Many moons ago, at the tender age of 50, I met “by chance” a young Tunisian man in Hammamet (in hindsight, he probably planned it, but who knows?) It was towards the end of my holiday with friends, but he kept in touch with me and I agreed to go back 2 months later. This was arranged with a new “friend” who had a younger Tunisian boyfriend and lived near me at home. But she pulled out at the last minute, so I took the chance on going alone. (I had already lost some money by paying holiday deposit for both of us – now I wonder was she a scammer too?)
Anyway, met up at airport. Nice apartment that I paid for. Went out every evening but he was missing most days. Met some of his friends. One in particular, and got friendly with friend’s mum, who was similar age to me. Very independent fun lady – not what I expected at all.
Came home, although he BEGGED me to extend the holiday. Daily contact continued, so I went back for another week, 6 months later. All this time, I wasn’t taking him seriously…. the love declarations, marriage intentions. I told him I knew all about “bezness” and wasn’t falling for it. Quite happy to socialise with him, sex wasn’t brilliant, he never asked me for cash so I just paid for rent, food and drink (which in fairness was pretty cheap)
But I noticed he was starting to get moody, saying I didn’t love him (I didn’t and never said I did!!), threatening suicide, wanted me to start a minicab business….
So, I decided to play it safe and booked into a nearby hotel for the last couple of nights. I didn’t know that he wasn’t allowed in there.
Met a few times more, he called me “crazy lady” but remained affectionate. I came home, contact continued but it was reduced. Eventually, over a year later, I went back for a week to a lovely hotel. He was in touch, arranged to meet for a boat trip. I honestly can’t remember if either of us showed up for it. I had a lovely week, never met him at all (I had some other people I knew locally at the time, so I wasn’t lonely!)
Contact continued sporadically, always from his side. He said he was married in Switzerland. I’ll never know 🤣