I'd been working a job in the Mediterranean for a couple of years and developed a friendship with Annie, a British ex-pat I met at a restaurant. We had completed our job at sea and went to a local restaurant one of our divers recommended. Annie and her serving partner, a little Cypriot kid, worked their asses off taking care of 12 of us at the table. We ordered the meat "mezzie" and if you've never had one, think of an unlimited buffet of everything on a menu. They were on it all night long and after we ate and finished four or five rounds of "Zavania", the local moonshine made from winemaking leftovers, we were preparing to return to our hotels. After we put the money together at the end of the evening, I rolled up a 20 Euro note and shook hands and slipped the money to Anne with big thanks, a wink and a smile. She had been flirting with all of us all evening and we appreciated that plus the hard work she had put in and the added attention.
Over the next few weeks I came back a few times and she quietly let me in on a few of the restaurants dirty little secrets, especially when it came to food freshness for "tourists" and how it differed from the locals quality. She also told me how the owners stiffed the staff of their tips, taking all of the money for themselves. After a couple more times of eating only salads, I never went back to the restaurant, however, I did stay in touch with Annie. I even tutored her daughter in math since she was having issues with fractions and such. As an engineer, I tried to make it practical and not just book problems. After gradually developing a friendship over the next few months, things stayed on a friendly basis for the next year.
Well, fast-forward 2 years and Annie and I see each other whenever I fly in to work. I insist she stay at my hotel and use the room when I'm away at sea. The little "house" she rents has no AC and the plumbing is suspect to say the least. She had since returned her daughter to her dad in the UK. Our relationship was never supposed to turn into something sexual, but after many days and nights together, driving in the mountains, walking on the beaches and eating a couple of meals together every day or so, I felt more and more in love with her. Annie did not give her passions easily, she had been burned so many times by guys with lies and stories and promises that never came through. She had dropped in to visit her last boyfriend unannounced on a Sunday afternoon only to find him in bed with a Filipino maid. She swore she'd never give her heart or say she loved anyone else again.