It is a true story.

Between 1985 to 1990, I was attending university in Colorado, USA.

Initially and before I unconsciously fall in love with USA, I used to spend my long breaks back in Dubai with family, which obviously required travelling back and forth. Travelling is a great experience. There were no direct flights those days and I had to transit twice, once in Europe and once in USA. Air crafts were smaller, seats were uncomfortable and the travel used to take more than 28 hours.

It was 1988 and I was on my way to USA. I transited several hours in a famous European airport. I was settings alone among thousands of travelers waiting for my next flight when I cited a dark haired European man among the crowd pulling two large suitcases. Surprisingly, the stranger came straight to me and after greeting asked "would you please look after my suitcases for a short time?". I accepted!!! He disappeared in the crowd leaving me starring at the two suitcases.

"What if there is a bomb in these suitcases dummy?" I told to myself. There was a huge and rounded column near the place. It felt safer as I stood behind it while watching the suitcases. "At least it won't blow in my face" I  said to myself.

I was immensely relieved when I spotted him coming back. I quickly returned to my seat pretending I  was perfectly OK. He thanked me and sat next to me!!.

He introduced himself as a rich Jew and a leather businessman making good quality leather jackets . He took a magazine out of his suitcase and showed me a two full pages of an article about him and his successful business.

He then took out a bundle of cheques and started signing their back in order to deposit them. He was very tired of doing that. I learned that similar cheques requiring signature were all that he had in his two suitcases. That's a lot of money.

In response to his question, I told him I was a student on my way to USA. Surprisingly, he turned out being on my flight to New York, except that I was heading to Colorado while he was heading to Arizona.

He told me that in his business a lot of leather was being wasted during the manufacturing process. He was ready to offer a generous amount to anyone who comes up with a smart idea that would make use of the wasted leather. I offered couple of ideas that were coldly rejected. He then asked me if I had a girlfriend. I told him that I didn't. I  had to also assure him that I was neither gay nor religious. I was just a guy from a conservative family.

He then surprised me and told me that his wife is cheating him and probably having sex with her lover right now. I was shocked to hear that. "Why would he share such a private topic with me, a total stranger?!!! Why would a Jew open up to an Arab for God's sake ?!!!"

I was somehow stuck with him. He was leading the discussions and the situation. We checked in together. After passing the immigration, we passed by the duty free shops where a lady in her 30s was standing and encouraging travelers to visit the duty free shops. He started talking to her. She recognized him immediately. She expressed her interest in his leather products that she couldn't afford. He took out a peace of paper and wrote an amount on it before handing it to her. He told her that using the card, she could pic any product from any of his stores for that amount free of charge. The lady was so happy.

Then he told her "this is my partner Khalid from UAE , he is a multi millionaire". I was shocked but couldn't help playing along. The lady assured me that I won't regret this partnership. As we walked away from the duty free lady I asked him "Why did you lie to her? We are not partners and I am not a millionaire!!!". "To her you are a multi millionaire because I said so" He replied. I asked him not to lie and not to put me in a similar situation again. He agreed .

Then he asked me if I found the lady beautiful? I replied positively. Then he said "next time you travel through this city, let me know and I will show you around the city in one day. When you go to your hotel room , she will be waiting for you!!". "I told you I don't go out with women", l said. He tried very hard to convince me. I liked the fantasy but was scared of the reality.

We sat near the gate. A young girl was seated near us , with her ears plugged enjoying the music played by her Walkman. "Go talk to her" my Jewish companion told me. "I told you I  don't do that stuff!!" I replied. "Talk to her or I will " He said. "Go for it. I care less" I replied.

He walked to her and started talking and introducing himself. She didn't seem as excited as the duty free lady. "That's my friend and he is shy to talk to you!" He told her while pointing at me. "Well his people are definitely not so shy!" She replied to him. Their conversation was enough to embarrass me to the melting point. "No wonder why she is so beautiful, the city she is from is famous for wining most of the beauty queen contests" He said. He continued trying to push me to talk to her but miserably failed.

He then came to know from her that a building in a prime area is offered for sale. He demonstrated his power for the last time by using a public phone. He came back after a while to announce "I bought the building".

We then boarded the plan heading to New York. Luckily we were seated in two different sections and I didn't see him again.

What do you get out of this true story? How do you explain all these coincidents?