It was a moment before I realised I'd been goggling at him, engine on and without moving as he descended the steps toward me. I hastily switched off the engine and stumbled out of the car. Sebastian raised his sunglasses and gave me a wide smile.
"Teodoro!" he called. “No Lamborghini today?"
"I didn't want to be too ostentatious, and that was a rental,” I replied. "Though in hindsight, I should have brought the Land Rover.”
“Land Rover, psh," said Sebastian. "You want a continental brand, not that British trash. Let me show youmyall-terrain car.”
Sebastian pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen. Behind him, the garage doors started to rise with a dull whine.
"Oh, nice!" I ducked under the door as soon as it had lifted high enough for me. Inside was a sleek room at odds with the exterior of the house. Two beautiful and very different cars sat bathed in light from above. A glass-bottomed swimming pool was set into the ceiling and the sunlight was filtering through the water and bathing the cars inside the garage with undulating lights. A large black Mercedes G-Class suited for rough terrain, and a sleek, low new Ferrari in the famous red colour. Between then, a gap large enough for another car.
"Car in for maintenance?" I asked. Sebastian had walked into the garage behind me, and was now rubbing the back of his head self-consciously.
"I made space for you," he explained. "I did not think you would be the kind of man to leave an expensive car lying around in the sun."
"Thanks, Seb,” I said.
"Seb," Sebastian chuckled." Why is it that the British insist on shortening names so much, while us Spanish lengthen them to show affection?"
"Because you're cultural freaks," I joked, passing him as I left the garage. Sebastian stood aside to let me carefully park the Porsche between his two cars.
"A rose between two thorns," I commented as I got out.
Sebastian ran one finger over the yellow hood of the car. "I'll allow you to insult my cars like that, but only because yours is Italian and beautiful."
"Do you like Italian beauties?" I asked. "Because I'm sure my grandfather was like one sixty-fourth Italian."
"You are the one British-made thing I can tolerate," said Sebastian with a smile. "Well, you and Worcestershire sauce."
I grinned as his accent stumbled over so many consonants in a row.
"You know it’s just pronounced 'Wooster', right? You don't need to try and pronounce every single letter."
"Patate, tomate,” grinned Sebastian, and I knew he was messing with me.
Without asking, he lifted the bonnet of the car and retrieved my suitcase. “Are you coming, Teodoro?” he teased as he led the way to a door at the back of the garage. Before he could lead me through though, I spotted something in the corner of the room.
“You go quad-biking?” I asked. There were two sleek black four-wheelers tucked into the corner, behind the Ferrari.
“Don’t tell my racing team. The insurance would never cover it. I thought it might be nice for us to go out while you are here, amongst the olive groves.”
“And we won’t piss off any olive farmers?” I asked.
Sebastian chuckled. “Teodoro, when did you last see another building?”
“About five miles back?” I guessed.
“Exactly. I own a lot of land around this house, and a couple of local farmers sometimes come and pick the olives on the land. And I employ people to work on the grapevines.”
“You make wine?” I asked, trying to pick my chin up off the floor.
“I will continue to surprise you,” grinned Sebastian, as we emerged at the top of the stairs into the interior of Sebastian’s house.
Inside, much like outside, harkened back to a cosier, more traditional way of living. The walls were roughly plastered, and the kitchen was an old cottage style with a cast-iron oven. But some walls had been knocked out to make the whole place open plan and to take advantage of the view. From the back of the house, I could see glimpses of the rolling olive groves beyond.
“I’ll take this to your room,” said Sebastian. “Make yourself comfortable on the terrace, I’ll get us some drinks.”
“Thank you,” I said. Sebastian disappeared up another set of stairs and I made my way through the living space and out onto the terrace.
