One Dance in Dubai Led To 25-year Love Affair

It is strange how our life turns out sometimes. I was on a business trip to Abu Dhabi to a trade show way back in 1995. My flight booking was via Dubai and I planned to spend a few days there catching up with some old contacts and relax before the hard week at the exhibition.

My first night there I decided to grab a meal at the bar and an early night. I had just eaten when I got a phone call from a colleague who was due in the following day. He was pleading for assistance, his son only just turned 18-years had already flown in and was out at the rugby sevens tournament when he’d made the mistake of jumping in an unofficial cab, or so he thought. The cab had 2 guys in it offering a lift back to his hotel but instead dropped him off in a car park at the rear after mugging him for his phone and wallet. The young lad had gone to his hotel and used their phone to call his father who had then called me. He could not inform the police because he was underage for their drinking laws and they would have just said “tough” and thrown him in jail for a few days or until his fine was paid.

I collected the lad and took him back to my hotel as he had no onward booking where he had stayed the night before. I had a twin-bed room so could put him up. I gave him a bar meal and a beer and called his Dad to let him know he was safe with me until he flew in the…