedro’s office.
    ‘Sebastian, I am sorry to drag you in like this, but a small problem has arisen.’
    Sebastian’s heart sank as he feared he wasn’t going to be allowed to escape. ‘A problem?’
    ‘I had a call from my friend Mr Matthews at the British Embassy this morning. He pointed out that you’d entered the country without a passport. I told him you’d travelled on my
ship, and that while you were in Buenos Aires you were my guest, but, as he explained, that won’t help you get back into Britain.’
    ‘Does that mean I’ll miss the ship?’ Sebastian couldn’t hide his dismay.
    ‘Certainly not,’ said Martinez. ‘My driver will take you to the embassy on the way to the port, and the ambassador has promised there will be a passport for you at
reception.’
    ‘Thank you,’ said Sebastian.
    ‘Of course, it helps that the ambassador is a personal friend,’ said Martinez with a smile. He then handed him a thick envelope and said, ‘Be sure you hand this in to customs
when you land at Southampton.’
    ‘Is this the package I’m meant to take back to England?’ asked Sebastian.
    ‘No, no,’ said Martinez, laughing.